Introduction
This paper will delve into the changes that the social media landscape has brought upon Super Bowl ads and how this has translated into the present day brand awareness strategy that various companies have been utilizing. The Super Bowl is one of the most watched events in the U.S. and, as such, companies often attempt to capture the attention of the audience through a variety of entertaining and amusing commercials that are aired during the commercial breaks.
It used to be the case that companies often attempted to top each with ever increasingly audacious commercials which were meant to get audiences talking about the company thus creating a considerable degree of brand awareness among the general population (Barraclough, 2012).
The result was that the constant one-upmanship by the various companies actually created a “secondary show” so to speak wherein the advertisements that were telecasted during the Super bowl became almost as relevant to the television audience as the main event itself. Such a state of affairs radically changed as a direct result of the development of social media and the need for companies to better connect with their customers through social media campaigns (Barraclough, 2012).
The end result was a radical altering of Super Bowl ads by social media to the extent that the goal of generating brand awareness through televised advertisements shared its importance with the need to generate sufficient social media “hype” via sharing details of the advertisement through a variety of social media platforms (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
What Conflicts are Evident?
One of the most notable changes in practices when it comes to Super Bowl ads has been the sharing of snippets, details or even the entire ad itself on social media prior to its release during the Super Bowl. While such an action may seem illogical since the entire point of a Super Bowl ad is to capture the attention of audiences, the fact is that with the development of social media platforms comes the creation of new methods of generating brand awareness and interest in a company’s products.
Social media has enabled the rapid sharing of thoughts, ideas and general views regarding a plethora of topics. This model of communication is substantially different as compared to the previous state of affairs that existed wherein the concept of communication often involved a face to face conversation, an email or a phone call.
With the development of new tools in commenting and sharing on social media came the literal “explosion” in online communication and collaboration wherein complete strangers could comment and share a particular post or article on their social media page to all their friends or communicate ideas or concepts to strangers on the post itself.
With such a development came increased interest on the part of advertisers to take advantage of this current predilection of the “online masses” to share and discuss interesting ideas. Iannucci (2010) explains that one manifestation of this attempt to access this yet untapped market was to generate interest in the advertisements themselves rather than in the product being sold (Iannucci, 2010).
While this may seem to be a rather strange notion, it was actually proven through the analysis of Hartmann & Klapper (2014) that the tactic actually worked wherein by sharing snippets of a Super Bowl commercial, creating a certain degree of controversy regarding particular segments that would be part of the ad and even showcasing the entirety of the ad itself weeks prior to the Super Bowl, actually generated more consumer interest in the ad and thus the product rather than merely showing the advertisement just on the day of the Super Bowl (Hartmann & Klapper, 2014).
What must be understood is that the marketing tactic involving the Super Bowl used to consist of focusing just on showcasing an interesting television commercial on the day itself.
This normally leads to millions of people being able to see the advertisement on the day itself yet from a marketing standpoint such a strategy is incredibly inefficient and wasteful since it compresses all possible consumer impressions regarding a product on just a single day without sufficient guarantee that the advertisement will truly compel consumers to buy the product that is being advertised (Naylor, Lamberton & West, 2012).
Such a process subsequently changed with the incorporation of social media into the marketing promotion mix that companies were utilizing. Instead of “putting all their eggs in one basket” so to speak when it came to the Super Bowl, companies were able to extend their marketing campaigns in the weeks prior and the weeks succeeding the Super Bowl.
This came in the form of releasing footage of the ads that were to be broadcasted which resulted in a considerable level of discussion and sharing among social media sites which was exactly what companies wanted since it boosted the brand awareness of the product that was being sold.
Incorporating Consumer Interaction into the Marketing Mix
Another of the impacts that social media has had on Super Bowl ads has been the incorporation of consumer interaction into the marketing mix. Such a strategy goes beyond merely having consumers share and comment on the ads themselves; rather, they become a means by which the advertisement comes together in the first place.
This comes in the form of online competitions wherein companies have consumers vote on particular concepts, have consumers submit videos or have them determine the outcome of particular ads (Armbruster, 2008). Such a strategy is utilized to increase the amount of “hype” surrounding an ad campaign and have consumers feel a certain level of competitiveness involving the type of ad campaign that they want the company to run.
