Always Like a Girl Campaign

The advertising process tends to be complex as it may either result in humiliation or rather bad publicity or have a positive influence in the consumer market. Therefore, the advertising industry tends to be effective when it comes to sending a message to the market and ensuring that the message produces a certain response from the market. Most multinational companies such as Coca-Cola, Dolce & Cabana, Samsung, Always and much more, ensure that whatever they advertise to the market is legit and suits the tastes and opinions of the consumers. The advertisement by the Always Company on like a girl campaign brought about many discussions with regards to gender equality. Such discussions indicate that whatever the campaign was presenting had a significant effect on people. By analyzing the objectives of the like a girl campaign by the Always Company and various advertising models, it becomes easier to understand the influence of the advertising industry regarding such campaigns.

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Many boys have told me that I cannot play rugby because I am a girl; this is a statement from one of the girls in one of the like a girl ad campaigns by the Always Company (Wallace, 2016). Another notable statement is, At puberty, girls confidence plummets. Moreover, half quit sports. Such phrases tend greatly to impact the target audience such that their attitude changes as per the objective of an advert. The ad Like a Girl focuses on the aspect of confidence for the woman with regards to sporting activities (Lanquist, 2016). The Always Company is on a mission to change the aspect of girls dropping out from sports just because they have reached puberty. Sports tend to be among the activities that boost confidence in both men and women. The campaigners objectify themselves on the aspects of a girl being told not to take part in a sport, a team consisting of girls playing in arenas that are half-filled in addition to the impacts that such perspectives have on girls interested in sports. According to the campaigners, studies show that seven out of ten girls perceive that sports are not one of their best areas and hence the reason as to why most of them stop engaging in the activities immediately they reach puberty (Schmalz & Kerstetter, 2006). The puberty state marks a stage where most girls lose their confidence and try as much to behave as per the expectations from the society. The ideology is that they stop pursuing what they love and hence losing a chance of benefiting from the sports. Another supporting statement is that analysis shows that women who are between the ages of 18 and 24, who take part in sporting activities, exhibit double confidence to those that dont take part in sports and that the society is not concerned with ensuring that girls remain active in sports. Therefore, the purpose of the campaign is to request people to assist in changing the perspective of girls dropping from sports and encourage them to pursue what they love. According to the campaigners, the Always Company, for many years, has been the focus of empowering girls from a global perspective with regards to embracing puberty and boosting their confidence. Therefore, it views it necessary for the girls to continue engaging in sports like girls instead of shying away.

When it comes communication with regards to advertising, for it to be successful or rather have effect on the target audience, a company must ensure that the audience is frequently exposed to the content (mostly through media); the audience reacts as expected; the effects used in the ad are in line with the brand and that the action itself is portrayed in the ad (the purchasing). In this case, The Always Company using the Superbowl event in advertising the like a girl campaign was a good tactic for it conformed to the aspect of the sport and involved the right audience, and hence the ad being in line with the audience, environment, and the brand. Possibly, the audience was left questioning on the significance of girls pursuing their sporting activities even after puberty in addition to the several limitations in the society that prevent the girl child from taking part in the sports. It is worth noting the essential elements play significant roles in advertising (Sharma, 2012). These elements include but are not limited to the buyer; whereby a company considers the purchasing objectives of the target market, the brand with regards to the objectives of the communication, the ad with regards to the objectives of the involved processes, and also the media that mostly focuses on exposing content to the target market. In the case regarding the Always company, the buyer or rather the target audience is the society in general with regards to their perspectives on girls pursuing sports. The brand is the company itself with regards to it being a multinational company. The ad is like a girl that shows the main objective of the ad to be the focus on girls; and the media in this sense is using big sporting events such as Superbowl and also the social media sites to showcase the campaign.

One advertising model that suits the Like a Girl campaign is the personal profile model. In this model, the attitude and the behavioral aspects of the audience are already demarcated to the brand. In this model, a company specifies its target market with regards to the behavior involved in the decision-making process while taking into consideration aspects such as capacity and frequency in addition to the desired outcome (Rossiter & Percy, 1985). Variables that are always considered in this model include the exposure patterns used by the media that assist the media to reach directly the target market, demographics that assist the copywriters in emulating the target market, and psychographics that give support to the copywriters with regards to enabling them to communicate effectively to the target market. In addition to making an estimation of the expected mental situation of the target market such that the ad is aligned with the trends of the consumers; a good example being the announcement of the campaign in the Superbowl event. It is worth noting that these variables are also significant when it comes to carrying out analysis regarding the target market. Putting the theory into context, the Always Company is globally known for its production of feminine products. This gives it an advantage in boosting the sporting aspect for girls as it is well accustomed into the lives of women. It is an established brand that has had a greater impact in the society for more than thirty years and hence having a positive influence or rather the ability to change the attitudes and behavior of individuals through the campaign. Its establishment gives it an advantage of influencing the target audience. Still, on the example of the Superbowl event, the campaign incorporates the variable regarding the exposure patterns used by the media that assist the media to reach the target market directly by using a sporting event to emphasize the aspect of sport for the girl child. Also, the demographics employed in the ad regarding the campaign whereby girl athletes are seen projecting various sporting activities (rugby, basketball, and judo) influence the attitude of the audience with regards to sports among young girls. Furthermore, its displays can be easily interpreted by people with special needs especially the deaf since the actions and the displayed message clearly indicate the intent of the campaign.

Another model that associates with the like a girl campaign is the objective communication model. In such a model, a company analyzes its audience as per its needs, awareness of the brand, attitude with regards to the brand and also the intention of the audience with regards to what a company is offering. In the current society, campaign for equality with regards to gender has become a sensitive issue such that most people favor equal treatment for both male and female sexes. By tapping into this perspective such that its main goal is on empowering the girl child to continue pursuing her sporting dream, the like a girl campaign, through its ads, obtains a greater support from its audience.

As stated earlier, by analyzing the objectives of the like a girl campaign by the Always Company and various advertising models, it becomes easier to understand the influence of the advertising industry regarding such campaigns. The personal profile and the objective communication models depict good models that the advertising industry communicates effectively to the audience. The Like a Girl campaign can be perceived to be successful through the techniques used.

References

Lanquist, L., 2016. Always New Like A Girl Commercial Is Another Win For Female Empowerment. [Online] Available at: http://www.self.com/trending/2016/06/always-like-a-girl-commercial-win-for-female-empowerment/[Accessed 26 August 2016].

Rossiter, J. R. & Percy, L., 1985. Advertising Communication Models. Advances in Consumer Research, Volume 12, pp. 510-524.

Schmalz, D. & Kerstetter, D., 2006. Girlie girls and manly men: Children's stigma consciousness of gender in sports and physical activities.. Journal of Leisure Research, 38(4), pp. 536-557.

Sharma, P., 2012. Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of Creativity in Advertising. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 2(3), pp. 5-10.

Wallace, K., 2016. How to keep girls in the game after puberty. [Online] Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/28/health/girls-sports-puberty-likeagirl/[Accessed 26 August 2016].