Spiraling Clutter

Ad clutter term to refer lo computing messages facing Americans virtually everywhere they turn, virtually ovary moment of the day

During the past decade, the advertising industry has seen the same movement toward consolidation and rise of conglomerates that we have seen throughout the rest of the media system. Some of the biggest agencies in the industry were acquired mainly by the four biggest ad organizations—Omnicom Group, WPP Group, Publicis, and Interpublic Group. According to one respected industry source, these giants together accounted for about 58 percent of all the money spent on purchasing media time and space in the U.S. during 2007.

Ad industry critics such as Matthew McAllister have pointed to the rise of ad agency conglomerates in an era of blurring media boundaries as signaling a deepening of the problems of commercialism and democracy. Their reasoning has two steps. First, they emphasize the power that advertisers have always had over U.S. media. Next, they note the increasing movement of all material, including advertising, across media boundaries. Third, they suggest that the agency conglomerates are working with mass media firms to turn as much space as possible into ad-friendly territory, deepening commercialism and threatening democratic dialogue even more than in the past.

The first point is one that we have seen already, in this chapter and throughout this book. Advertisers are extremely important to the survival of many U.S. media. Media executives must take the needs of potential advertisers into account when they make decisions about whom to reach and with what sorts of materials. Are women aged 25-54 years a viable audience for a fashion magazine, or would advertisers be happier with younger demographics? If the latter, what kinds of columns and covers would best attract younger readers? If you multiply these sorts of questions and their answers thousands of times, you will understand that when people read a magazine, watch a TV show, get on many websites, or use any other ad-sponsored medium they are entering a world that was created as a result of close cooperation between adver­tisers and media firms.

That cooperation, the critics note in their next step, increasingly involves the movement of all material, including advertising, across media boundaries. We’ve seen this, too, throughout our discussions of media industries (You'll recall I hat Chapter 5 explains how and why this cross-media requirement developed.) The idea is to follow target audiences to as many places that they go as possible. Ad-sponsored vehicles such as ESPN and Sports Illustrated, for example, are no longer tied to their original media (cable and magazines, respectively). The competitors for sport audiences now follow their audiences into one another's turf and even further, appearing in print, in video, on broadcasting TV, on cable, on mobile devices, on airplanes—wherever the potential fan goes.

With all this advertising surrounding people, ad practitioners find It more and more difficult to get people's attention. Executives commonly use the term ad clutter to refer to the competing messages lacing Americans virtually everywhere they turn, virtually every moment of the day. Their typical solution lo cut through the clutter to more ads in more and more unusual places, from super market doors to bathroom stalls. This, of course, merely creates more clutter and encourages ad practitioners to buy more ads, and more creatively placed ads. The ensuing clutter keeps the process spiraling, meaning, say critics, that we are all being inundated with ads. The result, say the critics, to acceleration of media clutter and, by extension, of the commercialism that deepens America's hidden ad curriculum and encourages content that is designed to keep people as audiences rather than citizens.

But the advertising industry to not alone Hi carrying out this process, some attics continue. The public relations Industry to at least as much at fault In addition, whereas advertising to at least visible. PR Is often invisible. What to public relations, how does it work, and why should we care? To get answers, turn to Chapter 16.

Questions for Discussion and Critical Thinking

1. Why would a company hire more than one ad agency to promote the tame product?

2. Explain positioning and Its relation to segmentation.

3. What does It mean to say that advertisers create portraits of America?

4. How have technological Innovations changed the ways advertisers reach consumers?

Internet Resources

The Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History

Advertising Age A major trade magazine of the advertising Industry with a site that Includes news, blogs and Industry data.

Mediapost.com (http://www.mediapost.com/)

This website offers to email to you, without charge, several dally bulletins about various aspects of advertising and media as well as classified job ads.

Adbusters (adbusters.org)

Based In Vancouver, Canada, Adbusters Is a not-for-profit magazine "concerned about the erosion of our physical and cultural environments by commercial forces." The website as well as the magazine offer sharp critiques of advertising.

Constructing Media Literacy

1. Do you agree with the notion that advertising provides a “hidden curriculum"? Why or why not?

2. How would you have responded to Jamie Kellner of Turner Broadcasting when he said that audiences have a responsibility to view ads?

3. To what extent is it possible for parents to shield their children from commercial­ism? Do you agree that shielding them is a good idea?

4. To what extend can you see market segmentation in the media that you use?

Case Study

EXPLORING ADS ALL AROUND

The issue We often don’t pay attention to the many commercial messages that we see because of the clutter of advertising all around us. Knowing about this lack of attention, advertisers often send more ads our way with the aim of catching our attention, thereby increasing the clutter. The result is an every­day environment filled with ads. To see just how filled, it might be interesting to track the number of ads you see in just one part of your day.

The metod Count the number of ads you see from the time you get up until the time you get to work or to class. Take care to follow your normal routines and paths. Start with the sounds you hear or see from the radio and TV; the ads on the cereal box; the commercial messages on the clothes you wear; the ones on the signs you see on your way. Keep a record of what you saw and when—and in what amount of time. Write a report of your findings, and share it with your classmates to find out how similar or different you are from one another.