All of this translates into increased brand awareness, product patronage and higher amounts of sales on the part of companies since it brings the product and the brand into the forefront of a consumers mind when it comes to their product purchases.
Broader Implications of the Relationship
The effectiveness of social media campaigns should not be underestimated since through the use of Super Bowl commercials as a method of drawing fans in to like and subscribe to a company’s Facebook page, this enables the company to create better product awareness through news, product offerings and other such promotions that will appear on a potential customer’s newsfeed (Armbruster, 2008).
Not only that, the interaction between customer and company through Facebook helps to create a “human face” for the company resulting in consumers that can better understand a particular product such as a wine company in California, a sausage maker in Boston or a chocolate store in New York. Awareness and greater consumer interaction translates into better product patronage which in turn increases the amount of sales for the company (Armbruster, 2008).
Do note though that Facebook also acts as an effective means of product promotion for various discounts and special offerings for seasonal marketing campaigns.
Various companies ranging from the alcoholic beverage maker Jack Daniels to the computer manufacturer Asus have Facebook fan pages and this has enabled them to create a larger consumer fan base since instead of the company merely being a nameless entity that consumers buy products from, it is subsequently transformed into an entity with particular views, positions on current events and even a sense of hum or when it comes to posting its daily wall posts (Vranica & O’Connell, 2003).
Advantages of the Strategy
With the rise in social media platforms has come the potential for companies to exploit this potentially lucrative marketing tool by promoting products and services via Super bowl commercials that have been broadcasted on social media sites such as Facebook or Youtube.
From a consumer penetration standpoint, what must be understood is that nearly 22% of all global online activity is situated within the U.S. with a large portion of that percentage being dedicated to social media interaction (Vranica & Steinberg, 2007). It is based on this that through social media promotion, companies are able to reach a large market share of consumers at relatively low cost as compared to doing the same activity via traditional marketing campaigns (TV., print ads, billboards, etc.).
Cost-Benefit Standpoint
Going back to the concept of cost and how it factors into advertising campaigns, it is important to note that viral marketing initiatives tend to create a certain degree of “hype” which results in a considerable degree of “liking” and “sharing” a particular type of advertisement on a social media platform whether it is in the form of a video or a print ad.
From this standpoint, it can be seen that creating an ad that can go “viral” can enable a company to potentially reach hundreds of thousands of potential customers without having to spend the same amount of time and effort in reaching them since consumers would be doing all the sharing themselves. This makes social media marketing through Super bowl ads an ideal method of product promotion due to the lower amount of effort and cost associated with this particular style of marketing (Vranica & Steinberg, 2007).
The inherent problem with using Super Bowl ads and other similar marketing campaigns is the fact that they are often quite expensive and demand millions of dollars in advertising fees. While it may be true that from a traditional marketing perspective the use of print ads, billboards, commercials and other types of “tried and tested” forms of marketing have proven to be effective in promoting a product, the fact remains that the reach of the promotion is often based on the price a company is willing to pay (Vranica & Steinberg, 2007).
Taking this into consideration, another impact that social media has had on Super Bowl ads is that present day social media platforms have extended the usefulness of this type of advertisement without having to spend the same amount of money in relation to what is normally charged by television stations.
Conclusion
When taking all the factors that have been mentioned into consideration, it can be seen that social media has brought about considerable changes to the landscape of Super Bowl advertisements by increasing the amount of time that they stay relevant to the general public.
Reference List
Armbruster, A. (2008). Old-School Ads Have a Place. Ward’s Dealer Business, 42(1), 38.
Barraclough, E. (2012). Why ambush marketing is winning. Managing Intellectual Property, (219), 118.
Hartmann, W. R., & Klapper, D. (2014). Do Superbowl Ads Affect Brand Share?. Working Papers (Faculty) — Stanford Graduate School Of Business, 1-21.
Naylor, R., Lamberton, C., & West, P. M. (2012). Beyond the “Like” Button: The Impact of Mere Virtual Presence on Brand Evaluations and Purchase
Intentions in Social Media Settings. Journal Of Marketing, 76(6), 105-120. Iannucci, L. (2010). Pepsi will not be advertising during the Superbowl?. Hudson Valley Business Journal, 19(4), 1.
