Making The Connection

Everyday we, the consumers, are bombarded with advertisements.  Every direction we look, there is sure to be an advertisement in sight.  In this blog, I will describe marketing from the perspective of the consumer and the tactics used by marketers.  The main goal of marketers is to make the consumer aware of a product.  The more aware we become of a product, the greater the possibility of future consumer purchases.  We have been subconsciously trained to recognize a plethora of symbols, logos, and slogans that we automatically relate to a brand. 

I am a student at Utah State University, studying in the John M. Huntsman School of Business.  I drive approximately three miles to campus everyday to attend classes and to work my on-campus job.  During the three-mile commute, I find myself studying my surroundings.  I pass shiny new car dealerships, restaurants with massive signs, and countless logo decals on other vehicles.  I hesitate to believe that this would not be overwhelming to a person from an advertisement-free world.  The thousands of advertisements we see daily have become habitual. 

As consumers, we not only recognize clever logos or symbols, we often create emotional connections with different brands.  It may be that we remember our first car when we see the logo on our television, or maybe we think of childhood memories when we see the famous golden arches on nearly every corner.  Marketers strive to create emotional connections between us and their brands, and the positive connections we, the consumers, make often turn into revenue for the marketers and the brands for whom they work. 

Take a look at the following pictures and notice what kind of connection you make with them.  

Look back next week while we continue to discuss different types of marketing and how they affect the everyday consumer.