Why do advertisements with CGI animals usually sell better than those without?
I am interested to know why advertisements with animals in usually sell better than those without. I am going to look at the theory of Semiotics, aspects of the theory of advertising and then apply that to the Meerkat themed comparethemarket advertisements.
One of the broadest definitions of the theory of Semiotics is that of Umberto Eco, who states that 'semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign' (Eco 1976, 7). In his publication Semiotics for beginners, Daniel Chandler expanded "Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as 'signifying' something - referring to or standing for something other than itself. We interpret things as signs largely unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions" (Chandler 2005, intro). Saussure said that a sign is the interaction of its two component parts, the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the form that the sign takes and the signified is the concept that it represents. An example would be, the word 'Open' on a shop doorway, it is a sign consisting of a signifier, the word "open" and a signified concept, that the shop is open for business (Chandler 2005 signs).
The way a sign is interpreted can depend on the conventions within our society, we learn these conventions (or codes as they are referred to in Semiotics) as we grow up, most we pick up subconsciously through social interaction. For example, in Britain it was convention for the signs on public toilets to be written as "Ladies" and "Gents", the interpretation of these signs was depended on knowledge of the code, in this case being able to read written English or by knowledge passed on by word of mouth. The introduction of graphical signs made it possible for non-English speakers to interpret the message on the door but when they were first introduced we all had to learn the visual code to interpret them. Daniel Chandler has suggested that there are different categories of codes, social, textural and interpretive codes, each consisting of a number of elements. Social codes include: verbal language (phonological, syntactical, lexical, prosodic and paralinguistic sub codes); bodily codes (bodily contact, proximity, physical orientation, appearance, facial expression, gaze, head nods, gestures and posture); commodity codes (fashions, clothing, cars); and within textural codes he has included genre, rhetorical and stylistic codes: narrative (plot, character, action, dialogue, setting, etc.), exposition, argument and so on; and mass media codes including photographic, televisual, filmic, radio, newspaper and magazine codes, both technical and conventional (including format). (Chandler 2005 codes).
In Marketing Week, George Everett from VCCP outlined their initial thoughts for the Comparethe Market campaign "we realised it was better to put the campaign on an emotional rather than a rational platform. It works better in this price comparison space to get your name remembered than to claim product superiority." (Guardian. 29th April 2010) They created Alexandr Orlov the Meerkat and with a clever campaign built him up into a celebrity, by association they raised the profile of the brand. Alexandr's image on TV immediately signals "ComparetheMarket" and the clever use of social networking in his name also maintained brand awareness. For example, recently he was interviewed on ITV's Good Morning programme, no mention was made of insurance but it reminded the viewer of the brand. In the last few years there have been several memorable TV advertising campaigns featuring animal characters such as the Churchill bulldog, ITV/PG tips monkey or the Cadbury gorilla. Alexandr and Churchill have been developed into brand ambassadors. They are both a blend of animal and human characteristics that produced personalities capable of capturing the public's attention, this is called Personification. Agencies have frequently used established celebrities to raise the profile of their campaigns, an example being David Beckham's appearance in Gillette and Adidas adverts. Which raises the question, why have some advertising agencies used animal styled characters to front their campaigns in preference to human celebrities? The characters attributes can be moulded to suit the brand image and story lines created to replicate human life. Fictional characters are reliable and totally controllable, they don’t need contracts and exorbitant fees and they won’t let brands down with "transgressions" committed in their personal life. Like characters in soap operas they become familiar, almost friends and by this means they creep into the lives of the viewer.
Lerner and Kalof have studied the use of animals in advertising, in their article, The Animal Text - Message and Meaning in Television Advertisements, they said "animals that were given human characteristics were typically part of a multithemed message that portrayed animals as allegories" (Sociolgical Quarterly Vol 40 Issue 4 1990). It is the role of advertisers to differentiate similar products from each other, and they do this by associating a product with a specific set of social values. The meerkat was used to represent a sociable, hard working person and Alexandr in particular was portrayed as wealthy and sucessful but not intimidating. The meerkat has become a visual metaphor for these qualities (Chandler 2005, rhetorical tropes). The theory that an image can convey a message originated in the work of linguist Saussure who called it semiotics. His work was further developed by Charles Sanders, Peirce, Roland Barthes and later Umbeto Eco whose Theory of Semiotics made the concept more widely known.
