As a professional marketer, you are governed by whatever your clients are hoping to sell. Sometimes it's a useful, valuable product; sometimes it's a dry, esoteric concept. More often than not, it is something that no one really needs, but it is your job to sell it. The client has put his trust in you and will pay you for your effort. No one ever said marketing was always going to be fun and glamorous.
Given the task of creating an ad, a website, a brochure or trade show display, your goal is to present your client's job so every eye will be drawn to it, regardless of whether they need it or will ultimately buy it.
First question I would ask is, who is its target market? If we're selling a geriatric product or service, it's far different from selling something to the tween segment. But many jobs we do in this field are far removed from the everyday ken of the mass consumer market. For example, selling a particular type of industrial technology to the world's waste water engineers. Or presenting a series of books on World War I history to a tiny clutch of worldwide war buffs. Each of these examples demands a different approach to reach what "moves" a given market.
Recently, I was contacted by a dancing school owner who wanted her website redesigned to reflect her personality. She felt that if I were to visit her and watch her work, I could capture the essence of her spirit and come up with graphics to match.
This is a common misconception among people outside of the marketing field. They all believe they are truly unique and possess some kind of special quality that will make them an overnight sensation. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Working to package a marketing concept involves use of a finite assortment of type styles, textual content, colors, visual images, shapes and sizes dictated by the dimensions of the end product we are creating and has very little bearing on whether the client is a glamour queen or military madman. If what we are selling is related to those last two descriptions, then there may be some reason to apply such ideas. But in my thirty-five years of experience, graphic design is most effective when it relates to current aesthetic trends but surpasses the norm with innovation and surprise. It must be competitive with the world's best efforts while being meaningful to its target market.
What type styles work best?
This is very much dependent on whom we are addressing. Just as tweens would have no appreciation for the grace and elegance of a classic font used tastefully in proper balance with its surrounding elements, an older market may bristle at an avant garde utilization of some brazen typeface scrawled defiantly across a bold design. Yet, there is a time and place for each of these techniques.
What colors work best?
According to multiple studies performed over a fifty year period in a number of different countries, regardless of age or gender, the color blue ranked as the most preferred color to use for a variety of purposes and goals. Second choices were green and purple. Least favorite colors were orange, grey and brown. However, each of the studies mentioned that cultural differences affected color favorites because of emotional relationships attached to color, e.g., associations with mourning, depression, mental illness, terrorism, etc. Other studies also concluded that men and women react to color differently with men being more oblivious to both color and subtlety, while women were more attentive and knowledgeable about both. Furthermore, in studies performed in laboratory settings to examine how color affected behavior, blue was found to have a calming, relaxing effect while red motivated quicker response. When age was more closely examined, the younger the subject the more likely the preference for bright colors such as red or yellow. Also, in the presence of these same bright colors, perceptions and judgments to size or value by all respondents tended to be larger and more favorable than when influenced by blues or greens which elicited more realistic and slower reactions.
What does this mean in terms of graphic design?
Much of what has been found through scientific or psychological study basically appears to be common sense. Young people like hot flashy colors and older people like cooler, more conservative colors. Yet, one truism about color doesn't quite compute when reviewing the results of the various preference studies. According to color theory, there are three primary colors of red, blue and yellow with the complementary color of each primary color determined by mixing the other two primary colors together. This means that the complementary color of red is green; the complementary color of blue is orange; and the complementary color of yellow is purple. What sticks out like a sore thumb is that most people disliked orange; yet it is the most complementary color to use with everyone's favorite color, blue.
So, do we throw these conclusions out the window? Hardly. It is a safe bet that if you were to use blue as the color scheme for women with breast cancer, men with a penchant for war and children shopping for shoes, none would be repulsed by the presentation. I think the use of an accent color would be the more sensitive issue and observation of the studies' results should provide a reliable guide here. Also, not to be overlooked is the fact that there are an infinite number of shades and tones of blue which complicates the matter even further. If the blue you choose leans to the green, it is more likely described as a turquoise, while a blue leaning more to the red could be construed as more of a purple or magenta. These variations alter presumptions about use of secondary or tertiary colors to complement. Another important concern regarding color involves contrast which can affect legibility of text if misused.
What visual images sell best?
