Photo 1. Research instrument. Ecrep table: Creative measurement.
doi.org/10.15178/va.2020.150.103-129
RESEARCH
THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF ADVERTISING: THE ROLE OF PUBLIC PROPERTY CAMPAIGNS
LA RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL DE LA PUBLICIDAD: EL ROL DE LAS CAMPAÑAS DE BIEN PÚBLICO
A RESPONSABILIDADE SOCIAL DA PUBLICIDADE: O PAPEL DAS CAMPANHAS DE BEM PÚBLICO
Carolina Tomba. Degree in Social Communication and Specialist in Higher Education, developing the Master’s Thesis in Higher Education1
Cecilia Muñoz1
Andrés Allisiardi1
1Universidad Juan Agustín Maza. Argentina
ABSTRACT
Advertising forms and creates attitudes and transmits values, its massiveness transforms it into a reference for the community. Our work comes from a research about the effectiveness of public welfare campaigns, advertising typology characterized by the broadcasting of messages to achieve a better quality of life. Our project incorporates the debate about advertising campaigns’ role in its social conceptions. Our main objective is to determinate which resources, styles and approaches are relevant to communicate social issues in a responsible and effective way. This study has a non-experimental methodological design, and we used quali-quantitative collection of data techniques. We analyzed all the campaigns and at the same time we did a social analysis to comprehend the context. We submitted the sample to an analysis of content to study the messages construction trough the Ecrep table to evaluate the creativity levels, none of the campaigns exceed the low creativity levels; three Focus Groups were developed to analyze the impact and comprehension of the message and to get information about the communicational clarity, there were coincidences that most of the pieces went unnoticed. Regarding the media preferences, the audiovisuals are the most chosen. We validate the hypothesis by showing that Argentinian public welfare campaigns don’t have the essential creative resources needed to assure its efficiency. Welfare advertising should be developed with high efficiency parameters in order not to lose its essence and to contribute to the improvement of the social community.
KEYWORDS: advertising, welfare, responsability, efficiency, creativity, persuasion, social agenda
RESUMEN
La publicidad forma actitudes y transmite valores, su masividad la transforma en referente para la sociedad. Nuestro trabajo resulta de una investigación acerca de la efectividad de las campañas de bien público, tipología publicitaria caracterizada por la difusión de mensajes para lograr una mejor calidad de vida. Nuestro proyecto incorpora al debate el rol de las campañas publicitarias en su concepción social. Nuestro objetivo principal es determinar cuáles recursos, estilos y enfoques son pertinentes para comunicar responsable y efectivamente las problemáticas sociales. Adoptamos un diseño metodológico no experimental, y abordamos el estudio a través de técnicas de recolección de datos cuali-cuantitativas. Analizamos todas las campañas y paralelamente realizamos un análisis social para comprender el contexto. Sometimos la muestra a un análisis de contenido para el estudio de la construcción de los mensajes, a través de la tabla Ecrep para evaluar los niveles de creatividad, donde ninguna de las campañas superó el nivel bajo de creatividad; y desarrollamos tres Focus Group para analizar el impacto y comprensión del mensaje y para obtener información de la claridad comunicacional, pero hubo coincidencias en que la mayoría de las piezas pasa desapercibida. En cuanto a la preferencia de los medios, los audiovisuales son los más elegidos. Validamos nuestra hipótesis evidenciando que las campañas de bien público argentinas no cuentan con los recursos creativos necesarios para garantizar su eficacia. La publicidad de bien público debería desarrollarse con parámetros máximos de eficacia, para no perder su esencia y lograr contribuir a la mejora del colectivo social.
