My interest within advertisement is leaning towards how alcohol is advertised. Within my essay I bring up a few main things which cause adverts to be unethical. My practical will aim to be as ethically inclined as it can be. As it will be practically impossible to be completely ethical, I will aim to do my best and evaluate why I could not achieve a completely ethical design.
From my essay I have devised some rules and guidelines to which I will try to comply:
Do not diminish the audiences self-esteem.
Do not suggest or make false claims about your product.
Do not advertise through association.
Present logical reasoning.
High quality aesthetic can be forgiven if it does not break the previous rules.
Below are a few examples of alcohol advertisements which I believe are not as ethical as they could be.
This Skyy Infusions vodka advert advertises through association with sex. It is very common within alcohol advertisement for the use of sexual imagery as the two themes overlap. Many people go to bars and drink alcohol in hopes of having sex. Many companies use this to their advantage and suggest that the alcohol will help them in this matter. The use of the slogan 'Go Natural' is use of the technique 'weasel words'. The statement doesn't have any meaning towards the product. Vodka is a man-made substance that is bad for ones health. Suggesting that it is natural and therefore good for you is misleading.
Again the use females within a beer advert has connotations and suggestions of sex. By replacing the word 'fun' with a bottle of their product gives the audience an irrational belief that bud light is fun.
One of budweisers more ethically inclined campaigns is their designated driver campaign. It encourages the audience to designate a driver and drink responsibly. They have done this in a fun and creative way so as to not give the audience an 'unfun' belief of the Budweiser brand.
Chambord have developed a series of video advertisements that depicts their brand as a weird and quirky one. The advertisements do not make any statements about their actual product and use randomness to try to raise a general awareness of their brand. I would not say that this is particularly unethical but it is illogical.
Hendricks Gin have presented themselves in a similar quirky, weird way that suggests a much richer, old fashioned history.
Baileys have targeted a female audience in this ad campaign. The use of an attractive female advertises through association which is illogical and deceptive. The slogan suggests that emotionally strong females drink Baileys. This tells the audience that they should drink baileys if they want to be 'a girl with a mind, a woman with atittude and a lady with class'. They have glamourised their product to such a ridiculous extent.
Building a strong brand seems to be very important with in alcohol advertising. Jim Bean give them selves a strong brand that has attitude with statements like the ones below. These statements suggest a blunt but honest personality which will resonate with the product.
A very common ad technique I have noticed is the use of advertising through associations. Below Glenfiddich have used imagery of a beautiful landscape with two men hiking. To their target audience this is a luxurious image which they would like to be more involved with. The phrase 'One day you will' gives the audience hopes that they can be associated with such imagery. This type of advertising is illogical as glenfiddich has nothing to do with hiking.
Russian Standard have highlighted buzzwords which suggest luxurious and possibly sexual connotations to glamourise their product. By placing their product in the spotlight they suggest importance to their product. It is hard to decide whether this use of semiotics is unethical. It is slightly deceptive, but the content of all adverts would be very dull if not for the use of semiotics.
A theme of class and superiority is painted in this advert for Haig Club. Despite it being David Beckhams company, he is still helping them advertise through association of him. Certain audience may be buying into the glamorous lifestyle that is suggested they can have with the product.
According to Wikipedia a brand is a "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's goods or services as distinct from those of other sellers." Simple? Well not really.
Whilst 'branding' may have originated as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a long piece of hot metal with a special design at one end it has come to mean so much more. A 'brand' in the modern sense is built on expectation and experience. In its simplest form, it is the associations people make when they see, hear or think of your organisation or product.
What does a brand look like?
I keep mentioning the word 'brand' but what actually is a 'brand? A lot of people think that a brand is simply a logo or symbol. However, whilst a brand often includes a logo it is also defined by specific fonts, colour schemes, symbols, and even sound. All these elements are developed to collectively represent implicit core values, ideas, and even personality or tone of voice. It also includes how you present yourself to your customers - how you answer the telephone, the signage at the main entrance to your office or shop front, any promotional items or banners, the uniforms your staff wear, any promotional items, newsletters or banners that are used internally and externally. ALL these elements together form the basis of your overall brand.
