The Hindu Business Line : Advertising is typically criticised

WHASSUP this week? That's a new word to get listed in Longman's Dictionary, giving free publicity to Budweiser beer for the contribution to vocabulary, writes Chris Hackley in Advertising and Promotion, from Sage (www.indiasage.com) .

The book is about `communicating brands,' and introducing readers to `intellectual perspectives,' because the author feels that "many managerial texts offer accounts of the marketing context for advertising and promotional campaigns while giving only arm's-length treatment to the ways in which these campaigns are understood and consumed."

Let's face the truth: Advertising occupies a lowly status in our cultural hierarchy. "Popular art, literature, movies, even stand-up comedy performers, are discussed, critiqued and analysed in the Sunday supplements as aspects of aesthetic culture. But advertising is typically criticised," is a lament that many ad people will empathise with. Yet, there's a duality, points out Chris. Advertising is "both trivial and powerful, banal and sinister, amusing and degrading." Why so? Because "advertising is historically a relatively recent development in communication and we still struggle to come to terms with its apparent force."

While discussing the theory of advertising, Chris talks about polysemy, "the potential of a social text such as an ad to have many meanings." For instance, Benetton created "a powerful and high-profile debate" about the meaning of its ads; at times, there were even boycotts when people construed the commercial to be offensive, as it happened with "the visual image of a black-skinned woman's breasts suckling a Caucasian baby."

Freedom to interpret advertising and to use it creatively in our own lives gives the ad "a dynamic character as communication," argues Chris. "Ads that are deliberately obscure can seem inaccessible to older consumers and, by implication, aimed at younger consumers," so don't try to understand everything you see! "Advertising is legalised lying," is a quote of H. G. Wells. Often, advertising seduces us to buy, using dubious tactics, so Chris devotes a chapter to `ethics.'

An example of `brand community' that Chris provides is of Manchester United, the UK soccer club. In its domain, it has "the largest supporter base" — comprising football lovers "diverse in terms of nationality, age, sex, income, occupation and social class." For them, Manchester United is not merely "a consumption opportunity"; it's "an obsession." What do these supporters do? "They spend large amounts of money on team shirts, scarves and countless other items carrying the club crest, they invest in satellite TV to watch the matches, they pay fees to join supporters' clubs and receive regular newsletters and offers, and they engage socially with other supporters through meetings, Web site chat-rooms and so on." Perhaps, this must be the ultimate goal of all advertisers!

Is marketing converging into entertainment? Many would protest because marketing is not only about entertainment but also about "innovation, materials sourcing, design, organisation, manufacture, logistics, and more." Yet, Chris draws our attention to the growing demand for entertainment in post-industrial economies characterised by `increased affluence and leisure.' Further, with the Net and digital communication technologies enveloping us more, consumption itself tends to become "an arm of the entertainment industry." It may come as a surprise to many that "Cable TV stations like The Shopping Channel, QVC and The Auction Channel are entirely devoted to consumption as entertainment."

For those with global brands, the chapter on advertising internationally brings forth culture differences, such as the `Islamic context' in Malaysian, sophisticated strategy in Thailand, and `erotic symbolism' in Japan. The `Shadows' campaign of De Beers, shown in 23 countries, "used the differences in regional social practices of diamond consumption to portray a universal meaning for diamonds."

Leo Burnett once said that one of the greatest dangers of advertising is "not that of misleading people, but that of boring them to death." But that's not what Chris does in his well-researched book on advertising. Essential read.

BookMark@thehindu.co.in

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