PALABRAS CLAVE: publicidad, bien público, responsabilidad, eficacia, creatividad, persuasión, agenda social
RESUME
A publicidade forma atitudes e transmite valores, sua intensidade há transforma em referente para a sociedade. Nosso trabalho resulta de uma investigação sobre a efetividade das campanhas de bem público , tipologia publicitaria caracterizada pela difusão de mensagens para conseguir uma melhor qualidade de vida. Nosso projeto incorpora o debate do papel das campanhas publicitarias em sua concepção social. Nosso objetivo principal e determinar quais recursos, estilos e enfoques são pertinentes para comunicar responsável e efetivamente as problemáticas sociais. Adoptamos um desenho metodológico não experimental, e abordamos o estudo através de técnicas de recolecção de dados quali-quantitativas. Analisamos todas as campanhas e paralelamente realizamos uma analises social para compreender o contexto. Submetemos a amostra a uma analises de conteúdo para o estudo da construção das mensagens, através da tabela Ecrep para valorar os níveis de criatividade, onde nenhuma das campanhas superou o baixo nível de criatividade; e desenvolvemos três Focus Group para analisar o impacto e compreensão da mensagem e para obter informação da claridade comunicacional, mais ouve coincidências em que a maioria das peças passa desapercebida. Enquanto a preferência dos meios, os audiovisuais são os mais elegidos. Validamos nossa hipótese evidenciando que as campanhas do bem público argentinas não contam com os recursos criativos necessários para garantir sua eficácia. A publicidade do bem público deveria desenvolver-se com parâmetros máximos de eficácia, para não perder sua essência e conseguir contribuir com a melhora do coletivo social.
Correspondence:
Carolina Tomba. Universidad Juan Agustín Maza. Argentina.
ctomba@umaza.edu.ar
Cecilia Muñoz. Universidad Juan Agustín Maza. Argentina.
cmunoz@umaza.edu.ar
Andrés Allisiardi. Universidad Juan Agustín Maza. Argentina.
allisiardi@umaza.edu.ar
Received: 21/05/2019
Accepted: 02/07/2019
Published: 15/03/2020
How to cite the article:
Tomba, C.; Muñoz, C. & Allisiardi, A. (2020). The social responsibility of advertising: the role of public property campaigns. [La responsabilidad social de la publicidad: el rol de las campañas de bien público]. Vivat Academia. Revista de Comunicación, 150, 103-129.
doi: http://doi.org/10.15178/va.2020.150.103-129
Recovered from http://www.vivatacademia.net/index.php/vivat/article/view/1190
1. INTRODUCTION
The role of advertising in the construction of the social, cultural and political popular conception is undeniable. Its persuasive nature makes it an attitude maker and a transmitter of values, and its massiveness transforms it into an important reference for society. In the first decades of the 21st century it has established itself as one of the most effective tools to contribute to social change. (Alvarado López, 2009, p. 280).
In studies of its influence, there is a subject that has been historically relegated or superficially treated: its contribution in raising awareness about social issues. The need to start a reflection on its essential aspects: topic, the communicational structure from which it is developed and the role it is fulfilling in our societies (Alvarado López, 2009, p. 265). The most complete study on the subject is the publication of the Argentine Advertising Council: “Public Good Advertising: the impact of social communication” (Argentine Advertising Council, 2011) that groups and analyzes cases that were successful throughout history.
“Social advertising is not simply a fad or passing trend (…) it is a necessity for society and for the advertising activity itself” (Alvarado López, 2009, p. 279).
This piece of research aimed to analyze public good advertising campaigns from the communicational and creative aspect to determine the most efficient resources that collaborate with the improvement in the quality of life of the social group.
2. OBJECTIVES
General: Analyze and establish the communicational and creative resources that achieve the greatest impact on public good advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the social problems they communicate.
Specific: Analyze public good advertising disseminated in the province of Mendoza in the 2016-2018 period. Analyze the context. Determine the priority issues in the Social Agenda. Study and determine the communicational and creative parameters of greatest impact for this type of communication. Analyze the perception and decoding of different audiences.
3. METHODOLOGY
We studied all public good advertising campaigns disseminated in the province of Mendoza in the 2016-2018 period, 8 in total, focusing on the priority themes of the Social Agenda and the main issuer of these types of messages: the provincial government.
