The tales and stories are always more easily remembered than facts. And when these tales and stories are well crafted, they might as well persuade you to take action, e.g. buy some products, sign a petition, participate in a good cause etc.
People are more than ever curious about brand’s CSR, how eco-friendly their products are, the sustainable manufacturing process etc. Now more than ever, brands need to reveal where their products come from. They can as well play well in brand’s storytelling strategy. About products so green, so eco-friendly etc. However, storytelling needs to be somehow factual based. If a brand’s promise is that the eggs you buy are organic and next day you’ll find a newspaper article about outrageous conditions in which animals are kept. Customers might as well boycott the brand and brand would face huge media as well as consumer backlash.
However, many brands can be proud for its storytelling strategies and skills. I picked some examples where brand’s personality is expressed cleverly through storytelling. Well, at least from my point of view.
Axe/Lynx is redefining masculinity
Days are gone when you saw Axe/Lynx advert where ‘sex sold’ its products. Remember ‘Even Angels will Fall’ ad? While now they are asking if ‘is it ok for guys to…’ campaign. The story, which this brand tells is a tale about gender bias, especially male masculinity. It is relevant due to on-going society debate about gender as well as mental wellbeing. Moreover, it tells a consumer that Axe/Lynx cares about others and brings an emotional value.
Harry Potter Brand Phenomenon
First there was a book, then blockbuster movies, video games and more than 400 licensed products. Harry Potter as a brand was very well received by media and public. What’s more, the story of young wizard has created fandom and communities. “Harry Potter is more than the films, more than the books. It is a genuine lifestyle brand that has emerged from a humble literary origin with a small publisher, which has steamrollered its way to bookselling dominance worldwide, and become one of the biggest film franchises of all time.” (Campaign Live, 17/08/2017)
Nike Just Do It
Nike always masters its brand storytelling technique. There is a hero in the story and the hero is a consumer, whose only enemy is him/herself. So next time when you make an excuse for not exercising, not running etc. remember what co-founder Bill Bowerman said: “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” No more excuses, Just Do It!
Rising popularity of grime is no secret in music industry and don’t brands know about it? What was once assumed as an outsider is now disrupting mainstream media. Brands are well aware of current trends and pop culture. And because culture is something fluid and it changes from time to time from trend to trend also brands are adapting and evolving alongside the culture.
Brands can represent who we are, where we live, what music we listen to, what TV show we love etc. Now they know that we do love listening to grime and decide to invite the power player into the game. According to academic study “Grime is the most significant musical development within the UK for decades… powerful and disruptive as punk” (BBC Newsbeat, Steve Holden, 11/10/2017). 2,000 general music fans were questioned for the report:
73% are aware of grime
43% listen to grime
22% were fans of grime
13% attended grime gigs
(BBC Newsbeat, Steve Holden, 11/10/2017).
Brands can no longer ignore the fact that grime has become popular among young people. “One study suggests that: For(consumers) them, the more a brand symbolizes their culture, the stronger the relationship they form with the brand (Handbook of Culture and Consumer Behaviour,Sharon Ng, Angela Y. Lee, 2015, p281).
Relationships between brands and grime have reflected mainly in fashion. However, it is not impossible to see the future collaborations between other sectors such as food and drinks. It is indisputable that grime opens a new way of communication between brand and their audience “who now represent a large part of the young demographic in the UK completely influenced culturally in their political views, fashion sense and attitudes” (Disrupt Marketing, 01/11/2017).
Nike “Nothing Beats a Londoner”
In February Nike has released a new advert “Nothing beats a Londoner”. Although this ad is no longer available due to legal issues over the abbreviation of ‘LDNR’, many considered the advert as masterpiece.
Created by Wieden+Kennedy, the idea of Nike’s new ad campaign was to represent diversity in the capital city. It “captures and celebrates young people’s view of living, training and pursuing their passion in this most multicultural of cities” (The Drum, Steve Vranakis, 16/02/2018). It was fun, relevant but most of all inspired and highly influenced by grime scene and its artists such as Skepta, Giggs etc. Guess what Stormzy is missing here, because he endorses Adidas.
