MassMedia: Advertising & PR: The A.I.D.A. Formula for Writing Commercials (U8-P2) [VID] Fa14

The A.I.D.A. formula is a common format used in the writing of commercials.

• Parts of A.I.D.A. Commercial
1. Attention: Get audience’s attention
2. Interest: Keep interest expand attention, tell benefits, use “you,” etc.
3. Desire: Create desire in audience.  Develop some need in the audience members that the product meets.
4. Action: Tell audience what to do. Go to an address, go to web site or call now.

Take a look at the following TV commercial script.  See the parts of the A.I.D.A formula?  What's the need addressed?

A typical commercial script follows a two column format with the video on left and audio on right.  The video column describes what the viewer sees in each part of the commercial and the audio column describes what the audio will hear.

Source: Hillman


There are three major formats of commercials and the A.I.D.A. formula best fits the format called the straight sell.

Format of Commercials

• Straight Sell
• Main “character” is a pitchman who tries to sell product to you.
• Testimonial
• A personal story is told to sell the product. “I use the product. It works for me. So,…”
• Dramatization
• Tell a quick story/mini-drama to sell product.
• Get attention
• Create suspense by creating a problem/need for a character
• Solve the problem/need.  Very often it is the product that solves the problem or meets the need.

The idea of a product meeting a need is mentioned above a few times.  It is important.  There are a variety of ways of talking about human needs, but the classic is Maslow's Heirachy of Needs (see below).

We need the things above.  With this in mind, how would you write a commercial to sell a product?

Take a look at the following, recent commercial.  Does it use A.I.D.A.?  What format?  What need(s)?





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MediaTech: TV Tech: How Cable TV Works (U8-P2) [VID] Fa14

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GlobalMedia: International Journalism: The CNN Effect & the Social Media Effect [VID] (U8-P2)

In his book, Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Trends, Thomas McPhail defines the CNN effect as "the process by which the coverage of a foreign event by CNN causes that event to be a primary concern for its audience, which in turn forces the federal government to act."  One could add to the U.S. government, then as part of its foreign policy, may influence foreign governments/peoples through direct action (e.g., war) or through sanctions.  See video clip.



Does CNN still have this influence on foreign policy?  Any other news networks, U.S. or otherwise, have this influence?  Any other form of media now has this influence?  Think: Arab Spring (see first 2 minutes).  Think: Kony2012 (see short clip).  What role does social media play in shaping foreign policy?  How's that process work?

The "social media effect" is defined here as the process by which the coverage of an event on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube  etc. causes that event to be a primary concern for its audiences around the world, which in turn forces foreign governments to act, thus further influencing the event.

See clip below for more the idea of social media effect.

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MassMedia: Ideological Criticism & Noam Chomsky (Part 1 of 2) (U8-P2) [VID] Fa13

While he may not use the phrase, Noam Chomsky, as shown in Manufacturing Consent, does practice ideological criticism.

The documentary, Manufacturing Consent (1992), is 2 hours and 46 minutes long, but I've boiled it down to about 20 minutes of key ideas relevant to a discussion of ideological criticism.

What is Chomsky's key argument (as shown here)?  What points do you notice that are relevant to ideological criticism?

What is meant by "manufacturing consent"?

Clip 1:
See clip from 1:50 to 7:14.



See clip from 0:00 to 6:35.

What is meant by "manufacturing consent"?

See clip from 4:35 to 7:50


See the next post with the next set of Manufacturing Consent clips.



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InterculturalCom: Intercultural Romance: Jungle Fever and Barriers to Interracial Marriage (U8-P2) fa13

As the number of interracial marriages has increased so too has the approval of interracial marriages.  In the late 1950s less than 10% of the U.S. population approved of interracial marriages.  By 2007, the approval rating was almost 80%.

See more recent figures from Gallup | Image credit: Yerevanci

So, still with a significant portion of the U.S. population disapproving interracial marriages, couples in such marriages face some unnecessary challenges.  Besides the normal challenges of any relationship, an interracial or intercultural relationship faces two additional barriers to a healthy relationship: internal barriers and external barriers.

The internal barriers are those of any intercultural interaction.

How does intercultural communication work? What is the process?
Two people from different cultures interact, but there are barriers to effective intercultural communication.  Some of the barriers include: difference in language, difference in nonverbals, difference in values, ethnocentrism and prejudice.

In addition to the above an interracial couple may also face some external barriers.

If you get a chance to watch or re-watch Jungle Fever, see if you spot the internal and external barriers.

You may also want to see the intercultural relationship in The Joy Luck Club.