Vranica, S., & Steinberg, B. (2007). Watching Super Bowl Ads Could Make Viewers Cringe. Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition. pp. B1-B2.
Vranica, S., & O’Connell, V. (2003). SuperBowl Ads to Go for the Laughs. Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition. p. B7.
“Lone Survivor” By Peter Berg Film Analysis
Introduction
One of the reasons why people enjoy watching movies, in the first place, is that, while exposed to the on-screen action, they are able to gain a number of insights into the essence of the surrounding social reality. In its turn, this can be explained by the fact that just about any film contains clues, as to what are the main principles of how human societies actually function.
In this paper, I will explore the validity of the above-stated at length, while elaborating on what can be considered the sociological significance of some of the most prominent scenes in the 2013 film Lone survivor (directed by Peter Berg).
Film Analysis
Based upon a true story, the film’s plot revolves are the story of four US Navy SEALs (Marcus Luttrell, Michael Murphy, Danny Dietz and Matthew Axelson), who were sent on the mission of assassinating one of the Taliban’s most notorious leaders (Ahmad Shah) in present-day Afghanistan.
Despite the fact that this mission, on their part, turned out a fiasco, the mentioned characters nevertheless showed the whole world that, due to being thoroughly professional and utterly courageous, American soldiers indeed have what it takes to be able to impose ‘democracy’ just about anywhere on the planet – this can be deemed as the film’s foremost message.
Nevertheless, even though Lone survivor does promote the implicit idea that it is fully justifiable to fight, on behalf of Uncle Sam, some of the film’s scenes leave only a few doubts, as to the fact that the current ‘struggle for democracy’, led by the U.S., is far from being considered admirable.
Moreover, many of these scenes can also be referred to, as such that imply that is it being only the matter of time, before American policy-makers realize the sheer futility of their belief that the world can indeed be made a better place, by the mean of increasing the presence of the U.S. military personnel in the Third World countries.
The discursive soundness of this suggestion can be well illustrated, in regards to the film’s initial scene, which exposes viewers to what are the routine-realities of one’s military service overseas (00.08.48 – 00.11.06).
In this scene, the mentioned characters are shown discussing what can be considered the best wedding-gift, communicating with their relatives in the U.S. via Internet and competing with each other (in sports). As this scene implies, the members of the U.S. foreign-based military personnel are being concerned with just about anything, except for one thing – contemplating on what justifies their presence in those countries, where they happened to be stationed.
What it means is that, in the discursive sense of this word, the film’s main characters can be best described as ‘mercenaries’ – emotionally and cognitively detached from what may account for the would-be consequences of their high professionalism in killing people. In its turn, this makes it possible for us to discuss this specific theme, within the sociological framework of “people fighting or struggling for scarce resources”, mentioned in the assignment.
The reason for this is quite apparent – when assessed from the sociological perspective, one’s willingness to kill ‘bad guys’ overseas, while risking its life, presupposes the following: a) that the main incentive, which drives a person to embark on this course of action, is the prospect of receiving a monetary reward, b) that this state of affairs is only possible in the country, which despite being considered the world’s richest, experiences the lack of resources.
The scene’s yet another implication is that the profession of a Navy SEAL especially appeals to those individuals, who are being primarily driven by the ‘instinct for domination’, at the expense of keeping the rest of their existential instincts suppressed.
In its turn, this suggests that, contrary to the provisions of social egalitarianism, there are many objective preconditions for the practical deployments of the idea of ‘equality’ to continue proving counterproductive. Apparently, it is namely the behavior-defining subtleties of one’s DNA, which account for the concerned individual’s actual identity, and not the rationale-driven workings of his or her conscious psyche.
Lone survivor contains another interesting scene, which points out to the fact that, contrary to what the advocates of political correctness believe, the de facto dynamics in the arena of international politics suggest the conceptual legitimacy of the specifically Darwinian (Realist) outlook on the significance of the so-called ‘international law’.
In this scene, after having ended up with their location being compromised by three Afghani civilians (an old man and three boys), Marcus, Michael, Danny and Matthew contemplate on whether these people should be killed (as unwanted witnesses), or set free (00.35.42 – 00.47.12).
What is especially notable about how these characters were discussing the subject matter at stake, is that neither of them seriously considered referring to the code of combat ethics (rules of engagement), as being capable of clarifying what would account for the best course of action, in respect to the situation.
