Month: March 2013

All the advertisements we see today has been “retouched” by using Photoshop or some other tools, which is an open “secret” in all industries. But how will this phenomenon affect consumers? Is it ethical to present an “unrealistic” image to consumers?

An article from Globe and Mail, written by Susan Krashinsky, tried to find out where the demand from “retouching” came from. It seems that this phenomenon just occurred naturally and the public has expected this to happen. Dan Strasser, an art director claimed, “…even if you’re just taking a photo of a natural setting. You’re going to tweak the colour balance.” However, researchers also found that skewed beauty images cause female consumers to experience a negative effect on their body image and possibly promote eating disorders. Furthermore, parents should be alert and tell their children that what they see in advertisements is not always real.

An example from Dove’s famous video: “Evolution”

I believe that the use of Photoshop is acceptable, but not to the extent such that the product’s image has been tweaked entirely. It is unethical to advertise unrealistic images of the product to attract consumers. This will ultimately affect the company brand once consumers find out that the actual product looks dramatically different from what they have seen in the ads. Moreover, consumers’ perceptions nowadays are placing more significance towards “natural beauty”. Thus, it is crucial that companies think before they act and be more responsible for what/how they advertise.

After reading a post from Melody Han’s blog, I would like to elaborate on it. The original blog post, written by Jeff Beer, looked at the difference between a consumer and a shopper based on several research results. Melody emphasized on how marketing research can help marketers advertise their products. I would like to go deeper and discuss how these research ties in with the importance of branding.

One of the exercises conducted requires the shopper to look at a shelf for three seconds and tell the researcher what they saw. As expressed in the original article, “…for many consumers, especially in places like the grocery store, [three seconds] is the amount of time a brand has to get your attention.” That means, when making quick decisions, one of the most important criteria that affects consumer choice is branding.

It is especially important that the brand has a positive image in the consumers’ minds that attracts loyal consumers. Because consumers often ignore marketing messages, this made it difficult for marketers to grab consumer’s attention; therefore, marketers should focus more on getting consumers familiar with the company brand. Once they established a loyal customer base, there will be a greater chance that the consumer will choose their product within the three seconds. After the three seconds, then it is when consumers will actually read their marketing messages. Moreover, a strong brand protects the product from competition. With more loyal customers, the company will not be easily threatened by its competitors and can reduce marketing costs.

Nowadays, marketing have to advertise by focusing on what value their products/services can bring to consumers, not just the products/services itself. Branding is one key thing to add value.