Reading Response #9

1. There are a couple of key factors that go into the amount of money Coca-Cola spends to sponsor American Idol. It is widely believed that when people are watching a show they care about, they are more likely to watch the commercials. American Idol brings this to the table and then some. Forbes ranks them as “the most profitable of all reality series,” causing FOX to devote huge amounts of their prime-time schedule to it (Jenkins 60). Not only is Coca-Cola guaranteed an audience that cares in American Idol, but they are also guaranteed one that perfectly fits their demographics. Coca-Cola’s target audience is aged 12-24 years old, which also represents an overwhelming portion of American Idol’s audience. So in American Idol, Coca-Cola has a show that gives them a good chance of getting the attention they want from exactly who they want.

2. In advertising, impression is the standard audience measurement scale in the entertainment industry. It represents the number of people watching a certain show or media piece at a specific time. Expression, on the other hand, is a measurement of the amount of audience participation and interaction with certain media. This is the newer of the two methodologies and was brought about in an effort to better understand how audiences react to different content and why. While which one is actually ideal for the advertisers themselves could possibly vary, in this day and age expression is becoming a must. With new technologies constantly limiting the ways in which advertisers can rely on mere impression to get to the consumer, a greater knowledge of what specifically will draw their attention is needed. For example, with the invention of DVR and TiVo television recording devices, people can now fast forward through commercials thus not seeing them at all; they make no impression. In cases like this, advertisers need to “learn what kinds of advertising content customers will actually be willing to seek out and receive,” as the control of what the consumer sees is now in their own hands more than ever (Jenkins 67).

3. In my opinion, online advertising is effective, but there is much more work that can be done to improve it. It is effective in its specificity. There have been ads bordering my Facebook homepage that are simply for an item I recently looked up and in certain instances, they remind me of something I had forgotten about and upon seeing the ad, I revisit the item. They are also, however, ineffective in that same specificity. The instance I just described is extremely specific, and may not always be the case. As a result, many people find the ads more annoying (and in some cases, creepy) than helpful. Some even seek out software that rids your web browser of advertisements. Much like the case of DVR overshadowing traditional television commercials, the internet age is expanding rapidly and will cause advertisers to have to constantly expand and update their tactics as well. I believe that the more expression in online advertising, the better. Specificity aside positives and negatives aside, it is all about catching the consumer’s interest and at the moment, getting them involved may be the most effective way of doing that.

As far as privacy goes, I am not concerned. To this point, the only invasion of privacy has been in my interests, which I readily advertise on social media sites like Facebook anyway. I see no harm in advertisers knowing what I am into. If it were to get to the point of sensitive personal information being used, the line would be crossed and advertisers would likely be opening up a storm of legal issues. However, as far as my experience goes, I do not feel as though my privacy has actually been invaded.