Nike cleverly injected grime style into its blood veins in order to appeal and relate to young consumers. On the other hand, it failed to represent London’s large demographics- South Asians. Therefore, it can be argued that Nike did not reflect London’s diversity in full spectrum. Moreover, people outside of London might have found it upsetting. What about nothing beats people from Manchester, Liverpool etc.? There are many more issues that Londoners have to face not just “running through Peckham”, there is a rising price of affordable living, homeless people on the capital’s streets and many more.
Nevertheless, we will witness more grime-brand collaborations, because brands are no longer disinterested in grime. If you as a consumer love grime, then your favourite brand will follow!
Can you imagine writing a text without using a single emoji? I cannot. The message would be plain and boring without emojis.
Emojis are famous digital pictograms that are present in text messages, emails and all social media platforms. They offer unique way of expression, a vision vocabulary that is ubiquitous in all digital communications.
Emoji word comes from Japan. E stands for picture, MO means writing and JI is a letter or a character (The Straits Times, Rebecca Lynne Tan, 23/07/2017).
Inspired by Japanese visual pop culture, especially manga comics: “When someone gets an idea [in manga], they have the light bulb,” Kurita, the creator of the first-ever set of emoji explains, “and there were a lot of cases where I used those as a kind of hint and rearranged things” (The Verge, Jeff Blagdon, 04/03/2013) 2013).
It is our new body language in a digital form. However, instead of our mouth, we use our keyboards to express ourselves. What is more, emojis replace words. Could this mean that our language is shifting back towards the cave time and pictographic hieroglyphs? “Linguist Ben Zimmer doesn’t believe we are moving backward, but rather filling a void that exclamation points and question marks can’t” (Britton Marketing & Design Group, Bridget O’Reilly, 2015).
Interestingly, emojis have become a great source of data for digital platforms. Not long ago, Facebook has introduced emoji-like reactions to status updates. Very useful tool, when your friends are in discomfort situations. And when thumbs up emoji would not be appropriate. Now, you can express your affection through emoji feeling options- sad, happy, angry etc. On the other hand, this emoji feature is the key to Facebook’s users data treasure. Because, you can react in the same way to newspaper articles, brands’ videos etc. It tracks your emotions, but not because Facebook cares about your feelings. But because it learns about audiences’ behaviour and it can target you with the ads. To put it simply, Facebook is making money from our feelings.
“If you choose a particular pre-formatted emotion, piece of media, or food, Facebook could potentially use that behavior to pinpoint you with ads… and Netflix would probably love to target sad users who could be primed to stay home and watch some videos” (TechCrunch, Josh Constine, 31/01/2013).
Emoji and Brands
Brands know that consumers love emojis and therefore they are keeping up with the emoji trend. In 2015, Chevrolet wrote their entire press release in emojis and invites people to decode their message.
Even charities are using emojis in their campaigning practise. See example of Refugee Emojis, a charity that helps refugees by persuading people to download their refugee emoji keyboard to raise the awareness of the issue: “The Refugee Emojis Keyboard offers a common language for people to understand the global refugee crisis and connect around ways to help refugees worldwide.” (Refugee-emojis website)
Books are written in emojis. For example, original copy of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick was translated into Emoji Dick. Beyonce’s Drunk in Love was translated into emoji language.
Let’s see how emoji iconic feelings will evolve. Will we be able to communicate purely via emojis? Will we connect with people from different countries without the knowledge of their mother tongues using purely emoji vocabulary?
Have you ever watched beauty pageant contests? Or when did you stop watching them?
When I was younger, I used to watch them. My friends and I would judge the contestants and we would guess who would win the crown.
When I think about the beauty contests now, I have to admit I would not watch them again. At least not in the format they are made. By the way, the format has not changed much. There is always a huge media attention, an instant fame, money, golden ticket to modelling career etc. It is all about beautiful girls, their perfect bodies and bikinis. Girls are competing against each other, who is more beautiful, who have better body measurements, better skills etc. Obviously, we all know what the winning numbers are: 90 60 90. Audience would cheer out loud, every time a TV presenter would announce these magic numbers that stand for 90cm around bust, 60cm around waist and 90cm around the hips.
Wait. Hold on. Are these really ideal body measurements? And who is in charge to tell a woman what her body should look like? If you ever find out, please DM me.
Last year, Miss Peru beauty contestants took these measurements to another level. And I am over the moon. Instead of 90-60-90, they introduced statistics about violence against women in South America: “My name is Camila Canicoba and I represent the department of Lima. My measurements are: 2,202 cases of femicide reported in the last nine years in my country…”
It is hard to tell what impact these girls made with these “measurements”. Surely, they raised the awareness about the issues in South America, but there is still long way to go. However, I believe in the future we will be hearing more about activism and less about body measurements. Of course, if there is any future for these contests in the shadow of #MeToo and #TimesUp movement.
Celebrating beauty is one thing, but celebrating someone who has won a beauty crown in beauty contest is another. “Congratulations Miss World! You are the most beautiful Miss in the world!” Nah thanks. Pathetic. Sorry, I do not mean to sound mean. I respect all these girls, who compete and take part in such contests. However, I do hope they will be more about women’s empowerment and less about physical beauty that leads to sexual objectification.
My suggestions for future beauty contests are:
“The most beautiful mum in the world.” In this contest everyone is a winner, because for all the children their mums are the most beautiful. A win-win situation. No body measurements taken, cellulite would not be a problem and stretch marks would be celebrated as symbols of motherhood. No fancy prices, just pure love reward. This is only one of many examples of future ‘beauty pageant contests’. But because today we are celebrating International Women’s Day, I chose to celebrate mothers, mothers to be, want to be mothers and of course all women around the world. Cheers to you all! You are beautiful!
Nowadays the presence of a specific brand on social media is a very crucial element and part of its business growth. Social media marketing has become a very influential tool on Web 2.0 by using platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram in order to create the conversation about the brand. (Bowen and Ozuem 2015, p.2)
What is social media? Why Brands use it?
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010, p.60) define social media as “a group of Internet based applications that build on ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.” Therefore, it is indisputable that brands have realized how important is to be present on social media channels and to keep in touch with their target audience.
One of the reasons why social media is essential for many companies is that the users are very often researching the brand’s social media accounts before purchasing the products. They usually search for reviews, opinions of other people and how reliable the company is. They create online communities, who share a mutual interest in the specific brand. They are called brand communities, which are “great business opportunities to effectively influence customers’ purchasing behaviours and to more deeply understand customers by monitoring their views and opinions.” (Bowen and Ozuem, 2015, p.2)
Consequently, by gathering data, researching and reviewing consumers’ behaviour, companies develop a perception of their target audience. Some very well-established and successful brands “can serve as the single most important criterion for purchase decisions among many consumers.” (Jin and Cendrola, 2017, p.3) However, it is brand needs to know their audience before they develop their online presence. It might happen that their target audience does not use social media. Although, they can be reached through their email addresses. Therefore, their only chance to communicate with the audience is via emails. Secondly, it is crucial to acknowledge what the brand’s message is and how it communicates key messages using specific platforms depending on its target audience.
There are many brand strategies available to use in order to succeed in this online world full of competitors. But, it is usually brands that know their audience, what values they stand for and what their missions in the society are. These brands are true champions. Moreover, consumers identify themselves through the brand. They relate to it because the brand represents their own values.
References:
Cedrola E. and Jin B. (2017). Brands as Core Assets: Trends and Challenges of Branding in Fashion Business. In: Jin B., Cedrola E. (eds) Fashion Branding and Communication. Palgrave Studies in Practice: Global Fashion Brand Management. Palgrave Pivot, New York.
Bowen, G. and Ozuem, W. (2015). Computer-mediated Marketing Strategies: Social media and Online Brand Communities. Hershey, Pennsylvania: IGI Global.
Haenlein, M. and Kaplan, A. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Kelly School of Business: Indiana University.
According to Susan Jacoby (2009), we have become less discriminating and rational as the range of media expands. The society and culture we live in now have become dependent on technology. People consume media and use the Internet every day. Watching television, playing video games or browsing the Internet, all these activities have become necessary for many people. Moreover, using media and the Internet is a part of people’s daily routines. Consequently, people prefer to use new media instead of old media. Everything is digital and interactive. In a book The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby describes it as “the culture of distraction.” Susan explains that people spend more time in front of their computer screens. Therefore, “the less time and desire they have for two human activities critical to a fruitful and demanding intellectual life: reading and conversation.” (Jacoby, 2009, p247)
It is important to note that technology is getting smarter each year. But people are becoming more dependent on their gadgets. On the one hand, it makes people’s lives easier. On the other hand, people have stopped remembering things such as birthdays, numbers etc. because they have their smart phones. People do not need to be smart to use an iPhone. And that is the issue with using devices and search engines. People “google” everything. The point is that they do not have the knowledge, but they know where to find it. Smart phones and technology enable people to find any sort of information in seconds. But do people improve their memory skills as well as their research skills?
Obviously, the technology and its gadgets make our lives easier in many ways. The multi-channel TV, 24-hour news, the Internet and media as a whole produce a vast amount of information. We might consume all these information every day, but certainly it is not that easy to remember it all. Why would we, if we can access this information later on via the Internet search engines? As Susan Jacoby argues that people have stopped reading and rather watching videos, we have become less critical and rational. We just consume whatever media produces, which is why so many people have fallen into FAKE NEWS’ traps. The only way to stay well informed and not to be deceived is to consume more traditional news or old news, rather than reading anything we find randomly online considering that everything we read is nothing but the truth.
Bibliography
Jacoby, S. (2009). The age of American Unreason. New York : Vintage Books
What is the role of celebrity involvement in activism? How effective is the celebrity endorsement in political campaigns?
Celebrities have a significant role in activism. Since UN has established “goodwill ambassadors” many celebrities have taken the role. Celebrities are being involved in different campaigns in order to raise the awareness of certain issue or raise the funds for the organizations. In 1954, Danny Kaye became the first UN goodwill ambassador. American actor and entertainer made a film, Assignment Children in collaboration with UN. The film is about Danny’s first experiences as goodwill ambassador. It helped people to understand what UNICEF is about and how the organization helps to keep children healthy by providing food and vaccinations (Dannykaye.net).
What factors drive celebrities to do humanitarian work? According to UN agency: “Fame has some clear benefits in certain roles… Celebrities attract attention… They can make direct representations to those with the power to effect change.” (Huliaras and Tzifakis, 2011, p26)
Clearly, UN understands what benefits can celebrity bring into action. Celebrities as activists attract media attention. They can raise the public awareness about certain issue.
Furthermore, Huliaras and Tzifakis argue that activism help celebrities to remain celebrities. The continuous publicity is inevitable for famous people. For example, the image of a celebrity somewhere in Africa surrounded by malnourished children, creates a perfect picture in media. It is an opportunity for positive branding, which distracts attention from past scandals. (Huliaras and Tzifakis, 2011) Thus, it can be argued that celebrities have some personal interests while being involved in global causes.
Olivier Laban-Mattei/UNHCR The UNHCR Special Envoy, Angelina Jolie, speaks with newly arrived Syrian refugees in a Jordanian military camp at the border between Syria and Jordan. UNHCR / O. Laban-Mattei / June 2013
It is indisputable that celebrities attract media attention. Therefore, people, who follow celebrity news, are able to get the information about the celebrity activism. However, Baum (2003) argue that people, who follow celebrity news through ‘soft news’ such as TV talk shows or tabloids might not have in-depth knowledge about global or political issues.
