Different Types of Communication

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This is an excellent video that basically summarizes the different gestures used by different cultures. It helps us to understand how important how intercultural communication is, and that we should make an effort to understand a particular culture before we can immerse in it.

People should always learn to understand that the world is so diverse; even in one's country, every individual is diverse. By learning how to understand and accept others, miscommunication and misunderstandings will surely decrease.

The style of communication in a high-context culture and low-context culture (developed by Edward T. Hall) is also different. Someone from a low-context culture is more direct in expressing oneself and might be intepreted by another individual in a high-context culture as being plain rude.

We have to come to a realization that if only everyone could learn a bit from one another and swallow our pride, the world would be a better place to live in.

Please take some time to analyze this interesting video, and leave comments providing your personal thoughts and evaluations.

Use of non-verbals, verbals and interpersonal relationships

For a change, I shall use a Thai commercial! And this is an excellent commercial as it applies the verbal, non-verbal and interpersonal relationship components of communication theories!

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This is a toothpaste commercial. It is a very typical Thai commercial, meaning that the viewer usually would not know what message the commercial is trying to convey till the end.

At the beginning of this commercal, the couple communicates with each other using hand movements, facial expressions and eye contact which are the utilization of kinesics and oculesics to communicate their intentions. However, we can see the limitations of non-verbal communication when the male starts to speak, expressing his unhappiness.

Verbal communication is more direct and one can express more effectively and quickly using verbal communication. It is good that non-verbals complement verbal communications so that the receiver is sure of what is being communicated across, such as when the guy is unhappy, he frowns while speaking at the same time.

Non-Verbals

If you have noticed, the two commercials here are very similar to the advertisements by BMW and Audi in my third posting.

BlackBerry and Apple Inc. are known to be rivals, competing very fiercely to gain a greater share of the mobile phone market mainly in the United States and United Kingdom. Below is a commercial produced by BlackBerry when their touchscreen smart-phone, the BlackBerry Storm, was launched. In the commercial, Apple Inc. was not named at all, but it was very obvious that BlackBerry was portraying their main competitor, Apple Inc., in the video. It shows a blackberry fruit being shot through an apple fruit, causing it to explode, and at the end, there were captions that read "nothing can touch it", implying that Apple Inc's touchscreen iPhone cannot compare with it.


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The video below is Apple's response to BlackBerry's commercial. It is short and simple, giving us the impression that Apple could not care less or be bothered by BlackBerry's commercial, simply brushing it away with a "reply" like that. In the commercial, there was no mention of BlackBerry or Apple. It just showed a blackberry fruit being shot towards an apple, and on impact, it smashed itself, with ending captions saying "simple facts".


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The two commercials are good examples of application of ethos as they did not have to mention the name of their competitor, banking on the two brands' fame and recognition.

Around the world in 80 seconds

For this posting, I will just describe the various ads. These are for YOU to enjoy and to comment on!

NEW YORK CITY, New York, USA:

STEAM coming out of a manhole on a cold day in New York City.

Folgers placed a sticker over the manhole to make it look like a

hot cup of coffee!

MUMBAI, India: Life size stickers of people were placed on a glass sliding door.

When the door opens, an individual is greeted by this ad: "People move away

when you have body odor."

TOKYO, Japan: The brand "Indivi" places stickers of their

clothing range for people to see how they look like in their apparel.

BERLIN, Germany: Stickers depicting people working in an

ATM and a vending machine. Done by a recruiting agency.

MALAYSIA: Stickers with burn-effects are placed on walls

of parking lots. Done by M-Tech Plasma HID Lights, claiming

that their lights are 300% brighter than regular headlamps.

ZURICH, Switzerland: All about perception! Mini places an ad

at the entrance/exit of a subway station!

courtesy of

Billboard Wars!

I saw this very intelligent advertisement strategy by 2 car giants and decided to share it.

It is about how BMW and Audi are fiercely competing with each other and coming up with very creative ways of advertising and communicating to the masses.

