Mercedes Ad
This advertising is an illustration of individualism which poststructuralists promote. Even the slogan of the advertising itself, ‘Follow your own star’, presupposes individualism for it calls the viewer to be unique and different from the others. Individualism in advertising, as a rule, places emphasis “on the self-sufficiency and self-reliance of an individual, or on the individual as being distinct and unlike others” (Neujens, Hess, Putte & Smit 2004, 67). Such an approach guarantees success in most of the cases because those people who value individuality above all and can afford new A-Class Mercedes are likely to buy at least because the advertising says that this car emphasizes their uniqueness. Finally, such a representation of a new car model is individualistic because its slogan, “Follow your own star,” does not express the real world and can serve only as a re-representation of it.
Aircell Company
This is the advertisement of Aircell Company which started offering its clients an additional service, namely inflight Internet. By stating “The sky is no longer the limit” (Aircell 2009), the company means that indeed for its customers can access the World Wide Web even at the height of 30,000 feet. This picture shows individualism at work for, on the one hand, it depicts individual approach to any client and, on the other hand, it presents each employee’s individual approach to work. Aircell Company allows each of its customers feel him/herself unique at his/her workplace which can now be accessed even from the sky. The man depicted in the picture gives an idea of an individual who can work at the height of 30,000 in contrast to other office workers who have to stay on earth. This part of the cabin is his private office with a view on the boundless sky which inspires him to new ideas.
Personal Take
This advertisement could have a contrasting meaning if the picture presented a person in the airplane talking over the phone (allegedly with his/her boss) and looking rather nervous because of his/her inability to work in the air where there is no Internet connection. This would make a person in the picture equal with all other office workers who have restricted opportunities. Thus, such an advertisement would not express individualism at work.
Delta Botanical Bath Ad
This advertisement shows a brand (namely, Delta Botanical Bath) creating a new market due to designing a new collection of taps. Creating a new market for this brand will not be difficult since it has already been recognized by the customers. Its new collection of taps will attract additional attention on the part of its regular customers who are likely to prefer namely this brand when choosing between two or more other brands offering the same product. Moreover, the company will be able to further segment this new market because it already has created a separate message for it, namely, “Tear here to match your personality”. This message will not only help to attract more clients, but will account for segmenting the market depending on different personalities, which would be psychographic segmentation (Reid & Bojanic 2009).
Grant Odgers Ad
This is the advertisement of new computer mouse designed by Grant Odgers and launched at CeBIT in March 2008. This can be regarded as a brand creating a new market, a market of computer mice designed specifically for laptops and Tablet PCs because such a mouse is more of novelty than of innovation. Laptops have become a separate computer market segment long ago, though their manufacturers could hardly assume that they would be so popular. Some of the users find it inconvenient to use trackpads, while it is not always that there is flat surface to apply a regular computer mouse. The Swiftpoint, this new computer mouse, offers a solution to this problem with Microsoft and Logitech getting a possibility to create new markets and further segment them (for instance, according to the type of a laptop).
Personal Take
For this advertisement to express an opposite idea, it should present an innovation rather than novelty This could be, for instance, a laptop with special built-in support (with flat surface) for a laptop mouse which would be suitable for using the mouse irrespective of whether there is a flat surface to put it on. This would demand manufacturing new models of laptops with these built-in supports, which would be simply diversifying the range of products (it is unlikely that the customers would buy new laptops only because there is a special support, but those who need new ones would choose namely this model).
Social Ad
“What tobacco issue is important to you?” can be believed to use the tool of brand differentiating generic products for it is an advertisement of one of numerous websites which deal with tobacco-related issues. Some issues which it presents for consideration are youth smoking, quitting smoking, health effects of smoking, etc. However, this advertisement can also be regarded as misdirected because it does not identify its audience clearly. For example, it states ‘you can find resources and information on many tobacco-related issues’, which makes it unclear of whether smokers or non-smokers are being addressed. At this, the issues which the website in question is said to address are related to both these groups of people (such as smoking prevention and quitting smoking). The main sign of this advertisement’s differentiating generic products is its stating that they are ‘partnering with retailers to help prevent kids from getting access to cigarettes’.
Burger King Ad
This is the advertisement of the Burger King and its new BK Super Seven Incher which will ‘blow your mind away’. These days competitive branding is especially typical for the fast food industry (O’Connor 2004) with each of the brands having to constantly introduce product innovations in order to attract customers (Floor 2006). This advert itself points at differentiating generic products within the fast food industry. Thus, for the consumer’s possible question “Why should I choose namely Burger King’s, not McDonald’s burgers, for instance?” the reply is in the message which this advert presents, “It just tastes better”. In addition, King Burger offers lower prices, which also testifies to the fact that the company is aware of high competition in the industry and aims to attract customers not only by ‘something long, juicy and flame-grilled’, but by remunerative prices as well.
