The Persuaders also highlighted the research of Delta Airlines'
Song campaign and how the research was used. The director, Douglass Rushkoff,
really elaborated on every detail of the brand name in order to show consumers
how a brand is created. It helped his film to show the different steps that have
to be taken in order for a company to launch a new program.
As consumers we only see the brands that are succeeding such
as Apple and Nike. The New York Times wrote an article about the Song failure, and it talks
about the next step for Delta Airlines after filing for bankruptcy. I believe that since
the company spent too much money trying to be a "luxury" airline, it
really cost them. They could not compensate with ticket sales because they were
also trying to be cost efficient with ticket prices.
Another thing that stuck out to me when it came to
persuasive techniques from the movie was the Acxiom Company. The fact that
Acxiom has information on every person and can tailor advertisements to a
certain demographic from that information is unreal.
The Persuaders explained in detail how Acxiom works and even
has interviews with people who have used the service to try and understand the
concept better. Acxiom has information on things such as:
· magazine subscriptions
· personal information (i.e.
address, phone number, and e-mail address)
· information from online
surveys
· anything "public" on
the internet
Other than Acxiom, there are also less invasive ways of
getting consumer information. I think that Douglass Rushkoff did a great job of
interviewing important people in the advertising world and having them explain
their motive when advertising.
Many companies use focus groups to gain insight for their
company. The Persuaders interviewed Frank Lutz(right) to show the focus group aspect
of research. This segment really benefitted the video because it showed consumers
how certain words really make a difference in advertising.
In my opinion, Douglass Rushkoff did an excellent job of showing consumers what happens behind the curtains of advertising. He
used his contacts to interview major advertising giants, explained important advertising
techniques, and also showed a wide variety of information on the topic.
