This is a case study of the Hill Holliday agency
By: Kaitlin Riddle, Steven Flick and Kelsey Kampschror
History
History
Hill Holliday was founded in 1968 by Jack Conners, Jay Hill, Steve Cosmopulis and Alan Holliday. Their headquarters is located in Boston, Massachusetts with other offices located in New York, Miami, Greenville, and San Francisco. They have won many awards including Advertising Age’s Agency of the Year in 1986, followed by The Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival of Advertising in 1986, Four Clio Awards at the 30th Annual Clio Awards in 1989, the MITX Award in “Best use of Mobile” category and many more awards. Currently Hill Holliday’s major billings include Toys “R” Us, Dunkin’ Donuts, Chili’s, Anheuser Busch, and Liberty Mutual. As of 2004 Hill Holliday employed 680 persons. Hill Holliday continues to impress potential clients and advertising critics with their creative and unique campaigns.
Best Known Agency Work
Hill Holliday tends to represent clients whose products are aimed for the general American public. Some of their best known clients, Toys “R” Us, Dunkin’ Donuts, Chili’s, Anheuser Busch, and Liberty Mutual all have target markets that can in some way be described as an all-American group. Toys “R” Us has a primary target market of young, middle income families with two or more children. Dunkin’ Donuts has a new campaign that aims for a target of fast-paced-on-the-go businessmen and women with families ages 25-40. Anheuser Busch, unlike their other clients is aimed more toward the typical middle income American male between the ages of 21-40. By focusing their services toward one target market, Hill Holliday has had an influence in marketing products toward Middle America.
Financial Information
Conglomerate Ownership
The company is owned by the conglomerate Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG). IPG is an enormous publicly traded parent company that also owns other advertising agencies such as: The Martin Agency, DraftFCB, TM Advertising, Mullen and many other marketing, branding, media buying, and communications companies. Hill Holliday is one of their full-service domestic agency brands. Having a connection to a strong parent company can greatly affect how an agency works and functions in that role. According to IPG’s 2006 annual report, “The role of the holding company is to provide resources and support to ensure that our agencies can best meet our clients’ needs.” IPG develops financial objectives, strategies, inter-agency programs, “financial management and operational controls, guides personnel policy, conducts investor relations and initiates, manages and approves mergers and acquisitions. In addition, we provide limited centralized functional services that offer our companies operational efficiencies, including accounting and finance, marketing information retrieval and analysis, legal services, real estate expertise, travel services, recruitment aid, employee benefits and executive compensation management.” Hill Holliday, as a part of this conglomerate must abide by IPG’s standards, rules and regulations, but they also receive the benefit of having a vast array of resources. For example, BzzAgent, Inc is a company that specializes in word-of-mouth, or viral, advertising. In an agreement with IPG BzzAgent has agreed to provide their services at discounted rates to agencies within IPG’s holdings, such as Hill Holliday
Public or Private Ownership
IPG, as the parent company of Hill Holliday, reported $6.19 billion in revenue for the 2006 fiscal year, the most recent annual report available. This amount of revenue is astonishing considering IPG was trying to come back from a slump that had resulted due to the loss of major clients. The majority of revenue comes from the United States with 55.6%, followed by Europe (not including the United Kingdom) at 16.8% and then the UK with 9.1%. Asia Pacific and Latin America represent the other 13.2% in 2006. The company negotiates contracts on an individual client-by-client basis, but typically, charge based on fees that are determined by hourly rates, overhead and mark-up. Commissions are still utilized as well, but not as often.
Financial Performance
Advertising Age included Hill Holliday in its list of “the leading agencies in 2006 by US revenues.” According to company Chairman and CEO, Michael I. Roth, “strength of our U.S. independents was a key contributor to our results in 2006. Led by Cambell-Ewald, Campbell Mithun, Carmichael Lynch, Deutsch, Hill Hol[l]iday, The Martin Agency and Mullen, we have a uniquely powerful group of agencies, each offering great creativity and an integrated suite of services under one roof.” One of Hill Holliday’s clients is Verizon, which is one of IPG’s top five clients based on revenue. The 2006 annual report states the top ten clients “accounted for approximately 25% of revenue in 2006.” IPG appears to be trying to resuscitate itself from a three year long slump, reporting operating losses in 2003, 2004 and 2005 causing losses for common stockholders. In 2006, the company did operate with a profit though, but stockholders are still incurring losses.
