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Effective Communication

Commercials these days have become one of the most powerful medium of communication. In the past we have seen that verbal communication (also word of mouth) was one of the major form of communication. But now the world's changing and so is the form of communication. 

Today, i will analyze which different communication skills are applied in three different ads. 

All the three ads are from the same company, Vodafone and it markets the same thing. You may or may not realize that all three ads are emphasizing on customer relationship. 

Looking at the first ad (below), 

Isn't that cute?! The little girl is sooo sweet and so is the dog!! 

Getting back to my point, the company is focussing on the customer and letting the audience that they are always there to help. Now, you may ask how is that? 

See, the organization, is portraying itself as a pet to the customer. In the ad, the dog is helping the little girl by bringing a sock to her when she is in a hurry to go to the school. The company is trying to say that, they will be always available and will be willing to help the customer when they needs it. 

What is worthwhile noticing is that this ad has no element of verbal communication. The message has been portrayed through actions. This ad does signify the thought that "actions speak louder than words." Don't you agree with this?

Let's see the second ad, which is also from Vodafone. It again has the same dog and a girl.

In this ad, it again conveys the strong relationship between a company and the customer through the portrayal of the dog and the girl. 

What i noticed from the ad was that the job of the dog is simply letting his tongue out and licking the stamps. Which in comparison to the first ad is very simple. This is where they are trying to mention that they will be available even though the simplest jobs. Most of the times, it happens that a company are ready to help when you are in distress. I can see a special bond made between the girl and a dog. At the similar fashion i could also relate to special bond that could be created between the customer and the company.  

Lastly, the third ad -

You may have realized that all three are a chain of ads for one particular company portraying one particular message. 

Here the company has touched upon one of the most sensitive corners of an Indian nationals. It is about our independence. This ad arouses patriotism through a visual communication - it portrays the flag of india, which all Indians hold very dear to their hearts. By doing this, they are again stimulating that special bond. 

All these three ads portrays dog - human relationship, same as customer and the company. I think it's a great way to communicate and reach the hearts of the audience through simplicity. 

It's all about LOVE

Okay what is this LOVE?

You might be thinking- what is she on about, who doesn't know what love means... but, to be honest it is one of the most difficult question for the mankind as there is no specific answer to it. To me describing love is very difficult, for the same reason that words cannot fully describe the flavor of an orange. You have to taste the fruit to know the flavor, so with love! 

When asked what love is to a 4 year old, Mary Ann, she replied innocently, "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone al day" ... aaawww... isn't that cute? 

Now, how do we express love? 

I like this simple definition from a wise person, "Love expressed is when you give your attention, your time, your focus to someone."

Love can be expressed in different ways, emotionally, physically, by interacting (that is by expressing your feelings) etc. However, the feelings need not be shown all the time, it can also be felt (non-verbally) or communicated verbally. One of the greatest way to declare your love is to communicate and there no better way to communicate but through  music!! :) 

Love has always ruled in music, there are thousands and thousands of song son love by various artists. For example, lets have a look at the recent song, "love story" by Taylor Swift (please click on the link to see the video).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4mxb9K8RI

This is a good example of a 'typical' portrayal of love where interpersonal communication plays an important part. Interpersonal communication generally involves two person in a "face to face interaction," which builds on a connection and hence establishing a relationship with another individual. The main is to satisfy our social needs and realize our personal goals.

In this song, it's the same old story where a girl falls in love with a boy(usually not so well off) and the girl's father gets in the way (more like a villain), although at the end he approves of the guy and they both live happily ever after! Don't you think it's just too cliche?

However, here the guy is also victimized by the prototypes  and the personal constructs. 

Looking at the other song, "I'm yours" by Jason Mraz has been set in a different context, although, it still emphasizes on love (to see the video please click on the link, "I'm yours" above). 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki61e3zFPks

In this song the lyricist signifies on 'Relational Formation and Development' - physical appearance, for example, "I tried to be chill but your so hot that i melted". This indicates that one of the reason he loves her is because of her physical appearance.  This is a very common and general perception, although it can change over time. 

Now, in broader perspective, "communication" in relationships can vary from person to person. Narrowing it down to myself, I would rather take a quantitative approach when defining my type of interpersonal communication. As, I feel I am more drawn to the uniqueness in a person as to more of their physical attributes... Don't you get attracted to a person by the way he/she talks or deliver themselves? Likewise, there are many other factors that also adjunct to this. 

I feel i tend to incline more towards people with similar interests as mine, as it is easier for me to communicate with them. Don't you feel the same too?

Lastly, not forgetting my point, communication plays an important role in any relationship. Lack of communication in a relationship can result in hasty decisions that can even lead to separation.... ouch that could hurt!

Gossip Girl

I have chosen a clip from, Gossip Girls (Season 2, Episode 1), as it encompasses a lot of communication areas. This TV drama series basically revolves around young adults growing up in New York's Upper East Side. They attend school at the same time deal with drugs, sex, betrayal, jealousy and other teenage issues. 

This clip is a very good example of interpretation and perception. For instance, the main character, Serena van der Woodsen is a beautiful, innocent rich girl who is stereotyped due to her background. Whereas, Blaire Woldorf who also plays an important role, is shown as a rich, selfish, conniving and a very manipulative girl. Even the viewers watching this series would assume that girls from Upper East Side would be beautiful and bitchy.

The scenario is narrated by an omniscient character, who likes to call herself, 'Gossip Girl'. She runs a blog of her fellow Upper East Siders. In this community blogging and gossiping is very common tool of communication (also among guys).  They portray character through her eyes, and perception plays an important part. 

The other thing i noticed is that, the show portrays every  character in a very 'biased manner', where everyone judges one another on their appearance, colour, clothes (brands) and their status in society. It is also influenced by social factors such as group culture, context, media etc. An example of this clearly reflects in the clip, when Jay makes the dress for the 'white dress' party and Elanor looks down at her. This implies that, if you are not wealthy enough then you don't belong to their social group.  This also falls under the similarity, one of the organizational principles, where physical attributes, prototypes, behavior, etc plays an important role in their culture. 

The reason for choosing this clip is that, after watching this drama series, it makes you think if you should really believe in everything you hear. Every individual have different norms and see things differently then there is no way we can judge a person through others eyes. 

Kids Absorb Your Drinking

This is an Australian commercial by DrinkWise Australia, which is an "evidence based organisation focussing on promoting change towarsds a more responsible culture in Australia." Their aim through this ad is to educate the community on responsible 'drinkning patters'. 

This ad is a very powerful and an effective way to communicate to the audience (all responsible parents and potential drinkers), by persuading an effective means of addressing irresponsible drinking. They use effective theory of Pathos, as they utilize an emotional way (that is their children) to persuade them not to drink. 

This shows that this campaign has been developed due to an increased prevelance in risks of driving behaviours by Australians. DrinkWise are alo emphasizing the importance for parents to know that they have the power to have positive influence on their children's future drinking behaviour. 

The fact that this message is conveyed by a reliable source, it makes it more effective to the audience. Although, the organisation should have shown a little more factual figures to back their information. 

The reason for choosing this commercial is that, it is communicated in a straight forward and to the point way. As, a result making a huge impact and more appealing to the audience whose watching.  Also, the audience can relate to it and analyze the consequences.