Thursday, December 3, 2009

Illustrator Final Ad


I really tried to get some of the custom paint jobs in this but the ways in which I was able to accomplish this only detracted from the ad as a whole. I managed to get the black paint in the middle of the ad without too much of a problem. I really think this project helped me learn some of the basics of illustrator. I'm able to more easily navigate the interface without having to search like when I initially started. I have been working on this for over two weeks now and really think that this is as close as I will get in similarity with original ad. Granted, it is no masterpiece, but for just starting out on Illustrator I'm actually really happy with the results.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Wikipedia assignment

This article says that the quarry was in operation until 2003, but it actually closed down in the early 90's. Also, it says employees still mine granite there, which is totally false considering the quarry is locked down and impossible to enter. I submitted my edit yesterday, but it has yet to change.
Update 11/27/2009: I went back over break to see if the edits I made changed at all, but I still found the same article I originally tried to edit. I attempted to make the changes again, but at this point nothing has changed. I cited the information properly so I am not sure why they would not allow the alteration.
Update 12/6/2009: This was the third time I attempted to change the article. I made my edit on December 4th, but still have not seen any significant change. It's strange because this time I only attempted to change the closing date without the mention of people no longer mining granite there, but as of now I still see the original article with the incorrect year (2003) of the plant's closing.


Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Essay

The product I chose was the Cool Glove. The product was designed for the sole purpose over driving down a human being’s core temperature when they are overheated. This is especially important in regards to athletes who drive up their core temperatures in aerobic and anaerobic activities. This cooling agent can bring in a new age of performance enhancement without the use of steroids or other illegal drugs. When an athlete is tired and exhausted their core temperature typically increases above 100 degrees to a point where they are nearly physically drained. In normal circumstances the body would require a cool down period of around 60 minutes to regain that lost stamina. But with the Cool Glove this long process can be accomplished in 5 minutes by injecting a cold current through the hand and into the traveling bloodstream. The techniques that can be used to market this product are narrowcasting, emotional branding, and across-media marketing. This product is specifically designed for athletes, both amateur and professional. Therefore, by narrowcasting the product’s marketing tactics we can fully reach this specific athletic audience. Emotional attachment must be developed between the product and the player. The product must become synonymous with successful, tremendous, and exemplary athletic performance. These performances are typically broadcast on a variety of mediums, in which case across-media marketing would be especially useful. These three techniques are the most effective way to market this product.

Narrowcasting would be a very effective marketing technique for this product. Narrowcasting will aim the Cool Glove’s athlete specific message to their narrowly defined audience. This technique is used by a great deal of marketers today when they have one specific target audience. One of the most popular usages comes from the Internet where marketers cater to specific demographics via niche websites. Marketing the Cool Glove should be no different. The primary target audience of the Cool Glove is athletes. Therefore, marketing this product should be done in a fashion in which athletes will be the main witness of the advertisements. Marketers now have the task of brainstorming the places, mediums, websites, and other possible tools that they can be used to market this product. The question is where can we find athletes? Certain places exist that can be used to market the Cool Glove. These places include gyms, sporting events, and schools. By narrowing down these places marketers are able to designate certain areas in which they wish to focus on. The way to utilize these places is by conducting promotions, workshops, and placing advertisements in these areas so athletes can become more aware of the product. Other ways of narrowcasting can be utilized through the Internet, television, and radio. All three of these mediums contain sport and athlete specific content that is watched, listened to, and read by potential Cool Glove customers. Sites like ESPN, Yahoo Sports, Rotoworld are all examples of great sites to place advertising in. In terms of television and radio there is also content that is sport related including live sporting event broadcasts that are watched and listened to by millions across the world. These are excellent opportunities for Cool Glove marketers to get their product out there and into the minds of their narrowly selected target audience. These are all effective tools for capturing audience attention because the product is related to the high level of athletic performance that they are seeing, hearing, or doing. If they wish to perform at that level they need this product. It will give them that edge they need to perform at a higher level.

Emotional branding is another technique that can be effective in marketing the Cool Glove. By appealing to our audience’s emotional side we can make them feel good about their purchase. Consumers often purchase products based on their feeling towards it, or the company that makes it. These products are selling this “feel good” emotion that comes when you purchase it. Marketers are in search of this emotional tie to the product that creates a certain trust or desire within the consumer. The Cool Glove is no different in this sense. The marketers want consumers to use their emotions instead of their logic. They want their purchase to be on feel rather than thought. In this case marketers want people to feel powerful when they own the Cool Glove because of edge it gives them in athletics by linking amazing performances with the product. Therefore consumers will feel the only way to achieve something so great in sports is by owning the product. By knowing this marketers can cater to their target audience’s desire to feel powerful and unstoppable, which are two essential factors in sports.

Across-media marketing is also another technique that can be used to successfully market this product. This tactic involves utilizing all forms of media including television, Internet, radio, outdoor advertisements, etc. This is similar to what was said above about narrowcasting. There are a variety of platforms in which sports are the primary content. That includes television and a variety of other mediums. By using a variety of mediums marketers can be effective in marketing to a wide range of sports and athletes. The Cool Glove can be effective in any sport that requires cardiovascular activity. It is important to get that message out their by marketing it to a variety of sports via multiple mediums.

