A Mere Formality

I got the title for our next series of readings from a quote on page 1. Kress and Leeuwen assert "grammar has been, and remains, 'formal'" (1). So naturally I ask, what does it mean to be formal? Does that mean there are a set of rules that should be followed or does this mean something entirely different? I imagine over the next few weeks this questions will be answered, and from that answer, more questions will certainly arise. They always do, right?

As children, we are encouraged to produce images and illustrate our written work, and "teachers comment on these illustrations as much as they do on the written part of the text..." (16). The benefit of this medium is there is not correct illustration, and images are seen as self-expression rather than communication.

I remember growing up in Elementary school where the pictures I drew where more important to what I was writing. Of course, we are still learning to write and producing images is presented to children as something they can do with any further instruction. But before we can learn how images can help us communicate a message, they are gone from our education. Around 2nd grade, images are no longer seen as important and written communication becomes the most important. Why is this?

The importance put on the visual comes and goes as we move through our education. More often than not, images are seen as a distraction from the written words, and if nothing else are seen as simply a supplement to our writing. Now, in the 17th year of my education, I am finally taking a class in visual rhetoric and learning how visual images have a language all of their own. What I am calling for is a shift in how we teach the importance of the visual in our lives. Maybe then we will understand what we are looking at when we view advertisements, paintings, photographs, etc. Maybe this type of education would help to produce a more literate, conscious public.

Through the Looking Glass *Finale*

Sources estimate that there are 1.5 billion unique users of the Internet. While that is a lot of users, there are almost 5.5 billion that do not have access to the Internet at all. Not quite the global village we believe it is. Nor can we claim that the Internet is fundamentally democratic. I agree with the idea of the Internet becoming more of corporate marketplace than a global public forum. There are brands/products/services everywhere you look. I do not know what else to say about this. I will add more later if I think of anything worth saying.

Mr. Viper

Through the Looking Glass pt. 3

The time has finally come. The chapter we have all been waiting for; or at least I have been waiting for. I would first like to discuss what I have seen as three different eras in advertising.

1. The Product Era: Back in the fifties, all you needed was the "better mousetrap" and money to promote it. Advertising focused on product features and customer benefits. This was when the idea of a "unique selling proposition" came to be. By the late 1950's technology began to take off. Competition became fierce and when you came out with the "better mousetrap," two more just like it quickly followed. Advertising was no so honest. Many times you could hear a product manager saying "Wouldn't you know it. Last year we had nothing to say, so we put 'new and improved' on the package. This year the research people came up with a real improvement, and we don't know what to say."

2. The Image Era: Successful companies found that a reputation or image was more important than selling a product than product benefits. David Ogilvy was the architect of the image era. He saw every advertisement as a long-term investment for a brand. But as the me-too products killed the product era, me-too companies killed the image era. Every company tried to establish a reputation for itself; the noise level became so high that many companies didn't succeed.

3. The Positioning Era: Now companies are trying to establish a position in the consumers mind not only about the strengths and weaknesses about the company but also its competitors. The idea is to become the first brand a consumer thinks about when purchasing a product. Remember, IBM did not invent the computer, Sperry-Rand did, but IBM was the first to establish a computer position in the mind's of consumers.

I like the idea that companies are not always selling a product or service, but are selling a lifestyle. This began during the image era and continues today. Apple represents a certain lifestyle. So does Coca Cola. Coke is about family; its nostalgic. Pepsi sells a different type of lifestyle; for Pepsi it is about youthfulness.