Agency Characteristics
Agency Strengths
Hill Holliday understands the current market and how to use the technology resources that are available. They encompass Hispanic marketing and advertising, as well as the ability to create interactive, peer-to-peer, and viral marketing campaigns. The website included interactive blogs which was unique and impressive. To a technology guru it may not seem like much, but to a client, with older executives, it shows that Hill Holliday is technologically smart. In addition, the blog shows that the company understands the consumer mindset and the current popular trends, which can reassure a company that by choosing Hill Holliday as their agency they will succeed.
Agency Weaknesses
Hill Holliday has made a point to be very clear with their central messages in their recent projects, however they have been lacking with their clarity of their creative content with the exception of Liberty Mutual. An example of this is the “Lefty Loosy” Dunkin Donuts commercial. The commercial uses an irritating singing voice that constantly repeats “lefty loosy…righty tighty.” Although the message of “Dunkin Donut’s coffee is great tasting and keeps you going” is eventually stated, the viewers lose attention before the message can be clearly established. Their Cleveland Clinic commercials do the same. An irritating voice over and horrible content leads to the consumer turning off the television before the message can be retained. If Hill Holliday wants to keep their target audience engaged, they need to make sure that their “unique” voice or message does not irritate the viewer.
Agency Differentiation from Competition
According to Ty Thornhill, a VP at Hill Holliday’s southern arm, Erwin-Penland, Hill Holliday stands out because they are channel agnostic. Channel agnostic refers to the agency coming together as a whole before the pitch and not making assumptions about which division is best suited for the client. After insights have been found, Hill Holliday brings in people from every department from PR to brand development to decide on the right channels for the message. In addition, he stated that everyone takes on the project as if they own it themselves, “there is a true entrepreneurial spirit in our agency.”
Agency Website
Creativity of Website
The website is very simple but modern, featuring a large grey box with a smaller lime green box that holds links for information about the company, their client work, and contact information. An innovative way that Hill Holliday has found to use their website is their Hill Holliday blog. The Hill Holliday blog is written by employees and it discusses current marketing headlines and issues, their current and upcoming projects, and their opinions on general advertising. The blog gives potential clients and other audience members an insight into the company and all the while giving the public a chance to directly interact with employees. The blog is an interactive medium that Hill Holliday has successfully mastered and is one of the most unique and differentiating parts of their website.
Agency Services highlighted
· Interactive
· Direct
· Advertising
· Strategy
· Design
· Media
· Peer-to-peer
· Hispanic
Agency Approach
Hill Holliday is a team-based agency. As stated previously they will often come together from different departments to come up with a solution. When it comes to communication and relationships, they believe a campaign cannot be successful without effective communication between the agency and the client. They see themselves as the mechanic to the client’s problem, but unlike a person’s automobile mechanic, they want the client involved all the way through the process.
Brief List of Sources
http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/us/lnacademic/search/companyDossiersubmitForm.do
http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/us/lnacademic/search/companyDossiersubmitForm.do
http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/87/878/87867/items/247880/2006ar.pdf
http://www.wetfeet.com/Content/Companies/h/hill%25holliday.aspx
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=NEWS_VIEW_POPUP_TYPE&newsId=20080213005572&ndmHsc=v2*A1200747600000*B1203412460000*DgroupByDate*J2*L1*N1000837*ZRockport&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view_popup
http://www.hhcc.com/
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Miller Chill v. Bud Light Lime
Last year Miller Brewing Company launched Miller Chill. This summer saw the launch of Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light Lime. The question is why is Miller Chill floundering and Bud Light Lime is succeeding (relatively speaking)?
Miller Lite championed “Man Law” in a campaign not so long ago. One of the man laws was, “no fruit in beer.” Although the “Man Law” campaign is fairly old in advertising terms, Miller Lite still has a specific portion of the market that they target. This is the same market that believes the man laws made by Burt Reynolds and his cohorts and that market was not receptive to beer with a fruity, salty twist.
Bud Light has a slightly more diverse marketing plan. They are currently capitalizing on “drinkability,” which is that certain je ne sais quoi, that makes bud light a more drinkable beer according to the ads. Drinkability is a braod term that speaks to both male and female beer drinkers, connoisseurs and guzzlers alike. They launched Bud Light Lime with a $35 million campaign. In order to continue the success of Bud Light Lime into the fall and winter season Anheuser-Busch has launched a campaign with the slogan “Seasons change, tastes don’t.”
http://www.beverageworld.com/content/view/35359/
Miller Lite championed “Man Law” in a campaign not so long ago. One of the man laws was, “no fruit in beer.” Although the “Man Law” campaign is fairly old in advertising terms, Miller Lite still has a specific portion of the market that they target. This is the same market that believes the man laws made by Burt Reynolds and his cohorts and that market was not receptive to beer with a fruity, salty twist.
Bud Light has a slightly more diverse marketing plan. They are currently capitalizing on “drinkability,” which is that certain je ne sais quoi, that makes bud light a more drinkable beer according to the ads. Drinkability is a braod term that speaks to both male and female beer drinkers, connoisseurs and guzzlers alike. They launched Bud Light Lime with a $35 million campaign. In order to continue the success of Bud Light Lime into the fall and winter season Anheuser-Busch has launched a campaign with the slogan “Seasons change, tastes don’t.”
http://www.beverageworld.com/content/view/35359/
Employee Motivation
Acting as a leader is an important facet of an account manager’s position. They must act as a catalyst for the members of their team in order to create the best work possible. There are various studies on the best way to motivate and reprimand employees. Positive and negative reinforcement represent one theory on motivators for employees; however, they may lead to a better solution.
Positive reinforcement is “following a response with something pleasant” (Robbins, 58). For example, after a project is completed the manager may dole out bonuses as a way of saying the employees did a job well done. Deborah Mackin, author of The Team Work Tool Kit, 2nd edition, and founder and president of New Directions Consulting, Inc believes that for positive reinforcement to work the “reward” must be something personal that the employee desires. Giving a single secretary with no kids an afternoon off may not be as effective as a bonus, whereas giving the working mother of three an afternoon off to watch her child’s soccer game would be.
The One Minute Manager states “people work better when they feel good about themselves” (Blanchard). This theory can be used to show why managers and organizations must use positive and negative reinforcement effectively in order for the employees to feel good about themselves and to maximize efficiency and productivity. Positive reinforcement works as a better motivator for employees. Employees that feel better about their jobs will tend to have less turnover, lower absenteeism and higher job satisfaction.
Robbins and Judge refer to negative reinforcement as “following a response with the termination or withdrawal of something unpleasant” (Robbins, 58). Deborah Mackin refers to negative reinforcement as the “introduction of fear.” Her example is, “’Better get that report that John wants on his desk by four or he won't be happy.’ The employee "moves" his/her behavior in order to avoid the anticipated wrath of John.” Both are saying the same thing in their own way, Robbins and Judge refer to it as a current unpleasant thing that has ended, whereas Mackin refers to it as the threat of something unpleasant in the future. Negative reinforcement does not instill the same job satisfaction that positive reinforcement does. It can cause employees to feel insecure, anxious about the status of their job and even revert to politics. All of these factors will have the opposite effect of positive reinforcement: higher turnover, higher absenteeism and lower job satisfaction.
Mackin points out that the distinction between positive and negative reinforcement comes down to the results achieved by the employee and the company. “Positive reinforcement builds accountability; negative reinforcement builds avoidance of accountability and a desire to ‘play it safe’” (Mackin). Performance management, as it is referred to by Mackin, such as positive reinforcement will inspire accountability in employees.
I think the most successful form of employee motivation is another type of reinforcement that B. F. Skinner explains called the “natural reinforcer.” Skinner states, "We can say that some students study because they have a desire to learn, an inner urge to know, an inquisitive appetite, a love of wisdom, a natural curiosity, or some other trait of character. We thus allay our natural curiosity and satisfy our urge to know, but we do not improve teaching, for nothing about a trait tells us how to alter it or even keep it alive" (Skinner). Employees who have the natural reinforcer will tend to have more freedom over decisions, will feel like there is equity in bonuses and rewards within their organization as well as feel positively about other aspects of their jobs. They will need less supervision than the employees who require more positive and negative reinforcement. Not all employees respond to reinforcements in the same way. Employees at different motivations and abilities will require different positive and negative reinforcement in order for them to act in accordance with the desired reinforcement result.
The natural reinforcer will create the ideal employees and work environment as a whole. However, employees must be led to this level of satisfaction. Similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs which states that humans must fulfill their most basic needs before being able to fill higher level needs such as self-actualization. New employees will still require positive and negative reinforcement in order to learn the systems that are being utilized in the work place. However, an employee who is satisfied with their work, the environment, their co-workers, etc. will have an inner desire to do better and create better work. They will develop the inner urge to continue to succeed and do better work for the company. This is how teams can create synergy to develop better work.
