Walking into the jewelry store, a man with a high salary income is immediately attracted to Rolex watches because he understands that a Rolex is not just any wristwatch. He asks to see the finest Rolex watch and is impressed by the way it looks and how well-crafted it is. The jeweler then offers the man to see a Citizen’s Watch – one that cost less, tells times just as well, and does not need a battery. He rejects the man proposal because he wants the Rolex credibility and its history. Although many people believe the Rolex Watch Company just makes an overpriced luxury watch for wealthy people and that Citizen’s makes a luxury watch for everyone, I am willing to show that the quality and history of the Rolex Watch Company gives Rolex more credibility than the strategies used by the Citizen Watch Company. After discussing briefly the history of each watch company, I will describe the audience the two advertisements are aimed towards, then I will compare and the contrast the two ads in light of each other. Finally, I will show how their strategies matter to American consumers.
“Having established his London-based watch company Rolex in 1908, Hans Wilsdorf had decided to test the accuracy of his products by sending them off to a Swiss observatory. It was a decision worth taking, as Rolex was rewarded with the world’s first timing certificate for a wristwatch” (SITE). From its founding, until present time, the credibility of watches constructed by Rolex have not been in question. Since being the first accurately timing wristwatch, Rolex has grown as a company into a name that is so famous it’s synonymous with the words luxury, success, and history. Citizen, a watch company that stands for luxury for everyday people, had its beginn...
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...d using light instead, saving money for the consumer in the long run. The thought of saving money by not having to buy batteries will drive the typical American consumer to buy this watch to save money on batteries. Women, especially golfers, will show more interest in this watch because it is modeled by an athlete and this will make consumers think the watch it more trustworthy than it may be. Consumers will be driven to buy this watch purely by egocentric feelings and not by the facts or history of the watch itself. To the typical American consumer both of these watches look like a good buy depending on how much money they are willing to spend. However, the Rolex ad better supports the trustworthiness of the watch by dedicating its ad to several different celebrities who wear their watches, instead of the one celebrity used in the Citizen’s watch advertisement.
The three chapters assigned to be read out of Satisfaction Guaranteed: The Making of the American Mass Market, a novel by Susan Strasser, outline the consumer culture of the United States around the end of 19th century, following the conclusion of the civil war. The chapters work chronologically and describe the rapid evolution of companies’ production, advertising and branding techniques. The reading also hits some of the main goods introduced at the time, most of which we still use today, and the troubles that companies faced convincing the public to invest in (purchase) their product for the first time. The problem with introducing thousands of products that no one had ever heard of? Most people will naturally pick the safe bet when spending
People are often deceived by some famous brands, which they will buy as useless commodities to feel they are distinctive. People require brands to experience the feeling of being special. People spend their money to have something from famous brands, like a bag from Coach or Louis Vuitton which they think they need, yet all that is just people’s wants. Steve McKevitt claims that people give more thought on features or brands when they need to buy a product, “It might even be the case that you do need a phone to carry out your work and a car to get around in, but what brand it is and, to a large extent, what features it has are really just want” (McKevitt, 145), which that means people care about brands more than their needs. Having shoes from Louis Vuitton or shoes that cost $30 it is designed for the same use.
In the 1997 article Listening to Khakis, published in the New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell effectively paints a vivid picture of the thought and science that goes into advertising campaigns. Gladwell begins his paper by focusing on the Dockers’ advertising campaign for their line of adult male khaki pants, which he labels as extremely successful. This campaign was the first line of successful fashion advertisements aimed directly toward adult males (Gladwell, 1997). This campaign was cunningly simple and showed only males wearing the pants being advertised with the background noise filled with men having a casual conversation (Gladwell, 1997). This tactic was used because studies showed that Dockers’ target market felt an absence in adult male friendships. (Gladwell, 1997). The simplicity of the advertisements was accentuated as to not to deter possible customers by creating a fashion based ad because, based on Gladwell’s multiple interviews of advertising experts, males shy away from being viewed as fashion forward or “trying to hard” (Gladwell, 1997).
In “No Logo” Naomi Klein presents a convincing and well-documented look into how “branding” has enabled multi-national corporations to take over the way many Americans make purchases; however, since her argument fails to include the all-important human factors often overlooked by corporations and the proliferation of Internet-based retailers who are able to deal goods directly to the consumer, it is incomplete.
In the New York Times article, The Oppressive Gospel of ‘Minimalism’, millennial Kyle Chayka expresses his disdain towards minimalism’s trend and increasing incorporation in everyday life, deeming it to be, “expensive and exclusively branded by and for the elite.” In other words, Chayka discerns minimalism to only appeal towards millennials who have the financial freedom to rely on instant purchases rather than stocking for emergencies. Nonetheless, his stance does not recognize that minimalism does not aim to throw away everything in possession, but rather concentrate value upon few items to gain clarity in its worth. Hence, minimalism techniques in marketing and product values do not aim to exclude those who can’t afford it, but instead aim for consumers to consider its value in a single product. Value does not stem from price alone, but rarity, material, artistic context, design, and underlying connotations factor into its worth. Therefore, these non-explicit components in minimalist items are not considered by critics such as Kyle Chayka, and are deemed unnecessarily high without any contemplation. Another criticism against minimalism’s use in marketing is that it doesn’t give enough information for audience’s to be on the same page with reality. The point of minimalism is that the lack of information gives audiences full control over their own interpretations, and administering it in advertisements strengthens consumers’ power. Rather than giving deliberate features of an item, a minimalist ad would highlight its strengths, but allow audiences to extract its importance, whether it be personal or objective. Additionally, minimalism is employed to extract a degree of materialism in product advertising, since readers have to extrapolate potential experiences from items rather than worry about the costs. According to sociologist Joel
Readers are taken from New Haven and Times Square to Oxford and Paris and then back to Queensboro Bridge, a mythic world of adventure and noble luxury created by Gatsby. Whether intentional or not, this syncs beautifully with Brooks Brother’s advertisement, where viewers are transported through time to the fashion of the roaring 1920s. The aesthetic pursuit of clothing that is at one American and European, and yet relevant to the contemporary period almost a century later, is magically mythic. Consumers with a penchant for the historic and the modern, North American and European could all potentially be attracted by Brooks Brothers’ offerings.