The character of Alexander Orlov despite being covered in fur is very human; the arrangement of facial features is reminiscent of a human face. Meerkats naturally stand upright on their rear legs when on lookout in the wild this is also a human characteristic. The addition of the red smoking jacket covering most of his torso adds to the impression of him being human yet he retains his cute, non threatening meerkat appearance. The use of a meerkat as opposed to any other animal was primarily governed by the rhyming of "meerkat" and "market" in Comparethemarket.com. However understanding the cultural meanings that viewers assign to animal characters helps in the development of a successful advertising campaign and agencies try to create characters that embody desired brand meanings, while avoiding characters with negative associations. For example, in our culture, a bee symbolizes industriousness, a dove represents peace, and a fox embodies cunning (Phillips 1996 p354). The meekat, being a fairly obscure African animal, was not immediately associated with any British cultural values but in the months prior to the launch of this campaign the BBC had been showing a series called Meerkat Manor. In the programmes, video footage of the animals was edited and a voice over added that gave the individual animals names, explained their extended family structure and involved the viewer in their daily activities, it was a soap opera with animal actors and developed a cult following. The programme portrayed Meerkats as sociable, family orientated and hard working, all characteristics that would be recognised and approved of by a viewer intending to buy insurance.
So why did VCCP use CGI characters in preference to real meerkats in their campaign? Firstly they didn't want to be seen as a copy of Meerkat Manor the brand must have its own unique identity. The cost of training real animals and possible accusations of animal exploitation were another consideration. PG Tips dropped their famous using real chimps in favour of a knitted monkey puppet and relied on Jonnie Vegas to inject humour. The use of CGI allows more subtle control over facial features and proportions. Cadbury's drum playing Gorilla was a supreme example of this, the very realistic CGI gorilla's face had extremely human expressions, the ad had no words, just Phil Collin's sound track and the image of a chocolate bar, the implication of joy came from the expressions on the characters face. Andrex still use real puppies in their ads but they don’t put clothes on them. Andrex puppy's sentimental appeal is more suited to its largely female target market. The character of Alexandr has a more universal appeal appropriate to insurance, allowing the use of humour rather than sentimentally. The morphing of human and meerkat characteristics was made possible by using CGI.
In January 2009 ComparetheMarket.com launched their TV advertising campaign staring the animated CGI meerkat called Alexandr Orlov. The humorous adverts were based on the fictional supposition that people were mistakenly going to his website, Comparethemeerkat.com, looking for car insurance advice. Orlov wishes to correct this error and send them to the more appropriate Comparethemarket.com site. The campaign created by agent VCCP, has been a great success and in the very competitive world of insurance comparison sites, boosted ComparetheMarket from the low teens to forth in the rankings. I shall use the codes mentioned to make a semiotic analysis of the original Alexandr TV advertisement, to show how its creators VCCP constructed his image communicated their message to the viewing public.
Verbal language - the most obvious observation is the use of the stylised Russian accent, this is immediately different from most ads and attracts the viewer's attention. Previously Jonnie Vegas used a distinctive Lancashire accent in the successful PG tips "Monkey" adverts. Alexandr's speaks in short sentences with a slight pause between phrases, "I am Alexandr founder of compare the Meerkat.com, where we compare Meerkats" with an exaggeration on the word Meekat to emphasise that this is his subject. The style is reminiscent of that spoken in English public schools and gives an impression of authority and privilege, it is slightly condescending, he is trying to explain the difference between his site and the insurance comparison site to a slightly thick public. Catching the viewer's attention is reinforced in the final scene where he introduces his catch phrase "simples". Simples is not a recognised word in the English language but a corruption of simple. It is assumed that Alexandr's accent has caused this corruption but it is the strange noise (air being sucked through teeth) he makes following the word that makes it stand out, it is an idiosyncratic gesture that might be associated with the kindly lord of the manor or not too scary headmaster.