Personal Take
This advertisement could feature a contrasting meaning if it presented a more or less unique product offered by King Burger or, which would have been more effective, by another company specializing in the industry with no competitive branding. One of the examples could be perfumes. Though perfumes manufacturers are also numerous, the loyalty of the customers to one particular brand is stronger than in case with food or even technologies. Thus, for instance, a person who chose Dior perfumes as his/her favorite is unlikely to ever use Armani, Channel, Lacoste, or any other brand.
The Sash Window Workshop Ad
‘Quality is timeless’ is the advert for The Sash Window workshop. This is a text plus photograph advertisement which can serve as an example of simulacrum. The key word of this advertisement is ‘timeless’ in the meaning of ‘eternal’. This is the message which the company wishes to bring to its consumers who, as it is known, sometimes choose high-quality brands despite their being expensive (Wiseman 2000). The picture of a man designing a window frame has two elements which interact and create meaning by association. Firstly, the picture is black-and-white, which has a connotation of the past and, simultaneously, of something tested by time. This can convince the consumers in high quality of the product. Secondly, the man presented in the photograph is of elderly age, which suggests an idea that he is experienced and which, in its turn, means that the goods which he produces are of high quality.
Omega Ad
This is an advertisement of Omega watch, or ‘the watch the world has learned to trust’. Operating life of watches is of great significance for people who wear them because, as a rule, they give their preference to respected and, thus, expensive brands. This advert shows the use of a simulacrum and is quite symbolistic. Like any advertisement turning attention to the quality of the product due to its being a time-tested brand, the advertisers chose to make the picture black-and-white. In addition, the information is presented in a book format with the text even having footnotes. The date present on the page (May 2, 1955) allows the consumer appreciating how long the brand has been on the market, while depicting people in the sea (presumably wearing this brand of the watch) convinces the consumers that this product is ‘of unmatched dependability’.
Personal Take
This advert could have a contrasting meaning if it was colored and the watch was depicted at the background of a PC or a skyscraper. The former case would be more impressive and effective, because it would contrast rapid development of technologies and eternity of products which are never out of fashion. In case with the latter, the advert would express modernity and popularity of Omega brand. None of these, however, would point at the product’s longevity or its ‘unmatched dependability’.
Schwarzkopf Ad
Schwarzkopf’s ‘Stay in control’ advertisement may serve as an example of individualism for, referring to a broad public, it allows every consumer feel his/her uniqueness. Since most of the consumers are driven by self-interest (Soper & Trentmann 2008), feeling of individualism is extremely important for them, which is often used by the advertisers to attract the consumers’ attention. This becomes especially effective with female consumers, like in the advert under consideration. The fact that the woman in the picture addresses namely female consumers is unquestionable, mostly because at present males have make up and the like products designed specifically for them. The woman’s hair style is perfect and her look in general is confident; this together with her stating ‘stay in control’ (which presupposes ‘just like me’) may convince women consumers to buy namely Schwarzkopf products due to their desire to resemble the woman in picture.
Gillette Fusion Power Ad
This advertisement shows the elements of the principles of Individualism due to its suggesting that each consumer can become special with new Gillette Fusion Power. The target audience is, without any doubt, male though certain attention on the part of women (because of male celebrities advertising the product) may also be attracted. The advert can be effective with the large audience (even of another culture) due to the use of celebrities (Kurtz 2008). The advert presents a vivid contrast between the world in general and three people isolated from this world who became separate individuals due to their using a specific product. Besides, the advertisement addresses each member of the audience personally by stating ‘Show the world how phenomenal you can be’, which serves as an invitation to the top of the world where only the chosen are admitted.
Personal Take
The meaning of this advertisement could be different if more than three men (who were not celebrities) were depicted with Gillette products standing at this not on the top of the world but at an ordinary street of New York. Such an advertisement would be generalizing; it would emphasize that being special is typical for everyone and such individuals simply walk down New York streets every day. Additional emphasis on non-individuality could be placed if a crowd of men was depicted; this would mean that everybody can be special, which, in principle, is impossible.
Bibliography
‘Aircell Broadband for Commercial Airlines’ 2009, in Aircell. Web.
Floor, K 2006, Branding a store: how to build successful retail brands in a changing marketplace, Kogan Page Publishers, London.
Kurtz, DL 2008, Contemporary marketing, Cengage Learning, London.
Neijens, P, Hess, C, Putte, B & Smit, E 2004, Content and media factors in advertising, Het Spinhuis, Amsterdam.
O’Connor, DE, 2004, The basics of economics, Greenwood Publishing Group, London.
Reid, R & Bojanic, DC 2009, Hospitality marketing management, John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Soper, K & Trentmann, F 2008, Citizenship and consumption, Palgrave Macmillan, Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Wiseman, AE 2000, The Internet economy: access, taxes, and market structure, Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC.