I know it sounds funny as well, but i've been going through alot of ppl's drafts, and copy pasting them into Word to do a word count, coz i'm stuck at 700ish words, haha..(as it turns out, most ppl are as well)
Anyways, this is draft 1.5 of my proposal.
Title: The Subconscious Consumer
Target Audience: Young, middle class adults of the public who are in their 20’s and early 30’s.
Aim: To explore and expose the subject of subliminal and emotional advertising that plays on the consumer’s subconscious (emotional) mind, to affect them to make snap and instinctive decisions without even being aware of them.
The power of somatic markers
We make hundreds of snap decisions each and every day. Yet so many of them happen deep within our subconscious, so fast and far below the surface we’re barely aware of them. … companies plant instant shortcuts—or brand bookmarks—in our subconscious to help us decide what to (or what not to) buy. And yes, your brain too holds some of them and they’ve probably influenced everything from the make of the last car you decided to buy to the brand of coffee you brewed this morning.
Summary of Chapter 7, Buy-ology by Martin Lindstrom
Approach
As most books that are written about this topic are written for marketers and advertisers, this report intends to raise awareness amongst consumers. The report will not aim to alarm, change behaviour or raise any arguments, but instead, it will approach the subject in an informational, ‘Did you know?’ way.
The reason this report aims only at raising consumer awareness rather than creating an argument or trying to change consumer behaviour is because it is more likely not possible. Subliminal advertising plays specifically on the consumer’s subconscious mind and therefore, being conscious about advertising tactics will only affect the rational aspect of the consumer’s decision making process (experts agree that 85% of everything we do takes place in our subconscious minds).
In this light, the report may conclude by questioning the viewer whether or not what they now know will affect their next shopping decision.
Format
This report might take the form of a short animation or film that could be uploaded onto YouTube.com under the website’s ‘Film & Animation’ or ‘Education’ category and could also be entered into relevant short animation competitions.
The purpose of making the report in this format is so that it can be more attractive, engaging and accessible to its target audience than a magazine or newspaper article. On top of that, as a YouTube video, it will have the potential of virally spreading very quickly to an even larger audience.
Possible chapter headings
1) Introduction – This will be an overview of what the report will aim to address
2) Subliminal advertising, what is it? – This chapter will present the idea of subliminal advertising and will briefly mention the many opinions (publications) of how and whether it works and exists. There will also be a very concise accounts of subliminal advertising being employed and its effects on the viewers. This chapter will not make any conclusions about the matter yet, but instead, will serve to give credibility to the subject at hand in the hopes of sparking a curiosity and interest in the audience.
3) The subconscious mind – This next chapter will begin to explore in detail how subliminal advertising works by firstly looking at the human conscious and subconscious mind. This will be approached by studying the science and psychology behind the roles of the two minds in the decision making process (in the context of a consumer).
4) Marketing tactics – This chapter is a continuation from the previous chapter exploring how subliminal advertising works by examining and revealing certain strategies that advertisers and marketers employ to persuade consumers in their decisions, and how these tactics go unnoticed.
5) Recognize this? – This chapter will smoothly link from the last by looking at case studies of actual companies and the tactics they have employed.
Action plan
- Find out how informed the target audience already is about this topic, so that the report will still be informative and interesting. I intend to do this by
- I will mainly be reading Martin Lindstrom’s book, Buy-ology, to get more in depth with the topic, and also read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell to find similarities in their findings. I will also be looking a range of reading materials to get a broader perspective on the subject.
- I will also be looking at various short animations that have been produce to be informative, to look for different animation methods and styles that I can learn from.
Bibliography
The purpose of making the report in this format is so that it can be more attractive, engaging and accessible to its target audience than a magazine or newspaper article. On top of that, as a YouTube video, it will have the potential of virally spreading very quickly to an even larger audience.
Possible chapter headings
1) Introduction – This will be an overview of what the report will aim to address
2) Subliminal advertising, what is it? – This chapter will present the idea of subliminal advertising and will briefly mention the many opinions (publications) of how and whether it works and exists. There will also be a very concise accounts of subliminal advertising being employed and its effects on the viewers. This chapter will not make any conclusions about the matter yet, but instead, will serve to give credibility to the subject at hand in the hopes of sparking a curiosity and interest in the audience.
3) The subconscious mind – This next chapter will begin to explore in detail how subliminal advertising works by firstly looking at the human conscious and subconscious mind. This will be approached by studying the science and psychology behind the roles of the two minds in the decision making process (in the context of a consumer).
4) Marketing tactics – This chapter is a continuation from the previous chapter exploring how subliminal advertising works by examining and revealing certain strategies that advertisers and marketers employ to persuade consumers in their decisions, and how these tactics go unnoticed.
5) Recognize this? – This chapter will smoothly link from the last by looking at case studies of actual companies and the tactics they have employed.
Action plan
- Find out how informed the target audience already is about this topic, so that the report will still be informative and interesting. I intend to do this by
- I will mainly be reading Martin Lindstrom’s book, Buy-ology, to get more in depth with the topic, and also read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell to find similarities in their findings. I will also be looking a range of reading materials to get a broader perspective on the subject.
- I will also be looking at various short animations that have been produce to be informative, to look for different animation methods and styles that I can learn from.
Bibliography
Books
Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Eye and Brain: The Psychology of Seeing by Richard L. Langton
Emotional Design by Donald A. Norman
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behaviour by Ori & Rom Brafman
WIRED Magazine June 2009
Films
Czech Dream
Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Eye and Brain: The Psychology of Seeing by Richard L. Langton
Emotional Design by Donald A. Norman
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behaviour by Ori & Rom Brafman
WIRED Magazine June 2009
Films
Czech Dream
(need a lil help with action plan!)
Bro, I like the subject and the approach from a customer's point of view.
ReplyDeleteA few things that may or may not help:
Don't forget to use the Harvard referencing system, on things like: '(experts agree that 85% of everything we do takes place in our subconscious minds)' [where did you get that information from?]
On the 'aim' or 'approach; section, you can add some facts and statistics (that's what Catherine suggested on mine). It should also improve your word count. Consider things like: 'According to research (Somebody, 2008), 90% of the UK big brands employ advertising agencies to promote their products/brand.' or 'According to research (Someone, 2006), companies that employ advertising agencies experience 10% increase in their annual sales...' That should set a tone of 'seriousness' to your report, I know it's already serious, but you know what I mean.
In your 'approach' section, you can expand a bit more 'how' you are going to explore the subject. Perhaps give us a taste of how you plan to interview people or why you are going to use interview as a means to collect data? I know that you've included this on your action plan, but you could explain why you chose interview as a method, then simply list the method in your action plan.
Maybe, you could improve the word count, by creating an 'overview' section so you can further develop what the project is about, and perhaps merge 'aim' and 'approach', so you end up with 'overview' and 'aim'...
I hope it helps...
Falou mano!
Doug
oi cara!
ReplyDeleteyea man, that's really good advice...that would definitely up my word count!
i was actually reading your post and trying to figure out how you managed to write so much, haha..really good stuff i must say.
Not much time left to finalize the writing by, and then proceed on to design...
cheers heaps man!
falou cara!
Jason
The Design Council has some statistics about Design in the country. Not sure about advertising specifically...
ReplyDeleteDoug