Have you ever seen an advertisement for a product and could immediately relate to the subject or the product in that advertisement? Companies that sell products are always trying to find new and interesting ways to get buyers and get people’s attention. It has become a part of our society today to always have products being shown to them. As claimed in Elizabeth Thoman’s essay Rise of the Image Culture: Re-Imagining the American Dream, “…advertising offered instructions on how to dress, how to behave, how to appear to others in order to gain approval and avoid rejection”. This statement is true because most of the time buyers are persuaded by ads for certain products.
Lots of people at a high level in society use the products they own to represent their social status. As what Solomon says in his article, “advertisers have been quick to exploit the status signals that belong to body language as well.” (169) Advertising gives them a good chance to show their material success, and the advertised products make them more of individuality. For example, Michael Jordan owns a Ferrari 512 which is a super sports car with an unaffordable price. Ferrari’s advertising tells the world how excellent and expensive the car is, so that his car could shows his wealth and success in his career and also his energetic and positive personalities. Being advertised, Jordan’s Ferrari is not just a vehicle but a symbol of his identity. There is no doubt that this advertised car makes Jordan much more of
Materialistic things consume today’s society, whether it is cars, clothing, or jewelry, in a sense we rely on these objects for our happiness. Companies such as Nike, Gap, and Toms, have all had major success do to their loyal customers, who seek the name brand logo of their company. These companies have continued to grow tremendously, making billions of dollars; the companies strive to find ways to outsourcing its manufacturing, in hopes of making more and more profit. Profit is not the only thing that rises, many questions and investigations have occurred, exposing the poor ethical choices these businesses have made. Nike, one of the most well- known and profitable companies have experienced this heavy scrutiny first hand. Throughout this essay the reader will gain a better understanding of Nike’s poor ethical business decisions and what actions they took in order to repair their image.
Since the Apple Watch is not a necessity and relatively expensive for even its lower end models, the economic environment could certainly negatively impact Watch sales in present and future markets. One thing Apple has on its side with the release of the Watch, is “the constant thrill that will make the Apple Watch compelling” (Elgan, 2015). To reach another market segment, Apple has succeeded in marketing the Watch as a fashion piece that caters to the “makers that are high achievers who eat, dress, and live well” (Kotler & Keller, 2012, p. 79).
Advertising in American culture has taken on the very interesting character of representing our culture as a whole. Take this Calvin Klein ad for example. It shows the sexualization of not only the Calvin Klein clothing, but the female gender overall. It displays the socially constructed body, or the ideal body for women and girls in America. Using celebrities in the upper class to sell clothing, this advertisement makes owning a product an indication of your class in the American class system. In addition to this, feminism, and how that impacts potential consumer’s perception of the product, is also implicated. Advertisements are powerful things that can convey specific messages without using words or printed text, and can be conveyed in the split-second that it takes to see the image. In this way, the public underestimates how much they are influenced by what they see on television, in magazines, or online.
He has worked with numerous of the Fortune Global 500 companies as a brand building expert. He has truly mastered consumers’ deepest desires by exploit hot spots in the human brains to compel them to purchase blindly and willingly. As a result, Martin has successfully help launched new products and brands. Martin created this book during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Martin’s main purpose of this book was not getting us to stop purchasing, as that is nearly impossible. “The purpose is to educate and empower you to make smarter, sounder, more informed decisions about what we’re buying and why” (Lindstorm 8). By exposing marketing companies tricks and tactics, consumers would be equipped to battle the war on impulse purchasing in a time of
There are limited signs relating to the practical aspects of owning a Patek Philippe Geneve watch. The functional aspect of the watch, which is to show the time, is played down throughout the advert and only referenced in note (12).
By 2002, Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton was the world’s largest luxury products company, enjoying annual sales of 12.2 billion euros. LVMH carries the most prestigious brand names in wine, champagne, fashion, jewelry, and perfume. Upon entrance of this luxury product industry, LVMH was aware that they produced products that nobody needed, but that were desired by millions across the world. This desire in some way fulfills a fantasy, making consumers feel as though they must buy it, or else they will not be in the moment, and thus will be left behind.
Just like the individuals who comprise the human race, these curious creatures come in all shapes and sizes, each with its own beauty. My watch, an example of those delicate timepieces fastened with a band of gold or silver, resembles a bracelet. Yet, there are watches with thicker straps; some with leather, plastic, and even bands of bulky cloth; watches with bold heavy-set numerals; timepieces with only dots or diamond-shaped accents to represent the twelve hours; as well as the contemporary digital watch. Despite the endless assortment of watches, each serves the very same purpose: creating a framework in which those who ride the roller coaster of modernized life must run th...