Midterm Advertisment

Nabaztag
In today’s marketing world developing a brand character is an essential step on the way to connecting with your target audience. In the case of the Nabaztag the product itself is the character, and if developed carefully and properly, this lovable little robot bunny could be everyone in the United State’s new best friend within a few years of its first advertising campaign.
Ubiquitous computing is just another way to keep people connected and in constant communication with the outside world. But, the friendly and responsive nature of the Nabaztag robot is unlike any other cold computer system. The best way to sell a product that could easily replace a machine, such as a computer or even a cell phone, is to appeal emotionally to the consumers of the product. The Nabaztag robot can give updates about weather, facebook, news; it can keep people updated on what their friends and family are doing and it can inform mothers when their kids get home safely. Any product that directly effects the customer’s relationships with their loved ones should best be marketed using emotional branding.
To start with the emotional branding of the Nabaztag, I would create a series of television broadcast commercials. I would show the Nabaztag robot doing something fun for its owner. The owner might wake up in the morning to the sound of a commonly played YouTube song or get a silly update that their friend is drunk at spring break. The next scene of the ad would show a worried mother sending her kid off to school for the first time. The mom would be sitting at her desk at work and get a voicemail from her Nabaztag that her son made it to school. This will let the viewer associate a feeling of security with the brand name Nabaztag. Marketers will brand the Nabaztag in such a way that the consumer will feel like they need to have the product or they are not a good parent, friend, employee or communicator. The emotional advertising will convince people that without ubiquitous computing technology they are disconnected. Being separate from the rest of the updated members of society is a scary thought for a consumer. In today’s market the products that prevent detachment and loneliness are in higher and higher demand each day. With a product that can combine the internet, undoubtedly the most respected and influential tool in the modern consumer’s life, and the client’s daily activities into one fluid reality, emotional branding is key to convincing people they are obsolete communicators without the product. Everything people love, found online, boxed into a cute lovable bunny. Information, safety, comfort, companionship, entertainment and convenience all provided by one product that will be the future of communication once emotional branding is used to market the product and persuade the consumer that the Nabaztag is crucial to their well-being.
Before emotional branding can fully take hold of the consumer’s thoughts about a product, it is necessary to give people some sort of scenario to help develop their feelings toward the Nabaztag. The best way to do this is product placement across media. Film is a powerful narrative tool, that without a doubt connects with its audiences on an emotional level. The Nabaztag has already been built up by past films in the sense that most people can recall having seen a lovable and reliable robot in a movie at some point in their lives: Wall-e, Short Circuit, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Spaceballs, etc. But, a new film would be created that directly encorporates the Nabaztag brand name. This film would show the Nabaztag robot from the point of purchase all the way up to the death of the customer. Showing that the robot as the consumer’s best friend, loyal companion and trusted information source. The narrative would not be seamless as far as obvious product placement, but the brand name would not get in the way of the emotional events of the film and the story as a whole. The film will expose Nabaztag’s flaws (to a degree) in order to establish trust with the audiences and prevent them from feeling like they are being sold to. When people are in a movie theatre they are relaxed and in a much less defensive mind-set than when they know they are looking at an advertisement. Integrating the Nabaztag into a movie will force people, not affected by television or print advertising, to be confronted with the emotional elements of the Nabaztag product.
The future of communication is in ubiquitous computing. The best way to sell a product that provides updated levels of communication is to tell people what to feel and show them how to feel it. Emotional branding will help draw in the consumer and teach them what feelings they should associate with the Nabaztag product; in this case: safety, comfort and connection. Product placement will show consumers how to feel these emotions. Scenarios provided by the film’s narrative will allow people to put themselves in the mindset of the person feeling the emotions toward the Nabaztag.
The technological world is making revolutionary advances in what products they are able to sell commercially, and with it the world of marketing is trying to keep up. Keeping customers interested, informed and willing to buy is easy as long as you appeal to their intrinsic needs and feelings. Emotions, when manipulated correctly, are the most powerful driving force of persuasion in human beings and in today’s media cluttered world, film is the best way to control those feelings. A combination of emotional branding and product placement will be the best way to market the Nabaztag product.

The Persuaders

The Future

I think that it is safe to say that we as a society are headed into a world of completely seamless advertising; to the point where we are not sure what’s marketing and what’s reality. Advertisers are being forced into other avenues of advertising by the technological advances in avoiding ads. The more people try to get away from advertisements, the more advertisers are having to think of innovative ways to sell products. If we are forcing advertisers into other venues there is no limit to what marketers will take over. Soon we will not be able to separate reality from persuasive media.

Product placement is becoming more and more common as people avoid commercials with inventions such as TiVo and DVR. But, every time we avoid a commercial, there is another one waiting for us in an unexpected location. Subways, Times Square, buses, the internet, movies, television shows, novels, magazine articles, newspapers, etc are all ways for advertisers to penetrate the consumer’s thoughts without them being able to change a channel or fast forward through it. If we can no longer safely contain advertisements to the obvious television and traditional mediums than the line between advertising and entertainment will, first blur, and then completely disappear.

In my opinion, the future of advertising lies in every aspect of our daily lives. People are already manipulated by product placement in their favorite TV shows and films. When people see their favorite actor wearing, eating or using a particular product it is just like a celebrity endorsement on a TV commercial. People know what they like, but they do not always know, or care, why they like it. Advertising is sneaking into people’s thoughts and swaying their likes and dislikes without people even being aware. The future looks bleak as far as preventing a complete commercial takeover, because people don’t always care if they are being sold to. Most people are so used to having people try to sell them something that we kind of just go with the flow of things. Either we resist the advertising and are forced to face it in hidden, nontraditional forums, or we accept it and permit ourselves to be sold to.

Learned

While watching The Persuaders I was surprised to learn how powerful words can be in eliciting emotions in people. The names of terms and events have such an overwhelming impact on how we perceive them. After watching Frank Luntz talk about the importance of word choice in persuasion I was amazed at how successful he was at not only pinpointing exactly the right words to use and how to use them, but how successful Luntz was at winning over so many people.

Frank Luntz did research to discover what words would best sell an issue. Luntz said, “It doesn’t matter what you tell the public, it’s what they want to hear.” This concept made me realize that politicians actually pay people to help them be manipulative. It is scary how easy it can be to sway people’s opinions. Marketing is all about knowing the audience you are trying to sell to; Luntz says you have to “head the public will”. I feel like as consumers we are just like lab rats that are being studied and experimented on.

After watching The Persuaders I experienced the third person effect; I felt like I was not as effected by media marketing as I probably am. It is becoming more and more difficult to avoid the effects of advertising and manipulative techniques, like the ones developed by Luntz. The Persuaders gave me a bit of a reality check, in that I am second guessing reality itself and what is actually truth and what is being told to me in order to appease me as a consumer.