Time for the end of module three and the beginning of Spring Break

Module three went by so quickly I almost didn't realize it was the end of the module. Due to the presentations taking a little more time than planned I think we really had to rush through module three. However, it wasn't a very long module so I think briefly going through it was just fine. Module three touched on Framing, Identity, Positioning, and Branding. I think Framing the Message is an important concept to know, especially for our group projects. It is very important to understand your target population and to appeal to them. Once you have interviewed your audience you can create messages that they can relate to (i.e., what will their benefit from stop behavior ____.) I think categorizing your audience into low & high involvement groups is a little more complex because if you classify them into the wrong group the message you are portraying to them may not be well delivered.

On a different note, I think branding is brilliant if the organization can create a successful image of the product. If this occurs the product will most likely always be accepted by the audience or market. If the organization uses an image that creates negative thoughts to a person then most likely it will not be a successful product or in terms of our class, it will not be a successful health related message. For example, Toyota used to be a well known and liked brand. When people saw the Toyota symbol they would automatically think 'safe and reliable vehicle.' Now, the company has a bad reputation and now the brand is not as popular. When you see a vehicle with the Toyota symbol you think... 'gosh I should stay out of their way in case the car can't stop.' So, in the end it is important to brand well but more important to have a good product to be able to brand.

I also keep thinking about humor and fear ads and I think our population will relate best to humor however may not change their behavior with the humor approach. I think it will be interesting to see their reactions to both the humor approach and the fear approach. Although, with the college age population the fear approach may not get through… during the college age many have the outlook that they are invincible and nothing will happen to them. I guess we will find out what approach works best. For presentation two it will be helpful for us to apply what we have learned in each module to our end product. We are really focusing on finding the right subjects to have a successful campaign!

Happy Spring Break!