Effectiveness of Product Placement of Cars

Effectiveness of Product Placement of Cars Product placement is a marketing tool where a product is put into a movie scene where it is heard or seen, or its brand name heard (Lehu and Bressoud 2008). This marketing practice has since mushroomed in movies. The communication potential of product placement in the movie is considered as a feasible and attractive branding method (Cowley and Barron 2008). As a marketing strategy, product placement has been regarded for its advantages such as a captive audience (Cowley and Barron 2008); lack of clutter (Belch and Belch, as cited in Lehu and Bressoud 2008); and exposure, frequency, support of other media, source association, cost and recall such as other advertisements (Belch and Belch, as cited in Lehu and Bressoud 2008, p. 92). Among the very first industries to use product placement as a marketing strategy has been the auto industry. Car makers were among the first to use the technique because of the potentially very large audience for a low cost (Parrish, as cited in Cowley and Barron 2008). For the year 2007 alone, total spending for product placement reached $2.9 billion in the United States, with the car and apparel industries claiming the biggest chunk (Pope 2008). British luxury carmaker Aston Martin has been in the business since 1914 and is known for its high-profile product placements in popular films. Aston produces high-end and low-volume cars that fit the companys image of sophistication, elegance, credibility, and glamour. The companys marketing strategy has been closely associated James Bond films. Its relationship with the Bond franchise has been one of the most popular partnerships and has contributed to the companys image worldwide. Starting with Sean Connery in the 1964 Bond installment Goldfinger, Aston has sustained its product placement strategy with the most recent placement of Aston Martin DBS for the 2007 film Casino Royale (Superbrands 2009). Studies have suggested that product placement boosts brand recall and promotes greater brand exposure for a product. In a study by Delorme and Reid (1999), product placement appeared to have influenced the audience to develop familiarity and a sense of belonging associated with the brand shown in the movies. The study also concluded that the context in which the brand appears in the movie is also important for brand exposure and that young people are the most susceptible for product placement. DeLorme and Reid (1999) said that, [They] had grown up with much more marketing and advertising therefore, they expect to encounter brands in present day movies (p. 83). Another study also examined what forms of placement are most effective in boosting brand recall (Sapolsky and Kinney 1994). The researchers found that a combination of visual cues and verbal references to the brand in the scenes of a movie are the most effective and also the most expensive placements. Brand recall is also high when a product appears jointly with a major character or the star in the film and provides it with greater visibility. Companies that have used product placement have reported a boost in sales after movie releases. For instance, Reeses candy experience an escalation of sales by 70 percent when the movie ET: The Extra-Terrestrial after the blockbuster movie was released. Reeses candies were featured in several scenes in the movie. BMW AG also experienced a spike in profits as customers decked the showrooms after the release of the 1996 Bond installment Golden Eye featured its Z3 roadster (Pope 2008). Determining how effective product placements are has been a focus of a study by Morton and Friedman (2002). The researchers explained that the brand performance of a product as a result of product placement strategy could be measured according to different variables: revenues, sales or hits at the official company website. The authors suggest that product placement is an effective type of product promotion. Audience receptivity as a result of product placement is key to achieving sales or profitability objectives or not achieving them entirely. Marketing practitioners and executives should ensure that product placement results to the reflection of greater profitability outcomes. Furthermore, researchers have also concluded that the role of marketing executives is to obtain access to opportunities for product placement and guarantee that the appearance of the product works synergetically with the companys image and market positioning (Morton and Friedman 2002). Research Question and Research Objectives This study aims to investigate how product placement is as a marketing strategy in Aston Martin and evaluate its effectiveness. The central research question for the proposed study is: How effective is product placement as a marketing strategy for luxury carmaker Aston Martin? There are specific sub-questions to the main question, to wit: How is product placement used as a marketing