Sorting it out
I have a growing amount of research into a variety of aspects of Endorsements and Advertising, too make the project clear and to begin even forming some original content I need to divide the research into logical sections.
As a start I have isolated these sections, some of the content may spill over these boundaries but should help in focussing research and resulting in a more focussed piece of writing.
Responsibility and Selling Out are very closely linked and that is the content that I want to summarise the writing with.
Psychology
This section will form the introduction to the project, looking into the idea of transferring qualities through association. Giving meaning to meaningless products etc.
Heavily drawing from Bernays' ideas from The Century of the Self, making people want what they don't need and shifting the focus from 'need' to 'desire'.
This section will also include the decoding of advertisements and look into low attention processing and subconscious connections.
Effective Advertising
This section will look into case studies of past endorsements and how they have succeeded or failed, in terms of profit and exposure. Also how the advert has effected the identity of both the celebrity and the company. Looking into books that promote endorsement from a completely positive angle will give an insight into the positives promised by using endorsements.
Gauging the publics reaction to a campaign will give a clearer insight into what works for everyone and also this will feed into the Selling Out section in terms of when it is acceptable and when it is plain money grabbing-ly unacceptable.
Good Advertising
This will look into the basic principles of good advertising and how celebrity endorsement lives up to these. Referencing and researching Bill Bernbach and his opinions on celebrity endorsement. Also seeing if celebrity endorsement can ever be creative or if it's just a lazy solution to shift some goods.
I find adverts like the Snickers one with Mr.T interesting because it seems to make sense, it's funny and it perfectly suits Mr.T as a brand/ character. I think the difference between this and other endorsements is that this advert has a very strong concept and doesn't rely solely on the celebrity's identity like all fragrances and underwear etc. do.
Modern Endorsement
This section will look at how endorsement is being used today, looking into modern advertisements and also how social media has brought us closer to celebrities and how this is being exploited through paid endorsement.
The idea of co-promotion/ product placement will also be relevant in this section, looking into how big movies are funded by companies and how actors are often forced into promoting a product due to the investors in the film.
Responsilbility/ Selling Out
This section will draw from a lot of aspects from the previous sections and sum up the responsibility advertising holds, and also the responsibility of a celebrity. This section will define selling out.
Looking into celebrities, past and present, who have managed to maintain their artistic integrity and also those who have completely sold out. Bill Hick's will have something to say in this section.
Also drawing from the recent letters from Sinead O Connor to Miley Cyrus will be very relevant here as she speaks clearly about responsibility and how Miley is damaging her future.
These sections may expand or combine further down the line, but for now I will try to organise all research under blog posts with the corresponding titles.
