The Harley Brand

Harley has definitely created a brand following and with that a sense of community.  The brand has given the consumer a way to make friends and join a community of other people just like them.  The consumer enjoys feeling special and this can do just that, therefore the consumer will continue to stick with Harley simply because they are now “part of the family”.

The Posse Ride helps to enhance the meaning of the brand because they have created a gathering place for the consumers to go and use the product together.  Not only are the consumers now using the product but also they are going with other consumers of the same product to different places where they can buy more items from the Harley brand.  This is very smart for Harley to do because while the consumer feels like they have their friends by them just hanging out they are actually advertising for the brand and they are consuming merchandise along the way.

Harley should not get more involved because then it will be more like they are trying to sell the brand to the consumers when in reality this is true, but the consumer feels as if its their choice and its not being forced upon them.  If Harley were to get more involved it would become too commercialized and lose its essence of the makeshift community that has been formed by the consumers. 

In addition to the Posse ride, Harley could hold “Harley Routes” for riders to go out and explore the country on routes given by other riders.  Similar to what Nike did in Amsterdam and Paris, by allowing the riders to map out their travels with their Harley bike they can then share that experience wit other riders who can travel the “road less traveled” as well.

A Day in the Life of.... a Tide user!

A young, stay at home mom named Emma who has two boys named Jacob, 5 years old, and Jeremy, 7 years old; begins her morning by waking up at 6:30 AM by her internal clock. She begins her day by making her Folgers coffee for her and her husband, Max, before he heads off to work. She wakes her children up and begins making them breakfast composed of Cheerios and milk. As they are eating their breakfast, she makes their bagged lunches of Jiff Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, carrot sticks, and sliced apples. She and her boys dress in Target brand or Eddy Bower brand clothes. She drives her boys to their public school in her Hybrid Honda SUV. When she returns home, she takes their dog, Buddy, the Golden Retriever for a morning walk. She takes a quick shower with her BB green products. After she gets out, she begins on her large load of laundry with her green Tide detergent. She shoves the load into her GE brand washers and dryers that use less water. After she finishes laundry, Emma watches her Telenovelas as she munches down on her chicken salad for lunch. After her lunch, she drives over to pick the kids up from school and take them home, in order, to make dinner on time for when Max's Hybrid Honda Civic pulls up. For dinner, Emma prepares grilled chicken with asparagus. The family watches ABC sitcoms as the Max and the kids clean up from dinner. Her day ends by tucking her kids into their beds with fresh sheets and Emma climbing into her own bed with Max.

Consumer Behavior - Failed Product

Consumer behavior with product releases is generally quite typical.  The idea of first-ism is not new to our society but it has certainly grown.  With the launch of any new Apple product there will be a line out the door at midnight just to have a chance at being the first people to have that new product.  This would all go away however is suddenly Apple dropped its prices and the product was readily available to everyone, because at that point the consumer is no long special and they no long hold that status symbol that is Apple.  This works with all kinds of products, such as Evian, Ferrari, Tiffany&Co., ect.  The point of people wanting these products is purely that they are a symbol of status in our society.  Many brands have tried to make themselves a symbol like this but rarely does it work out.  A great example of this would be the launch of the Arch Deluxe by McDonalds.  For consumers, McDonalds is not the place you would think to go out for a nice meal, but rather for a quick, cheap bite to eat.  McDonalds did not realize this and then launch the Arch Deluxe.  Needless to say the burger was a huge flop.  The burger simply was not equated with the high-class status and thus failed.

Political - GreenPeace

When someone says political advertisements people usually think about the presidential campaign, but rarely about environmental campaigns.  The great thing about environmental advertisements is that they don’t try to address something in a stereotypical manner, or try to make fun of someone else to get the point across, but rather just get the most direct route to addressing their issue.  The Greenpeace organization does a great job at putting out advertisements that address their issues and still have a strong impact.  Greenpeace put out a great campaign of images that showcase the problems of global warming.  One advertisement shows a little boat with the caption reading, “A life-raft for 6.6 billion people.”  These advertisements directly show that global warming is an issue that affects everyone in creative ways.  A creative ad with this campaign depicts a polar bear with its white fur turning brown from supposedly melting off.  This campaign does not use any stereotypes; it does not call any specific group out, or even address the people.  The campaign simply states the problem and leaves it up to the viewer on how to feel or what to do.

Sexist - GotMilk?

Stereotypes in advertising are quite common, like with race stereotypes, gender stereotypes are everywhere as well.  The most common stereotype is that men are dominant over women.  In almost every ad you will see a man standing above a woman, a man looking down on a woman, or even purely in the size of the person, the man will be larger.  This stereotype has been around for ages and is still present in today’s society.  Commonly advertisements make reference to male superiority and usually do that in such a way as to insult the woman.  A common way of achieving this is to show the woman doing “her job”.  Women are depicted in the role of mother or housewife, but rarely in the role of CEO or strongly business oriented.  The GotMilk? campaign shows this stereotype in a different light.  The focus of the campaign is showing men with “PMS”.  This campaign directly insults women for having PMS symptoms and makes fun of that fact.  The ads use a caption that can directly relate to what is typically a “female on PMS comment”.  The advertisement also uses a catchy website of “EverythingIDoIsWrong.org”.  The advertisements are seen as funny and lighthearted but a good look at them and its clear the campaign is truly sexist. 

Racist - Re-Civilize Yourself

Race in advertisements is quite common, mostly because of stereotypes in today’s society. Advertising agencies need to be very careful as to not cross the line between a lighthearted and funny stereotype and something that would be considered racist.  In actuality anything, funny or not, that is racist should not be allowed to make an advertisement, but the reality of our society today is that the viewer tends to like advertisements more if they make fun of someone or something.  Should an advertisement agency want to test this theory out they would simply need to look at some of the most popular advertisements.  The Nivea ad that depicts an African American man holding the head of another man, while the caption reads, “Re-civilize yourself”.  Also, in a box near the top another caption reads, “Look like you give a damn”.  This ad has so many racists issues it is quite unbelievable.  It was ridiculous for Nivea to think that something like that would come off as humorous or even quirky.  The ad is supposed to be promoting lotion, however in the entire visual there is really no reference to lotion until you reach the second half of the ad, which then describes the lotion.  Advertisers really need to be cautious of what they are sending out there and try to be a bit more tasteful. 

Semiotics

Semiotics is consistent of signs, signifiers, and the signified.  The sign is anything that is being communicated, as in the word or the objects or the sounds.  The Signifier is what we would call this object, the word used for it.  Then there is the signified, which is how we see the object, where a meaning is invested into the object.  Semiotics allows the viewer to understand what is going on in visual imagery and to associate with the advertisement images.  Semiotics allows the viewer to decode what is happening in an AD.  However, the meaning that is understood from the AD is all based upon the viewer’s denotation of what is happening, and the connotation for the specific society and cultural group the AD is aimed towards.