strategy at Aston Martin? What are the perceived benefits of product placement as a marketing strategy? Is it an effective marketing strategy in terms of a) producing brand and company awareness; and b) generating sales for the company? The objectives of this study are: To trace, identify, and describe product placement in the companys history since it first placed Aston Martin DB5 in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger until present. To gather the perceptions of the marketing practitioners at Aston Martin on the benefits of their choice of marketing strategy. To gather the perceptions of the marketing practitioners on how placing Aston Martin cars in movies offers competitive market positioning for the company. To collect information on revenue and sales of Aston Martin cars as a result of product placement. Philosophy of the Research Design and the Methodology to be Used This study will be a qualitative case study research in design. This study follows the qualitative tradition of research and will be guided by a detached social constructionist approach. Qualitative research is characterized by an open research design that is suitable for studies which are small-scale in scope. The social constructionist perspective views the social as the process of articulating individual selves and the world. It is a challenge to the primacy of the individual, in effect, placing relationship, the social, as prior and primary (Stacey 2001, p. 51). This study proposes the case study methodology, which is a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence (Robson 2002, p. 178). The phenomenon to be investigated for this study is product placement as a marketing strategy and how it contributes to positive profitability outcomes. The researcher in a case study uses multiple sources and methods (Yin 1994). Following the multi-method focus of qualitative research, this study proposes to utilize primary and secondary sources of data. Primary data will be gathered by interviews with marketing executives of Aston Martin. Interviews will be necessary in order to understand the reasons behind their decisions on marketing strategy as well as their opinions on how marketing strategies are effective in fueling company growth. Moreover, interviews provide the opportunity to obtain answers by allowing interviewees to explain and build on their responses. Secondary data will be used to triangulate primary data sources. Among the targeted sources of secondary data will be company revenue statistics, company documents, archival material, and news articles that could verify and elaborate on the responses in the interviews.

Importance of Symbolism in Timothy Findley’s “War”.

Young people often do not know what to expect of the future. They do not know how to act when something unexpected comes along, and their actions are based on what they do know; usually limited, biased information. This idea is central to the short story, ? War,? by Timothy Findley. The young boy, Neil Cable, narrates the day he found out his father had joined the army. He speaks of his actions, feelings, and confusion surrounding that day. At first glance, his actions are all too often misinterpreted as violence and hatred, but after careful consideration, one can see that they are merely his way of dealing with the troubling news.He has not experienced enough in his lifetime to have a true understanding of war, and acts upon what he does know. In the short story, ? War? , by Timothy Findley, the young boy’s image of war and actions throughout are explained through the use of symbolism. Many symbols in the story give the reader an idea of the war that Neil pictures in his min d. He sees the war to be incredibly violent, and full of blood and anger. This image is shown through the mention of trenches. The word is used repeatedly in the story, suggesting that Neil is very much aware of what happens at war.When Neil is hiding from his father, he builds a trench out of hay in the barn, suggesting that subconsciously, he is trying to prepare his father for what is to come. He thinks that if he can show his father what it is like to be in the army, maybe he will back out. As a young boy, he knows only what he has seen or heard about, which focuses on the violence and danger of going to war. This idea sparks fear within Neil, resulting in anger and rebellion. Another important symbol that shows Neil’s image of war is the stones that he finds at Arthur Robinson’s summer cottage.They are red stones, and he later uses them to throw at his father, trying to keep him away. The stones may symbolize bullets, making the confrontation between Neil and his father in the barn much more important. He throws them at his father, not necessarily trying to do harm, but trying to scare him so maybe he will change his mind about going to war. The colour of the stones is also significant; they are red, a colour which is known to symbolize anger, hurt, and