Bodily codes - With the exception of one scene Alexandr is facing the camera and addressing the viewer directly, that way his facial features are foreshortened drawing attention away from the length of his nose and making him more human. By addressing the camera directly he is demanding the viewers attention. When he is seen full height he is standing on a stool, obviously he is conscious of being shorter than humans and wishes to increase his stature. It could also be interpreted as a way of showing his authority, it is like standing on a stage to make a speech, not only can the audience see him better but being physically higher gives the speaker power over the audience. At all other times Alexandr is seen either full face or from the waist up, increasing his intimacy with the viewer. In the third scene he is standing next to book case declaring that "I can not find you cheep car insurance" he snaps closed the book in his hand and turns away from the viewer raising his chin to indicate his frustration at people coming to the wrong website. The authority of a headmaster returns when Alexandr's is seen between two easels displaying very similar layouts, the only difference being the substitution of Meerkat for Market, he is holding a pointer/cane and uses it to tap on the appropriate board to point out the supposed difference between the two. In the final scene when he is seen full face, delivering his "simples" catch phrase there is definitely a hint of a smile on his face, injecting humour and restoring the intimacy, leaving the viewer feeling as though they have been given a lecture but by an eccentric, slightly mad, aristocrat but without any malice.
Commodity codes - The setting for the Ad is inside an old stately home, wood panelling, ornate fire place, gold crest on mantle, over large desk with gold framed pictures on it, the dark slightly smokey atmosphere, immediately tell the viewer that this is an older gentleman with money. The open fire is old fashioned (he may not have central heating) yet it also creates a warm, cheery atmosphere in the room. His red smoking jacket and cravat also say old, eccentric and with pedigree. He has a large library that he uses so the viewer knows he is educated. The old fashioned computers he is using tell the viewer that he is not up to date with technology, yet he supposed to be running his own website. The implication is that Meerkats do not use the latest equipment but can visit the correct website whereas humans have the smartphones etc but get the wrong website. Where a computer screen is shown it has the compare the market colours and where possible the logo.
Genre, rhetorical and stylistic codes - The first TV advertisement introduced Alexandr to the viewer and the narrative continued with subsequent ads introducing the viewer to Alexandrs extended family and their family's history. The linked ads all serve to keep the profile of the company in the public's awareness but the agency has also used other social media to promote Alexandr and add to his celebrity status. He has a facebook page, is on twitter, has his videos on youtube and even his cuddly toys are caused a riot in Harrods.
Mass media codes - The production techniques used on the ad are also signifiers though the viewer may not be conscious that he is decoding them. The camera is always stationary, no sophisticated camera techniques. The cut from one scene to the next is jumpy and sudden, giving the feeling that they are all recorded using the same camera then edited together. The colours are muted and the pictures are slightly fuzzy as though produced on a low-resolution video camera. The viewer is lead to believe that the ad has been put together by Alexandr himself or as we later learn his assistant Sergei. They are amateurs, tying to convey their irritation that a big company is causing them a lot of trouble, in so doing the viewer is aware that a lot of people are using Compare the market, it is a popular site and they should also use it.
Further evidence of the success of this campaign can be seen in the popularity of the real meerkats with zoos reporting an increase in visitors, particularly to their enclosures. There are even newspaper headlines such as "Meerkat thief arrests made" (The Sun 21st Jan 2011) Apparently a meerkat was stolen from its enclosure at Wingham Wildlife Park in Canterbury and the zoo thinks that it was intended as a pet. Another consequence of Compare the market's advertising success, is rival Go compare, has changed the style of their latest advertising campaign and introduced their own "celebrity" an opera singer with moustache to compete with meerkat. Despite the similarly of approach the human character has not had the same appeal, being regarded as silly.
CGI gave the advertising agency VCCP the freedom to combine human and animal features, to create a character that would become the focus of their campaign. Their TV advertising was a practical use of the theory of Semiotics. The ComparetheMarket campaign captured the attention of the British viewer because it contained numerous signifiers that, when decoded have endeared Alexandr to the general public. The campaign was a huge success because it was a synthesis of Semiotic messages and the clever use of conventional and social media. In this celebrity dominated culture Alexandr has become the ultimate celebrity, his name and by association the brand are recognised by most people in this country.
Bibliography:
Books:
• Hall, S, 2007. This means this, This means that: A users guide to semiotics. King
• Phillips, B. J., 1996. Advertising and the cultural meaning of animals in advertising. Vol 23. Texas: The University of Texas at Austin. P354
• Eco. U. A theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University press. 1976. P7
Online:
• Chandler. D. 2005. Introduction. In: Semiotics for Beginners, available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
• Chandler. D. 2005. Signs. In: Semiotics for Beginners, available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
• Chandler. D. 2005. Codes. In: Semiotics for Beginners, available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
• Chandler. D. 2005. Rhetorical Tropes. In: Semiotics for Beginners, available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
Newspapers:
• 2010. From Russia with brand love. Guardian. 29 April. Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/disciplines/digital/from-russia-with-brand-love/3012799.article. [Accessed on 28 March 2011]
• Staff reporter. 2011. Meerkat theft arrests made. The Sun. 21 Jan. Available at: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3362768/Meerkat-theft-arrests-made.html. [Accessed on 28 March 2011]
Friday 1 April 2011
Friday 25 March 2011
portfolio task 3
The syntagmatic structure of the visual is important to the viewers opinions. By using friendly terminology that catches the readers eye initially and then again in the sub-heading, by the time you get to the pictures you are feeling possitive at the events shown because it is writen in a personal way rather than telling the story in a way that disconnects from the reader.
Portfolio task 7
This is an example of the type of covers the magazine 'Nuts' uses. The cor audience is young teenage boys. construction of such an 'other' secures and stabilises the identity, and sense of self because the women in the magazine are portrayed as sexy, avaliable and in need of lust from boys. It make the reader feel better about himself because he feels as though the girl is in need of acceptance buy him so he feels more important when he lusts for them.
Wednesday 16 March 2011
Portfolio task 5
Lefbvre had a theory on the space around is. He communicated this theory through a diagram called the Spatial Triad. This includes 3 parts; the first made up of ideals, imagination, theory and visions which makes Representational Space. The second is Representations of Space which is made up of maps, plans, models and designs. The third and final componant to Lefbvres theory diagram is Practice. Practice is made of daily routine and urban reality.
Example:
Leeds College of Art.
Planners and architects, when designing Leeds college of Art had a vision of constructing a place of learning where students can develop their higher education and then use their newly developed skills to improve and make their mark on the world. The plan was also to produce a more educated and submissive poulation, and to gain money from the students and hopefully creating a profit for the government. Looking at the 'representations of space' in the College of Art, the visions and ideals have been lived up to. The space is producing a profit and students are coming out with a higher education. Conditions of behaviour are already set out in the space before anyone enters. The ideal behaviour is to be submissive to the higherarchy of the college and to cooporate. The space that was created before students walked in is predominently accepted, however there are always the few that negate the space and rebel against it. They are usually promptly removed to bring the space back to clarity. This is part of the 'practice' part of Lefebvre's 'triad'. The fact that people can chose to rebel puts any social space in jepedy, although the 'representational space' appears to be predominant.
Example:
Leeds College of Art.
Planners and architects, when designing Leeds college of Art had a vision of constructing a place of learning where students can develop their higher education and then use their newly developed skills to improve and make their mark on the world. The plan was also to produce a more educated and submissive poulation, and to gain money from the students and hopefully creating a profit for the government. Looking at the 'representations of space' in the College of Art, the visions and ideals have been lived up to. The space is producing a profit and students are coming out with a higher education. Conditions of behaviour are already set out in the space before anyone enters. The ideal behaviour is to be submissive to the higherarchy of the college and to cooporate. The space that was created before students walked in is predominently accepted, however there are always the few that negate the space and rebel against it. They are usually promptly removed to bring the space back to clarity. This is part of the 'practice' part of Lefebvre's 'triad'. The fact that people can chose to rebel puts any social space in jepedy, although the 'representational space' appears to be predominant.
Lecture 5 - Social spaces- Sight/sound
- Single point perspective - visually representing space. No perspective outside the wester culture.
Berger:
"there is no need for god to situate himself in relation to others. He is himself the situation".
Understanding is limited and inhibited by our vision. Third world doesn't get a say and is encouraged to act as the first world wants.
Vision is active, Potentially reciprocal, multifacted and therefore the site of a diologue of power.
Jemima stehli - 'strip'
Connection to the Gaze. Awkward feeling wen the art critic is sat looking at the woman naked - objectifying, Making you aware that there is someone looking back.
-illustions that we understand the world
Henri Lefebure (1905 - 1991)
-French Intellectual, Marxist sociologist
- Revolution via everyday life
- Influenced the situationists in 1950s and 60s.
- Influenced student leaders of 1968 Paris uprising.
- A theorist of radical movements.
- A creation and function of space: SPATIALISATION
"illusion of transparency"
- The illustion that:
Understanding is possible
The objective viewpoint exists and somehow enables understanding
No 'total' picture
'View from above is flawed'
Social space is continually shifting and is built on history, memory and imagination.
