Promotional texts reflect their culture and context
Advertising is one of the major ways that brands and businesses
communicate with their customers. As a promotional text, they need to engage
with their audience directly, adopting key facets of cultural attitudes,
behaviours and viewpoints in order to effectively promote to existing and
future customers (Wharton, 2015). So much of this can also be derived from the
context of the time, including societal ideals. Whilst not all ads reflect this
idea of incorporating the culture and context of their audiences, the most
effective, engaging and memorable promotional texts are the ones that do. This
is particularly true in the case of Bigpond’s well known “Great Wall of China”
ad that formed a central part of the ‘Father & Son’ campaign that was
launched in Australia during 2005. The advertisement itself won a Gold Effie in
both 2008 and 2010 and was featured in the Cannes Film Festival. By adopting
contextual attitudes and shifts, as well as incorporating cultural appeals to
comedy, the ad was able to effectively communicate to the audience.
Bigpond’s “Great Wall of China” ad aired in 2005, during a time of not
only global market expansion but also technological adoption. These two ideas
formed the core parts of the contextual direction of the advertisement. The
internet and the idea of a global information system of the time was
increasingly being met by a receptive audience. Particularly in Australia, the number
of households connected to the internet increased from 37% in 2000 to 60% in
2005 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006). BWM Dentsu, the advertising
agency behind the “Great Wall of China” ad, decided that rather than convincing
customers to switch between Bigpond’s competitors, it was easier to borrow from
the strategy of Eddie Bernay by taking a different approach. Bernay’s PR
strategy for the Beechnut Packing Factory was to persuade consumers to purchase
more bacon in general, rather than just Beechnut’s products over their
competitors (Tye, 1998). The ad by BWM was thus focused more on promoting the ‘internet
services’ industry rather than Bigpond within this industry, with the final
text appearing being “Get them Broadband” in order to appeal to the growing
technological and internet-dependent context of the time.
However, whilst successful in incorporating time-specific aspects within
the advertisement, BWM overlooked population-specific aspects. According to the
Australian Bureau of Statistics, at the time over 25% of the population within
Australia were born overseas and an even greater percentage had immigrant
parents (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2007). As such, the lack of diversity
within the advertisement, could be a point of contention and discussion, with a
missed opportunity to have a greater impact and reflect the wider community, if
it were to have had a greater proportion of the population represented, as part
of a contextual incorporation of demographics (Mahoney, 2015). Advertisements
that effectively do this form of environmental analysis and incorporate such contextual
learnings into their communication are more likely to be effective.
In Australian culture, humour has formed a significant part of
promotional and advertising content (Frazer, 2011). This has mainly been due to
its effectiveness in global advertising as the most effective emotion, with
this being particularly true within Australia (Venkatesh, 2015). This is
because comedy and humour create a sense of trust between the audience and the
text. The agency has incorporated such a cultural aspect within the Bigpond
advertisement through its significant use of dramatic irony. This can be seen when
the father provides misinformation regarding the reasoning behind the construction
of the Great Wall of China. This use of humour
not only appeals to the comedic nature of communication within Australia but it
also extends further by appealing to the nature and attitudes of parents,
particularly within an Australian context. The use of the ‘father’ as the
figure who relays the wrong information, was chosen tactfully as a means to
further reflect cultural values.
Culturally it was, and still is, seen to be incredibly important for
parent’s to be involved within a child’s educational and learning path
(Emerson, 2012). This is why BWM Dentsu has strategically chosen the comedic
crux of the text to come from the father telling his son the wrong information.
Parents can be assumed to be the target of the advertisement, due to their
ownership of the purchasing power in a familial relationship and with the text
within the ad phrased as “give your kids the right answers”. As such, the
advertisement plays upon such parental relationships with their children and
the subsequent growing cultural fears of a lack of understanding of what is
being taught to students and a fear of poor parenting, in a light and humorous
tone. Such a focus on culture is critical in understanding the effectiveness of
advertising in a market (Frazer, 2011). BWM has played on these cultural ideals
of parents wanting to provide their children with the best possible educational
foundation (Emerson, 2012).
Advertisements, like any other form of promotional text, must
communicate to their audience the message behind a brand or organisation. In
order to do so effectively, the best way to engage with their audiences is to
conform, adopt and reflect the cultural viewpoints and values of society,
particularly attributing importance to context, both place and time. Whilst
promotional texts are not required to do so, those which are deemed to have the
greatest effect are those which reflect such values. The Bigpond ‘Great Wall of
China’ advertisement is proof that a promotional text which adheres to such
guidelines will in fact provide success, both in communication of the brand
image and subsequent interaction with the audience.
References
· Australian Bureau of Statistics,
2006, Household Use of Information Technology in Australia 2005-06, Cat 8146.0,
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra
· Australian Bureau of Statistics,
2007, Year Book Australia, Cat 1301.0, Australian Bureau of Statistics,
Canberra
· BWM Dentsu, Telstra – Bigpond Rabbits Case Study, Melbourne, online video, accessed
1 September 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpmMNcFJSOU>
· Emerson, L. 2012 ‘Parental engagement
in learning and schooling: Lessons from research’, Australian Research Alliance
for Children and Youth, Weston Creek, ACT
· Frazer, C. 2002, ‘Advertising
strategy and effective advertising: comparing the USA and Australia’, Journal
of Marketing Communications, Vol.8 Issue 3, DOI: 10.1080/13527260210147324
· Mahoney, J 2013 “Chapter 5:
Analysing Organisational Communication Needs” Strategic Communications:
Principles and Practice. Melbourne: Oxford University Press
· Tye, L. 1998, “Chapter 3: The Big
think”, The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public
Relations. New York: Henry Holt
· Venkatesh. S. 2015, ‘Effectiveness
of humor advertising on advertising success’, International Journal of
Management and Social Science Research Review, Vol. 1, Issue 9.
· Wharton, C. 2015, ‘Chapter 7: Texts’,
Advertising: Critical Approaches. New York: Routledge
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