passion.These are all emotions that Neil knows will run through his father while he is away at war. Interestingly, they are also the feelings that rage inside of Neil while he creates a plan of attack against his father. The stones, along with Neil’s actions with them, suggest that Neil is trying to prepare his father for the extreme violence that lies ahead of him. When hiding away in the barn, Neil continuously acts like his father will while he is gone; ? I was just trying to figure out how I could get him before he saw me-and that was all? (Dawe 133).Neil does not realize the meaning of his actions, but as a reader one can see that something deep down inside of him is trying to cre ate a scene of the war; this is his way of demonstrating his feelings and disapproval of his father going to war. Uncle Frank and the birch bark box show that all Neil knows about war is that people come back hurt. He does not want to accept the fact that his father has joined the army, because in his mind it means that he will never see his father again. The only story that Neil knows about being in the army is about his Uncle Frank, who did years after coming home due to war injuries.Neil knows that his uncle never got his life back after getting hurt, and thinks that everyone who joins the war ends up the same way. After finding out his father has joined the army, and recalling the memory of his Uncle Frank, Neil states: ? †¦in the army you always went in a trench and got hurt or killed? (Dawe 124). Neil has never heard an uplifting story about war, so in his mind anyone who joins the army is giving up their life. This idea is confirmed by the birch bark box that Neil gives to both his parents.This box could symbolize a coffin, showing that Neil truly is afraid of losing his father. He wants to make sure that he gets the box before leaving for the army, so that he has it with him when he dies. The box is mentioned at the end of the story, when Neil says that the family picture taken before his father left still remins in the box, suggesting that Neil’s fears become a reality. These two symbols show Neil’s lack of knowledge about war, and explain why he acts the way he does; he thinks that his father signing up for the army means that he will never see him again.Neil’s fear of ducks and the dark suggest that he is afraid of the future; he knows that anything could happen once his father leaves for war. His fear of the future is the reason he runs away and hides in the barn. He thinks that if he can keep things the way they are that the future would remain the way he imagined it would be. Neil says multiple times in the story that he is afraid of ducks. Ducks are migratory birds; they are constantly leaving and returning. Although they travel in bunches, it is common for not all of the ducks to return every year. This pattern is very much like the army.They come and go, some staying for longer periods of time, and some never returning at all. Neil is afraid of this uncertainty with his father; he does not want to live in fear f his father never returning home, or of never knowing what will happen next. Neil also states that he is very much afraid of the dark. He does not like not knowing what it in front of him, and wants to always be able to see what is coming. This is very important when analysing Neil’s fears. The reader knows that he does not adjust well to change, and is very uncomfortable when dealing with the unknown.He says: ? At least, if you sit still you know where you are- but if you move around, then you don’t know where you are? (Dawe 12). This statement tells the reader that Neil is also worried about the change in his life. If things do not change, then he knows what is going to happen, but as soon as thigns are different, life becomes a guessing game. these fears are the reason that Neil acts the way he does; he does not know how to deal with the uncertainty of the future and thus portrays a very angry, confused young boy.When Neil Cable receives the news that his father has joined the army, he lashes out at him and seems to be a very troubles young boy. After examining the story, one can see that this behaviour is the result of being young, naive, and unaware of the world around him. His knowledge about war is limited, and causes him to react with violence and aggression, but the reader soon realizes that this is the only way he knows how to deal with his fear. By interpreting the many symbols in the short story, ?War? , one can see that Neil Cable’s image of war consists of violence, possible death, and an unknown future. The story is based upon the idea that young people are not experienced enough to deal with difficult situations; simply because they have not lived long enough. They pften react in very unexpected and sometimes troublesome ways. In order to understand their actions, one needs to see things from a child’s perspective: innocent, naive, and in the process of learning about the world around them.