Vito Acconci (1969) - Following piece.
-Following one person around the city not letting him know hes being followed.
-illustion that you control a social space - you know what to expect on a journey but all the time there are things happening that change the social space around you. Illustion of control.
Transgression as a result of space: response to its limits
-Rebelion
-Spaces are controlled so people use those spaces to rebel eg. London queens square rather than a small town.
Maze prison - Belfast
Dirty protest 1977-8
(De-humanising the individual) Steve McQueen made a hunger video.
Sir Robbert Pere statue in Hyde PArk. (tory and inventer of the police).
-Vandalised, attempt to challange the space.
-Vision informs thought
-Western traditions incorporate the narrowness of single point perspective
-Lefebvre's 'Illusion of transparency'.
-Important 'social space' = Multiplicity of meanings and experiences.
-Controlled spaces provoke reations.
-Reciprocal vision allows inversion or transgression of power.
Berger:
"there is no need for god to situate himself in relation to others. He is himself the situation".
Understanding is limited and inhibited by our vision. Third world doesn't get a say and is encouraged to act as the first world wants.
Vision is active, Potentially reciprocal, multifacted and therefore the site of a diologue of power.
Jemima stehli - 'strip'
Connection to the Gaze. Awkward feeling wen the art critic is sat looking at the woman naked - objectifying, Making you aware that there is someone looking back.
-illustions that we understand the world
Henri Lefebure (1905 - 1991)
-French Intellectual, Marxist sociologist
- Revolution via everyday life
- Influenced the situationists in 1950s and 60s.
- Influenced student leaders of 1968 Paris uprising.
- A theorist of radical movements.
- A creation and function of space: SPATIALISATION
"illusion of transparency"
- The illustion that:
Understanding is possible
The objective viewpoint exists and somehow enables understanding
No 'total' picture
'View from above is flawed'
Social space is continually shifting and is built on history, memory and imagination.
Vito Acconci (1969) - Following piece.
-Following one person around the city not letting him know hes being followed.
-illustion that you control a social space - you know what to expect on a journey but all the time there are things happening that change the social space around you. Illustion of control.
Transgression as a result of space: response to its limits
-Rebelion
-Spaces are controlled so people use those spaces to rebel eg. London queens square rather than a small town.
Maze prison - Belfast
Dirty protest 1977-8
(De-humanising the individual) Steve McQueen made a hunger video.
Sir Robbert Pere statue in Hyde PArk. (tory and inventer of the police).
-Vandalised, attempt to challange the space.
-Vision informs thought
-Western traditions incorporate the narrowness of single point perspective
-Lefebvre's 'Illusion of transparency'.
-Important 'social space' = Multiplicity of meanings and experiences.
-Controlled spaces provoke reations.
-Reciprocal vision allows inversion or transgression of power.
Lecture 6 - Globalisation, sustainability and the media
Definitions of Globalisation:
Socialist - The process of transformations of local or regional phonomena into global ones
Capitalist - The elimination of state - enforced resrictions on exchanges accross the border and the increasingly intergrated and clomplex global system.
George Ritzer coined together the term "mcDonaldization" to describe the wide-ranging sociocultural process.
Marshall McLuhan.
- Rapidity of communication echoes the senses
- We can experience instantly the effects of our actions on a global scale.
"abolishing both space and time as far as our planet is concerned"
TV is an extention of our eye. Phone is an extention of our ear.
Global Village - internet - electric technology would seem to render individualism obsolute.
Centripetal forces - bringing the world together in uniform global society
Centrifugal forces - Tearing the world apart in tribal wars.
Direct responce to American globalisation??
Sovereignty - Challenges to the idea of the nation-state
Culturalimplerialism
If the 'global village' is run with a certain set of values then it would not be so much an intergrated community as an assimilated one.
Key thinkers:
Schiller
Chomsky
News corporations divide the world into 'territories' of decending 'market importance'.
Panda to ideas of the west first because they can sell more there.
1. North America
2. Western Europe, Japan, Australia
3. Developing economies, India etc
4. The rest of the world.
India - Skin whitening cream. Not natural - wanting to look like westerners by 'ldeal life' in magazines, literature etc. White skin = modern, sophisticated.
Chomsky and Herman (1998)
'Manufacturing consent' - All of the media is one giant propaganda tool for western America. - Political indoctrination.
