Advertising: Introduction to advertising

Introduction to advertising: blog tasks

Create a new blog post called 'Advertising: Introduction to advertising blog tasks'. Read ‘Marketing Marmite in the Postmodern age’ in MM54  (p62). You'll find our Media Magazine archive here - remember you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. You may also want to re-watch the Marmite Gene Project advert above.

Answer the following questions on your blog:

1) How does the Marmite Gene Project advert use narrative? Apply some narrative theories here.

The Marmite Gene project advert uses narrative personal identification using Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications, allowing audiences to have a clear opinion that they staunchly stand by, represented to others as their slogan says “love it or hate it”.

2) What persuasive techniques are used by the Marmite advert?

The persuasive techniques that were used by the Marmite advert a bandwagon as they portrayed 'everyone' buying it in the advert.

3) Focusing specifically on the Media Magazine article, what does John Berger suggest about advertising in ‘Ways of Seeing’?

John Berger suggested that ‘all publicity works on anxiety’ and that advertising offers us an improved version of ourselves that makes us want to buy the products to achieve that 'essential' improvement. 

4) What is it psychologists refer to as referencing? Which persuasive techniques could you link this idea to?

Psychologists state referencing is when we defer, either knowingly or subconsciously, to lifestyles represented to us that we find attractive possibly linking to emotional appeal or endorsement.

5) How has Marmite marketing used intertextuality? Which of the persuasive techniques we’ve learned can this be linked to?

The Marmite’s ad utilised intertextuality by featuring Zippy from the children’s TV programme Rainbow and Paddington in their campaign, attempted to pander to both younger and older generation by garnering interest and nostalgia to gain an audience which may link to a 'cameo' or endorsemnet.

6) What is the difference between popular culture and high culture? How does Marmite play on this?

The difference is popular culture has the mainstream audience and so a lot of audiences are familiar with the product, while high culture are audiences who are sophisticated and could be part of the middle class with more 'niche' interests and knowledge and Marmite plays on this as they featured the British Royal Family in an ad, appealing to both popular and high culture at once. 

7) Why does Marmite position the audience as ‘enlightened, superior, knowing insiders’?

Marmite positions the audience as ‘enlightened, superior, knowing insiders’ as it allows audiences to feel as though they are part of an 'in-group', allowing them to have more cultural capital and a level of sophistication in which they understand the joke, allowing them to feel superior and therefore exploited, as they quickly promote the product by spreading it by word of mouth.

8) What examples does the writer provide of why Marmite advertising is a good example of postmodernism?

Its a good example o postmodernism as it takes pleasure in playfulness, employs intertexuality, satirises audience’s expectations, juxtaposes popular culture with high culture, diversifies the brand to alternative spaces and places, exploits cultural Zeitgeist - the mood of the times, positions the audience as enlightened ‘superior, knowing insiders and promotional agents’ , plays with hyper reality, makes the disposable collectable, is abstracted across other art forms, creates discussion.