Years ago, before the existence of computers, desktop publishing and the Internet, it was common knowledge among this industry's cognoscenti that babies and dogs were the images to use at the newsstand to capture the hearts of the magazine-buying public. In an extensive Google search, I have failed to support that theory today. Times have changed and with it tastes of our culture. Another mantra from years past was that "sex sells." Whether we agree with that or not, sex rarely has a place within applications we professional marketers must utilize.
Here's what one expert, Dick Stolley, the founding managing editor of People magazine, had to say about what cover images sell his magazine best:
"Young is better than old. Pretty is better than ugly. Rich is better than poor. Movies are better than music. Music is better than television. Television is better than sports...and anything is better than politics." In 1999, he added: "And nothing is better than the celebrity dead," a fact which has been strongly supported with the best-selling newsstand covers of all time at the death of John Lennon, Princess Diana and recently Michael Jackson.
For those of us selling widgets, however, these guidelines are immaterial. The correct image to use in marketing obviously must relate to what we are selling. This is not to say that we must show a photo or illustration of the subject. Sometimes that is not the best route to take. Instead, we must ask ourselves, what will best communicate to the ideal buyer why he must act immediately to proceed with a purchase of what we are presenting? How we "package" that appeal will be the magic bullet to motivate his response.
Well, that doesn't give you much direction, does it? Having been in this predicament countless times in my career, this is what I have come to trust as the best way to accomplish this goal. After establishing the chief characteristic of the market based on the relevance of age, gender, occupation, education or location, I make the assumption that everyone wants to be treated as if they are the most desirable customers in the world. So I dress my presentations in the garb of the rich and successful, using sophisticated choices of font, intelligence, color, imagery and layout. I don't resort to gimmicks or brash design. Rather, I rely on methods which utilize elegance and class.
One of the reasons I do this is because first and foremost, I must please the client. Since he is usually affluent and successful, he immediately can relate to this style. Secondly, typical of human nature, his prospective market, regardless of demographics, wants to identify with the rich and famous and probably will view the presentation as something that type of person would want. So, with his curiosity piqued, the presentation has achieved the first important step in the process. How well you have delivered the message and enticed him to act will determine whether he proceeds with a purchase.
While this methodology may contradict the logic of defining one's target market if it turns out to be children or street gang members, in my experience the majority of those we are appealing to are people of means (hopefully) so they can afford whatever it is we are selling; of an age mature enough to comprehend and appreciate our proposal; and finally, a member of the American culture with needs and desires shaped by current technology, events and national outlook. With that as a starting point, my forays into marketing have been largely successful for those who have hired me based on the understanding that everyone prefers to go "first class."
| Marilyn Bontempo, President of Mid-Hudson Marketing since 1975, has |
Colors often have different meanings in various cultures. And even in Western societies, the meanings of various colors have changed over the years. But today in the U.S., researchers have generally found the following to be accurate.
Black
Black is the color of authority and power. It is popular in fashion because it makes people appear thinner. It is also stylish and timeless. Black also implies submission. Priests wear black to signify submission to God. Some fashion experts say a woman wearing black implies submission to men. Black outfits can also be overpowering, or make the wearer seem aloof or evil. Villains, such as Dracula, often wear black.
White
Brides wear white to symbolize innocence and purity. White reflects light and is considered a summer color. White is popular in decorating and in fashion because it is light, neutral, and goes with everything. However, white shows dirt and is therefore more difficult to keep clean than other colors. Doctors and nurses wear white to imply sterility.
Red
The most emotionally intense color, red stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing. It is also the color of love. Red clothing gets noticed and makes the wearer appear heavier. Since it is an extreme color, red clothing might not help people in negotiations or confrontations. Red cars are popular targets for thieves. In decorating, red is usually used as an accent. Decorators say that red furniture should be perfect since it will attract attention.
The most romantic color, pink, is more tranquilizing. Sports teams sometimes paint the locker rooms used by opposing teams bright pink so their opponents will lose energy.
Blue
The color of the sky and the ocean, blue is one of the most popular colors. It causes the opposite reaction as red. Peaceful, tranquil blue causes the body to produce calming chemicals, so it is often used in bedrooms. Blue can also be cold and depressing. Fashion consultants recommend wearing blue to job interviews because it symbolizes loyalty. People are more productive in blue rooms. Studies show weightlifters are able to handle heavier weights in blue gyms.