Propaganda- model- 5 basic filters (media neutral??)
- Ownership
- funding
- sourcing
- Anti communist ideology
- Flack
Ownership
Rupert Murdoch selected media interests (controling media) Owns papers, sky, fox etc.
Spreading his poitical philosophy.
Buisness interests not for the people.
Sourcing
Interviewing. If a story is made up, or guessed, their job would be lost. Wikileaks.
Funding
Advertising. Run an advert and then arange stories around advert. Cant have negotive story next to adverts.
Flack
Us-based global climate coalition (GCC).
Anti-ideologies
News is based on what we are not to re-inforce what we are. Demonising our political ideaologies.
Al Gore (2006) 'An inconvenient truth'
Jim Inhofe - 'biggest hoax'
Nigel Lawson - 'propagandist's term'
Competative enterprise institute (machine for big politing buisnesses)
-Lieing to the face of the public even after facts.
-Shows the impact of the media, when people believe this.
Socialist - The process of transformations of local or regional phonomena into global ones
Capitalist - The elimination of state - enforced resrictions on exchanges accross the border and the increasingly intergrated and clomplex global system.
George Ritzer coined together the term "mcDonaldization" to describe the wide-ranging sociocultural process.
Marshall McLuhan.
- Rapidity of communication echoes the senses
- We can experience instantly the effects of our actions on a global scale.
"abolishing both space and time as far as our planet is concerned"
TV is an extention of our eye. Phone is an extention of our ear.
Global Village - internet - electric technology would seem to render individualism obsolute.
Centripetal forces - bringing the world together in uniform global society
Centrifugal forces - Tearing the world apart in tribal wars.
Direct responce to American globalisation??
Sovereignty - Challenges to the idea of the nation-state
Culturalimplerialism
If the 'global village' is run with a certain set of values then it would not be so much an intergrated community as an assimilated one.
Key thinkers:
Schiller
Chomsky
News corporations divide the world into 'territories' of decending 'market importance'.
Panda to ideas of the west first because they can sell more there.
1. North America
2. Western Europe, Japan, Australia
3. Developing economies, India etc
4. The rest of the world.
India - Skin whitening cream. Not natural - wanting to look like westerners by 'ldeal life' in magazines, literature etc. White skin = modern, sophisticated.
Chomsky and Herman (1998)
'Manufacturing consent' - All of the media is one giant propaganda tool for western America. - Political indoctrination.
Propaganda- model- 5 basic filters (media neutral??)
- Ownership
- funding
- sourcing
- Anti communist ideology
- Flack
Ownership
Rupert Murdoch selected media interests (controling media) Owns papers, sky, fox etc.
Spreading his poitical philosophy.
Buisness interests not for the people.
Sourcing
Interviewing. If a story is made up, or guessed, their job would be lost. Wikileaks.
Funding
Advertising. Run an advert and then arange stories around advert. Cant have negotive story next to adverts.
Flack
Us-based global climate coalition (GCC).
Anti-ideologies
News is based on what we are not to re-inforce what we are. Demonising our political ideaologies.
Al Gore (2006) 'An inconvenient truth'
Jim Inhofe - 'biggest hoax'
Nigel Lawson - 'propagandist's term'
Competative enterprise institute (machine for big politing buisnesses)
-Lieing to the face of the public even after facts.
-Shows the impact of the media, when people believe this.
Monday 14 March 2011
Portfolio task 6
How is sustaionability defined within the text?
Meadows claims sustainability is 'ofen defined as inter and intra generational equity in the social, environmental, economic, moral and political spheres of society'. This is where all generations in society work together for their own benifits. Ideal sustainability would be our generation getting what we need but not compromising resources for our next generation.
what are the main characteristics of Capitalisim?
Capitalism is like a 'diverse web'. Capitalism finds new markets and comodifys them. it is always trying to find new ways around obsticals of society. ideas come to an end in a market niesh, it is where the 'widening sphere of circulation' comes to a close.
Try to define a 'crisis of Capitalism'. Offer an example.
'Crisis indicates a passage, which is the turning point in every systematic cyle of accumulation'. This means over production and the point where nothing more can be done in that market. It often causes disagrements. Example is the environmental crisis where they are inventing electric cars and using alternative oils to defer global warming. This is not a solution, it is a way of making money out of the inevitable and prolonging a market.
