Getting a Grip on Media

1. Getting a Grip on Media

2. What is the Media? • It is the way we communicate with each other collectively. It includes: • Radio • Television, Film and Video Games • Newspaper and Magazines • Advertisements • Social Media (such as facebook, twitter, etc.)

3. What is the purpose of the media? • ‘The media wants to sell you something’ • It can try to sell you products, services, people, and ideas. • Because it wants to sell you something, the media will target a specific audience. • Target Audience: Particular group of people, identified as the intended recipient of an advertisement or message.

4. Who is the target audience?

6. Media Literacy: Print Advertising “Teenagers are strongly influenced by advertising.” AGREE or DISAGREE EXPLAIN/DISCUSS This quotation is a sweeping generalization. Does it apply to you?

7. Match these mottos!

8. Test your Brand Knowledge

9. Who are these people?

10. Advertisements and You • You will have 3 minutes to answer the following questions: • Where do you usually find ads? What is the definition of advertisement? • What about the classroom? Is the school free from ads? • Advertisement: a paid announcement for the sale of goods and services or a public notice that calls the attention of the public.

11. All Around Us! • The amount of advertising and marketing North Americans are exposed to daily has exploded over the past decade; studies show, that on average we see 3,000 ads per day. At the gas pumps, in the movie theatre, in a washroom stall, during sporting events – advertising is impossible to avoid. • Even outer space is not safe from commercialization; the Russian space program launched a rocket bearing a 30-foot Pizza Hut logo, and some companies have investigated placing ads in space that will be visible from earth.

12. How do they target us? • Ambient advertising - Ambient advertising is about placing ads on unusual items or in unusual places you wouldn’t normally see an ad. An ambient ad doesn’t have to be placed outside. Ambient advertising can be found anywhere and everywhere! • Cars, bicycles, taxis and buses have become moving commercials. Ambient ads appear on store floors, at gas pumps, in washroom stalls, on elevator walls, park benches, telephones, fruit and even pressed into the sand on beaches.

15. Stealth-Endorsers – Marketers are moving away from the traditional use of celebrities as product sellers, since a cynical public no longer believes that celebrities actually use the products they endorse in commercials. • The trend now is to brand celebrities with specific merchandise by having them use or wear products in public appearances or promote them in media interviews – without making it clear that the celebrities are paid spokesperson.

17. Naming Rights – Corporations are turning public spaces into commodities by purchasing naming rights to arenas, theatres, parks, schools, museums, and even subway systems. • Cash-strapped municipalities see naming rights as a way to raise much-needed revenues without raising taxes.

18. Targeted Advertising – This type of advertising is a form of Internet marketing. Using data collecting technologies, web sites can combine a users’ personal information with surfing preferences to create ads that are specifically tailored for that user.

19. Product Placement – The future of product placement as a successful advertising tool was assured when the 1982 film ET featured Reese’s Pieces in an important scene – causing sales of the candy to jump 65 percent. • Since that time, product placement in movies, on television, and increasingly in video games, has become a commonplace marketing technique. Product placement in feature films and television reaches millions of consumers, over and over again.

21. Digital Advertising – Digital advertising goes one step further than product placement by using computer technology to add products to scenes that were never there to begin with. This practice is common in sporting events coverage, where ads are digitally inserted onto the billboards, sideboards and playing surfaces in arenas and stadiums.

22. Becoming Informed Print-Ad Deconstruction What is Deconstruction? • Deconstruction is a method used to analyze media. • Deconstruction is when we take a media example apart to look at the pieces used to create it and the effect they have on the final product. • Deconstruction leads to identifying and understanding messages conveyed beyond the selling of the product or service.

23. Design Features • A striking contrast between black and white is easy to see. • Simple, uncluttered forms are easy for people to identify and read. • Black and white with a third colour can emphasize key information. • Complex uses of type and image become a puzzle the viewer must solve. • Photographs of people can make a message more real and believable. • Use of colours – warm or cool – can bring out specific emotions.

24. Terms you must know! • Foreground – the space of the advertisement that is closest to the viewer. • Background – the space of the advertisement that is furthest to the viewer.

25. Look at the Visuals! • What are the people in the picture doing? • What are the expressions on their faces? • What clothes are they wearing? • Who or what might be left out of the picture? Why?

26. Look at the Words! • Read every word in the ad - even the smallest font • What do the words say? • How is something worded? • What details and/or typefaces have been provided? • What has/might have been left out? Why?

27. Look at the Layout • How do the words relate to the images? • Notice how your eye moves as it first encounters the ad? • Do you think your eyes are attracted to the brightest portion of the page? • What can you tell about the 'target audience" this publication is trying to reach?