Can you think of more recent films that show the internal and external barriers that interracial and intercultural couples face?


------- FROM TWITTER:

@WilliamHartPhD Start with Loving v VA! And this NYT article is a good intro to discuss interracial stigma. http://t.co/qnALplk6sq
— Kevin Noble Maillard (@noblemaillard) October 14, 2013

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MediaTech: Cell Phones and the Consequences of Tech: The Digital Divide (U8-P2) fa13

Current News on the Digital Divide

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GlobalMedia: Social Media Important to Arab Spring Revolution? (U8-P2) [VID] Sp13

Other than helping individuals to communicate, what grander social role does the Internet play?


For example, the Internet can be used to speak to power and cause social change.  In the quote below McPhail notes the role blogs played in challenging power in 2002.

Quote originally taken from 2nd edition of Global Communication.

So, in the United States the Internet can be used to speak to power, but what about in other countries.  For the Internet to play a strong role, there would need to be a substantial amount of Internet users in a country.  What sort of growth is there for Internet use around the world?  According to McPhail (2nd edition),

Quote originally taken from 2nd edition of Global Communication.

The 3rd edition of McPhail has some interesting, updated numbers.  What changes do you note?

1. China, 298 million
2. U.S. 227 million
3. Japan, 94 million
4. India, 81 million
5. Brazil, 68 million.

Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Trends
(For slightly more updated Internet use stats see this site, if you're curious.)

So, Internet use is certainly on the rise around the world, more so in some countries than in others.

------

On the world stage, the Internet, specifically social media, has been credited with building revolutions in countries and bringing down dictators.

Take for example, protests in the former-Soviet republic of Moldova in 2009.  It was called "Moldova’s Twitter Revolution."

More recently though, when one thinks of social media and revolution, one thinks of the Arab Spring.  The Arab Spring is "a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010."


A Map of Arab Spring Countries

(Image used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0,  image created by Kwamikagami)

Countries highlighted in black are countries in which the government was overthrown. From left to right the countries are Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen. Countries highlighted in other colors are countries in which some protesting occurred.


For a sense of the role social media played in Tunisia, see the following news clip.



What exactly did social media do Tunisia?  What was the role of social media?

Let's move from a specific example to a broader discussion about the role of social media has played in the Arab Spring.  Some say that social media is insignificant and others say social media play a few important roles in revolution.  What are both sides of the argument and what are the arguments on both sides.  Why, for example, would some say "no, social media doesn't play a role"?  To help answer these questions see the Zuckerman video below.

See specifically the presentation from 4:45 to 8:45 and the remainder if interested.


Note: Zuckerman is co-founded international blogging community Global Voices. Check it out of you are interested.




If you're curious and want to learn more about social media and revolution, check out
Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People Is Greater Than the People in Power: A Memoir








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MediaTech: Social Media and Web 2.0: Social Media Use by Mass Comm Departments (U8-P2) [SLIDES] fa12

So, if mass comm departments are not training students in social media, what needs to be done?
Obviously, more social media training.  So, let's do that.  <Next Slide>





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InterculturalCom: Effective Intercultural Com: Basic Interpersonal Skills (U8-P2) fa12

Some Basic Interpersonal Skills Helpful in ICC

Core Skills

• Positiveness: Expression of positive attitudes toward self and others.
• Other-Orientation: Attentiveness, interest, and concern for others.
• Empathy: Feeling as the other feels.

Meta Skills

• Mindfulness: Being aware of the above skills.
• Metacommunication: Being aware of what is happening in the communication. Being able to think and talk about the talk.

Even before developing effective intercultural communication skills, we need to learn and practice the above basic interpersonal skills.  These are fundamental.

Source:


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MediaTech: Social Media and Web 2.0: Social Media Use by Mass Comm Departments (U8-P2) [SLIDES]

So, if mass comm departments are not training students in social media, what needs to be done?
Obviously, more social media training.  So, let's do that.  <Next Slide>




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InterculturalCom: Dealing with Difference: Basic Interpersonal Skills (U8-P2)

Some Basic Interpersonal Skills Helpful in ICC

Core Skills

• Positiveness: Expression of positive attitudes toward self and others.
• Other-Orientation: Attentiveness, interest, and concern for others.
• Empathy: Feeling as the other feels.

Meta Skills

• Mindfulness: Being aware of the above skills.
• Metacommunication: Being aware of what is happening in the communication. Being able to think and talk about the talk.

Even before developing effective intercultural communication skills, we need to learn and practice the above basic interpersonal skills.  These are fundamental.

Source:

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