What solutions have been offered to the sustainability question? Are theses successful / realistic? If not why are they flawed?
The solutions offered to the sustainability question are: that buisnesses need to reinvest in natural and human capital, they need to use environmentally friendly methods of production with no toxicity, they need to increase the efficiency of their resources and they also need to alter the buisness model so the main focus is the service they provide.
I do not think these solutions are realistic. To make them work they need to get every buisness to cooperate which is very unlikely as there will always be a good proportion that don't want to do it. All the buisnesses would have to perchase new environmentally friendly machinery which would cost buisnesses a lot and also the machinery would be made from unenvironmentally friendly means.
Is the concept of sustainability compatible with Capitalism?
It claims in the test that sustainability is 'potential to become about individual decisions and techncological inovations to delay and reinvent the ecological limitations imposed on our current lifestyle'. It blaimes Capitalism for the current environmental problems and looks to it for solutions. There is a circle where sustainability could not cope without Capitalism but Capitalism picks sustainability apart.
Meadows claims sustainability is 'ofen defined as inter and intra generational equity in the social, environmental, economic, moral and political spheres of society'. This is where all generations in society work together for their own benifits. Ideal sustainability would be our generation getting what we need but not compromising resources for our next generation.
what are the main characteristics of Capitalisim?
Capitalism is like a 'diverse web'. Capitalism finds new markets and comodifys them. it is always trying to find new ways around obsticals of society. ideas come to an end in a market niesh, it is where the 'widening sphere of circulation' comes to a close.
Try to define a 'crisis of Capitalism'. Offer an example.
'Crisis indicates a passage, which is the turning point in every systematic cyle of accumulation'. This means over production and the point where nothing more can be done in that market. It often causes disagrements. Example is the environmental crisis where they are inventing electric cars and using alternative oils to defer global warming. This is not a solution, it is a way of making money out of the inevitable and prolonging a market.
What solutions have been offered to the sustainability question? Are theses successful / realistic? If not why are they flawed?
The solutions offered to the sustainability question are: that buisnesses need to reinvest in natural and human capital, they need to use environmentally friendly methods of production with no toxicity, they need to increase the efficiency of their resources and they also need to alter the buisness model so the main focus is the service they provide.
I do not think these solutions are realistic. To make them work they need to get every buisness to cooperate which is very unlikely as there will always be a good proportion that don't want to do it. All the buisnesses would have to perchase new environmentally friendly machinery which would cost buisnesses a lot and also the machinery would be made from unenvironmentally friendly means.
Is the concept of sustainability compatible with Capitalism?
It claims in the test that sustainability is 'potential to become about individual decisions and techncological inovations to delay and reinvent the ecological limitations imposed on our current lifestyle'. It blaimes Capitalism for the current environmental problems and looks to it for solutions. There is a circle where sustainability could not cope without Capitalism but Capitalism picks sustainability apart.
Monday 7 March 2011
Portfolio task 4
Why do advertisements with CGI animals in usually sell better than those without?
Five main points of my essay:
1. What is semiotics?
2. How Semiotics makes us subconciously acknowledge - codes
3. Personification - Making the animals more humanlike so viewer can identify with the animal
4. Applicating theories to advert
5. Why CGI over real animals?
My chosen Methodological approachs are Semiotics and Personification.
Eco, U (1976). A theory of semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University press
Phillips,B (1996) Advertising and the cultural meaning of animals. the University of Texas at Austin
Hall, S, 2007. This means this, This means that: A users guide to semiotics. King
2010. From Russia with brand love. Guardian. 29 April. Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/disciplines/digital/from-russia-with-brand-love/3012799.article. [Accessed on 28 March 2011]
I will use this image in my essay when talking about how verbal words had problems when there was someone who couldn't hear/understand, so signs were introduced (semiotics).
Sunday 9 January 2011
Example of Adorno's ideas
I think this video is a good example of Adorno's theory on popular music. There is obvious standardisation and it is highly repetitive and catchy which complies with the listeners wants and needs as this is what they are used to “pre-given and pre-accepted”. Willow Smith is showing pseudo-individualism as she has started her career at age 10. People think she is different because it is not often that a 10 year old could do something like that. But in reality there are lots of 10 year olds that can sing, they just dont have a famous father to make it happen so early in their life. This video shows what Adorno talks about with star qualty and glamour as Willow Smith is so young and is wearing lots of make up and portrayed in a sexual manor.