The SEALs’ eventual decision not to kill these civilians appears to have been strictly utilitarian, “Marcus: What are we gonna do? We gonna kill them (civilians)? Huh?.. They get found, then what?.. It’s going to be out there for the whole world. CNN, okay? ‘Seals kill kids’” (00.42.04).
The sociological significance of this scene is quite clear – the Constructivist idea that, as opposed to what it used to be the case centuries ago, the contemporary geopolitical developments in the world are concerned with the notion of ‘progress’ (rather than with the notion of ‘survival/domination’), is conceptually fallacious. Apparently, the actual purpose of just about any country’s existence never ceased being strictly Realist (Darwinian):
- political/economic expansion,
- maintenance of a political stability within,
- destabilization of competing states.
In light of the above-stated, ‘international law’ is meant to serve only one function – providing what currently happened to be the most powerful countries with the formal justification to proceed with exploiting the world’s natural/human resources in the essentially unopposed manner.
This is exactly the reason why, as it was shown in the movie, the well-meaning but utterly meaningless belief that there is a room for ‘law’ in the time of war, can be referred to as anything, but as such that is being acknowledgeable of what are the actual realities of war.
Therefore, the continual existence of a number of different international organizations (such as the U.N. or OSCE), which are expected to contribute to the maintenance of peace in the world, simply does not make any sense, whatsoever (with the exception of how it makes possible for the affiliated hordes of bureaucrats to enjoy a good-living). It is understood, of course, that this validates namely the ‘Darwinian’ sociological perspective, which is based upon the idea that there can be no end to the ongoing struggle for power and resources among people, as such that enables human civilization to remain on the path socio-cultural/technological progress, in the first place.
The third scene, which can be well brought up, within the context of how we go about validating the paper’s initial thesis, is the one that features badly wounded Marcus being aided by the Pashtun village’s inhabitants – something that enabled the mentioned character to save his life (01.33.29 – 01.42.46).
Given the fact that Lone survivor is meant to glorify American soldiers, on the account of their presumed courageousness, this scene’s actual purpose is to confirm that there are indeed many good reasons for them to continue spreading ‘democracy’, even in the world’s most remote parts.
After all, as the mentioned scene implies, the Afghani society is far from being considered ‘perceptually homogeneous’ – it consists of those who support the Taliban, on one hand, and of those who oppose the organization’s religious fanatics, on the other.
Thus, the very fact that, as it can be seen in the movie, many ordinary Afghanis do not have anything against Americans, is supposed to be seen as yet an additional indication that it is indeed fully appropriate, on the part of American soldiers, to continue being stationed in Afghanistan. The reason for this is that these soldiers’ presence in Afghanistan is presumed to benefit the Afghani society rather substantially, in the sense of bringing it closer to the ideals of ‘democracy’.
Nevertheless, the scene’s closer analysis reveals that the reason for Pashtun villagers to decide in favor of helping Marcus, in the first place, did not have anything to do with these people’s love of America. They did it solely on the account of Taliban-guerillas having violated the Pashtun ritualistic custom of providing a superb treatment to those, whom Pashtuns decided to consider ‘guests’.
In the scene’s episode, where Marcus is about to have his head cut off by a Taliban-insurgent, his newly found Pashtun friend steps in with the AK-74 in his hands and says (to Taliban-bandits), “This is my guest. Leave our village” (01.38.18).
What it implies is that, the assumption that the Afghani can be divided on those who support ‘democracy’, on one hand, and those religious fanatics that do not, on the other, is utterly erroneous. The reason for this obvious – as the mentioned scene suggests, it is thoroughly natural for the Afghani to exist in the state of a perpetual tribal-war with each other, regardless of what happened to be the specifics of their political affiliation.
Thus, the scene’s actual significance is best discussed from the “people interacting based scripts” perspective – it was namely due to the Pashtun people’s tribal sense of honor having been insulted by the Taliban, that they decided to help Marcus, while going as far as taking part in the ensued shootout on his behalf.
This, of course, implies that, contrary to what the country’s top-officials would like us to believe, there can be no any ‘democracy-related’ reason for American soldiers to be stationed in Afghanistan. The actual purpose of their presence there is to undermine the inner stability of America’s main geopolitical competitors – Russia and China.