Green
Currently the most popular decorating color, green symbolizes nature. It is the easiest color on the eye and can improve vision. It is a calming, refreshing color. People waiting to appear on TV sit in "green rooms" to relax. Hospitals often use green because it relaxes patients. Brides in the Middle Ages wore green to symbolize fertility. Dark green is masculine, conservative, and implies wealth. However, seamstresses often refuse to use green thread on the eve of a fashion show for fear it will bring bad luck.
Yellow
Cheerful sunny yellow is an attention getter. While it is considered an optimistic color, people lose their tempers more often in yellow rooms, and babies will cry more. It is the most difficult color for the eye to take in, so it can be overpowering if overused. Yellow enhances concentration, hence its use for legal pads. It also speeds metabolism.
Purple
The color of royalty, purple connotes luxury, wealth, and sophistication. It is also feminine and romantic. However, because it is rare in nature, purple can appear artificial.
Brown
Solid, reliable brown is the color of earth and is abundant in nature. Light brown implies genuineness while dark brown is similar to wood or leather. Brown can also be sad and wistful. Men are more apt to say brown is one of their favorite colors.
Colors of the Flag
In the U.S. flag, white stands for purity and innocence. Red represents valor and hardiness, while blue signifies justice, perseverance, and vigilance. The stars represent the heavens and all the good that people strive for, while the stripes emulate the sun's rays.
Food for Thought
While blue is one of the most popular colors it is one of the least appetizing. Blue food is rare in nature. Food researchers say that when humans searched for food, they learned to avoid toxic or spoiled objects, which were often blue, black, or purple. When food dyed blue is served to study subjects, they lose appetite.
Green, brown, and red are the most popular food colors. Red is often used in restaurant decorating schemes because it is an appetite stimulant
In 1666, English scientist Sir Isaac Newton discovered that when pure white light passes through a prism, it separates into all of the visible colors. Newton also found that each color is made up of a single wavelength and cannot be separated any further into other colors.
Further experiments demonstrated that light could be combined to form other colors. For example, red light mixed with yellow light creates an orange color. A color resulting from a mix of two other colors is known as a metamer. Some colors, such as yellow and purple, cancel each other out when mixed and result in a white light. These competing colors are known as complements.
Color Psychology - The Psychological Effects of Color
While perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, there are some color effects that have universal meaning. Colors in the red area of the color spectrum are known as warm colors and include red, orange and yellow. These warm colors evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility.
Colors on the blue side of the spectrum are known as cool colors and include blue, purple and green. These colors are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference.
Color Psychology as Therapy
Several ancient cultures, including the Egyptians and Chinese, practiced chromotherapy, or using colors to heal. Chromotherapy is sometimes referred to as light therapy or colourology and is still used today as a holistic or alternative treatment.
In this treatment:
• Red was used to stimulate the body and mind and to increase circulation.
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• Yellow was thought to stimulate the nerves and purify the body.
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• Orange was used to heal the lungs and to increase energy levels.
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• Blue was believed to soothe illnesses and treat pain.
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Indigo shades were thought to alleviate skin problems
I always loved Bill Berbach’s advertising for the VW Beetle.
But I never bought one.
I loved John Webster’s Honey Monster advertising.
But I never ate Sugar Puffs.
I also loved John’s advertising the Guardian.
But I never bought it.
I loved David Abbott’s advertising for The Economist.
But I never read it.
I loved Saatchi’s advertising for The Conservatives.
But I never voted for them.
I loved Trevor Beattie’s ad for Wonderbra.
But I never wore one.
I loved Terry Lovelock’s ads for Heineken.
But I never drank it.
I liked Alex Taylor’s ads for The Army.
But I never joined it.
I like VCCP’s ads for Compare The Meerkat.
But I’ve never visited the site.
I loved BBH’s ads for Paddy Power.
But I’ve never been in their betting shops.
I liked Barbara Noakes’s ads for Dr. White’s tampons.
But I’ve never used any.
I liked Paul Arden’s ads for Silk Cut.
But I’ve never smoked them.
I liked Fallon’s Drumming Gorilla.
But I’ve never bought a bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk.
In fact there are loads of ads I love.
But often, I don’t buy the product
So where does that leave advertising?
Does that mean it doesn’t work?
Well it depends on what you think advertising’s job is.