Works Cited
Blanchard, Ken and Spencer Johnson. The One Minute Manager. New York, HarperCollins Publishers Inc: 2003.
Judge, Tim A., and Stephen P. Robbins. Organizational Behavior & SAL CDROM Pkg (12th Edition). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall, 2007.
Mackin, Deborah. “Growing Responsibility and Accountability in the Workplace: Part 2.” The Sideroad. 2007. Blue Boulder Internet Publishing. 18 Oct. 2007. http://www.sideroad.com/Management/growing-responsibility-and-accountability-in-the-workplace.html.
Skinner, B.F. The Technology of Teaching. Cambridge: B.F. Skinner Foundation, 2003.
Positive reinforcement is “following a response with something pleasant” (Robbins, 58). For example, after a project is completed the manager may dole out bonuses as a way of saying the employees did a job well done. Deborah Mackin, author of The Team Work Tool Kit, 2nd edition, and founder and president of New Directions Consulting, Inc believes that for positive reinforcement to work the “reward” must be something personal that the employee desires. Giving a single secretary with no kids an afternoon off may not be as effective as a bonus, whereas giving the working mother of three an afternoon off to watch her child’s soccer game would be.
The One Minute Manager states “people work better when they feel good about themselves” (Blanchard). This theory can be used to show why managers and organizations must use positive and negative reinforcement effectively in order for the employees to feel good about themselves and to maximize efficiency and productivity. Positive reinforcement works as a better motivator for employees. Employees that feel better about their jobs will tend to have less turnover, lower absenteeism and higher job satisfaction.
Robbins and Judge refer to negative reinforcement as “following a response with the termination or withdrawal of something unpleasant” (Robbins, 58). Deborah Mackin refers to negative reinforcement as the “introduction of fear.” Her example is, “’Better get that report that John wants on his desk by four or he won't be happy.’ The employee "moves" his/her behavior in order to avoid the anticipated wrath of John.” Both are saying the same thing in their own way, Robbins and Judge refer to it as a current unpleasant thing that has ended, whereas Mackin refers to it as the threat of something unpleasant in the future. Negative reinforcement does not instill the same job satisfaction that positive reinforcement does. It can cause employees to feel insecure, anxious about the status of their job and even revert to politics. All of these factors will have the opposite effect of positive reinforcement: higher turnover, higher absenteeism and lower job satisfaction.
Mackin points out that the distinction between positive and negative reinforcement comes down to the results achieved by the employee and the company. “Positive reinforcement builds accountability; negative reinforcement builds avoidance of accountability and a desire to ‘play it safe’” (Mackin). Performance management, as it is referred to by Mackin, such as positive reinforcement will inspire accountability in employees.
I think the most successful form of employee motivation is another type of reinforcement that B. F. Skinner explains called the “natural reinforcer.” Skinner states, "We can say that some students study because they have a desire to learn, an inner urge to know, an inquisitive appetite, a love of wisdom, a natural curiosity, or some other trait of character. We thus allay our natural curiosity and satisfy our urge to know, but we do not improve teaching, for nothing about a trait tells us how to alter it or even keep it alive" (Skinner). Employees who have the natural reinforcer will tend to have more freedom over decisions, will feel like there is equity in bonuses and rewards within their organization as well as feel positively about other aspects of their jobs. They will need less supervision than the employees who require more positive and negative reinforcement. Not all employees respond to reinforcements in the same way. Employees at different motivations and abilities will require different positive and negative reinforcement in order for them to act in accordance with the desired reinforcement result.
The natural reinforcer will create the ideal employees and work environment as a whole. However, employees must be led to this level of satisfaction. Similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs which states that humans must fulfill their most basic needs before being able to fill higher level needs such as self-actualization. New employees will still require positive and negative reinforcement in order to learn the systems that are being utilized in the work place. However, an employee who is satisfied with their work, the environment, their co-workers, etc. will have an inner desire to do better and create better work. They will develop the inner urge to continue to succeed and do better work for the company. This is how teams can create synergy to develop better work.
Works Cited
Blanchard, Ken and Spencer Johnson. The One Minute Manager. New York, HarperCollins Publishers Inc: 2003.
Judge, Tim A., and Stephen P. Robbins. Organizational Behavior & SAL CDROM Pkg (12th Edition). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall, 2007.
