...looking at alternative and non-mainstream car advertising. I looked through the 'What a man's gotta do' book and couldn't find any chapters or much reference to cars in relation to masculinity, so maybe I could look at car adverts which (similar to my previous hypothesis) stray away from the mainstream in order to prevent making an advert showing the stereotypical view of a car driving around on sweeping country bends. Boring!
I'm not sure if this hits the spot with how broad or narrow the hypothesis is, but 'alternative/non-mainstream strategies' seems more broad than 'deploying masculinity' (masculinity could even fit into this topic), but is still narrowed by looking specifically at car adverts.
Advertising seems to increasingly stray more from tried and tested mainstream strategies than the programmes they are placed between, especially in commercials for cars where the scope for innovation is minimal. What methods do car adverts use to ensure that their product is noticed, in an industry where there is a fear of stepping too far off the line due to the risk of losing wide target audiences?
From this I could investigate:
- The 'Mainstream view' of car advertising
- Representing Masculinity
- Innovation, creativity and quirkiness
- Manufacturors creating an 'image' in their advertising (eg Honda)
- How car adverts develop ideas over time (see previous post containing videos from Vauxhall, Fiat and Volkswagen)
PRIMARY RESEARCH FROM THIS...
The Memory Test
Show clips from 'popular' adverts that contain no indication of make or model of the car to a viewing audience. Written quiz to test whether the methods used in the advert are effective at getting viewers to remember the product.
Questionnaire (how advertising affects your purchases)
Ask people whether watching adverts really makes you want to buy the car, or whether it has a different purpose (ie creating an image). Does a potential customer on a forecourt really buy a car from the advert's influence? maybe not. Does the image created by the advert have an effect? possibly...
Advert screenings
Screen whole adverts (including make and model), and have open discussion about its effectiveness, creativity and audience targetting.