Additionally, Couldry, and Markham, in their research on celebrity culture, found that celebrity followers do not like to discuss politics. “Only 49 per cent say their friends would expect them to know what’s going on in the world (compared with 78 per cent of traditional news followers).” (Couldry, and Markham, 2007,). Therefore, it is questionable whether or not celebrities raise the public awareness effectively.
However, according to Huliaras and Tzifakis, celebrities do not have a huge impact on political lobbying. They have helped to put certain issues, such as poverty on political agenda. But they cannot claim that they persuaded rich countries to help poor countries. (Huliaras and Tzifakis, 2011, p30) For instance, the campaign ‘Save Darfur’ supported by George Clooney and Mia Farrow got media attention, but it did not change the situation in Sudan. Mass killings and tribal conflict have not gone away. It needs another global campaign “but not just a media or celebrity campaign. It should be led by the major powers in the UN Security Council to pressure conflicting parties to reach a comprehensive and just peace.” (The Guardian, 11/12/2014)
Nevertheless, “some celebs may be genuinely concerned with humanitarian causes, while the interest of others might be part of an image – making strategy.” (Huliaras and Tzifakis, 2011, p31) It can be argued that activism helps celebrities to remain celebrities. However, more should be done in order to “make poverty history”. I do not mean by that donating more money, but what I mean is a proper political change in these countries so that someday they will be all independent and able to look after their own people.
As David Lammy writes it in his article: “We must have voices debating debt and dictatorship, trade agreements and climate change, education and entrepreneurship – not just appeals for people to phone in and pledge a few pounds.” (The Guardian, 24/03/2017)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baum, M.A. (2003). Soft news goes to war: public opinion and American foreign policy in the new media age. Princeton: Princeton University Press
Couldry, N. and Markham, T. (2007). Celebrity culture and public connection: bridge or chasm? International Journal of Cultural Studies, 10(4), 403-421. Available from http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/4813/1/4813.pdf [Accessed 3 June 2017].
Frangonikolopoulos, C.A., Huliaras, A. and Tzifakis, N. (2011). Making sense of transnational celebrity activism: causes, methods and consequences. In: Frangonikolopoulos, C.A., Huliaras, A. and Tsaliki, L.Transnational celebrity activism in global politics changing the world? Bristol: Intellect, 217-229.
Huliaras, A. and Tzifakis, N. (2011). Transnational celebrity activism, diplomacy and global politics. In: Frangonikolopoulos, C.A., Huliaras, A. and Tsaliki, L.Transnational celebrity activism in global politics changing the world? Bristol: Intellect, 21-34.
Recently, I have noticed that brands have changed their ways of targeting their audiences and grabbing their attention. The adverts such as “Are You Beach Body Ready” or “Axe’s Fallen Angel” are out of date and known as an advertising common practise from the past.
On the one hand, I am very pleased to see such a positive change in advertising. Quite often women used to be objectified by brands in order to sell or promote their products. It seems like such ads are no longer that successful as they used to be in the past. On the other hand, activism has become a new way of targeting and selling products. The companies still make money; the only difference is how they sell their products and services. However, it makes me wonder, why the brands have started this new trend of activism. From my point of view, it is not their ‘genuine’ interest of supporting and improving the humankind. But it is mainly because consumers have become more critical and more sensitive towards advertisements, which somehow upset them. What is more, they have a platform to raise their concerns. Social media sites such as Twitter has created a space for “hashtag wars” (e.g. #deleteUber), which are very common practise by angry consumers.
Although, I believe that it is a good thing that sex does not sell anymore, it also raises a question whether or not the activism is better way to sell products. Does it make me a better person, if I buy coffee from Starbucks and not from Costa? Does my Starbucks latte help refugees? Or if I start buying Kenco coffee, will I stop gang culture in Honduras?
Nikola Do Anh 