Verified Document

Advertisnig Advertising Branding Ourselves To Essay

Inside can be found museum-like dioramas, a theater, a cafe, a doll hair salon, and lounging areas designed to facilitate interaction among shoppers and the examination and use of products" (Diamond 2009, p.119). Diamond et al. (2009) argues that entertainment brands, such as American Girl, the Disney store have a unique power as brands, not simply to encourage consumers to buy the product, but also to foster consumer creativity, and suggest that as a result identity exists in dialogue with the corporation, and is not merely manipulated by the seller. Consumers are crafting their own unique image as they choose, consciously, to 'brand' themselves. In these "themed flagship brand stores" offering "spectacular environments… far from being overwhelmed or coerced by the sign-rich context, consumers use the retail environment as a stage on which to perform, enthusiastically enacting the brand and cocreating the spectacle. Therefore, emplacement is reconceptualized as a shared endeavor, with the marketer ceding considerable freedom to consumers" (Diamond 2009, 120).

At American Girl stores, families are crafting a multigenerational experience of sharing idealized images of girls long past. The product alone is not the point, rather in buying the product an 'experience' is conveyed that is enjoyed and expanded upon at the store. The girl engages in creative play with the doll that is enhanced through the books, not closed off. Of course, it could be argued that American Girl offers a highly directive play experience: instead of truly old-fashioned girls who made clothing for their dolls, girl consumers buy dolls from the manufacturer. The books direct the narrative of the dolls, rather than leave the doll's lives open-ended. And parents are clearly buying "a moral salve for a culture whose conception of girlhood was often painfully at odds with girls' -- and mothers' -- day-to-day experience" (Diamond et al. 2009, p.122). American Girl is the 'anti-Barbie' and 'anti-Bratz...

While this affection for the brand might seem to be simply an extension of what Steven Manning calls "Students for sale," or an unhealthy blending of education with corporate branding, Diamond notes how, as a result of going to the store, some families report doing research into their family roots and American history in a way that transcends the specific narrative of the doll. The store experience prompts a different level of investment on the part of the family and child, beyond merely buying a can of Coca-Cola simply because it is on a school's premises.
Branding, while not to necessarily be embraced, may not be as insidious some media critics may believe in all contexts. In an entertainment-driven store, the consumer is not a purely passive object, even if he or she is subject to marketing. Brands shape our environment and our identity, but consumers also 'talk back' to brands and use brands as individualized human entities.

References

Diamond, Nina, Mary Ann McGrath, Albert Muniz, Stefania Borghini, & Robert

Kozinets. (2009, May). American Girl and the brand Gestalt: Closing the loop on sociocultural branding research. Journal of Marketing. 73: 118-134. Retrieved December

17, 2009 at http://www.nd.edu/~jsherry/pdf/2009/American%20Girl.pdf

Manning, Steven. (2009). Students for sale. From Navigating America: Information

competency and research for the Twenty-First Century. Edited by David Moton & Gloria Dumler. McGraw/Hill.

Twitchell, James B. But first a word from our sponsors. From Navigating America:

information competency and research for the Twenty-First Century. Edited by David

Moton & Gloria Dumler. McGraw/Hill.

Sources used in this document:
References

Diamond, Nina, Mary Ann McGrath, Albert Muniz, Stefania Borghini, & Robert

Kozinets. (2009, May). American Girl and the brand Gestalt: Closing the loop on sociocultural branding research. Journal of Marketing. 73: 118-134. Retrieved December

17, 2009 at http://www.nd.edu/~jsherry/pdf/2009/American%20Girl.pdf

Manning, Steven. (2009). Students for sale. From Navigating America: Information
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Tivo PR Why Is It Hard for
Words: 580 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

TIVO PR Why is it hard for TiVo to do PR? Doing PR for TiVo is extremely difficult as the case illustrates. At the most fundamental level the benefits of the system are not easily defined through common allegories, as there are no comparable products or services available (during the period of the TiVo launch and case study timeframes). Compounding these challenges is the lack of feature richness and lack of user

Tivo Case Study Despite a
Words: 1608 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

As DirectTV appears to be the majority of DVR distribution today and a viable future competitor, look to balance out the risk of being too reliant on them with retailing relationships driven by bundling of lifestyle and line-of-interest channel content. For example there could be the sports bundle that includes ESPN HD for free for a year. This would serve to lock out competitors and also grow the advertising

Tivo & Dvr Effects Cartel:
Words: 1826 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

In Media Economics: Theory and Practice, Alexander, a., Owers, J., Carveth, R., Hollifield, C.A., & Greco, a.N. (Eds.) (pp. 149-170). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104347833 Alexander, a., Owers, J., Carveth, R., Hollifield, C.A., & Greco, a.N. (Eds.). (2004). Media Economics: Theory and Practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5017691928 Digital Freedom Campaign Begins; Claims a Right to Download. (2006, October 26). The Washington Times, p. C09. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002563949 Fischer, R.L. (2003, November).

Tivo Case
Words: 1977 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Marketing TiVo Case Analysis Who should TiVo's target market(s) be? TiVo's target market should be the mass consumer market. The article notes that TiVo is faced with a choice between speeding consumer adoption or striving for increased levels of innovation to differentiate themselves from competitors. The best option for TiVo is to aim for the mass consumer market to speed consumer adoption. There are several reasons for this decision. The first reason is that

Tivo According to Keast, "There
Words: 1166 Length: 3 Document Type: Case Study

The evangelists will be more than willing to put up with any kind of marginal performance form its navigation, with the early adopters often finding the navigation of initial screens like a game to be solved and won. For the mainstream user however, these screens can be exceptionally challenging and difficult to overcome. And the mainstream customer is where TiVo could have taken off. For the couch potato, time is

Industry Tivo Competes in Including
Words: 702 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Many financial analysts including Oppenheimer (2006) expect to see acceleration in subscriber growth. The consensus of industry analysts including IDC and Forrester Research is that DVR subscriber growth will hit a 60% CAGR over the next three years. We expect it to slow to 45% and 16% annual growth in 2007 and 2010, respectively. By the end of 2010 IDC estimates there will be roughly 52 million DVRs in

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now