Week 3: Topics 1 and 2

Topic One:

Using Instagram I already follow the clothing brand, Aerie, which is an affiliate of American Eagle Outfitters. Aerie primarily focusses on underwear, bras, swimwear, and some other products. They use social media to reach out to young women all around the world and spread their message of body positivity, empowerment, and loving your real self. On their Instagram page I immediately saw “real” women modeling. They are not your regular models, most of the women are people who are wearing Aerie products, tage aerie in their post, and their images get used on the Instagram account. Their are women from multiple cultures, plus sized women, skinny women, tons of women who have not been photoshopped or perfected. From reading the book I believe that Aerie is using a hidden-fear appeal because many women feel self-conscious in bathing suits and underwear. They are selling things that “A campaign plays on consumer’s sense of insecurity” (Media Essentials). But, instead of using a product for hygiene/embarrassment, buy a swimsuit from a company standing up against body shaming and where all bodies are beautiful.

The effectiveness of the campaign is working I believe, they keep posting natural pictures of women. I see at least one new post from Aerie on my Instagram homepage, so if they keep posting their technique should be working. The target audience is towards women around 15-30 years of age. 15 is around the time when girls metabolisms start to slow down and they get more curvy than they used to be. With the new weight gain comes self-consciousness and low self-esteem in some cases. So, Aerie uses a vast majority of models to create a more positive look of differences in women’s bodies. I chose the ages 15-30 because I believe after thirty women become more confident in how they look and do not need as much reinforcement. I believe Aerie is reaching their target audience because I shop at Aerie here in Medford and they are usually sold out of bathing suits. I also believe it is working because on Aerie’s Instagram page they have a lot of women hashtagging and becoming free advertising for Aerie.

This was hard for me to figure out because Aerie covers a lot of different issues in their marketing, but if I were the project manager, I would start working with Nickelodeon to get teenage actors to wear clothes from Aerie. Starting to involve young teenagers instead of young adult women, to develop a sense of body positivity at a younger age. It would also get the company involved more with younger teens and maybe could start making clothing to fit young girls needs. Which would expand their brand and net income, while teaching body positivity to an even younger group of girls.

Topic Two:

Advertisement One:

1. The ad I chose for the DUD advertisement was “Scoop It”, which is basically trying to sell a device that can move your food for you. Like somebody can’t move their food from a cutting board to a frying pan without it spilling it everywhere. What stood out the most was how messy food was for the person in the advertisement and that they tried moving hot food from a pan that had just come out of a stove.
2. The target audience for this commercial would be people 25 and up, anybody who is cooking for themselves on a regular basis and needs the extra help in the kitchen.
3. The persuasive techniques used in the commercial was Irritation Advertising. I usually see these when I am on the elliptical at the gym and I will plug in and watch a show that’s playing on one of the gym’s big screen T.V.’s and an ad like this will play every five minutes. The host of the commercial normally has a loud, obnoxious voice to try and get people interested in the product they are selling.
4. Their techniques failed because their message is unrealistic. I do not believe anybody has that much trouble scooping food up and transferring it like the people in this infomercial.
5. The link for “Scoop It” video-  https://youtu.be/kuuyEAq22Ag

Advertisment Two:

1. The ad I chose that WORKS is an ad for Aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. The ad has Jennifer Aniston talking about being healthy like, eating well, live well, and taking care of yourself naturally. Then it goes into how Aveeno has oatmeal that goes into your skin and is made of all natural ingredients. I believe what stood out in this advertisement was the ever-so-glowing Jennifer Aniston who is like 55 and still looks 30. She’s beautiful and very natural when it comes to her beauty, so she is the perfect candidate for what Aveeno is selling.
2. The target audience is for women 18-50 because they are at risk of dryer, aging skin that is in need of the sweet touch oatmeal has to offer. Women 18 years old are also looking at Jennifer Aniston as a never-aging skin goddess and would love to look like her as they age.
3. The persuasive technique used in this advertisement was the Famous-Person Testimonial, Jennifer Aniston is a well-known actress and is also known for her ageless skin. They have her talking about Aveeno lotion because she is what women want to look like when they reach the age of 50.
4. I can tell you from first hand experience that their technique works, I may be shallow, or compulsive, but I went and bought Aveeno face lotion after seeing their ad with Jennifer Aniston when I was 18 years old. I still use Aveeno lotion in the summertime, the one with the sunscreen in it. Their technique worked because they used a beautiful actress who is known for her ageless skin to introduce a skin lotion the “she uses”.
5. The link for the Aveeno ad: https://youtu.be/Chv_6lH41h0

Citation:

Campbell, R., Martin, C. R., Fabos, B., & Harmsen, S. (2016). Media essentials: a brief introduction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.