10.30

I thought this week's discussion about branding was interesting and perplexing all at the same time. When I think about how we all knew the words to some of the commercial jingals, and how I was able to recognize and associate the logos Dr. Elder showed us within a couple seconds of seeing it, I think these branding designs are genius. On the other hand, I feel kind of like a sheep in the crowd. The more we learn in this class, the more I am amazed at the way different campaigns target different audiences, and realize that I too am targeted in a specific population. When I wanted to be a doctor I used to think "if I know it and study it, it won't happen to me," and I somewhat feel that way now like "if I know what to recognize and how it works, I won't be as affected by the message." Yet every time I see the golden arches, I think about the steaming, golden, delicous chicken McNuggets in the TV commercials and how tasty they are.

I like what Dr. Elder said about keeping it simple, and when I think of the brands and messages that always stick out to me, they are simple but memorable. Our group met today and started designing our campaign products with our messages: "You are what you eat" for the High involvement group, and "Think about it..." for the low involvement group. I think we have some great ideas planned out for the posters we are going to use and I am confident that our message in combination with the pictures we have will show our audiences that healthy and delicious food substitutions are easy and smart.

One last note, I saw the commercial Whitmore's friend was in for Dominos and I think I liked the way Stephanie told it in class better than it was depicted on TV, although it had me thinking about Dominos the next time I saw spinach which made me laugh.