In contrast, a 'logo' is the graphical element, symbol, or icon that, together with its logotype (text which is set in a unique typeface or arranged in a particular way) forms a trademark or identifying mark to represent your brand.
An example of a highly successful brand is Coca-Cola which belongs to the Coca-Cola Company. Brands were originally created by marketing and advertising people in large companies, such as Coca-Cola, to seduce customers - to sell products by creating and projecting colourful but simple ideas clearly, again and again. Their adverts first appeared in 1914 and helped promote Coca-Cola as a "delicious, refreshing, thirst-quenching" drink. Coca-Cola have subsequently been associated with the creation of Santa Claus' red and white outfit following a series of annual advertising campaigns during the 1920s and 1930s. The Coca-Cola Santa Claus created by artist Haddon Sunblom had its debut in 1931 in The Saturday Evening Post and is not dissimilar to the current image of a jovial, bon-viveur version of St. Nicholas. He was deliberately dressed in the Coca-Cola colours of red and white, an image which still resonates today and demonstrates the power of a recognisable brand and associated advertising.
The genius lay not so much in inventing the product, or even in manufacturing and distributing it, but in communicating a simple, single, freqently exaggerated statement about the product again and again. Coca-cola consistently promoted the 'quality' of their product as part of their brand values to convey confidence and 'trust' to the customers.
So, why are brands so important?
In a highly competitive and visual led market place the 'look', styling and tone of your brand identity is essential. It should reflect the personality, ethos and spirit of the organisation while visually appealing to a wide audience. The power of a brand derives from a curious mixture of how it performs and what it stands for. When a brand gets the mix right it makes us, the people who buy it, feel that it adds something to our idea of ourselves.
In a world that is bewildering in terms of competitive clamour, in which rational choice has become almost impossible, brands represent: clarity, reassurance, consistency, status, membership. In fact, everything that enables a human being to help to define themselves. Brands represent personal identity.
What makes a brand successful?
A brand's success relies on the repetitive delivery of a consistent message. It is typically designed to cause immediate recognition by the viewer, inspiring trust, admiration, loyalty and an implied superiority. Therefore, the most important aspects of creating and building a successful brand can be summarised as:
Consistency
Instant Recognition
Desirability (Aspirational)
Repetition.
Why do you need your brand to be consistent and repetitive? If you repeat something often enough people will believe the messages that you are communicating.
You can see that the Coca-Cola brand is powerful because they have successfully repeated the look and feel of the brand identity by using consistent fonts, colours and graphical elements such as the graphical swoosh throughout all their products ranges and advertising campaigns.
Creating and sustaining trust is what branding, above everything else, is all about. The best and most successful brands are completely coherent. Every aspect of what they do and what they are re-inforces everything else.
A successful, consistent brand identity will distinguish and give recognition to your organisation as well as creating a 'desirability' factor for existing and potential new customers, employees, supporters and stakeholders.
P43 - ‘The way this works is very subtle. Most of the time, before seeing something in detail, you have a sense of what it is. Before understanding, you feel. And making people feel good about a brand, getting a positive emotion, is key. This is what makes the difference.’ ‘p33 - Human attention has become our principal currency’
I have chosen to brand a rum as they have an existing reputation for rum. Cuba has a rich culture and interesting history. The style of Cuba could be used throughout the branding to reflect its nationality. Due to Cubas history, I should be able to tie my brand in with the cuban revolution in someway to create a sense of heritage around the brand.
The Cuban Flag "The meaning of the shapes and colors of the cuban flag says that the blue stripes refer to the three old divisions of the island, the two white to the strength of the independentist ideal, the red triangle stands for equality, fraternity and freedom as well as for the blood split in the strugle for independence and the lone star symbolizes the absolute freedom among the peoples"
THE CUBAN Revolution was “one of the most important events in the history of twentieth-century Latin America,” writes Sam Farber in Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959: A Critical Assessment. In the years since, Cuba has inspired generations of Latin American and international leftists. Cuba has defiantly withstood decades of a barbaric embargo from the United States, and it has survived twenty years after the collapse of its major benefactor, the Soviet Union.