Mackin, Deborah. “Growing Responsibility and Accountability in the Workplace: Part 2.” The Sideroad. 2007. Blue Boulder Internet Publishing. 18 Oct. 2007. http://www.sideroad.com/Management/growing-responsibility-and-accountability-in-the-workplace.html.
Skinner, B.F. The Technology of Teaching. Cambridge: B.F. Skinner Foundation, 2003.
VCU advertising Curriculum
Advertising agencies are no longer keeping different departments in the silos of yore. The new business plan has copywriters working next to account planners who are in contact with the creative director in teams. Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Virginia has one of the top advertising graduate programs in the country, the VCU Brand Center. The undergraduate program’s curriculum was recently redone and the changes do not reflect the movement toward integration that is being seen within the industry.
There are two different tracks in the advertising major: strategic and creative. Under the old program strategists were required to take copywriting and media graphics. Alternately, creatives had to take a portfolio class that integrated strategy. The new curriculum has put an end to that and now the different tracks are segregated to their different specializations. It is beneficial to see all the facets that make up advertising to become a well rounded professional. All strategists must be creative and all creatives need to have some sense of strategy in order for the advertising they create to be innovative and on message.
In order to better prepare the advertising students in the different tracks for working in the advertising world they should be integrated. A copywriting class could be paired up with a class of account planners. The creatives would be able to base their advertising off the briefs the strategists wrote. That way both tracks will have a better understanding of what the other half does.
If the advertising world is moving toward integrating the various departments to create more cohesive teams and ads why is VCU doing the opposite?
There are two different tracks in the advertising major: strategic and creative. Under the old program strategists were required to take copywriting and media graphics. Alternately, creatives had to take a portfolio class that integrated strategy. The new curriculum has put an end to that and now the different tracks are segregated to their different specializations. It is beneficial to see all the facets that make up advertising to become a well rounded professional. All strategists must be creative and all creatives need to have some sense of strategy in order for the advertising they create to be innovative and on message.
In order to better prepare the advertising students in the different tracks for working in the advertising world they should be integrated. A copywriting class could be paired up with a class of account planners. The creatives would be able to base their advertising off the briefs the strategists wrote. That way both tracks will have a better understanding of what the other half does.
If the advertising world is moving toward integrating the various departments to create more cohesive teams and ads why is VCU doing the opposite?
Monday, December 1, 2008
FedEx and UPS Competitive Analysis
Fed Ex and UPS are competing to ship people’s packages, especially businesses whose higher volume will create a higher profit. As brands, the companies have had to differentiate themselves through their advertising to try to reach the target market.
UPS’s current marketing strategy hinges on the whiteboard sketches of Andy Azula, a creative director from the Martin agency in Richmond, Va. Azula is a laid back man whose freelance sketch
es transform along with the story he is telling the viewer about the benefits of using UPS. To view all the UPS ads click here http://www.pressroom.ups.com/multimedia/av/advertising/0,1405,,00.html. The ads are a departure from other shipping companies’ ads, such as FedEx, whose ads focus on busy business people in need of shipping aid. The UPS ads are soothing in their delivery and they convey a sense of calm. The story telling aspect makes it seem more like information versus just a tagline or scripted ad. The drawings are always developing from one thing to the next so they entice the reader to watch to see how the drawing will end. The ads are looking to appeal to the business person who needs help not more hectic advertising clutter to sort through. The ads are such a departure from other ads that UPS has set themselves into a niche that they will help the customer without being a jarring presence in their day-to-day business routine. The campaign has changed the personality of the UPS brand. The brand was becoming stale and distant from younger business people; however “what can brown do for you” can now be visualized as a benefit to be attained. FedEx
’s “Relax, it’s FedEx" campaign has some humor and unexpected twists. Although still in an office setting the ads show the benefits the company will get from the money they save by using FedEx over UPS. In one spot the workers have purchased massage chairs with the money they saved by reducing their overhead costs. To see the FedEx ads click here http://fedexads.designcdt.com/. The FedEx ads are made to appeal to the business person who needs a break in their day. The FedEx ads are comical and set to show how things at work should be taken lighter. FedEx wants consumers to believe they can relieve some of the burdens at work by taking away some of the grunt work. The different ad campaigns set the two companies apart. UPS and FedEx are the market leaders in shipping in America. Recently, even DHL announced that it was shutting down its operations in America because the competition between FedEx, UPS, and the United States Postal Service is so fierce. However, the new campaigns may be causing a role reversal for UPS and FedEx. FedEx was a newer company that made a fresh impact on the shipping industry when it began and UPS was the stodgy old-faithful. Now, UPS has been able to reposition themselves as a company that is more in tune with the target market. Busy business people do not want a dog and pony show (or in the case of FedEx birds flying out of an overgrown beard). They want something that stands out from the barrage of information overload that they are subjected to and right now UPS has been more successful at that than FedEx.
