Arianna's final essay

I came into the JUA experience with the attitude that I wouldn’t be able to successfully find the answer to my essential question. I am very interested with the creative aspect of advertising, and how advertisers manage to sway thousands of people to buy their products. The ability to be able to make people want your product has always fascinated me, and that is how I arrived at my essential question which is “What are the specific aspects of advertising that make their products more appealing to me?”

On our trip to Boston we visited four places full of information that helped me to arrive at my answer. First we visited the non-profit radio station NPR. Before visiting the station, I had no idea how they managed to make money and support the station. I soon learned that they receive their money solely through donations and fundraisers, which they hold quite often. In fact 44% of the station revenue is raised by donations. They also utilize their lack of commercial air- time to ask for donations for the station. There are also 65,000 individual donors, who were most likely found through the emails that are sent out by NPR in order to attract new donors. The web designers also have to think about a lot of things while making a web site more attractive to the viewers. They have to take in to consideration the colors, and the icons used because if they don’t appeal to the viewers, they most likely will be turned off of the web site and not make a donation. The station also felt that it was best the ask the opinion’s of the public. That way, if they didn’t like what was on the web site, the creators could change it to fit the public’s liking.

The next place we visited was the ESPN radio station. In this tour of the station, they spent a long time explaining how important it was to have outside advertising. They went into great depth describing how they did most of their advertising. They couldn’t stress enough how important it was to give away little trinkets that displayed ESPN’s name all over them. First they target the fans at sports games outside the stadium. They set up tents, with beer and games where the people can win prizes or things that would attract people. They said it was very important to create commotion because when people see excitement, they naturally want to join in on the fun. The advertisers have to be very creative, and aware of how to make a “buzz” I left ESPN that day with a greater understanding and a much better insight to what makes good advertising when the visual aspect is missing.

I was disappointed after going to see Emerson College and NECN in regards to answering my essential question. When we went to visit Emerson, I found that the college itself was great, but it was missing the answer to my question, which did not help any. NECN was also great and probably the best place we went to go tour. They didn’t explain to us anything about the process of advertising, so I wasn’t able to use their resources in the answer to my question.

My essential question once again is “What are the specific aspects of advertising that make their products more appealing to me?” I found overall that appearance is very important. Color choice, and personal connection are possibly two of the most important aspects. If I am searching for a shampoo bottle the first thing I notice is the color. That is why Herbal Essence has been able to be so successful with their new line of shampoo and conditioner. They changed their color scheme to bright colors and a cool and intriguing container. Personal connection is also very important. If I can connect to something, it makes the product all the more appealing to me. I think that JUA was a great experience. It helped me to come to a greater understanding about the advertising world and how it influences me and everyone else.