If we've learned anything in the past couple months, its that the media landscape is changing. A wave is barreling down on old media corporations, and when it meets them they must either adapt and ride it or be swept away to the undercurrents of history. One example of this transition is advertisements. Old techniques of selling a product no longer work to the desensitized consumer. To effectively move them, you must create ads that pull at their heartstrings. The success of advertisements during the recent Winter Olympic games exemplifies this new landscape in which new commercial strategies are clashing with the old.
You would have to be made of stone for that commercial not to move you. It epitomizes everything that the Olympics stand for (or at least what the media has told us they stand for). Courage, redemption, victory. Its that wholehearted, family friendly feeling that companies love to associate with themselves. And Visa isn't necessarily selling you anything, but the idea that Visa is linked with all of these powerful emotions.
Here's another good example of new affective marketing
Just look at the faces of all the athlete's as they accept those medals. You can see their emotions, all the hard work they've put in for that one moment. How all that sacrifice was worth it. In this commercial, Coke isn't an evil, self-serving corporation. They're allowing these Olympic dreams to come true. And if you buy their product, you're not just lining the pockets of those greedy executives, you're helping those athletes realize they're dreams too.
After watching the first two commercials, this one doesn't quite do it for me. It's not really selling you any emotion, so those strong feelings aren't going to be conjured up when you see McDonald's. It employs some famous athletes to sell their products, which is typical of old media strategies. But I mean really! Are we supposed to believe that Olympic athletes eat at McDonald's?
Old advertising methods used to be successful. Stick a famous athlete on some Wheaties boxes and BAM! You're guaranteed to make some money. But it reaches a point where we have to question some intentions. Do athletes only do these commercials for the money? Everybody has emotions and as such they are susceptible to affective marketing. In the years to come these are the advertisements that will be the most successful and will eventually become the norm.
Works Cited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdhWIs76K80&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeyIPL_G4NI&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWYRH5jnQBo&feature=player_embedded
http://www.adrants.com/images/nestle_crispy_chocolate_challenge.jpg
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4O1dpO8uKB8/0.jpg
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