If you think its job is to sell products to people who don’t want them then no, it doesn’t work.
If you define a great ad as making people rush out and buy something they could never imagine buying, then no, it doesn’t do that either.
So how do you define advertising?
I’ll tell you what it is to me.
It gives my client an edge over their competitor.
But that’s all it is, an edge.
And an edge can’t do the whole job on its own.
If you’re in the market for a car, maybe I can make you buy my brand.
But you’ve got to be in the market for a car in the first place.
If you’d never even consider a car, I can’t make you want one.
I can’t turn a core non-user into a core user.
Because advertising is just one of many factors involved in the process.
Factors like product quality, is it any good?
Factors like distribution, do they sell it near me?
Factors like cost, is it more expensive?
Factors like personal taste, is it available in a colour I like?
Advertising isn’t the be-all and end-all of selling something.
True, in a parity situation, advertising can give you an unfair advantage.
But advertising is just one of the factors that will influence selling.
That’s why many products sell despite bad advertising.
Because they’re good products.
Or they’re widely available.
Or they’re cheap.
Or consumers like them.
All advertising can do is influence a consumer.
But only influence.
All other things being equal, it can tip the balance.
But it can’t do the whole job on its own.
If you’ve got a good pitch for your product, advertising can get someone to listen.
It can get their attention and get your case heard.
At best it can create a ‘propensity to purchase’.
A willingness to buy, a curiosity to try.
If, it’s available where I shop.
If, the price is right.
If, it’s in my size.
If, it’s in a colour I like.
If, I like the taste.
If, I’m in the mood.
If, it’s the right time of year.
If, I’m the right age, sex, religious persuasion.
If, I have the right interest, habits, predilections.
If I tick all those boxes good advertising will work.
But most advertising doesn’t work.
Because most advertising is done by people who don’t understand that
Influencing Sexual Attitudes
Young people also learn a great deal about sexual attitudes from the media and from advertising in particular. Advertising's approach to sex is pornographic; it reduces people to objects and deemphasizes human contact and individuality. This reduction of sexuality to a dirty joke and of people to objects is the real obscenity of the culture. Although the sexual sell, overt and subliminal, is at a fevered pitch in most commercials, there is at the same time a notable absence of sex as an important and profound human activity.
There have been some changes in the images of women. Indeed, a "new women" has emerged in commercials in recent years. You're a Halston woman from the very beginning," the advertisement proclaims. The model stares provocatively at the viewer, her long blonde hair waving around her face, her bare chest partially covered by two curved bottles that give the illusion of breasts and a cleavage.
The average American is accustomed to blue-eyed blondes seductively touting a variety of products. In this case, however, the blonde is about five years old.
Advertising is an over 100 billion dollar a year industry and affects all of us throughout our lives. We are each exposed to over 2000 ads a day, constituting perhaps the most powerful educational force in society. The average American will spend one and one-half years of his or her life watching television commercials. The ads sell a great deal more than products. They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy. They tell us who we are and who we should be. Sometimes they sell addictions.
Advertising is the foundation and economic lifeblood of the mass media. The primary purpose of the mass media is to deliver an audience to advertisers, just as the primary purpose of television programs is to deliver an audience for commercials.
Adolescents are particularly vulnerable because they are new and inexperienced consumers and are the prime targets of many advertisements. They are in the process of learning their values and roles and developing their self-concepts. Most teenagers are sensitive to peer pressure and find it difficult to resist or even question the dominant cultural messages perpetuated and reinforced by the media. Mass communication has made possible a kind of national peer pressure that erodes private and individual values and standards.
But what do people, especially teenagers, learn from the advertising messages? On the most obvious level they learn the stereotypes. Advertising creates a mythical, mostly white world in which people are rarely ugly, overweight, poor, struggling or disabled, either physically or mentally (unless you count the housewives who talk to little men in toilet bowls). In this world, people talk only about products.
Housewives or Sex Objects
The aspect of advertising most in need of analysis and change is the portrayal of women. Scientific studies and the most casual viewing yield the same conclusion: women are shown almost exclusively as housewives or sex objects.
The housewife, pathologically obsessed by cleanliness, debates the virtues of cleaning products with herself and worries about "ring around the collar" (but no one ever asks why he doesn't wash his neck). She feels guilt for not being more beautiful, for not being a better wife and mother.