By using these techniques the Cool Glove can be effectively marketed. Narrowcasting will allow marketers to realize and take advantage of their specific target audience. Emotional branding will allow marketers to utilize consumer’s emotions in advertising their product. And lastly, across-media marketing will enable marketers to utilize the multiple mediums that are enjoyed by the many different sports athletes across the world. These techniques will undoubtedly help sell this product when it has officially been released. The future of marketing is a difficult thing to predict. New communication tools will emerge as well as other mediums. The possibilities are endless. But the purpose of marketers remains the same. They must adapt to these changes and figure out a way to effectively communicate their message to their audience.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

2 Questions

What in "The Persuaders" surprised you (or not)? Name one new thing you learned about marketing or politics from watching the film. Name one new thing you learned about yourself from watching the film, or one thing that the film reiterated about yourself?

The one thing that really stood out to me in the film was how in depth these marketers go to get inside of the consumer's mind. They go as far as to play with small words in sentences, asking us outlandish things that to us makes little sense, and even delving into our deepest subconscious to pull out thoughts and ideas that we can barely comprehend in the first place. One of the main thing I learned is the play on words that marketers and advertisers use to "trick" or mask things. For instance, the Republican politicians referring to global warming as "climate control." That i not necessarily wrong by any means, but the phrase takes on almost a non derogatory meaning in that sense. It's genius the way they use language to their advantage. This film related to be in a big way since I am an advertising major. This type of profession is in my future so it was only natural for me to learn something about myself while watching the film. The thing that I learned about myself was that I have only begun to scratch the surface of marketing and advertising potential. My ideas need to be expanded outside of the box to reach some of the endless possibilities that marketers can utilize.

"The Persuaders" begins by questioning the increase in the amount of advertising we typically encounter in our daily lives. How would you assess the amount of advertising you see? Too much? Too little? Just right? In your view, what difference does it make to know that people today see much more advertising in their daily lives than people 20 or 30 years ago?

For me personally it is a tale of two varying perspectives. On the one hand I am a consumer like everyone else, and on the other I am an curious advertising major who enjoys and relishes the world of advertisements. Seeing things from my consumer perspective I most definitely advocate that we as a society and me personally see way too many ads in a given day. It has become such common place that ads are barely registering with us because they are injected into our own very lives day in and day out. On the other hand looking at it from a an advertiser's perspective it is easy for me to say that the ads are too few, or simply just right because of the affection and curiosity i show for advertisements. In terms of what difference it makes in knowing we see more ads then people 20 - 30 years ago, it really doesn't in my opinion. The only thing it shows us the direction we are heading in as a society. We are a country born and bread in consumerism and materialism. That is not necessarily a bad thing if we realize we are capitalistic nation that thrives on these two attributes. By witnessing more and more ads it only means that we are growing and expanding as a capitalistic nation.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Original Photo


My photo shows two different stories. I cropped out the top of the picture, simply leaving a bus filled with happy white travel goers. The man on the left is even smiling broadly. But looking once more at the original photo we can see there is more to this photo. It not only represents a time of segregation, in which African Americans were made to sit in the back of the bus. It is easy to see the raw emotions of those sitting in the back and in the front. The African American passengers seem discontent and mournful, while the white passengers seem happy and very comfortable. The myth of the photographic truth can be witnessed in these two photographs. In an age of growing digital technology it has become very easy to alter photographs. The original photo conveys a completely different story then the cropped version. By cropping out the African American passengers we are blinded to the hatred and bigotry that is segregation. The photos meaning is changes from opposite ends of the emotional spectrum when the other is revealed. In this case the photographic truth is most certainly hidden or masked when cropping out the upper third of the photograph.

Cropped Photo

Monday, September 21, 2009

Thursday, September 17, 2009


Question - I really had trouble figuring out how to change only the background color of my picture. The problem was either my image had been tinkered with so much that I was unable to change it from that point, or I simply did not know how to alter it.
Question - Another question I had was in regards to moving the pictures. I was not able to move the pictures as a whole, but instead moved only pieces of them. This made reassembling them nearly impossible. Any help would be most appreciated.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

McLuhan and Photoshop

Photoshop can be used as another example in McLuhan's media theory. In the theory he postulates that "the medium is the message." If we take photoshop into account we see that software applications can be our medium. The content within this medium would be photoshop, or an online photo sharing, editing, and hosting resource. The message that photoshop is sending is capability to revise and create new photos in a less time consuming and demanding environment. This allows society to expand their imaginations and correct anything they see fit within the realm of photoshop.
In addition, photoshop itself can also be viewed as a medium in it's own right. The content of course would then be the capability to edit, host, and share photos with the online universe. The message that this is sending to society is similar, in that it allows individuals to change or alter projects on a whim.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Montage

I chose to visually represent Skype. Skype is a video chat program that people use to communicate with each other from either computer to computer or computer to phone. The medium is Skype. The medium transitions to the Skype Buddy List that represents the content of the medium. The message here is both face to face communication without a physical presence. In addition to this the message is communication without restrictions of country of origin.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Medium Assignment

I have chosen three mediums that I use in everyday life. As far as I can tell they do fit the definition of "any new breakthrough in communication technology."
1. GPS - I use th
is device almost anywhere I travel via a car. I am absolute hel
pless when it come to directions and th
is device is an absolute life saver.
2. Ipod - This is another device
that I find myself using everyday, whether that be in the car or with earphones.
3. Phone - Out of all three of these examples my phone is by far my most practical
and important.