Session # 9:

The Advertising Spiral, and

Semiotic Frameworks
ATHER QADEER
Primary Stages
of the Life-Cycle Model
Purpose of the
Pioneering Stage
 To educate consumers about new product
 To show people they have a need and that

advertised product can fulfill it

 To show that a product now exists that is

capable of meeting a need that had been

recognized but previously unfulfilled
Egg Beaters:
Need for an Egg Alternative
The Pioneering Stage

Abbot
introduced the
category of
insect
repellants in
Pakistan
Purell Built a Need
for Hand Sanitizer
Competitive Stage
 The competitive stage is the advertising stage
a product reaches when its general
usefulness is recognized but its superiority
over similar brands has to be established in
order to gain preference.
Mospel Enters the Competitive Stage
Retentive Stage
 The retentive stage is the third advertising
stage of a product, reached when its general
usefulness is widely known, its individual
qualities are thoroughly appreciated, and it is
satisfied to retain its patronage merely on the
strength of its past reputation.
 All that the brand needs now is constant

reminder advertising
The PLC and Advertising Spiral
The Advertising Spiral
Expanded
Advertising Spiral
Psyllium Husk finds new uses

The “newer &

newest pioneering”
stages focus on
getting more
people
to use the product
by continuously
finding innovative
ways to advertise
Newer/Newest Pioneering

Safeguard
Community &
School Health
Programs
Newer/Newest Pioneering
Advertisers Should Use the Spiral
to Answer These Questions
 In which stage is the product?
 Should we use pioneering advertising to attract new
users?
 Should we work harder at competitive advertising
to obtain a larger market share?
 What portion of our advertising should be
pioneering? Competitive?
 Are we coasting in the retentive stage?
 The Semiotic Framework
 Semiotic analysis sees the world as symbolic
 Every advertisement has 3 basic components:

 An Object (Brand)
 A Sign (Symbol)
 An Interpretation (Meaning)
The Semiotic Framework: Pioneering
 Marlboro (Object)
 The Marlboro Man

(Sign)
 Tough, Rugged,

American Male
(Interpretation)
The Semiotic Framework:
Newer Pioneering
 While the object
remains the same, the
symbol is extended to
include a Harley rider
along with the
traditional Marlboro
cowboy to make the
interpretation more
relevant in an age when
Hollywood Western
flicks are no longer in
fashion
Semiotic Framework & Culture
 Semiotic analysis is cultural
 Interpretation (meaning) attached to a symbol

is always culturally defined

 A symbol that works in one culture may just

end up confusing audience in another

 Consider this example:
What does this Apple Ad say to a
Pakistani (Asian) Audience?
 Confused?
 Rightly so
 Because the

interpretation of
carrots is purely
American in
semantics
Elaborate vs Succinct Cultures
 Elaborate cultures require and expect a high
amount of verbal information – symbols used
in ads may often have to be backed up by
explanations (e.g. South-Eastern cultures)
 Advertising in succinct cultures can be

impressionistic with minimum amount of

words; the audience is expected to be smart
enough to draw the correct interpretation
(North-Western cultures)
Implicit ads made for a succinct culture
And now compare this:
Hidden Symbols & their Meanings
 Is semiotic framework always explicit?
 Studies suggest that is far from the case.
 Semiotic frameworks can and do contain

subliminal (hidden) symbols, meant to target

the sub-conscious mind to influence behavior
 To understand, let us take a few pages out of

history:
The 25th Frame
 A movie reel contains
24 frames per
second, which is the
optimum amount of
optical data that can
be registered in brain
 A 25th frame would

render the addition

redundant as it would
fail to have an impact
in the conscious mind
The 25th frame Experiment
 In 1940’s, as part of a secretive
research, a group of subjects
were shown a movie reel which
(unknown to the audience)
contained a 25th frame.
 The 25th frame consisted of