Portfolio task 2 - Popular music by Theodor Adorno
In his first essay "The musical material", Adorn looks at the structure of popular music. He writes that popular music can be characterised by it's difference from serious music. In his opinion classical music is a serious art form whilst popular music is the creation of an industrial society and has no creative content. He uses Beethoven's work as an example of serious music saying that every detail of the music has a relationship to the rest of it and it is this, that creates the totality of the work rather "than a mere enforcement of a musical scheme".
Popular music is a product of what he called standardisation. A popular piece of music always has the same structure, so no matter which combinations of lyrics, beat or melody are put together, it would in the end remain the same piece of music. He explains this further by adding that if one bit of a popular song was taken out and replaced with a different part of another popular song, for example the chorus, it would not be noticeable, as it all sounds the same. Even songs of very different styles from jazz to the big bands are essentially the same formula. Adorno goes on to say that not only hits such as dance music are standardised but also home songs, nonsense songs and laments. Regardless of any changes that are made to the music, "the hit will lead back to the same familiar experience, and nothing fundamentally novel will be introduced"
Popular music "is composed in such a way that the process of translation of the unique into the norm is already planned and, to a certain extent, achieved within the composition itself". This, he explains, takes out any effort in listening to the music as it is already structured to be familiar. Listeners do not wish to waste time and energy listening and trying to understand, and so popular music is instead mass marketed as the producers know that this is what people like to listen to and will create commercial success. To make it easier for listeners the music has been "pre-digested".
Much of the standardisation is kept hidden from listeners by what he calls "pseudo-individualisation", which disguises the fact that the music is mass produced. If listeners realised that popular music was intentionally formulated and by its very nature was a way controlling the masses, this would provoke resistance. An example of pseudo-individualisation is improvisation, the listener thinks that the individual artist is introducing their own variations into the composition but even this is really done within the strict limits of the formula. The music industry gives credit to individual artist and composers but their work still conforms to a predetermined structure. Songs for the masses are essentially goods for sale and produced to a quasi-industrial formula, although he notes that popular music does not actually employ industrial production apart from at the distribution phase.
In his second essay Adorno considers the "Presentation of Material" and in particular the marketing of popular music which he refers to as plugging. For a song to be a commercial success its listeners must hear it repeatedly, "plugging aims to breakdown the listeners resistance to musically ever equal or identical" He ponders the paradox that for a song to be successful it must be similar to all other songs around, so that it is immediately familiar but also it must be a little different so that it will stand out from the crowd and be remembered. In other words it needs a hook line.
Part of the process of plugging is the assignment of star quality, or glamour, to performers, this brings their songs to the attention of the public and adds to their popularity. He also notes that both lyrics and music can use child like phrases and repetition this attracts the attention of the listener and may make a make that music stand out from the crowd.
In Adorno's third essay "Theory about the Listener" he expounds his theory that when poplar music is repeated constantly the listener is no longer aware that it is a device but thinks of it as an element of the natural. The shared experience of recognising a tune creates a collective experience within society and the listeners' resistance to authority is broken down because he feels part of a group. To put this idea into context Adorno was writing at the time of the Second World War he had left nazi Germany to work in America. He had escaped from Fascism and its use of mass media for advancing its message. He feared that the emerging American phenomenon of mass culture could also be socially destructive.
He noted that poplar music in America was not influenced by political partisanship but it inspired two types of mass behaviour, the rhythmically obedient and the emotional.
The rhythmically obedient responded to the strong beat in dance music or marches, the shared experience bonded them together and they felt safety in numbers. The emotional type of listener was attracted to the "Dream factories" of Hollywood or Tin Pan Alley, they were allowed a brief taste of happiness through their experience, only to realise that they were fundamentally unhappy. Adorno said "One who weeps does not resist any more than one who marches" and so they realise their social dependence.
Towards the end of his essay he talks about what was then the latest fashion in America, the jitterbug, this the fast rhythical dance, featured in Grease, where the dancers no longer dance in pairs but all perform in lines. Adorno considers this to be people transforming themselves into insects, who's frenetic behaviour, he sees as fury. Adorno equates the mass dance craze with collective conformity and sees a similarity to the mass rallies and military parades in Germany. Yet he can also see a ray of hope for society, he concluded that "To become transformed into an insect, man needs that energy which might possibly achieve this transformation in a man"
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