Comm 406: Relay and Public Service Advertising

In our Public Relations group for Relay, we are working to maintain the public image for the campaign. Our job is basically to make sure the students as well as the community in Shepherdstown,WV are aware of what the campaign is actually about. We are basically the information providers. Our jobs include sending out press releases and making sure that information and ads for the campaign can be put into newspapers, fliers, etc. For each idea, our group has come up with various events. For all of the events, we decided that it would be a good idea to create a "like" page on Facebook. We also thought about building dinners and bake sales (which would raise money) around each event. For the Pirate theme we thought it would be a good idea to have a movie night at the opera house showing "Pirates of the Caribbean" which would also raise money. We also thought that it would be a cool idea for everyone to change their language to "pirate" on Facebook for that day. For "Rockin' Relay" we came up with the idea of having a Rockband contest where you would donate money to play the game. The winner's name would be posted on Facebook after. For the superhero theme, we thought of having everyone change their Facebook picture to their favorite superhero for the day. We also brought up having a Spiderman web-shooting contest in which people would donate to play. We also thought it would be a good idea to give all the cancer survivors capes to wear during the events. We thought that advertising all of these events at local schools would be affective. Fundraisers at these local school could also help to raise money. Even though we have all of these ideas, I think that they could use some extensive work. Comparing it to the "Public Service Advertising," article, it seems that we have a lot more work to do. I think that Relay for Life needs to be thoroughly researched in regards to just how much Shepherd University has raised in the past years. It would also be good to see where we rank in comparison to other universities. The most important thing that we would need to do would be to stress that Relay for Life is not only for Shepherd students. We need to come up with some other good ideas to urge the Shepherdstown community that all of the events are open to general public as well. In order for this campaign to be effective, we need to make sure that students as well as general public know what Relay for Life is all about. The campaigns that I read about in the article were successful because of their constant drive to stress the issues as well as come up with creative events. I think that our events are very creative, but there is always room for improvement.

Jeffrey Simms Photography

Dove Campaign for Real Beauty

In Advertising and Imagery class, we discussed the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. The goal of the campaign is to make women comfortable and confident in the way they look. It' sthe idea that you can just be who you are, look the way you do, and not have to feel bad about it. This campaign boosts women's self-esteem and lets them know that they don't need to be the skinny, young conditioned super model to be beautiful. The campaign features print ads, television commercials, and public relations meetings which stress the confidence that women should feel about their own unique beauty.

This is an excellent campaign because it concentrates on the positives of self-esteem and recognizes real, everyday women. The image shown is from Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty. One signifier is the young woman's confident facial expression. Her expression signifies that she feels happy, confident, and proud of the way she looks. She confidently shows off her freckles, unafraid of what people have to say. She truly feels beautiful :).

lifestreamer

Semiotics: The Signifier and Signified

Semiotics is defined as the systematic study of signs, or, more precisely, of the production of meanings from sign systems, linguistics, and non-linguistics. There are two parts of a sign. One part is the signifier, the form which the sign takes. The other part is the signifier, which is the concept it represents. Signification is the relationship between the signifier and signified. In class, we were asked to chosse an ad and explain one sign and what is signified from it. We then had to come up with the additional signs and find signifieds of our own.

My partner and I chose an ad for a German Doc Morris Pharmacy condom. We chose the facial hair (hair and mustache) as our first sign. The facial hair, which resembles that of Adolf Hitler, signifies that the next Hitler could possibly be conceived in the act of unprotected sex. It signifies this by warning people that having unprotected sex, that they might be blamed for the next Hitler. The sperm itself signifies the one possible cell that is going to become the next historical villian. The millions of other sperm cells surrounding the main one (Hitler) signify the other potential cells to be conceived. The blue shades, which color the ad signify the relaxed effect of the safety you will feel if you do have protected sex. The condom itself represents the product available for the actual proctice of safe sex. It signifies the safety of using it. The blank white background signifies the sexual purity, or in a way, cleanliness (I know it sounds funny) of having protected sex and implies that it will be okay if you use the condom.

adweek

Gotcha! What worked?What didn't work?