random images that, apparently,

went unnoticed by the subjects
 A few weeks late, the same

control group was shown the

images present in the 25th frame
and…,
 Viola! Every participant in the

group claimed to have seen the

images earlier!!!
Birth of the Tachistoscope
 In 1957, market
researcher James Vicary
claimed that quickly
flashing messages on a
movie screen, in Fort Lee,
New Jersey, had influenced
people to purchase more
food and drinks. Vicary
coined the term subliminal
advertising and formed
the Subliminal Projection
Company based on a six-
week test.
 Vicary claimed that during the
presentation of the movie
Picnic he used a
tachistoscope (developed with
the help of his associate,
Renshaw) to project the
words "Drink Coca-Cola" and
"Hungry? Eat popcorn" for
1/3000 of a second at five-
second intervals. Vicary
asserted that during the test,
sales of popcorn and Coke in
that New Jersey theater
increased 57.8% and 18.1%
respectively
The Incremental Effects Theory
 Vicary titled his research as the
“Incremental Effects Theory”, which
argued that repetitively presenting
an image on the subconscious
place will ultimately influence
behavior
 Vicary’s research and his ideas
gave rise to a huge controversy.
 Under pressure from various public
groups, US Congress tabled a bill
to ban Subliminal Advertising; the
Congress failed to pass the bill
with a majority vote
 Therefore, subliminal advertising
still remains (technically) legal, yet
too controversial to be openly
proclaimed by advertisers
Are they still doing it?
 More sophisticated and
advanced versions of the
tachistoscope were
subsequently produced.
 Openly, no movie theater in the

world proclaims using it

 It is, however, alleged by

conspiracy theorists that

tachistoscope and other such
devices continue to be used, not
only in movie theaters, but
across electronic media
(television), not (just) by
advertisers but by governments
trying to influence public
opinion
Next Phase in Subliminal Advertising
 The Psychodynamic Perspective
 This theory argues that even without the use

of high-tech devices like tachistoscopes, the

sub-conscious can be influenced by using
hidden symbols in a basic semiotic
framework
 This is the current understanding given to

subliminal advertising
 Let us take begin with a few basic examples:
Psychoanalytic theories
 Freudian and Neo-Freudian theories:
 Sigmund Freud, the founder of

psychoanalytical theory, also pioneered the

analysis of personality complexities through
rigorous observation. Freud’s theory assumed
that the child enters the world with instinctive
needs, which he/she can not gratify apart
from others.
See anything fishy in this Skittles Ad?
Or this ….?
Or how about these?
Coincidence?
Surprised? Wait…,
 This was just the tip of the
ice-berg
 Most subliminal advertising
makes use of Freudian
ideas by inserting phallic
(male) symbols
(represented by long,
cylindrical shapes), or
ovarian and/or mammary
(female) symbols
(represented by round, oval
and circular shapes)
Use of Phallic Symbols
Use of Phallic Symbols
Phallic & Ovarian Symbols together
Bodyguard Soap Ad (Possibly the most
stupid ad ever made in the history of Pakistani advertising)
 Three men holding sticks gather
around a woman as if about to molest
her. Woman screams BODYGUARD for
help (because when you’re about to
be molested, good soap can be the
difference between life and death!).
 So in comes BODYGUARD. He starts

screaming:
 “O, the enemies of hygiene: leave the

sister alone”
 To which the bad guys reply: “Dirt and

sweat are enough to defeat you.”

 Bodyguard proceeds to beat them up

and while doing so he gives them

each a shower…., because really,
that’s what rapists
and molesters actually need in life - a
good shower with bodyguard !!!
Implicit Semitiocs in Pakistani Ads
 The launch-ad campaign
of Magnum in Pakistan
became controversial as its
implicit message started
becoming clear to people
 This ad had to be taken off

air in a hurry
 It was, perhaps, introduced

at awrong time as till then

there was still only Ptv – a
strictly monitored state-
run channel
Implicit Semitiocs in Pakistani Ads
 Another hurriedly
called-off campaign
 Engro Foods deviated

from their tried and

tested policy of
culturally acceptable
advertising using family
and Islamic symbolism
 Result: Disaster – not

only for the ad

campaign, but for the
brand itself
Does it Work?
“Devil is in the Details”
 Journalist, Vance Packard published his seminal book, The Hidden
Persuaders, about the inner workings of advertising. The book discussed
various techniques employed by advertisers to influence and even
manipulate consumers into buying certain products.
 Noted media analyst and researcher, Wilson Bryan Key, notes that

advertisers spend a considerable amount of money on communications

that contain subliminal messages. Why would they spend such vast sums if
subliminal persuasion is ineffective?
 The fact that these subliminal messages cannot be readily identified or

seen and that the advertisers deny their use further demonstrates the
craftiness of the advertiser and at the same time highlights the persuasive
power of subliminal messages.
 The debate about the effectiveness of subliminal advertising continues to

this day but no conclusions have been reached.

 We don’t know how effective it is; what we do know is – it is practiced!