A Response to "Pandora's Charm"

http://christandpopularculture.blogspot.com/2012/02/pandoras-charm.html

Oh the Pandora bracelet phenomenon... People spend hundreds of dollars on these bracelets, purchasing a new charm for every occasion in order to eventually fill the band with overpriced charms. Pandora has definitely made a name for themselves. These bracelets are no longer just charm bracelets, but Pandora bracelets. This company has successfully been able to distinguish itself from other charm bracelets within the jewelry market. I can guarantee that every women, and probably most men, know what these bracelets are and how much their market value is. This company is truly a jewelry market success story.

Pandora has not only dominated the charm bracelet market, but they have become a representation of status. It is a bracelet that has been able to divide the populous into those who own a bracelet and those who do not. Since the majority of individuals are aware of the value of these bracelets, those who own Pandora bracelets are seen as affluent individuals because they can afford to spend a large amount of money on a single piece of jewelry. If these two groups are analyzed more closely, those who own a Pandora bracelet are further divided by the number of charms they have on the band. The more charms they have, the even more affluent and wealthy they appear.


This relates back to Dustin Kidd's Harry Potter and the Functions of Popular Culture, where he states that one of the functions of popular culture is to create social boundaries. Pandora bracelets are a part of our current popular culture, and it definitely creates social stratification within society which I had suggested above. People buy these products in order to gain status. It is the persona that comes with the particular product that draws individuals towards it, not necessarily the product itself. Advertising has made consumers believe that buying a particular product will provide  them with a higher power. They make you believe that you are nothing or you will amount to nothing without the particular item. Maybe these bracelets will make me as beautiful as the women used within their ads? Or maybe I will have countless romantic encounters such as the commercial suggests?

Push advertising definitely makes you feel like you are buying a lot more then a product doesn't it?

Emotional Branding is Here to Stay

In the last lecture, we discussed the media in popular culture with a particular focus on advertising and how it has evolved over the years. It was a very engaging lecture that I felt was very relevant in today's society, where many of the concepts brought up in class made me instantly think of many commercials that have used the same techniques. One particular technique that sparked my attention was emotional branding. As our professor discussed in class, emotional branding is using images and ideas within an advertisement that appeal to the emotional senses of the consumer. These ads may not be directly related with the particular product, but they develop an emotional connection between the viewer and the brand. As she discussed this new wave of marketing, I could not help but be reminded of the new Scotiabank campaign.

Recently, I attended a marketing conference where Scotiabank had been the main sponsor. The conference began with a Scotiabank representative speaking about their new marketing campaign and how their new angle will base around values, exactly what Professor Harris was discussing when explaining emotional branding. Everyone knows Scotiabank for their slogan “you're richer than you think”. Well, Scotiabank's plan is to take this slogan and have it appeal to the values and emotions of consumers. Their new campaign is based around the idea of “Richness is: Defined by You” where they focus on individual values and what individuals define as richness. Scotiabank plans on using home video's and photographs, belonging to consumers, to demonstrate what they feel is valuable; such as family, nature, pets, babies (I could go on forever). Scotiabank's new marketing plan is a great example of emotional branding because it makes the company seem more in tune with it's consumer's lives, as though they are emotionally connected with their customers. They are using values, and heart-felt family videos to ignite compassion within individuals and to demonstrate that they are a valuable member of the community (scroll down to see a few examples). 

Personally, emotional branding seems like a very effective method of achieving consumer attention. Happy families and beautiful babies make people feel good and they develop a deeper connection with the individual and the organization. My heart definitely melted when watching some of Scotiabank's new commercials and seeing a few of their photo ads. I truly feel that emotional branding will eventually dominate the marketing field, and the “sex sells” idea will no longer exist.

Here are some of Scotiabank's new ads, so you guys can decide for yourselves whether emotional branding is here to stay: