4/7 Facilitation: Jacob Moreno
In Lotz’s’ work we take a very very close look into how advertising emerged and evolved throughout television history and after the network era. One would assume that the term ‘evolution’ corresponds with something like “out with the old, in with the new”, but for advertising it goes something like “in with the new AND the old”. We come to understand that as audience measurement systems developed onward, the systems used to advertise did not get thrown out with the introduction of new systems, rather just added on top of preexisting ones to further enhance the power and grasp that advertising has on the public.
Lotz discusses that when the video-on-demand technology such as the DVR & VCR was introduced, advertisers were scared that they would no longer “hold captive” the viewers watching the 300-channel universe on Television. Advertising did take a beating due to the introduction of the DVR/VCR, which was somewhat the tipping point for the advertising communities. The future uncertainty plus the new tech caused tension of whether TV advertising would make it past the 2000s. After the attacks in 2001, cheaper programming was pursued leading to the creation of shows we know and love today such as “who wants to be a billionaire” & “survivor”. With this, advertisers were more adventurous to break the status quo and experiment with new techniques such as product placement within a broadcasted program. AT&T and Pringles were some of the first to pay to have their product featured within a program itself. The industry then created better data and analyses to target fragmented populations using psychographic specificities instead of demographic generalities. By the early years of the 21st century, advertisers had an array of tools to help them reach the viewers that they wanted to reach.
In my facilitation, I go about describing these techniques/practices in a friendly bulleted list format that is also moderately in chronological order.
Lotz’s chapter goes on to discuss the different advertising techniques and their ramifications at their time of introduction to even now.
Advertising Practices
during the Network Era
& the Multi-Channel Transition:
- Radio – used a single sponsorship system in which a corporation paid all of the production costs of a show & was the only product or corporation/entity associated with it (carried over to TV but soon failed because of the high costs to produce)
- 1940s &1950s – afforded advertising agencies and their clients more command over program content & even networks’ schedules
- Single Sponsorship – involves the single corporation financing the costs normally recouped through selling advertising times (Ex. “now, a word from our sponsors”) – helps create narratives of some distinction
- Company voice or corporate angle strategy – Large manufacturing corps. had dominated sponsorships & used them as opportunities to promote their corporate image.
- Upfront Market – Broadcast networks sell the remaining advertising inventory throughout the year in the “scatter” & “opportunistic” markets. (networks make money before they begin producing programming)
- CPMs (cost for one exposure to one thousand viewers of a certain demographic type): Standard industry currency – if an advertiser wishes to reach 50M viewers and had established a CPM of $15 a network would put together a package of advertisements that would reach the 50M viewers for $750,000.
- “Industrial shifts caused by new media & challenges to the status quo operation television resulted in a shift of power within agencies from creative divisions to media buying & planning”. – Jack Myers
- Placement – situations in which TV shows use name brand products or present them on the screen within the context of the show (Ex. “The Truman Show”)
- Integration – (an additional category of advertiser support in the post-network commercial economy) The product or company becomes part of the show in such a way that it contributes to the narrative and creates an environment of brand awareness beyond that produced by advanced placement.
- Branded Entertainment – is the 3rd advertisement strategy that has grown increasingly commonplace from the beginning. of the post-network era (advertiser creates the content of the show). *marks a fundamental shift from intrusive advertisement pushed at audiences to advertising of such merit or interest that the audience actively seeks it out*
I have compiled a few youtube videos that I saw best explained/supported Lotzs’ reading. I tried to find videos that touched on each topic I have discussed/focused on thus far.
(Below each video, I provided brief descriptions of what each one addresses)
( through the eyes of someone who works in the field)
“it explores the evolution of content marketing through the eyes of the world’s biggest leading brands such as Red Bull, Kraft, and Marriott; and marketing influencers, including Joe Pulizzi, Ann Handley, Scott Stratten, Jay Baer and more”
It’s very interesting that you added some bullet points of the vocabulary terms of one of our assigned readings because it helps us to understand those terms that are related to commercialism. After reading Amanda Lotz’ article, I can recall how people produce advertisements not only TV, but also on social media, including YouTube Instagram. Most advertisements on the Internet are about food delivery services, such as Door Dash and GrubHub, and Super Bowl Commercials. Every year on Super Bowl Sunday, the commercials were made to advertise various known products, but in a more entertaining kind of way, to keep the football fans and viewers alike interested. On the other hand, Door Dash and GrubHub commercials encourage viewers to download either one of those apps to their phones, so they can actually order food and drinks from their favorite restaurants. What stood to me the most from that reading was the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show because I used to watch the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show each year from 2015-2018. It is keen evidence that Victoria’s Secret wanted to advertise their intimate products by broadcasting a fashion show on TV every year during the fall/winter season. I was a huge fan of watching lingerie fashion shows, watching models walk down the runway in the lingerie with elaborate accessories until Victoria’s Secret announced that last year’s scheduled fashion show got cancelled due to controversial reasons. It was unfortunate that the 2019 fashion show got cancelled, but I understand that the cancelation does have something to do with the scandal in that lingerie company.
I like the way your facilitation is organized, it makes the article very easy to understand. My favorite part of the article, which you also noted in your facilitation, was the discussion of product placement on page 166. I found this interesting because it is something that I’ve noticed while watching TV and other film. For example, when NBA players go to a postgame interview, there is a bottle of gatorade for them sitting on their table, with the logo facing the cameras. This is definitely an example of advertising that came along with TV, as you obviously can’t do much with product placement over the radio. This concept is used in nearly every type of film in the present day. Movies use a certain car brand that was funded by the brand, instagram influencers post photos wearing a certain brand of clothing with little to no pitch about it (only a link or tag to the company), YouTubers reviewers “review” products sent to them which gain exposure simply from their appearance on a well-liked channel. The list goes on and on. As marketers have adapted to find ways to push products and services in every way possible, product placement has become a very important part of establishing a customer base, as they can place certain items in front of certain (intentional) audiences. The idea of product placement also relates to another article from this week from Stein (Constitutive Rhetoric in Marketing) because product placement creates a product identity for the product to the audience based on its placement alone.
I think one of the key points that you brought up was the “in with the new and with the old,” because the fact is with new developing technology, new ways of entertainment, and a wider spectrum of viewers and audience, and with that, commercials have taken different approaches and approaches that viewers are more accustomed to. Although there is an open market for anyone to commercialize, “industrial shifts caused by new media and challenges to the status quo operation of television resulted in a shift of power within agencies from create division to media buy-in and planning” (Lotz 163), meaning bigger companies and agencies take more control of the market and have to take a new approach advertising wise. Looking through todays different mediums of entertainment, the commercials vary from network to network. The commercials on Hulu are much different from those from regular cable, in other words, “in with the new and the old.”