See the pictures for yourself first and try to think about what it means.

The first advertisement poster (the white one which says: Your move, BMW) was done by Audi and was up before the black poster was up. After some time, BMW responded with the black advertisement poster that read "Checkmate."

This is a press release statement by Juggernaut Advertising, responsible for creating the response ad:

"Juggernaut Advertising, an independent advertising agency headquartered in Santa Monica, California, has initiated a tactical outdoor marketing campaign on behalf of BMW Santa Monica. The campaign is in response to Audi's current billboards challenging BMW with the headline "Your Move, BMW."

Juggernaut Advertising's creative work features the BMW M3 with the headline "Checkmate" and is positioned prominently within the same line of sight to west-bound traffic as the Audi ad. Juggernaut approached BMW Santa Monica after identifying a unique and immediate geographical opportunity along the highly trafficked Santa Monica Boulevard corridor between Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

"When we heard the idea, we loved it and couldn't resist going forward." says Del Montell, Jr. of BMW Santa Monica.

Santa Monica is the luxury car battleground of California, and BMW has done an impressive job in the way it responded to Audi's ad.

The response advertisement by BMW

The advertisers have employed neuromarketing and carefully applied different stimuli to alter the viewer's perception of the advertisement.

Notice the first advertisement by Audi showed a black car on a white background, and the response ad by BMW showed a white car on a black background. This give rise to contrast and alters our cognitive process when in the process of selecting information to form our perception.

The headline "Your move, BMW" initially did not mean to be thought of as a game of chess. However, BMW perceived it in another way and used their perception to their advantage by replying with the headline "Checkmate". In the game of chess, a checkmate is a situation whereby the 'king' is threatened with certain capture and thus ending the game. Similarly, BMW is trying to show that it has "won the game of chess" over Audi.

Juggernaut Advertising also used several organizational principles such as similarity and proximity. The BMW advertisement was very similar to the Audi advertisement; the car was forward-facing to the left of the viewer and the car logo was placed at the top right hand corner of the billboard. Proximity wise, the advertisement was intentionally placed on the same street as the Audi ad, in fact, very near it, to show that it is not threatened by it and that it commands power and status as well. I felt that the advertiser chose a verticle billboard as opposed to Audi's horizontal one as a sign of being more dominant and of a higher status. All these affect how we organize information and thus resulting in how we perceive the advertisement; skewered in favor of BMW's.

The two advertisements in Santa Monica

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Superbowl Bridgestone Commercial

This creative commercial is a NFL Super Bowl Bridgestone Tire advertisement created by the Richards Group, an advertizing agency based in Dallas, Texas. I found it extremely hilarious but innovative as well!

At the beginning, you would never have guessed it was a tire commercial until the very end as it started off showing a scene in the woods. A squirrel was gnawing on an acrorn when a Saab 9-3 was seen speeding crazily towards it. The squirrel started screaming, and other animals in the woods started screaming in shock as well. Notice their expression. It was so funny that I could not stop laughing for a while. In the end, the driver of the car just simply swerved out of the way to avoid hitting the squirrel.

Notice also, the expression of the driver when he was looking at his passenger screaming. His eyebrows were knit in annoyance as if he knew that he could certainly avoid hitting the squirrel. The driver was not screaming too as he knew that he could maneuver the car smoothly to avoid hitting the squirrel.

In reality, this would be almost impossible as the car would spin out of control if the driver abruptly swerved at such high speeds.

This commercial was a job well done as it managed to catch the attention of the audience right from the very start. The choice of music and the acorn dropping made the audience curious and this would cause them to wonder what would happen next. The screaming scenes of different animals also made them stay with the commercial right to the very end as they would want to know what happened to the squirrel in the end. It played on humor and this commercial would undoubtedly make many laugh out loud.

The Maybach Landaulet

Envy and desire are kindled after watching this commercial of the 2009 Maybach Landaulet.

The landaulet exudes power, cutting-edge aesthetics, state-of-the-art technology and ultimate luxury.