But Cuba is looking less like itself these days. Survival has increasingly meant adopting neoliberal-style reforms to stave off crisis, and the Cuban state has increasingly opened the country up to private investment and ownership. As The Economist recently observed, “Under Raúl Castro, Cuba has begun the journey towards capitalism.” The Cuba of old is disappearing into history, as are the octogenarian Castro brothers themselves. A new Cuba will soon emerge under new leadership for the first time in over half a century.
Cuba Since the Revolution is a historical evaluation of the five decades since the Castro regime took power. Farber refuses to join the chorus of mainstream voices calling to replace Cuba’s economic and political system with one fully oriented on the market. He also resists apologizing for the Cuban political system. Instead Farber approaches this task with an unfailing commitment to socialism from below, of the self-emancipation of ordinary Cubans. He warns against simply drawing a balance sheet of Cuba’s postrevolutionary achievements and failings:
Justifying political support on the basis of the balance of “good” and “bad” things a regime does is fraught with peril…. After all, did not Mussolini, as George Bernard Shaw liked to point out, make the trains run on time?… [F]or Marx and Engels, the progressive actions taken by political leaders…were worthy of support only when they facilitated the growth of the working class and its ability to defend itself and increase its independent political and social power.
Farber makes an important distinction between broad popular mobilization and enthusiasm and popular democratic control. In its early years, the revolutionary government was wildly popular among working and poor Cubans. It had a number of radical achievements to its credit, namely reforms in land, health, education, and social security; it had also repelled attempts by the United States to meddle in its domestic affairs. But Castro’s strategy for power consolidation had for years been to commit to as few concrete plans as possible, while making sudden moves in unexpected directions. This may have thrown off his enemies. As Cuban policy zigzagged, it was impossible for the Cuban population to do anything but play a supporting role.
This tendency eventually developed into single-party rule. As the state gradually took ownership over larger parts of the economy, the most important political positions were reserved for a select group of Castro’s coterie. The government assumed total control of the political, economic, and social life of Cuba.
Without unions or popular organizations of any sort that could present meaningful challenges, state ownership of the economy was of limited benefit to ordinary Cubans. The majority of the population did not make important decisions; instead a small ruling clique made decisions on their behalf. This had enormous ramifications, not just in the individual lives of Cubans but on the island’s economy as well.
Lack of meaningful participation resulted in a heavily top-down “socialist” model, which Farber captures with the phrase “strong thumbs, no fingers.” Cuba excelled at accomplishing homogeneous, standardized tasks. National vaccination campaigns, or hurricane evacuations, for example, were executed exceedingly well. But more nimble tasks have routinely failed, such as adapting goods, services, and public transport to meet the shifting needs of Cuba’s population. One area where this is felt acutely is agriculture. With unpredictable climate and diverse local conditions, a one-size-fits-all approach is considerably less useful. As a result, Cuba has actually seen small private sector and co-operative farms that are more productive than its state sector.
Lack of popular democratic participation has also meant that in Cuba the revolution brought uneven progress to already oppressed populations. When it comes to racism against Black Cubans, for example, Farber notes that political expedience rather than political or moral convictions drove the Castro regime. After the revolution, Castro initially made statements that promised a serious challenge to racism—in education, in the workplace, and so on. But he was forced to take much of this back a few days later after a backlash from white sectors whose support he was eager to secure.
Since then, revolutionary rhetoric has often confused progress with official denial of racial discrimination. The Castro regime’s insistence has been that any evidence of racism on the island is a remnant of the old ways, which will eventually die out. “This type of explanation tends to emphasize the role of individual prejudice,” Farber explains, “and minimize the role of ongoing institutional racism on the island.”
With no way to effectively challenge—or even discuss—institutional racism in “color-blind” Cuba, the results have been predictable. Today, a disproportionate number of Black men are incarcerated. In fact, Cuba’s incarceration rate of 531 people per 100,000 is far above the world average of 145 per 100,000, and is just a few places behind the United States (756 per), which is at the top of the global list. Black Cubans are also at a much higher risk of being stopped by police for identity checks. A recurring theme in Cuban hip-hop, particularly from the poorer districts of East Havana, is complaints of police harassment and poverty.
