Following Jeremy Bentham’s creation of a Panopticon: an institutional building that allows ‘an observer to observe all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being watched’ (Wikipedia, 2012, online), philosopher Michel Foucault built on the ‘conceptualization’ of it as he elaborated ‘upon the function of disciplinary mechanisms in the prison and illustrates the function of discipline as an apparatus of power’ (Wikipedia, 2011, online).
…”The architecture incorporates a tower central to a circular building that is divided into cells, each cell extending the entire thickness of the building to allow inner and outer windows. The occupants of the cells are thus backlit, isolated from one another by walls, and subject to scrutiny both collectively and individually by an observer in the tower who remains unseen. Towards this end, Bentham envisioned not only venetian blinds on the tower observation ports but also maze-like connections among tower rooms to avoid glints of light of noise that might betray the presence of an observer”... (Barton, 1993, p138).
The development of this allowed the ideal mechanism of gaining power and control, allowing society to realize that there are better ways of controlling people – mentally rather than physically. Just from the knowledge that a person may or may not be being watched has a peculiar effect by internalizing the individual, making them behave in the way that they believe they should when they are being watched all of the time, even when they aren’t. Over time this resulted in people accepting that they are always being watched, therefore making them begin to control themselves, turning into docile bodies in the terms that they won’t repel – keeping themselves disciplined.
The form of mental control which emerged from this era can be reflected within a lot of what we are used to today that we most likely take for granted. Within advertising, the strategies in which an advertising team would fulfill in order to produce a successful advertising campaign reflects similarities to how Panopticism works.
The role of an advertising team is to project an image that will convince the consumer, both existing and new, that they ‘need’ the product that is being advertised, even if in fact owning it would be unnecessary. In order to produce an effective advertising campaign, they must first get to know their customers and understand their needs.
…”Ordinarily the business man does not realize that he means psychology when he says that he ‘must know his customers’ wants’ – what will catch their attention, what will impress them and lead them to buy, etc”…
This role that is created for the team behind any advertising campaign is similar to the role of the guards within the central tower of the Panopticon, where they observe the consumer just like the guards observe the individuals within the cells - monitoring their every move and generating a general understanding within the way that they think. This then enables them to play on this and manipulate it in order to generate interest towards what is being advertised.
…”Thanks to its mechanisms of observation, it gains in efficiency and in the ability to penetrate into men’s behaviors; knowledge follow the advances of power, discovering new objects of knowledge over all the surfaces on which power is exercised”…
Upon observing the consumers, the advertising team obtains knowledge that they later build on and translate into a unique selling point within an advertising campaign that will prove to be effective. ‘There is no element in an advertisement more important than the appeal – the reason you give the reader for buying’ (Caples, 1997, p73). In order to do this, the team recognizes the general aspects within the consumers’ lives, and project an image of a life that is somewhat superior to theirs which then generates a desire to have this life. This leaves the life they’re already living feeling belittled and not as good as it could be, and suggests that they could in fact vastly improve it by the one small gesture which is being recommended to them – to buy this product.
The consumer reflects the role of the individuals that were kept within the cells of the Panopticon that are monitored. ‘He is seen, but he does not see; he is the object of information, never a subject in communication’ (Foucault, 2001, online). Although the lives of the consumers are closely monitored and analyzed in order to appeal to them, the information that is actually discovered is never then used as a unique selling point within an advertisement. This is because what is being projected is a ‘better’ version of the consumers’ life of what it could become once this product is owned – to show them what they could have. In order for the advertisement to be effective, the advertising team must identify where the consumers’ deepest desires lay and then play on this, essentially offering it to them on a plate through the consumption of this product.
An example of a brand that grasps this concept exceptionally well is the men’s deodorant Lynx, with them now being ‘one of the largest consumer-goods companies in the world’ (Marketing Communication Plan, 2009, online) after being launched in 1983. They are targeted towards boys and young men who are forever becoming more conscious about their ‘sex appeal’ and how they are perceived by the opposite sex.
…”Lynx is Britain’s best selling men’s deodorant. The Lever Fabergé- owned brand targets young men in their late teens and early twenties. A central plank of the brand’s marketing strategy is the annual launch of new variants”…
Before the re-launch of Lynx under a ‘new brand strategy which encapsulated in the endline ‘The Lynx Effect’’, they previously ‘had revolved around the concept of attraction’ (Marketing Communication Plan, 2009, online) which had worked well until during the nineties, when the brand began to loose its edge.
