Cynthia Magelitz

Comm 406

The Persuaders

2/20/2012

M. Larson

Consumer Bombardment

     In this documentary, "The Persuaders," all one needs to understand is that every one is the consumer and the goal to any advertising agency is to sell the product to the consumer in a pervasive and informative fashion in order for the consumer to be persuaded into buying into the hype of the product.  Everything is advertised including politics. While an individual is standing in line to pay for their goods or even pumping gas there is a form of advertising happening right before them. It is true that as consumers we are bombarded with what is the best brand ( in so many words) with images, and why it is the best brand. According to an article in Forbes magazine titled, “Unsolicited Advice Supermarkets,” over 65% of purchase decisions are made in-store and that in-store advertising represents little over 5% of marketing budget, although the article states that no solid evidence links purchases to the in-store advertising. Companies spend millions of dollars researching new products to sell to the consumer  and advertising space becomes anything and everything.

     Walk into a convent store, 7-11 for example, While an individual is standing in line to pay for their goodies a nice 52 inch flat screen is suspended from the ceiling flooding the sub-conscious mind with images of other goodies to buy in the store and messages from other outside mediums, such as; who Billy Bush is going to be talking to this evening on ‘Entertainment Tonight.’ Advertising agencies become more creative with space and how to utilize this space to get the message across and know that retailers are hungry for business will find ways to be creative in getting the message across to the the consumer. This documentary also points out the vast regions of greed, and possessiveness consumers are willing to consume for their own good and how advertising agency thinks nothing about the amount of money spent just to lure the consumer into thinking this is the best buy. 
     Advertising agencies are all about lining their own pockets and keeping their employees busy with ways of creating competitive advertisement in order to continue getting the business to keep their agency in the game of advertising.  Another question arises when watching this documentary is whether or not the companies that spend millions of dollars in advertising truly have the consumer’s best interest at heart. A product will not sell unless the consumer likes it and in order for a company to get the consumer to like the product they are pushing on the market is to promote the product as the best buy for the consumer's hard earned money and to convince the consumer that they (the advertising agency) believe enough in this product that you, the consumer, should have faith enough to try it once. “Consumers are like roaches, you spray and spray,” this quote states what the consumer sub-conscious is naive enough to believe  anything and that the more consumers are bombarded with sugary adds of any product advertised the more the consumer, or roaches, will come to consume.  As consumers, do we really understand what is happening around us or is the consumer wanting more?  Even the consumer is a walking billboard for some of their favorite products by the logos we sport on our clothes.    
     Bombardment of advertising has become a part of everyday consumer life and the more the consumer is saturated with product brand names the better it is for the company selling the product to stay in the capitalistic loop. Every well-known brand of consumer product wants to stay in business. Companies such as Apple, Protector and Gamble, Kraft, and the list can go on, use pseudo marketing which makes individuals, the consumer, feel as if they are a part of the bigger picture by buying the product therefore the consumer is made to feel that the company has their best interest at heart.
     Song Airline, a wing off the Delta Airlines family, aimed to market themselves as a company that understood the consumer personally. Unfortunately with all the money Song put into advertising did not help them stay in the air as Delta discontinued the low-fare Song when Delta filed for Chapter 11 in 2005. Song Airline was too busy worrying about being all brand, apple martinis and designer made flight attendant uniforms before it was about business.   Song lasted for two years under the Delta umbrella fighting for recognition in competition from other airline’s low fare offers such as, JetBlue and Air Tran. These other airlines  were more consistent in offering low fares and had been operating longer than Song. A strong identity is important, but is not as important to the service one is selling and one of Song’s problems was the marketing strategy as brand before service, the other main problem was Delta Airlines was not being managed properly therefore filing for bankruptcy two years after Song was introduced to air travelers looking for a product at a reasonable price.  Song marketing became too wrapped up in its logo, designing cocktails and aiming a lot of its marketing strategy towards women flyers before it actually had a business strategy to compete with the other airlines. Delta tried to stay afloat but was stifled by other competitive airlines just two years into it's introduction with their answer to competitive low-fare causing Song to crash and burn out of air travelers memories. Leaving some to say Song who?

     Unfortunately consumers cannot go anywhere without being bombarded by a form of marketing or advertising message even here on Shepherd’s campus, the billboards, cross walks, and even in the bathroom behind the stall door there is a form of advertisement promoting something. Not all advertising is bad, but the consumer is defiantly being bombarded by it on a daily basis, in which the competition is competing for the consumer’s  hard earn money. Which is what it all boils down to, money, always has been and always will be about money. Thank goodness advertising allows the consumer to make this decision for themselves when it comes to investing their money by comparing one product against the other before the consumer makes the purchase. Advertising agencies do realize that an educated consumer is the best consumer which makes the task even harder for companies promoting a product simply because the consumer is not as stupid as the promoter would like them to be therefore the advertisement must be informative, an eye catcher and believable. Once the product does become a success the consumer will continue to get bombarded with persuaders of how great one's life will be once the initial investment has been made. Soon the consumer will not be able to see the blue sky for all the advertisements in the viewing way.