In advertising class, we completed a tween phone campaign titled "Gotcha!" After reviewing our ads in class, we discovered some things that worked and other things that didn't work. Our weakest ad was the one we did for National Geographic Kids. This ad features a giraffe and a fish underwater separated by a yellow strip of text. The text states "on land or underwater, we gotcha covered." In class we discussed how this ad can be very misleading. If you take a close look at the ad, it could imply that the phone could actually be used while underwater. The phone is not waterproof, but this ad tends to imply that it is. The message that we were really trying to send off is that no matter where your children are, you will still be able to reach them. Better photos of the giraffe and fish also could have been used in this ad. I think that maybe if we worked on improving the slogan and improved our images, it would have turned out a lot better. I do think that our other ads worked out pretty well.

The ad that we used for the Girl's magazine probably could have been better if we had tinted the black and white photo of the shoe. Other than that I think that it still brought about the clear message that at that age girls are thinking about love.The bright pinks helped the phone show through. A lot of grown women can even remember drawing on their shoes. So I think that we did a good job of connecting with the audience on that one.

Our best ad was the one we did for the Game magazine. It features a cute colorful robot representing the fact that this is a phone you will be able to have fun with. The bright blue background brought out the colorful little robot really well. The slogan "the phone you can play all day with" really brought out the meaning of the ad and what the phone can actually do.

How the Social Media Campaigns Effect Society

Today the social media is something that is used everyday in order to interact with the world. Sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are used globally! The Forbes article discusses that using these websites for advertising is an overall successful technique. The article focuses on how Old Spice used sites such as Facebook and Twitter to socialize and break their backs in order for consumers to consider and purchase their product. Showing feedback to your consumers is a really good way to gain their attention in advertising.

At the end of the article it mentions that keeping the message "compelling and interesting enough that a viewer or participant wants to share it with a friend" is key to a successful campaign. Much like the ad campaigns discussed in the article, is McDonald's. Not only are they worldwide, but they sponsor the Olympics and have lots of celebrity sponsorships. McDonald's now uses Facebook and Twitter to get out information about new promotions, products, and specials. It is a great way to make their brand an everyday part of the consumer's life. It was a big deal when they started advertising their espresso McCafe specialty drinks in order to compete with Starbucks expensive prices. The ads speak to us by implying that paying that much for a coffee is ridiculous and can be avoided by buying their brand at a lower cost.

photo from ursonate

My Favorite Ad Campaign

I have always been a sucker for looking over the ads in my favorite magazines. I like ads that can not only grab the reader's attention, but make them think and reflect on themselves. An advertisement should be something that not only gains your interest, but makes you want to think and possibly act on what you are seeing.

Advertising campaigns work to grab interest by using various techniques: unique graphics, appealing colors, celebrities or people an audience will recognize, etc. To get back on topic I would like to say that I enjoy those "got milk?" ads. You know the ones where you get to see all of your favorite celebrities sporting the famous milk mustache? I also like the "my anti-drug" advertisements. I think that using celebrities is one of the best ways the media can grab an audience's interest because these are people they will recognize. Recognizing someone famous is always a great technique because you are guaranteed a response whether it be good or bad.

The "got milk?" ads are always enjoyable to look at and see which star is gonna be sporting the milk mustache next. The ads are effective because they also give a description about how much dairy we should consume. It makes the reader want to drink more milk and eat more dairy which in the end helps the milk industry! :)

Photo from Joshua 9000

What I hope to accomplish in Advertising and Imagery!

In my Advertising and Imagery class I hope to learn about the importance of advertising and how it influences the media today. I hope to learn how to create and develop advertisements. I am a Communications major and this class seems very interesting and fun! I would also like to learn more working with iMovie,Photoshop, etc. I am interested in the cultural and political influences of advertising. I'd like to learn where it all comes from.  I look forward to working with Monica and the class! : )

Photo from jenmiville