Politics and Advertising

Advertising has a huge impact on politics and has consistently grown over the years. “It was the dawn of television that changed the way politicians reached their audiences. Before that, it was all about getting out and about, meeting the voters, holding town-hall debates and shaking hands” (http://advertising.about.com/od/history/a/A-Brief-History-Of-Political-Advertising-In-The-Usa.htm). It wasn't until Dwight D. Eisenhower took advantage of commercials and started to show simple but effective ads. After this, people realized how powerful a thirty second ad could be. Ads have gained so much power that they have the ability to completely change the outcome of an election in a heartbeat. “Both sides are looking for an edge, and more rigorous science leads to more efficient campaigning” (http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/advertising.aspx). This is exactly true. People want to have an ad that is edgy and unlike anything they have seen before. Due to this, parties will use each others ads to point out the bad qualities of their competition. These are known as attack ads. This is the number one type of advertising used in presidential campaigns. The opponents simply “attack” one another. “The theme of a 1952 Democratic attack ad was that the Republicans engaged in double speak—that they would say one thing to one group and another to another group. This is an enduring theme in campaigns: that the opposition cannot be trusted to do what they say” (http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/284996.html). Presidential candidates try to point out the flaws of the other party. Overall, advertising has influenced politics in many ways over the years and since the use of social networking and television is become treaters ads will only become more influential. 

Joan Rivers Relevant To Fashion

Joan Rivers was a woman that had a huge impact on fashion. It is because of her that we consider the Red Carpet a type of event. Before Joan Rivers, celebrities would just walk down the Red Carpet and people did not really bother to ask them what they were wearing. This all changed with Joan Rivers. “To create something fresh, you need to know what has already been done” (Advertising By Design, 107). Joan Rivers knew that she needed to bring something new and fresh to the Red Carpet so she made an effort to figure out who and what the celebrities were wearing. “Very basically, in advertising, telling is narration—events conveyed by a narrator or presenter; it is also called diegesis or summary. Showing is mimetic, directly visually or dramatically representing events; it is also called mimesis or scene” (Advertising By Design, 110). She would personally interview celebrities and create a scene with them so they could have a conversation and entertain people. This helped make her idea have more of an impact. As time went on, Joan Rivers appeared on the show Fashion Police. It was unlike any other fashion show. She advertise herself and fashion by lecturing viewers. “In a lecture a product or service is featured by discussing it; a brand is presented for your consideration, typified with a presentation by a talking head, where the presenter talks at or to the viewer, announces, describes, highlights, declares, states offers, or provides information, still or in motion in any media” (Advertising By Design, 110). Joan Rivers would discuss the daily fashion trends and critique people’s outfits. This was sometimes good and sometimes bad. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Due to all of this, Joan Rivers had a tremendous impact on the fashion industry. If it wasn't for her, the Red Carpet wouldn't be the ‘Red Carpet’. 

Analysis of Project In The Real World

“If you were to entertain a different construction of an event, you could behave “as if” that construction were real, thus exploring possibilities within that frame.” (Advertising By Design, 35). I think that my ad would do very well in the real world. I showed my campaign to my peers and they said that they really liked my ad. The liked how I designed the billboard and put it all together. My friend who works for Richard Petty Driving Experience and Ford told me that my slogan is something that Ford would really consider using. This made me think that if my project was to really happen in the real world, it would be successful. Showing my billboard to them and getting their feedback really helped me with think of how I could promote this even more. “Seeing a situation, brand, organization, product, service, or behavior from a different perspective (reversal) can help stimulate ideas” (Advertising By Design, 36). I think that if my campaign really happened, it would be a success. I think it would really grab people’s attention and make them want a Ford Mustang. 

Creative Content

“A campaign must have visual impact, whether a visual surprise, graphic interest, visual drama, or a breakthrough appearance” (Advertising By Design, 204). My campaign includes a billboard. I used big font so that my slogan and the Ford logo are easy to notice while people are driving by. “Display type functions as a dominant typographic component and is usually large or bold. Titles and subtitles, headlines and sub headlines, headings and subheadings are all set in display type” (Advertising By Design, 129). As you can see below, my billboard is very simple but it portrays what the Mustang is really about. 