The sex object is a mannequin, a shell. Conventional beauty is her only attribute. She has no lines or wrinkles (which would indicate she had the bad taste and poor judgment to grow older), no scars or blemishes--indeed, she has no pores. She is thin, generally tall and long-legged, and, above all, she is young. All "beautiful" women in advertisements (including minority women), regardless of product or audience, conform to this norm. Women are constantly exhorted to emulate this ideal, to feel ashamed and guilty if they fail, and to feel that their desirability and lovability are contingent upon physical perfection.
Creating Artificiality
The image is artifical and can only be achieved artificially (even the "natural look" requires much preparation and expense). Beauty is something that comes from without; more than one million dollars is spent every hour on cosmetics. Desperate to conform to an ideal and impossible standard, many women go to great lengths to manipulate and change their faces and bodies. A woman is conditioned to view her face as a mask and her body as an object, as things separate from and more important than her real self, constantly in need of alteration, improvement, and disguise. She is made to feel dissatisfied with and ashamed of herself, whether she tries to achieve "the look" or not. Objectified constantly by others, she learns to objectify herself.
When Glamour magazine surveyed its readers in 1984, 75 percent felt too heavy and only 15 percent felt just right. Nearly half of those who were actually underweight reported feeling too fat and wanting to diet. Among a sample of college women, 40 percent felt overweight when only 12 percent actually were too heavy. Nine out of ten participants in diet programs are female, many of whom are already close to their proper weight," according to Rita Freedman in her book Beauty Bound.
There is evidence that this preoccupation with weight is beginning at ever-earlier ages for women. According to a recent article in New Age Journal, "even grade-school girls are succumbing to stick-like standards of beauty enforced by a relentless parade of wasp-waisted fashion models, movie stars and pop idols." A study by a University of California professor showed that nearly 80 percent of fourth-grade girls in the Bay Area are watching their weight.
A recent Wall Street Journal survey of students in four Chicago-area schools found that more than half the fourth-grade girls were dieting and three-quarters felt they were overweight. One student said, "We don't expect boys to be that handsome. We take them as they are." Another added, "But boys expect girls to be perfect and beautiful. And skinny."
Dr. Steven Levenkron, author of The Best Little Girl in the World, the story of an anorexic, says his blood pressure soars every time he opens a magazine and finds an ad for women's fashions. "If I had my way," he said, "every one of them would have to carry a line saying, 'Caution: This model may be hazardous to your health.'" It is estimated that one in five college age women has an eating disorder.
Women are also dismembered in commercials, their bodies separated into parts in need of change or improvement. If a woman has "acceptable" breasts, then she must also be sure that her legs are worth watching, her hips slim, her feet sexy, and that her buttocks look nude under her clothes ("like I'm not wearin' nothin'").
The mannequin has no depth, no totality; she is an aggregate of parts that have been made acceptable.
This image is difficult and costly to achieve and impossible to maintain, no one is flawless and everyone ages. Growing older is the great taboo. Women are encouraged to remain little girls ("because innocence is sexier than you think"), to be passive and dependent, never to mature. The contradictory message--"sensual, but not too far from innocence"--places women in a double bind; somehow we are supposed to be both sexy and virginal; experienced and naive, seductive and chaste. The disparagement of maturity is, of course, insulting and frustrating to adult women, and the implication that little girls are seductive is dangerous to real children.These new images do not represent any real progress but rather create a myth of progress, an illusion that reduces complex sociopolitical problems to mundane personal ones.
Advertising images do not cause these problems, but they contribute to them by creating a climate in which the marketing of women's bodies--the sexual sell and dismemberment, distorted body image ideals and the use of children as sex objects--is seen as acceptable.
There is the real tragedy, that many women internalize these stereotypes and learn their "limitations," thus establishing a self-fulfilling prophecy. If one accepts these mythical and degrading images, to some extent one actualizes them. By remaining unaware of the profound seriousness of the ubiquitous influence, the redundant message and the subliminal impact of advertisements, we ignore one of the most powerful "educational" forces in the culture -- one that greatly affects our self-images, our ability to relate to each other, and effectively destroys any awareness and action that might help to change that climate
http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/beautyand-beast-advertising
Hey Matt, you gonna credit Jean Kilbourne with that hefty chunk of text you swiped from her? Not much academic integrity here.
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