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The Impact of Needs on Media Messages

The 15 Basic Appeals outlines by Jim Fowles are constantly recurring and form the foundation for all major advertisements. They are key to get a message across to consumers and influence them to buy a certain product. With the proper knowledge, these needs can be easily identified, but to most people, it just seems like the advertisement is exactly what they need, be it food or sunscreen. By using subtle messages, products are more easily sold, convincing people that something they buy will make them safer, have more friends, or more independent, even if this is in no way true. Through these, companies are able to establish a name for themselves, and better appeal to their audiences, a useful tactic that has significantly boosted sales.
One of the most popular appeals is the need for affiliation. It implies that buying a certain product will help you gain friendship or a sense of belonging, while not getting a certain product will cause everyone you love to abandon you. Seems a bit harsh, but consumers fall for it every day. For example, look at the Share a Coke campaign. Drinking a soda is no longer about personal enjoyment, but about forming bonds with other people. With a Coke can that has someone’s name on it, you can make new friends, strengthen old bonds, and bring a community together, right? Well when I put it like that, maybe not, but when this ad is repeated over and over again, people want something to belong to. Who wants to be the weirdo who isn’t sharing a drink with someone- and you know, loses all their friends because of it. This sort of extreme is definitely not put into the ad itself but is very heavily implied- showing how powerful advertisements are. If they clearly established that: drink means friend and no drink equal no friend (insert caveman grunting) then people would be less likely to fall for the product. But a seemingly casual relationship between the two? Two people just happening to share a Coke together or getting one for someone close to you- that is money making at its finest.
The differences between the needs are often very nUaNcEd and companies have to be careful to recognize the distinction, or they risk advertising a product in a way that does not appeal to the target audience. For example, if you are trying to sell something that is not very popular, like a Samsung, appealing to the need for affiliation is not usually successful, and something like the need to satisfy curiosity (think big numbers and science) is more advantageous. More traditionally popular companies like Apple, on the other hand, can use the need for affiliation successfully, selling not only a phone but a community.

Image result for coke share a coke campaign

Comments

  1. Ethan BianchiMay 5, 2019 at 8:15 PM

    Hi, it's really Ashley Jun because her blog comments don't work. "The formatting of your article was easily followed with giving an overview of how advertising is meant to appeal to certain needs of the consumer, but I also liked how you specified on the need for affiliation with the Share a Coke ads. Honing in on explaining this commonly known product provides perspective on how the intention of the advertisers gets overlooked. Besides the argument of the article, I really enjoyed your style of writing because it reflects your personality of balancing humor (insert caveman grunting) and seriousness when explaining how audiences are targeted."

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