Jonathan Swift- a Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift, a celebrated name during the eighteenth century, was an economist, a writer, and a cleric who was later named Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. Although Swift took on many different roles throughout his career, the literary form of satire seemed to be his realm of expertise. Because satire flourished during the eighteenth century, Jonathan Swift is arguably one of the most influential political satirists of his time. In one of his famous essays, A Modest Proposal, Swift expresses his anger and frustration towards the oppression of the Irish by the English government.In order to gain attention from his audience, Swift proposes the outrageous thesis that the solution to Ireland’s problem of poverty is to feed children of the poor to the wealthy, aristocratic families. To whom Swift is directing his satire towards is a multifaceted question. Taking on the persona of an intellectual economist, Swift attacks England for their ignorance, criticizes th e Irish for their submissive ways, and on a deeper level, censures the reader who embodies all that disregard the cruelties of the world.Although Ireland was an autonomous kingdom during the eighteenth century, the English Parliament still exerted its power from afar. The weak social relations made it so that England overlooked the economical instability in Ireland. The anger that lies behind A Modest Proposal holds both England and Ireland dually responsible for the turmoil. This is illustrated first by dehumanizing the Irish people.The proposer compares them to livestock, referring to the women as â€Å"breeders† (Swift 342), and proposes, â€Å"a young healthy child† will serve as â€Å"a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled† (Swift 342). By doing this, Swift criticizes both the English government for merely viewing the people of Ireland as insignificant, and also attacks the Irish for allowing themselves t o be reduced to that of livestock. Children are viewed as a commodity whose â€Å"carcass† is worth â€Å"ten shillings† (Swift 343).For the wealthy, the proposer suggests that the skin of the carcass â€Å"will make admirable gloves for ladies, and fine boots for gentleman† (Swift 342). A child is regarded by many cultures as inferior, naive, and innocent. The idea of a child being marketed as an item used for economic purposes emphasizes the inhumanity inflicted on someone as helpless as a child. Here, Swift cleverly brings England’s ignorance and Ireland’s passivity to attention by using a vulnerable child as a victim. The use of dehumanization is also shown when Swift speaks of the Irish as statistical data.Regarding the â€Å"hundred and twenty thousand children already computed,† the proposer explains that, â€Å"twenty thousand may be reserved for breed† (Swift 343). Once again, [England] referring to people in a statistical, n umerical sense dismisses the individuality of a human being. Swift’s feelings of enragement with the Irish Catholics’ lack of self-respect are clearly portrayed as they too permit themselves to be classified as a number. Swift also shows that both countries are responsible for the poverty in Ireland when he censures the politics that surround the issue.In the treatise, the idea of cannibalism is used as an analogy for the oppression in Ireland. Towards the end of the essay, this is shown when the proposer remarks that â€Å"perhaps [he] could name a country which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without [this proposal]† (Swift 346). Here, Swift makes a counterargument towards the people of England who would be appalled at such a cannibalistic idea. Even in the absence of this proposal, Swift explains that England would still devour Ireland’s resources and undermines its people.This analogy is also used to attack Ireland when the treatise addresses the value of a plump child. Because this food will be expensive, Swift remarks that it should be, â€Å"very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children† (Swift 343). In other words, the wealthy Irish landlords have already taken everything they can from the poor. Not only has England oppressed Ireland, but also the Irish have oppressed themselves.Due to the grieve-stricken conditions Ireland faces during the eighteenth century, Swift speculates that the as the children age, they either flee Ireland to â€Å"fight for the Pretender in Spain,† or â€Å"sell themselves to the Barbadoes† (Swift 341). Here, the proposer unmistakably attacks the Irish for being disloyal to â€Å"their dear native country† (Swift 341), by fighting for the English government and fleeing to America. Reading further in between the lines, one can see that Swift is also blaming England for engaging its ci tizens in military action. To let one’s country suffer while they fight or the nation that enables their poverty, illustrates a weak and cowardly nation. In the same sense, England should be reprimanded as well for using the poor to their advantage, and overlooking the poverty dilemma. In addition to Ireland’s disloyalty issue, Swift also attacks current marriage laws in place. Marriage, the proposer states, â€Å"is encouraged by rewards, or enforced by laws and penalties† (Swift 345). These rules and regulations were not only enforced by England, but â€Å"all