28. PRINT ADDECONSTRUCTION • CONTEXT • a) Who created this message? • ) Who is the target audience? • ) Why was this message sent? • ) In what magazine is the ad found? SUBTEXT The ad suggests a meaning—it doesn’t state the meaning directly. --What are some possible messages that the advertiser wants you to think or feel after viewing this ad? --Explain your answer to this question with direct reference to the advertisement. CREATIVE TECHNIQUES Colour and Design --How is colour used to attract my attention? --Evaluate the layout of words and images. Is your eye drawn to one area? Is the layout simple or busy? Is the layout effective? Explain. --What kinds of technologies were used to construct this message? Language --Read all of the words on the page. What comes to mind when you see these words/phrases? What feelings do you experience when you look at the image(s)? Appeals --What appeals/strategies are used? Explain. ACCURACY --What is true and false about the subtext message in this ad? --How might different people understand this ad differently? Maslow --According to Maslow’s theory, to what human need is the advertiser connecting their product? --Explain

29. CONTEXT • a) Cadbury Adams, which owns Trident, paid for this ad. • ) This ad was found in a woman’s magazine, which means that women—most likely between 20-50—are being targeted. Based on the style of dress and the nanny in the background, we can surmise that a high-end market is the primary socio-economic group targeted. • )This is a new product-line extension, which is being promoted to generate sales. • )This print ad was taken from Allure—a woman’s entertainment and beauty magazine.

30. CREATIVE TECHNIQUES • Colour and Design • The colour yellow is cleverly used in this advertisement. Notice that there are three main splashes of yellow—the frozen treat, the lady’s dress and the trident package. These three splashes of yellow contrast with the green background and draw the eye towards them. The size and placement of this colour forces the reader to follow a carefully crafted story: first the reader looks at the “problem” (the large frozen treat), then the eye will notice the “victim” (the lady) and finally the eye moves down to find the “solution” (the gum). By using a single colour that is bright and stands out, the creators of the ad focus our eye on the story and as a result, on the product!

31. CREATIVE TECHNIQUES Language The words and phrases that stand out to me in this advertisement are “Survive” and “Fight Back”. It seems that feeling hungry is a negative thing. These words give me the impression that feeling hungry is a feeling that should be resisted and overcome. Appeals Two main appeals are employed in this advertisement. First, “The-Slice-of-Life” strategy. Clearly a story is being told that includes a conflict (being hungry) and the product is offered as a solution. Second, the “humour strategy” is used. Some people might find it funny that this beautiful woman is battling with a giant frozen villain.

32. Maslow According to Maslow’s theory, the advertiser is connecting Trident to esteem needs. The ad suggests that you will achieve success, confidence and power if you resist the temptation to eat and chew this gum instead.

33. SUBTEXT The unstated message of this ad is that women’s bodies must be controlled. If we want to be beautiful, we must fight against our body’s natural desires. The woman in this image is thin, feminine (dainty shoes/sundress) and strong (she is holding a trike over her head). If we want to be like this, we must fight the urge to eat.

34. CREATIVE TECHNIQUES • Colour and Design • The colour yellow is cleverly used in this advertisement. Notice that there are three main splashes of yellow—the frozen treat, the lady’s dress and the trident package. These three splashes of yellow contrast with the green background and draw the eye towards them. The size and placement of this colour forces the reader to follow a carefully crafted story: first the reader looks at the “problem” (the large frozen treat), then the eye will notice the “victim” (the lady) and finally the eye moves down to find the “solution” (the gum). By using a single colour that is bright and stands out, the creators of the ad focus our eye on the story and as a result, on the product! PRINT ADDECONSTRUCTION • CONTEXT • a) Cadbury Adams, which owns Trident, paid for this ad. • ) This ad was found in a woman’s magazine, which means that women—most likely between 20-50—are being targeted. Based on the style of dress and the nanny in the background, we can surmise that a high-end market is the primary socio-economic group targeted. • )This is a new product-line extension, which is being promoted to generate sales. • )This print ad was taken from Allure—a woman’s entertainment and beauty magazine. SUBTEXT The unstated message of this ad is that women’s bodies must be controlled. If we want to be beautiful, we must fight against our body’s natural desires. The woman in this image is thin, feminine (dainty shoes/sundress) and strong (she is holding a trike over her head). If we want to be like this, we must fight the urge to eat. ACCURACY To many women, this ad reinforces the incorrect idea that being thin is beautiful. With eating disorders on the rise and few girls and women celebrating their bodies regardless of their size, this ad perpetuates the unhealthy message that rather than have a healthy snack or eat a meal—you should eat gum. Clearly this problematic. Language The words and phrases that stand out to me in this advertisement are “Survive” and “Fight Back”. It seems that feeling hungry is a negative thing. These words give me the impression that feeling hungry is a feeling that should be resisted and overcome. Appeals Two main appeals are employed in this advertisement. First, “The-Slice-of-Life” strategy. Clearly a story is being told that includes a conflict (being hungry) and the product is offered as a solution. Second, the “humour strategy” is used. Some people might find it funny that this beautiful woman is battling with a giant frozen villain. Maslow According to Maslow’s theory, the advertiser is connecting Trident to esteem needs. The ad suggests that you will achieve success, confidence and power if you resist the temptation to eat and chew this gum instead.

36. Your Turn • Get the needed materials: a print ad that you find interesting, poster board, glue, scissors, markers etc. • Study the ad. Use the questions on the assignment handout to guide your study and create rough copy notes. • Revise and edit your notes--add details and support for your ideas from the ad. • Prepare good copy and assemble poster. • Prepare to present your findings.