As I studied for my mass media class today, I read about how magazines are being demassified. They are aimed at smaller and smaller slices of audiences so that advertisers can better aim products at audiences.
The really interesting thing is that advertisers use demassified magazines to try to aim products to create a niche that people want to be associated with. People love to put themselves and others in categories. Advertisers play on that. If you wear this or listen to this, you fit in this category.
I recognize this in myself. I've recognized this before, but I didn't know that ad agencies used it so effectively against me. I love horses and the horse world. I like country music, Wrangler clothes, horse books, magazines, movies, and gifts. These all make me feel part of some special group that others associate me with by these things.
Or when I am in my journalist mode, I like to read newspapers, political science books, history books, and human interest stories. I like media and controversy.
What an interesting concept that we like to be part of a bigger group. It's almost like the herd instinct, but at a more sophisticated level.
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