Advertising: Introduction to advertising: blog task

 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 by using Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications due to the idea of diversion. This allows audiences to have an escapism or entertainment as well as curiosity 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 was the idea of Bandwagon where they showed at the advert that everyone is buying it.

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’, that advertising offers us an improved version of ourselves that makes us want to buy the products for that improvement. 

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

Psychologists refer to as referencing when we refer, either knowingly or subconsciously, to lifestyles represented to us that we find attractive.

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

By using Marmite’s ad featuring Zippy from the children’s TV programme Rainbow. They also featured Paddington in their campaign that gives nostalgia as well as showing how other people liked marmalade and some don’t. This links to marmite’s slogan ‘love it or hate it’. This could be a persuasive technique as it shows how they try to link popular shows or films to gain more audience. 

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

Popular culture has the mainstream audience where 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. Marmite plays on this as they featured the British Royal Family where they changed a few bits. 

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

Marmite position audiences as ‘enlightened, superior, knowing insiders’ as it allows audiences to feel as though they are part of a group. It also allows them to have a cultural sophistication where postmodern understands the joke, allowing them to feel superior. They are simultaneously exploited but are in game. They become promotional of 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?

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