Promotion

There are many things that a person can do in order to promote their brand. For this project I created a billboard. Due to my artistic abilities and how limited they are, I was not able to create a commercial. However, I do have a list of ideas I would do in order to promote the Mustang even further than my billboard. I would create a huge event where people could drive Mustang’s as fast as they could and see how powerful the car really is. To do this, I would call one of the racetracks in Las Vegas and Ford and ask them if they would like to work together in a campaign for the Mustang. If they said yes, then I would have people help me advertise the event on the radio, local news, social media, and many other ways. “Brand fans abound on social networking sites. People view brand videos on YouTube and share them with friends. Sharing links to humorous micro–Web sites is commonplace. Using mobile devices to send photos of oneself enjoying a branded experience is not unusual. Millions of free branded applications (apps) have been downloaded. Offering deals to brand fans on FaceBook and Twitter further endears a brand to such fans” (Advertising By Design, 11). The connections that people have with each other would help spread the word of the event and it would hopefully turn into something big. This would help Ford get noticed even more for their Mustang. I believe that if people could drive a Mustang and realize how powerful and cool it is then they will want to buy one of their own. I would also create a commercial. “Commercial advertising promotes brands and commodities by informing consumers; it is also used to promote individuals, groups, corporations, manufacturers. Commercial advertising takes many forms, from single print advertisements to campaigns in any media to sponsorships to branded utilities” (Advertising By Design, 7). Commercials are seen everywhere and I think this would help campaign the Ford Mustang tremendously. 

The Big Idea

“Advertising is used in a free-market system to promote one brand or group over another” (Advertising By Design, 3). My ad for the Ford Mustang uses a comparison that is known world wide. This is the beauty and the beast. I believe that this will attract customers to buy the Mustang because they can all relate to wanting to feel good-looking and powerful. I also am differentiating myself from my competitors by not showing the car at all. “Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Rather than proceeding directly to the conceptual development stages, our study benefits greatly from a discussion of the process of finding insights” (Advertising By Design, 68). After analyzing these things for the competitors of the Mustang, I realized that the Mustang is so well known that people don't need to see the car to know what the advertisement is about. Due to this I am just showing an image of a Mustang horse. I also kept my ad simple so that I can get my point across easier. “What is unethical is almost easier to identify than what is ethical. Here is an obvious list of do's:

> Treat the audience with respect; respect people's religion, race, gender, age, and ethnicity.

> Be truthful.

> Be responsible.” (Advertising By Design, 13).

In my advertisement, I kept it truthful and respectful. I didn't want to put lies on it and create a false image of the Mustang. I want to keep it simple and easy to understand. “A composition is the form, the whole spatial property and structure resulting from the intentional visualization and arrangement of graphic elements (type and visuals) in relation to one another and to the format” (Advertising By Design, 155). I arranged everything in a way to make it more appealing and effective to the people viewing it. Since it is meant for billboards, I made the words big and clear so that people driving by it can read it easily and not get distracted. 

Competitive Analysis

“Learning about your client's business (general industry or sector and particular business, product, service, or organization) is paramount” (Advertising By Design, 16). While I was doing research on the Mustang I discovered that the Ford Mustang’s main competitors are all sports cars. These include the Dodge Challenger R/T, Dodge Charger R/T, Chevrolet Camaro SS, Subaru Impreza WRX STI Limited, Audi S4, and the Audi S5 Premium Plus. All these cars compete with one another due to their power and sporty look. “The morphological method is based on analysis and synthesis (see diagram 3-1). You analyze a problem by defining all its important factors, as well as the immediately apparent options for solutions. Then you synthesize, that is, combine the factors and options to produce a matrix containing possible solutions” (Advertising By Design, 33). I looked at the ads for a lot of the sports cars and made a chart showing the similarities and differences between their ads and I noticed that they always show an image of the car either on the road or with a person standing by it. I also noticed that they compare themselves to one another. They perform drives and tests and see who wins but the results are not very reliable. Some of the differences I found are the size of the car and the engine. I noticed that the engines are always really important in these cars. People want to have the best engine possible. Overall, I came up with a strategy for my ad by using what other car ads don't use. “From the strategy, you conceive a premise, a central theme, that forms the basis of your claim. The premise should be based on an insight into the brand, the product (or service or group), and the audience” (Advertising By Design, 193). I decided to not show the car at all but rather show the Mustang horse and the Ford logo.