Well ladies its Friday again so it's time for another Friend Friday post. And this weeks topic was sparked by a discussion in our FBFF forum about the Oakley product placement at the Chilean Miner Rescue. This is all about marketing, and reviewing products, something us bloggers often do. So here are my answers to this weeks questions.
1. As we watched the Chilean Miners being rescued last week, there were many things to take note of - the amazing faith of these people, the joy of life, love and family, and - interestingly enough - product placement. As you watched the rescue efforts did you notice the products? What were your thoughts?
In all honesty the first time I saw the clips on the news I don't think I was paying that much attention, but on subsequent viewings I did notice all the sunglasses. As I know little about Oakley glasses I didn't recognise them from the clip, so initially didn't realise it was product placement. After being a media and film student at university I often notice product placement as I studied it for a while. So films are kinda ruined sometimes with advertising overload, lol. But I almost admire the Oakley marketing team for seeing a placement opportunity in this situation. After being told of this placement by someone in the FBFF group I did a quick bit of googling to find some info on the topic and after reading this article I am less impressed as it seems that Oakley did not come up with this placement themselves. But that aside, the company saw a gap that they could fill and that would be beneficial to both parties so good for them!
2. Product placement is all around us today, what do you think makes it such a marketing gold mine?
Connotations is often a big factor. Now I don't wanna get all theoretical on you but let me explain (I hope that doesn't sound condescending, I don't mean it to) Lets think about Apple, one of the major companies who partake in product placement. These laptops are so recognisable thanks to their light up apple logo on the case meaning whenever we see them we automatically know they are Apple. So we decide we want to be like Carrie Bradshaw for instance, we see her with an Apple laptop on the show, therefor we want an Apple laptop because we think it will make us like her. We see all the cool kids in a film with ipods, we want ipods so we can be cool too. You get the idea. It is a form of marketing that firstly is usually visible to more people and secondly works on a deeper subconscious level in our minds, sometimes without us even knowing. We see the same things over and over again on a show and they become engrained in our brain without us noticing. Thats why it's a gold mine.
3. On your blog, either now or in the future, what is/will be your stance on highlighting specific products?
I am more than happy to highlight products that I have tested or like. And if I am ever asked to review a product I will always do it honestly, whether that be good or bad.
4. If the opportunity arose would you give a bad review of a product?
Yes I believe in honesty every time. I am not going to lie about a product and I will never endorse a product I do not believe in, or I would not buy myself. If I was to do a review that was going to be negative I would aim to highlight some positive attributes as well. Something can't be completely negative!
5. Do you view your blog as a product? Where have you or do you hope to place it?
I'm not sure on this one. I use it as a product in as far as it is an extension of me, and I am currently trying to get myself writing jobs and use my blog as a space to show my work. So a product I am using to sell me. I am happy with how my blog is at the moment. Granted I would love for it to become popular enough to allow me to work on it full time, to be able to monetize it properly. Although that is not why I started blogging or why I keep blogging, it would just be a nice bonus.
So what are your opinion on product placements?
Would you ever give a negative review? Or post about an item you haven't actually tried?
Daisymay X
Oh, I thought it was kind of weird to see the miners leaving the mine wearing sunglasses, but I thought it had to do with protecting their eyes only. I used to work for a company called MSA which developed equipment for miners and oil rig workers. Their most fashionable line was that of glasses. My students even gave me a pair as a gift because they honestly looked like sunglasses anybody would wear just for the looks.
ReplyDeleteOf course I feel I'm influenced by the media, but when I notice they're trying to advertise a product persistently in a TV series or a movie, I feel grossed out and it causes the opposite effect on me. I usually want to get items (clothes, accessories, perfumes, stationery, you name it) that nobody else has; that's why I choose independent designers' stores. With technology I have to admit that it's more difficult, basically because the famous brands are directly connected with good quality. I'm not going to buy a laptop computer manufactured by a brand nobody knows about; instead, I'd buy a standard computer but would definitely make it disctinct with a skin by an Argentine artist who's not popular, for instance. But I've never had an I-Pod, for example, or any Mac product. I've only had two cell phones and am currently using the same I was using five years ago. I don't want a smart phone (although David has bought me one as a gift already! Haha).
I'm not saying I'm not part of this system or I'm not affected by it; it's just that I feel I want to be different. Ever since I started kindergarten, people have always made me feel different (remember that I'm an Asian looking girl living in a Latin American country; people tend to hate Asians here believing that we're all Chinese trying to open grocery stores and therefore damaging national businesses, blah, blah, blah). For twenty years, I really suffered because I was different until one day I decided to consider it a positive attribute. Something changed in my mind and started highlighting my uniqueness (I don't like this word, but can't find another one). Maybe it's because my personality doesn't stand out; I'm very introvert and not a people person, so I unconsciously need to make myself conspicuous this way.
Oh, I've written so much! Sorry, I was just thinking out loud, haha.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice the Oakley's at first either, but even afterwards I wasn't too bothered by it.
ReplyDeleteKendra
http://closetconfections.com
Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog! These friend friday posts are always interesting to read!
ReplyDeleteAs for the fashion links, I just copied and pasted the code from the ifb webpage - I did resize the picture (by downloading it and uploading it again, not very sophisticated) and I also deleted the Shopbop ad because it ended up looking weird. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
poet
interesting read as always! x
ReplyDeleteI've never seen SITC, but I do remember seeing all the kids on Buffy with their Apple computers and no one was cooler than they. And now I have a Mac. But I'm not going to say it was just because of them, but my goodness, I loved those kids.
ReplyDeleteOakley sunglasses actually do offer decent sun protection as opposed to just being trendy sunglasses and are used for outdoor sports by pros as a result. Yeah Apple certainly struck a goldmine with Carrie - I recall at one point at the height of SATC popularity they were blatantly admitting that they had designed the asthetics of their Mac products with women in mind. Thanks for posting the video.
ReplyDeletethis week was my my first FBFF. i love rading everyones answers. i'm in agreement on givin honest reviews but nt being completely negative xx
ReplyDeletesorry typo i meant reading lol
ReplyDelete