wise nations† (Swift 345) during the eighteenth century as well.Specifically designed for absolute patriarchal power, these marriage laws were unjust in which Swift attempts to bring to the reader’s attention. Instead of this, Swift argues, â€Å"the expensiveness of pride, vanity, idleness, and gaming in our women† (Swift 346) should be stopped. Through various portrayals, it is pro ven that Swift’s treatise was not intended to only blame the British for their cruelty, but the Irish for their passivity as well. In attacking England and Ireland on equal levels, one cannot fail to recognize the satire Swift directs towards the reader.The reader serves as a representation of all mankind who blatantly disregard the fellow man in need of nourishment. Through critiquing the reader, Swift can give us a broader perspective of the inhumanity that occurs everywhere and still occurs unnoticed. In the end of his argument, Swift does offer a number of solutions that are actually rational, such as â€Å"taxing our absentees at five shillings a pound,† or â€Å"rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign luxury† (Swift 346).However, he dismisses these sound ideas quickly since there will never â€Å"be some hearty and sincere attempts to put them in practice† (Swift 291). Until the public makes an effort to enforce these rational p roposals, the idea of feeding children to the wealthy stands as the only logical suggestion. Next, the proposer admits that he is â€Å"not so violently bent upon my own opinion as to reject any offer proposed,† but in hearing another proposition, it must be â€Å"found equally innocent, cheap, easy, and effectual† (Swift 346).The proposer is willing to hear another proposition on the account that it addresses certain issues. This opens the reader’s eyes to the problem of poverty in Ireland as a complex one that cannot be solved with a quick solution. The significance of the issue increases and brings attention to the fact that the reader is a casualty to ignorance like all human beings. The satire that is produced by Jonathan Swift in A Modest Proposal, exemplifies many problems that seem to be overlooked and ignored.England, who enforces laws from afar, chooses to turn its head towards the growing poverty in Ireland. Ireland is equally responsible however, bec ause their passivity rears them as helpless, and thus they have not made any effort to encourage change among their people. Swift does not forget to take a stab at the reader for partaking in the same cruelties as England and Ireland. In a broader perspective, inhumanity often goes unrecognized because we as humans choose to look the other way. Swift effectively uses satire to critique three different audiences and encourage change for the better.

Images of Gender in the Media - 1258 Words

Finding a simple or concrete definition of gender maybe near impossible. Gender roles are what men and woman learn and internalize as the way they are supposed to act. These roles are commonly thought of as natural rather than a construction of culture. Gender is thought to flow from sex, rather then being a matter of what the culture does with sex. This theory is widely and exhaustively debated, according to Wood Sex is based on biology; Gender is socially and psychologically constructed (Wood 19). This statement suggests that cultures discourses and ideologies form the complexities of gender and gender roles. It is easy to say that girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice and boy are made of snips and snails and†¦show more content†¦However, just as in the ad, Namaths own masculinity was not without apparent contradiction as he was seen on the sideline wearing fur coats and designer sunglasses; surely the nickname Broadway Joe had as much to do with his l ifestyle as where he played football. Through his success on the field Namath was granted eccentricities not extended to the common man The concept of beauty refers to femininity. Beauty as a concept can not be defined but it is understood in cultures and societies through the use of the symbols. Because beauty is so attached to the femininity the womans body commonly gets dissected into parts and each part has a product that will enhance it. Woman view the representation of the symbols that tell them what each body part should look like and normalize them. If they do not live up to the normal concept of beauty then they must do something to change. According to Bordo the concept of beauty being so heavily attached to femininity, woman are often their own worse enemy for body image continuously painting their faces and plucking out hairs to try to live up to the cultures ideologies of feminine beauty. Smooth flawless legs are an asset to woman who internalizes the concept of beauty and there for this ad although for the most part not containing woman most certainty solely focused on them. Typically masculinity and femininity are posed as opposites in relationship to eachShow MoreRelated images of gender in the media Essay1234 Words   |  5 Pages Finding a simple or concrete definition of gender maybe near impossible. Gender roles are what men and woman learn and internalize as the way they are supposed to act. These roles are commonly thought of as natural rather than a construction of culture. 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