Page 5 - Selling Fantasies
P. 5
b- Advertising Nowadays
According to (Mangold & Faulds, 2009) customers are moving away from traditional forms
of advertising such as television, radio, and magazines. In addition, people want more control
over their media intake and demand instant access to information and news. Then there's the
obvious desire to avoid advertisements almost everywhere. Cities are enacting new regulations
to restrict banner placement on buildings, and new solutions (products) are being created to
help customers in their desire to remove unwanted, intrusive advertisements (Williams, 2000)
& (Wright, et al., 2010). As a result, it is clear that customer behavior has shifted, and they no
longer desire advertising. Thus, the marketing strategy should shift. Furthermore, in today's
over-stimulated world and multi-tasking society, people's attention can no longer focus solely
on a single activity. Although the tv is on, it is competing for audiences' attention
with computers, emails, texting on social media, as well as other activities. As customers
become increasingly immune to advertisements, advertisers must adapt accordingly
and become more discreet and subliminal. In other words, they need to "create something
unique, different, exciting, and entertaining in an effort to remain part of the consumer’s
memory " (Wright, et al., 2010). Moreover, mass marketing communication, which relied
on targeting all consumer segments, has faded and is no longer successful. This means that
marketers should now develop more strategic campaigns and tactics (Wright, et al., 2010).
Likewise, they need to keep in mind that "today, digital media are dominating the world "
(Wright, et al., 2010). Instagram, with its filters and other photo-editing tools, has developed
"a strong visual oriented culture." demonstrating that visuals are more powerful than text in
order to communicate effectively (Lee, et al., 2015).
c- Visual Culture
« Seeing is a great deal more than believing these days » (Gamman & Pascoe, 2004)
Western industrialized societies live in a "multimedia environment", surrounded by many kinds
of media the whole day. Since those media contain visuals in their content, they are
fundamental to visual culture (Sturken & Cartwright, 2001). The tendency to picture reality
and the creation of visuals, have had a significant impact on contemporary and postmodern
cultures. This is why there is a presence of a true visual culture, in which pictures primarily
convey content and information via digital networks (Miletto, 2018). M. Sturken and L.
Cartwright (2001), and T. Highfield, as well as T. Leaver (2016), concur that images contribute
to "story-telling and meaning-making" (Miletto, 2018). (Sturken & Cartwright, 2001) expand
on the various sorts of meaning that visuals generate: Initially, there is a shared meaning held
by all viewers, which is normally wanted by the creator, and there is a personal one held by the
individual viewer. In reality, the meaning is not only interpreted via the detached link between
a visual and its viewers, but rather through a multifaceted social interaction that is dependent
on the environment and context in which the visual is viewed, as well as the viewer's
personal interpretation (Miletto, 2018). As a result, the meaning of a visual is not subject to the
control of its creator. Nonetheless, the writers argue that it is the producer's responsibility to
provide viewers with adequate signals, signs or hints to interpret the intended prevailing
meaning. The visual is encoded by the creator, and it is decoded by the viewers. Furthermore,
visuals, according to the authors, are never directed toward everyone; rather, they attempt to
reach and be understood by a specific group of viewers who are connected to the visual in a
4|Page
According to (Mangold & Faulds, 2009) customers are moving away from traditional forms
of advertising such as television, radio, and magazines. In addition, people want more control
over their media intake and demand instant access to information and news. Then there's the
obvious desire to avoid advertisements almost everywhere. Cities are enacting new regulations
to restrict banner placement on buildings, and new solutions (products) are being created to
help customers in their desire to remove unwanted, intrusive advertisements (Williams, 2000)
& (Wright, et al., 2010). As a result, it is clear that customer behavior has shifted, and they no
longer desire advertising. Thus, the marketing strategy should shift. Furthermore, in today's
over-stimulated world and multi-tasking society, people's attention can no longer focus solely
on a single activity. Although the tv is on, it is competing for audiences' attention
with computers, emails, texting on social media, as well as other activities. As customers
become increasingly immune to advertisements, advertisers must adapt accordingly
and become more discreet and subliminal. In other words, they need to "create something
unique, different, exciting, and entertaining in an effort to remain part of the consumer’s
memory " (Wright, et al., 2010). Moreover, mass marketing communication, which relied
on targeting all consumer segments, has faded and is no longer successful. This means that
marketers should now develop more strategic campaigns and tactics (Wright, et al., 2010).
Likewise, they need to keep in mind that "today, digital media are dominating the world "
(Wright, et al., 2010). Instagram, with its filters and other photo-editing tools, has developed
"a strong visual oriented culture." demonstrating that visuals are more powerful than text in
order to communicate effectively (Lee, et al., 2015).
c- Visual Culture
« Seeing is a great deal more than believing these days » (Gamman & Pascoe, 2004)
Western industrialized societies live in a "multimedia environment", surrounded by many kinds
of media the whole day. Since those media contain visuals in their content, they are
fundamental to visual culture (Sturken & Cartwright, 2001). The tendency to picture reality
and the creation of visuals, have had a significant impact on contemporary and postmodern
cultures. This is why there is a presence of a true visual culture, in which pictures primarily
convey content and information via digital networks (Miletto, 2018). M. Sturken and L.
Cartwright (2001), and T. Highfield, as well as T. Leaver (2016), concur that images contribute
to "story-telling and meaning-making" (Miletto, 2018). (Sturken & Cartwright, 2001) expand
on the various sorts of meaning that visuals generate: Initially, there is a shared meaning held
by all viewers, which is normally wanted by the creator, and there is a personal one held by the
individual viewer. In reality, the meaning is not only interpreted via the detached link between
a visual and its viewers, but rather through a multifaceted social interaction that is dependent
on the environment and context in which the visual is viewed, as well as the viewer's
personal interpretation (Miletto, 2018). As a result, the meaning of a visual is not subject to the
control of its creator. Nonetheless, the writers argue that it is the producer's responsibility to
provide viewers with adequate signals, signs or hints to interpret the intended prevailing
meaning. The visual is encoded by the creator, and it is decoded by the viewers. Furthermore,
visuals, according to the authors, are never directed toward everyone; rather, they attempt to
reach and be understood by a specific group of viewers who are connected to the visual in a
4|Page