…”A new strategy was proposed that refocused its target market and identified a common truth: those young guys are preoccupied with the opposite sex, but often lack the confidence to do anything about it. The new campaign portrayed women finding Lynx users irresistible”…
Lynx understands that the importance of carefully planned communication marketing in achieving these ends can not be underestimated’ and their objectives ‘are to create sustainable brand awareness among the existing and potential customers’ (Marketing Communication Plan, 2009, online). As a result of Lynx’s close monitoring of it’s target market, it has allowed them, as did the Panopticon, to analyze and constantly review the behavior and needs of the subject, and ensure that their desires are being somewhat fulfilled without leaving them completely satisfied, ultimately causing them to want more and know what they will want next. Without this close monitoring and understanding, Lynx may not have fully grasped as well and effectively as they have that;
…”Men are increasingly concerned with their image and the image of their products is equally important…A growing number of men are said to be especially image-conscious and are particularly interested in the approval of their peers. Though deodorants are a staple item, men’s interest in grooming and physical appearance creates opportunities to target them with products that specifically address their issue, whether they are tangible, like alluring fragrances, or more ephemeral, like the projection of image through brand identification”…
An example of this is the ‘Getting Dresses’ Lynx Effect advert, where the opening of it begins with a very good-looking couple laying in bed together, before getting up and putting their clothes on. At first you see them put their underwear on, and then as they are putting other things on such as their trousers and t-shirts, you see them going on a journey which goes from a house, down lots of different busy streets, into a supermarket which then leads to two half filled shopping trolleys facing opposite directions. This promotes the image that just by wearing Lynx, no matter where he is or what he is doing he will be completely irresistible to females and they just wont be able to keep their hands off him.
By the girl in the video being really good looking, maybe even perfect in some men’s eyes thanks to the constant images of women which are presented within the media suggesting that only this type of beauty is what should be admired, suggests that not only will the male become irresistible, but also that he could be picky with which girl he would ‘choose’ to let be all over him and ultimately sleep with him. The male in the advert also represents what is classed ae the ‘perfect’ male, with his chiseled facial features and highly toned body – this suggests that even if in reality you don’t look like this, once the Lynx is applied, you will immediately gain confidence and appear like this in the eyes of any girl you wish to have.
Another good example is the advert for Lynx Twist ‘the fragrance that changes’. Consisting of a different angle to the previous example, this advert focuses in more on the fact that men don’t always know what it is that is going on in a woman’s mind, or what it is she actually wants, and suggests that by wearing this particular type of Lynx, it will do all of the hard work for them and they can just sit back.
The video begins with an average looking male with messy hair and a beard trying to impress a good looking blonde woman, but the expression on her face suggests that she is bored. Then, just as it looks like the male is about to give up, a machine appears which alters his appearance to now suit the woman’s new mood, giving him a hair cut and a shave – suggesting that this is what the smell of the deodorant will do – make the woman see the male differently to what she has been doing and not just loose interest. This happens again as the couple more on to a different location and the woman is bored once again, changing the males appearance to now suit the new mood of the woman giving him a more stylish haircut and trendy clothes.
What the advert is suggesting to its targeted consumer is that it’s ok for them not to understand what it is a woman is thinking as the changing fragrance of this particular deodorant will be able to alone keep her more than interested, meaning the male can just sit back effortlessly and still have her weak at the knees.
Although both of these Lynx adverts have different agendas, they both still link back to what they have learnt from understanding their target market by ensuring a promise to the male that by wearing this product, he will have no trouble with the opposite sex. It will make them oozing with a confidence that they wouldn’t be able to achieve otherwise, and will make them more appealing without having to do anything about it despite the fact that they are becoming more image-conscious.
As well as this, over the years since Lynx began, they have built up a trust between themselves and their customers which will ultimately keep them coming back. By producing this trust, it has been one of the key features within gaining precious knowledge in which they require when approaching any new advertising strategy that they will start working on next.
…”Another way to build trust is to create a powerful promise for the customer. For example, some companies make money by selling the next generation of their product to replace older, broken ones.”… (Mycoskie, 2011, p139).
In conclusion, the way in which Panopticism works as a form of discipline is reflected within the process of advertising theories as these use the same sort of principles where it is the way in which someone thinks and what they believe is what is being manipulated in order to make products more appealing to them. By closely observing their target market, this allows a generating and projecting an idea of a ‘more perfect’ life to the consumer than what they have, and making them believe that this is what they need in order to be happy. Without this, advertising wouldn’t work as effectively as it does to generate sales because there wouldn’t be a constant need within each individual to better what we already have.
Bibliography
2007. Advertising Media Planning and Strategy. [online] Available at <http://www.admedia.org/> [Accessed 20th January 2012].
2009. Marketing Communication Plan. [online] Available at: <http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/12/marketing-communication-plan-lynx-deordrant.html> [Accessed 20th January 2012].
Barton, B F and Barton, M S, 1993. Modes of Power in Technical and Professional Visuals. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 7.1.
Caples, J, 1997. The Advertising Methods Fifth Edition. United States: Prentice Hall.
Farbey, A D, 1998. How to produce successful advertising. London: Kogan Page Limited.
Foucault, M, 2001. Michael Foucault: Panopticism. [online] Available at: <http://www.cartome.org/foucault.html> [Accessed 15th January 2012].
Heller, S, 2000. Sex Appeal. New York: Allworth Press.
Mycoskie, B, 2011. Start Something That Matters. New York: Spiegel &Grau.
Scott, W D, 2009. The Theory of Advertising: A Simple Exposition of the principles of Psychology. Milton Keynes: Lighting Source UK Ltd.
Thelynxeffect, 2010. Lynx Getting Dressed ad. [video online] Available at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A4aFfW0bl> [Accessed 21st January 2012].
Thelynxeffect, 2010. New tv ad for Lynx Twist - the fragrance that changes [video online] Available at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDISjpOVuaE&feature=relmfu> [Accessed 21st January 2012].
Wikipedia, 2011. Panopticism. [online] Available at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticism> [Accessed 15th January 2012].
No comments:
Post a Comment