Similar dynamics emerged regarding gender politics. The official line in Cuba attributed any traces of sexism or homophobia to relics of prerevolutionary machismo. But according to Farber, the Castro regime frequently used machismo as a political tool. The results are often horrifying, like during the 1970s, when gay men were routinely rounded up and sent to “reeducation” (read: concentration) camps. During the “special period” of the 1990s—after the Cuban economy collapsed following the Soviet Union’s dissolution—women saw their traditional double burden rise to a triple burden. They worked their normal jobs, took care of the children and the home, and “volunteered” for another job.
Ordinary Cubans have benefited from a number of policies put in place after the revolution, such as improved health care. But the measure of Cuba since the revolution should not be how frequently the interests of ordinary Cubans coincided with that of the Castro regime. Rather, it should be whether or not they have the opportunity to openly and meaningfully express concerns, redress grievances, and work together to make decisions over the path Cuba will follow. As Farber writes:
There is no school or university where workers and other exploited and oppressed people can go and learn to practice socialist democracy except the one wrought through their own efforts with the inevitable trials and errors. They are certainly not going to learn and develop “democratic traditions” from dictatorships that prevent them from carrying out that indispensible learning.
Cuba Since the Revolution arrives at an important time. As anticapitalist struggle threatens to explode across the globe, it’s critical to have a clear idea of what we are struggling to achieve and how we ought to get there. Whether the Cuban Revolution is one we should emulate tells us much about what sort of struggle we should prepare for. With this book, Farber has made an important contribution toward that end.
For those familiar with Cuba, Farber’s book will offer deep and contextualized historical information, as well as analysis of important recent events. It is also an in-depth case study, which enables revolutionary socialists to develop a method of assessing whether a political program or regime should be supported. As Farber puts it, “[Our] view of revolutionary democracy or socialism from below assumes that people have the capacity and potentially the will to govern themselves and need no saviors or caudillos to protect them from their own errors as they learn and find their way to govern.”
To implement heritage into the brand identity of Santiago rum I need to create a back story which can re-inforce the brand and give character to the product. As I have chosen for Santiago to be Cuban, I can intertwine the backstory with important cuban culture. Associating the brand with important historical events will give a sense of credibility. The cuban revolution is the most iconic historical event which surrounds Cuba as well as Cuba's current political state (Communist Country). The political state of Cuba can be a topic that the brand has strong views on. Research has pointed out that a brand that stands for something can add character to the brand identity. This is most apparent with Jack Daniels which promotes 'traditionally' throughout their adverts swell as constant associations with freedom in the USA and the declaration of independence.
It is generally a shared view that Communism has not helped the people of Cuba. Santiago rum can be partnered in association with the ADC (accion democratico cubano) which helps towards a more democratic society in Cuba.
Story A
The business was started when a room of rum barrels was round in a building that collapsed during the revolution which took place in Santiago de Cuba which took place July 26, 1953 – January 1, 1959. The barrels belonged to a revolutionist. Santiago rums master blenders used these lost barrels to mix and match to make a unique blended rum with traditional cuban spices as found in the tasting notes of the revolutionist. The rum is thus blended as it was intended by its original master blender. This makes Santiago rum a truly authentic, traditional cuban rum that was drank by the cuban rebels during the revolution.
Story B
The founder of the company took part in the cuban revolution and supplied rum to the rebels, earning the title 'the rebels rum'. The business was then seized by the government after revolution until 2008 when laws allowing private companies was changed. This allowed the founders sons to get back to the family business using the founders rum notes to recreate an authentic cuban rum.
Chambord, with agency Duke and Earl, has created a series of idents to be aired around the ABC Studios drama set in the millionaire’s playground of the Hamptons. The three idents, in Chambord’s ink Sketch look and feel, will be five-, 10- and 15-seconds long.
The sponsorship deal, brokered by UM London, aims to grow the Brown-Forman owned brand’s awareness and usage among 25-34 year-old women.
Charlotte Ashburner, senior brand manager for Chambord, said: "'Revenge' is perfectly aligned with our brand and I am delighted to have Chambord showcased with this fabulous female-focussed show.
"The series has been a huge hit in the US and I don't doubt that its glamour, excitement and fast pace will strike a chord with our Chambord consumers in the UK," she added.