This commercial is excellent in terms of convincing the target audience that the Maybach is a must-have to match their respective status and lifestyle and something to be coveted after.

A 1931 Maybach Zeppelin source




A 1931 Zeppelin and the 2010 Zeppelin source




The Maybach Exelero source

Interior of a Maybach 62 source




Interior of a Maybach Landaulet source

Maybach has a long and rich history, having been founded in 1909 and initially manufactured engines for airplanes and military tanks. It only remodeled itself into a luxury car maker in 1997 and today, it has a base of reputable clients, ranging from wealthy businessmen to royalty. Singapore has at least 2 Maybachs and one of which is owned by City Development Limited (CDL) Chairman and Singaporean billionaire Kwek Leng Beng.

• Appeal to the senses; creating a need and desire for it:
  
  How then, is Maybach going to market its cars if it comes with such a hefty price tag of at least half a million US Dollars and despite the lack of obvious competition? It is important for the marketing and advertising personnel to focus on the target audience and identify who they are and work on how best to communicate to them. Next, to effectively tug at the heartstrings (and pockets) of the target audience, mastering the art of persuasion is instrumental. Knowing how to convince them logically, using emotive triggers that stimulate the senses, relying on the establishment of the brand and boasting its range of respected clientele; Madonna, the Saudi royal family, the Prince of Belgium, and more.
  
  
  Notice that in the commercial, the clients of Maybach were portrayed to be extremely affluent and powerful. The couple were confident people who employed a uniformed chauffeur and lived in a magnificent chateau.

In today's world when oil prices are at a record high, most car commercials would boast fuel efficiency. Technological improvements and safety are also used as selling points but not for the Maybach. In fact, the Maybach is very fuel inefficient; having a curb weight of nearly 3000kg but being able to accelerate from 0 to 100kmh in under 5 seconds with a 5.7L or 6.2L engine. Also, the Maybach does not feature its stats and quality.

This value of asthetic discretion makes it very appealing to the well-heeled and gives it an advantage over its main rival, Rolls Royce. It is clear who the target audience is; the overclass who do not need to consider the cost before purchasing it.

To evoke the senses and stir up emotion, or what we would dub pathos in rhetorical persuasion, the commercial uses music, lighting, visuals and atmosphere to stimulate feeling. The choice of music is extremely important, and elegant classical music was used in the advertisement. There was a pause in the middle which generated suspense to lead to a build-up of emotions. Following that, the key of music changed and it continued with increased loudness which heightened the sense of grandeur, evoking awe when the car was presented in its full glory.

The front of the commercial presented only a glimpse of what the car would look like and dim lighting was used, to make the viewer curious about how the whole car would look like. When the car was fully shown, it was under bright sunlight. The color white was chosen for the car body and upholstery to make it appear to be more spacious, and to also represent purity, divinity and perfection.

A white rose was also featured 3 times and at different stages. The very first time it was shown, it was just a bud. The second time it was shown, it was starting to bloom. The third time it was shown, it bloomed fully. The stages of the rose corresponded to the respective part of the commercial. What do you think the advertisers were trying to convey when the used the rose at different stages?

Maybach banks on its promise and commitment to superior craftsmanship and also has a large base of well-known buyers including the aforementioned celebrities and royalties. This is extremely important for brand recognition and Maybach can play on its established ethos to attract more well-known clients.

It is clear that this commercial exhibits a linear mode of communication to its audience. It only highlights the features of the car and shows off the aesthetic values without providing any avenue for feedback, not even an email address. Perhaps the intention of utilizing a linear form of communication and non-verbal cues such as visuals make the commercial more appealing. It invokes curiosity and questions in the minds of its viewers, causing interested viewers to actively go find out more about the car itself.

This commercial is a very intelligent one, as it understands communication theories very well and therefore make full use of it to appeal to the very hearts of viewers.

Please share your views on whether you agree or disagree and to what extent, with my views on how this commercial has utilized the different elements of communication to reach out to its target audience :)