Brand Awareness, Recognition, and Recall

Topic Proposal #4: Final research project.


Logos - and I'm not talking Aristotle's appeals (logos, ethos, and pathos) I'm talking brand name logos. 

In this research paper I will argue how advertisements effect us even before we know what the word "advertisement" means. Studies show that brand name awareness and recognition occur very early in a child’s life. Children can recognize logos and brands and associate products with them at a very young age. 

Some of the questions I want to think about for my research:

·      How important is this young population as a target audience for big companies?

·      At what ages are children first developing this awareness (how young?)

·      What environmental factors affect a child’s ability to become aware of these brand names? (what kind of exposure?)

·      When children recognize a logo do they imagine a product or do they recall an experience?

·     What is the difference between awareness, recognition and recall? Do these abilities occur at different stages of cognitive development? 

The main argument in my paper is that logos do more than just compliment a company name, they develop connotations that even young kids can experience. I will argue that children associate brand logos with a positive experience they have with the product (the interaction with the product itself –where the emotional response of the experience is triggered and reflective of their overall experience).

Perhaps I could design a study or test of some kind that would help support my argument. 

Wake Up!

Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake up. Folgers

For my second rhetorical analysis, I am choosing to analyze an advertisement found in New York City. Although I have never been to NYC to see this ad, I admire its creativity. Folgers has created an ad that I actually enjoy looking at. TV commercial advertisements can be creative in terms of dialogue and acting; but this kind of ad is something that is going to catch someone's eye as they are walking down the street because of its creativity and design.

Folgers is playing with the irony of telling the "city that never sleeps" to "wake up" with a warm cup of coffee. I say warm because the coffee is placed on a man hole that produces steam and that gives the advertisement a creative, realistic effect.

I can honestly say that I have never been easily persuaded by advertisements, but I feel as though I would crave a cup of coffee if I were to see this ad on the street while walking. I don't necessarily purchase Folgers as my coffee of choice, however, the idea is that after seeing this ad, people associate Folgers with their (mostly positive) feelings about this ad. That is the goal of advertising in general.

In my analysis I will highlight the rhetorical situation, as I have hinted above. The diction for this ad was meant for New Yorkers ("city that never sleeps"). Therefore, the choice of words in this ad would not make sense in London Ontario for example. The purpose is to make pedestrians crave a coffee and to think of Folgers. And the context is a 3D ad located in a busy area where a fast paced lifestyle exists.

The tone of this ad is also very causal and the viewer feels as though the ad is addressed to him personally. These kinds of advertisements are becoming quite popular in large cities and I think ad agencies with these creative ideas are headed in a futuristic direction. If only the steam coming out of the man hole could smell like coffee...

What's Your Shower Routine?

For this assignment I was thinking of looking for a really clever political cartoon to share with you. However, instead of searching for a political cartoon, I stumbled upon this cartoon strip on my Facebook news feed. It was especially funny because a friend of mine had tagged her boyfriend in it.

I really like this comic because it is very relatable. We all shower if not every day, than hopefully every other day. A lot of people also probably have some sort of shower routine. Since this is not something that we tend to think about (or talk about), I thought it would be fun to pick apart the rhetorical structure of this comic.

I will talk about how showering is a good time to reflect on...well, anything really. I want to analyze the facial expressions in each frame and explain how this comic sends a specific message. At first glance, I think the message that this comic is portraying to its viewers is to "not sweat the small stuff". Showers are healthy not just for personal hygienic reasons but to relieve tension and stress that maybe you had during the day; or if you are a morning 'showerer', perhaps it is a good way to get a positive start to your day. Maybe you stand in the stream of hot water for 9 minutes because you are still half asleep, then you ponder how your busy work day is going to go for the next 21 minutes. Then once you have figured out your day, you remember that the staff meeting got cancelled; Haaaallelujah! You are so happy that you could sing. Then you concentrate on the task at hand: actually cleaning yourself. You better be quick because you can't be late for work. This is me narrating this fellow's thoughts just based on the facial expressions.


I also want to look at the design of the frames, how they are placed, colour choice, writing style (procedural), font used, humor techniques etc.

I may also look into the website (undeclaredcomics.com) to see where it comes from.

I am obviously still in the thought process, but any other suggestions?

Topic Proposal #1: Narrative Essay

For my personal narrative essay I have chosen to provide 3-5 images that I feel describe me. In this essay I hope to teach you a little more about who I am. In class on the first day when Professor G-B asked me to give an example of something I love, (to help her build an argument) I said music. The reason I bring this up is because I want to try and explain who I am through images related to music. In this essay, I hope to choose music-related images that will creatively express my personality, my passions, and my accomplishments. Each image will ideally explain different aspects of my identity, while at the same time contribute to my main point: my passion for music. I have a few image ideas in mind, but I wanted to save them for the final product. 

I hope this is enough to give a rough idea of how I want to do this assignment.

Please feel free to make suggestions!