Author: Anonymous Submitted: 05.05.08 Word Count: 461
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The media controls the way society think about almost everything. The way that companies get at the masses is through advertising, this includes commercials, print ads, billboards, everything. There are specific things companies do to make sure their ads reach exactly who they want and make them think a certain way. Advertising companies focus mainly on targeting one audience and they use slogans or logos and positioning to create a specific image to the public buyers.
Many products are mainly bought by a certain audience and advertisements will target these people specifically. The way that companies target an audience is by finding out its demographic. The demographics of consumers are things such as their age and gender. Companies can use stereotypes or generalizations of a group of people to try to figure out the demographic they are aiming at. Psychographics are also important to advertisements because these are more specific and tell more about the consumer. Psychographics include things like income, what type of home they live in and what type of car they drive as well as hobbies and interests. Once a company knows all this information they know their target audience these are the consumers with the demographic and psychographic they are aimed at. Who the target audience is will affect where ads are run and what they say. Targeting a singular audience is to the great advantage of advertising companies.
Another method that appears in advertisements is the use of slogans, logos, and symbols. Companies use symbols or images that represent an idea to hide meaning in their ads. Straighter forward are the slogans and logos which can be described as sayings or images that are associated with a company or product. Companies use positioning which makes a correlation between the slogan or logo and the product in the consumer’s mind. An example of this would be Kleenex because people use the word for one brand to generalize for all tissues. Most companies do this to create an image so that their product is thought of positively and is desirable. Advertising companies go to great lengths to sell a product, often ad ideas are reused or a double truck, which is a two page ad, is taken out. Creating an association between products and certain ideas is a great example of how the media controls people and their thoughts.
Most people don’t notice how much advertisements mislead people to think particular way about their product. The use of target audiences, slogans, logos, and positioning are abused by advertising agencies. In a way these companies are even lying to consumers, at the very least many ads are an exaggeration drawing on our primal desires to sell a product. The media is a very unsafe place today.