Conclusion
I believe that the earlier provided line of argumentation; in regards to what can be considered the sociological significance of the selected scenes in Lone survivor, is fully consistent with the paper’s initial thesis. Apparently, it is indeed possible to think of just about any movie, as such that is being potentially capable of helping people to expand their intellectual horizons on a number of different sociological issues.
Reference
Berg, P. (Director). (2013). Lone survivor [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.
Social Justice And Equality In America
The modern principles of American civil society are based on the ideas presented in the Declaration of Independence. The principle of the people’s equality is stated in the preamble to the document. However, there is no single vision of the idea of equality in American society, especially with references to the concept of social justice. Thus, the notion of equality should be discussed from many sides because it depends on different significant factors.
In spite of the fact the idea of equality was proclaimed in one of the most influential documents in the USA and rights movements were developed by workers and women to solve the social and gender issues, the American society between the years of 1860 and 1900 suffered from the obvious unequal treatment of persons according to their race, class, and gender.
The problem of social inequality was urgent for the 19th century, and any attempts to change the situation were ineffective to overcome social injustice caused by the years of race and gender discrimination in American society. In spite of the fact it is impossible to speak about the absolute stagnation in the process of solving the problem of the social inequality about race, class, and gender, the whole picture of the situation in the American society provided more evidence for discussing the issue of social injustice.
Thus, race discrimination was not stopped with the end of the Civil War. The idea of equality of all people presented in the Declaration was discussed from the point of the Founders’ vision. Thus, the Founders concentrated on the idea of human equality in front of God which was given by God during the creation of people. From this perspective, people were equal naturally, but not socially.
The equality of people could be considered as the right given to humans from their birth, but this equality did not guarantee equal treatment or social justice (Faragher et al.). That is why the period after 1860 was associated with developing the laws of racial segregation to accentuate the unequal status of whites and blacks in American society.
It is possible to refer to a lot of examples of the social injustice and accentuation of inequality within the society in spite of the proclaimed democratic principles and ideas. Social injustice associated with the race issues were closely connected with the class inequality.
Thus, black people had no right to take positions similar to those taken by white people, employers rejected to hire blacks because of developed racial stereotypes and prejudice, and Jim Crow laws prevented blacks from having close social relations with whites, accentuating the fact that the representatives of both races were ‘separate but equal’. In practice, the black population of the USA was discriminated in society, and black people were the representatives of the lowest social classes (Zinn 108-111).
The principles of social justice worked only for white people because the equality of races was correlated only with the principles presented in Jim Crow laws and similar documents. Many workers were also dissatisfied with their social position because of low wages and risky working conditions. The representatives of the working class believed that it was possible to overcome the social injustice basing on their powers (Halpin and Cook 1-2).
Thus, the labor and civil rights movements of the 19th century became to develop as the reaction to the increasing social injustice. The rights movements can be discussed as the evidence to support the idea that social justice progressed as well as to support the vision that the developing inequality and injustice make people fight for their civil rights.
It is necessary to pay attention to the women’s rights movement as the reflection of the social injustice about gender issues. During the 19th century, women took the unequal position in comparison with the men’s one regarding the impact on social life (Zinn 218-220). The questions of the women’s suffrage, education, and employment remained to be urgent and rather controversial.
Being influenced by the workers’ rights movement, women intended to organize their movement to overcome the issues associated with gender inequality and discrimination (Faragher et al.). The role of equal human rights was accentuated. However, the development of different rights movements only emphasized the fact that the problem of social inequality and injustice existed.
Although the American society developed the idea of the people’s equality stated in the Declaration of Independence in connection with the developed concept of social justice, the principles of social equality were not followed during a long period in the history of the country.
The second part of the 19th century in the USA is characterized by the developing social injustice about women and their role in the society, representatives of such lower social classes as workers, and blacks who were obliged to live according to Jim Crow laws and principles of the racial segregation.
Works Cited
Faragher, John, Daniel Czitrom, Mari Buhle, and Susan Armitage. Out of Many: A History of the American People. USA: Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.
Halpin, John, and Marta Cook. Social Movements and Progressivism. 2010. PDF file. Web.
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States: 1492-present. USA: Pearson Education, 2003. Print.