Advertising and the Sexual Appeal
Sex is often used as a way to connect with the consumer through an emotional appeal. Men are more likely to remember a message that they find stimulating than women. Women need to have more of an emotional connection, than just pure lust for the object of the ad, whereas men enjoy the visual stimulation. The problem is that although both genders recall the scantily clad girl or the beefcake, they are rarely able to remember the product that the ad was for. This raises the question of why sexual appeals are still being used in advertising if they have a narrow appeal and a low recall rate.
Sex appeals will continue to be used as long as there are consumers, but where is the proverbial line to be drawn? According to Jessica Blair, et al, there are four guidelines that the industry should follow in determining the appropriateness of using sexual appeal. “Targeting consumers as carefully as possible to avoid unnecessary conflict and to minimize the viewing of sexual appeal by people who might be disconcerted by them” is the first guideline. This raises the point of using targeting to make sure that the audience will be receptive to that point. It is less common to see sex appeal in a television spot versus a print ad for this reason. Although television is rapidly expanding and the Big Three is something of the past, television is considered more prominent and more widely viewed, therefore it should be weighed more heavily when considering a sexual appeal. Magazines have the advantage of having a cover that hides the secrets that are within, and are able to get away with more risqué and daring ad campaigns. The other guidelines Blair presents is, raising advertisers awareness of who they may be affecting, testing the effects of their ads on the public, as a whole, not just the target audience, and to consider “the effects of their commercials in prompting individuals, whether in their target or not, to take actions that have negative consequences.” Advertisers must adhere to guidelines like these in order to stave off government interference according to Blair. By self-monitoring the advertising world will continue to get away with its use of sex.
Dove, which is part of Unilever, launched their campaign for real beauty in 2004. The company claims that sales have increased since the launch of the campaign, but the results are not as clear. Earlier this year Dove was faced with a scandal when an article in the New Yorker mentioned that photo retouching may have been used on the ads featuring the real women. Dove has also launched a line for women of advancing age and for women who do not have as many body image issues, but do still suffer from the occasional bad hair day. Dove was able to grab the media’s attention and to create a buzz around the campaign, because it was so avant garde. Barbara Lippert, from Adweek says, I applaud the agency for keeping a level playing field by subverting mainly beauty brand claims,” but, “…this brand, part of Unilever, makes products that offer some lighter, brighter, tighter, firmer claims of their own. Dove is muddying the waters for the consumer. How can a company that hosts numerous workshops to teach girls about self esteem turn around and tell their mothers that they should buy this cream which will make them look younger (which inherently means, better)? The nominal increase in sales that Dove has seen may not be attributable to the campaign. Studies show that although women do not like being objectified by advertisements, by showing them a flawless woman they want to purchase the product because now they have something to strive for. View DOVE Campaign for Real Beauty videos.
The way women view themselves and the culture that surrounds them affects how they fe
el about using sex in advertising. Amanda Zimmerman and John Dahlberg present data from 1991 and compare it with results from 2008 to compare how women then and now see women in advertising. The authors present “third wave feminists.” “This feminism embraces sexuality. It views sex as power.” However, in advertising, where women can be categorized into “housewife, decorative element, sex object and dependent on men,” according to a study by Ferguson, Kreshel and Tinkham, women are not being empowered, but trivialized.Although the facts surrounding the use of sex appeal in advertising tend to skew negative, it is a necessary evil that will continue. Advertisers must create an image and an ideal for the product that the consumer wants to strive for. Dove may have the campaign for real beauty, but they also sell wrinkle cream to diminish the signs of aging. This dichotomy shows that even a company that is trying to go against the trend will inevitably succumb to it to maintain profitability. Women may not like to see themselves as a “decorative element,” but when they look at an ad they do not want to see a tired looking soccer mom anymore than the guy who thinks he is going to get all the ladies by wearing a body spray. Advertising creates an illusion, or delusion, that people want to achieve.
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