#BecauseNoReason
Two advertisements, called “Flamingo” and “Trumpet”, first aired as part of the brand’s Because No Reason campaign last year and will return to UK television screens this summer.Said to target “sassy and glamorous” women, the campaign invites its core audience to do as they wish and ignore pressure to conform to social norms.In the Flamingo advert, a flamingo and a young woman both stand on one leg, while a voice asks the question “why does she stand on one leg?” The answer given is, “there is no reason”. The Trumpet advert sees a young woman confidently blow a trumpet followed by the tagline: “Allez! The Trumpets will not toot themselves.”“Since its launch last year, our Because No Reason campaign has really helped Chambord to connect with our target female audience, so we’re delighted to be launching across TV, digital and PR this summer,” said Hilary Brown, senior brand manager at Brown-Forman. “Because No Reason beautifully conveys Chambord’s playful, free-spirited personality and luxurious, feminine feel and we’re confident that this latest advertising push will help us to continue to build brand affinity with women around the country who are looking for new, interesting experiences from drinking occasions, both in the home and in bars this summer.”
Website - http://www.chambordchannel.com/en-gb/ Chambords website follows the #becausenoreason campaigns identity with quirky, surreal imagery that engages the audience with a lot of moving content, including an eye in the top left corner which follows the users mouse.
What contributes to creating an effective alcohol spirit brand?
Chapter 1: What are brands?
Chapter 2: What is a brand identity? How are they made and changed?
Chapter 3: what are the codes? How are they used in alcohol spirit branding?
Chapter 4: Bruichladdich Case study
Conclusion: Summarise Practical: Brand an alcohol spirit - Rum or whisky
19th November -Chapter 1 and 2 draft -Spirit chosen. Research 26th November -Chapter 3 daft. -Idea generation and experimentation for practical 3rd December -Chapter 4 daft -Bottle chosen -Visuals for practical 10th December -Conclusion draft -Rough full essay -Crit practical 17th December -Less rough full essay -Adjustments made from feedback
7th January -Finished full essay -Ready to print files
14th January Submission Research Wally Ollin's - On Brand Naomi Klein - No Logo Martin Lindstrom - Buyology John Berger - Ways of Seeing Vance Packard - The hidden persuaders
P9 'The anti-globalisation movement has taken up the notion of branding in a big way, focusing particularly on the brand as the most public, seductive and manipulative manifestation of the corporation.'
P14 'The brand was a symbol of consistency. At a time of product adulteration, unreliable performance and variable pricing, it stood for standard quality, quantity and price. The brands image projected and sustained the product. Nowadays all that has been stood on its head; brands have come up in the world. Today we mostly take products functional characteristics for granted and while brands are still all about image, it is no longer their own image – it is also our image”
‘Brands add something to our ideas of self’ P18 'If a brand can represent both cigarettes and clothing at the same time, it shouldn't, I suppose, come as a surprise that some brands can even, by process of osmosis, come to present the nation from which they derive'
P132 'Nationality fuels alcoholic drinks. Virtually all wines, beers and spirits proclaim their country of origin as an integral part of their branding: Czech lager, English ale and irish stout…”
‘ a similar formula applies to wines. French, Spanish, Italian wines are all categorized by region and grape. In addition there is the quality and nature of the terrain and the idiosyncrasies of growers to consider’ ‘nationality is some kind of seal of quality’
‘Scotch whiskey is said to derive its particular characteristics from the natural qualities of local water and soil and from the inherited genius of those who distill it. Single malts come from different areas and each has its own special flavour. Irish Whiskey is diferent from
‘People look to institutions for equity and fairness. Institutions of the civilized world are risk management devices. We trust the parliament for governance, the judiciary for justice, the police for protection of lives, defense for insulation against aggression, press for true and fair reporting and businesses for delivering products and services satisfying needs and wants.’
baileys Original cream, you may be shocked to learn, did not originate in Ireland; nor was its creator a Mr Bailey.'
'The deep browns, greens and golds seem redolent of an authentic Celtic past. To my mind what makes Baileys so special is its apparent Irishness. Like virtually all alcoholic drinks, Baileys is perceived to have strong, deep and traditional national roots'