In the first instance, the sample was subjected to a content analysis for the study of the messages communicated in each of the campaigns, observing the concepts communicated, that is, the basic ideas from which the pieces, genres and used advertising styles and all the elements of significance: typography, colors, images, music from a denotative and connotative perspective are structured. It is the task of qualitative analysis to describe the elements of certain behaviors, record them in an orderly manner, classify or categorize them, determine their quantitative frequency and interrelations. Subsequently, and to measure creativity levels, the Ecrep table (Vejling; Tomba; Mateo, 2011, p. 86) was applied as a result of the research project “Evaluation of advertising creativity: generation of measuring instruments to apply to advertising” that evaluates the piece based on the following parameters: originality; impact; use of analogies or unique relationships; arousal of fantasy and imagination; generation of emotions or positive feelings.
Source: Vejling, Tomba, Mateo 2011.
Photo 1. Research instrument. Ecrep table: Creative measurement.
Thirdly, Focus Groups were developed with the objective of assessing the impact, understanding of the concept communicated and awareness of the specific problem. We sought to understand what the public reaction is to this type of communication. Participants were randomly and voluntarily selected based on the target audience of the campaigns. Age: 18-65 years; socio-economic level: middle class in its three gradients; educational level: complete and incomplete high school, complete and incomplete university; residents in the province of Mendoza, Argentina.
4. DISCUSSION
As described in the methodology, we present the analysis of each campaign from three approaches: analysis of the social context, content analysis and creativity levels. At the end of this analysis, the results of the Focus Group will be presented. For reasons of space, a single piece of each of the campaigns is presented.
It is pertinent to clarify that the language of the campaigns is Spanish or River Plate Castilian; therefore, there are some characteristics of accentuation that, in each case, will be clarified.
4.1. Campaign nº 1
4.1.1. Technical data
1. Campaign name: Temporary Family. Year: 2017. https://www.facebook.com/FamiliaTemporaria/videos/288720908250548/
2. Category: SOCIETY.
3. Objective: to persuade the target to join as “voluntary families” and thus provide a transitional home for children going through legal situations.
4. Target: families from Mendoza who have children or who have had experience in childcare, and who have a home and time for dedication.
4.1.2. Context Analysis
Not all children with vulnerability found in foster care institutions are in a position to be adopted because there are times that are respected to try to rebuild family bonds. In Mendoza, a systematic program is being carried out to refunction the adoption system in the province. Adriana Lui’s article (2017), in the newspaper El Sol, explains the situation.
The plan of the Undersecretariat of Social Development was to change the patronage paradigm and the children were moved to micro homes.
This allowed children to live in a better context and develop their self-esteem and identity by sharing their space with fewer people. But, it resulted in some brothers being separated. (Lui, 2017, para. 1)
The Mendoza Volunteers Association (AVOME) is responsible for carrying out the Mendoza Temporary Family program and defines it as follows:
These are families that do not have kinship bonds with the child and that are open to the possibility of providing a family atmosphere for a while until the child’s legal situation is resolved. It is clear that the temporary family has a transitory nature. Times are variable, depending on each case. (AVOME, 2017, para. 5)
In 2017, only 28 families made this type of accompaniment and the provincial government pointed to a strong campaign to achieve the goal of tripling the number.
4.1.3. Content Analysis
Source: Mendoza Government
Photo 2. Campaign: Temporary Family. Public road piece.
The pieces opt for the use of photography as the main resource to communicate the concept, so that a situation of positive emotionality can be represented with great realism. It portrays a daily situation that seeks to arouse identification, the chromatic value of the image has a central role: on the one hand, the use of the gray scale together with a slight blur, on the other hand, it projects the color figure which makes it possible to highlight their happiness and materialize the campaign promise. The headline decides to speak directly to the public resolved in two blocks combining typography without italics with calligraphic in yellow, achieving warmth and dynamism. A small underline is placed on the word “temporary”, highlighting the transitory nature of the aid. In social networks, the pieces rescue the same compositional elements to present a variation in the represented situations. For television, the testimonial genre is used to communicate the experiences of the protagonists, a succession of middle and first planes makes it possible to know the story of three families that were part of the program. The instrumental soundtrack provides a positive environment, without relying on a hypersensitization of the message. The voice of the protagonists is underlined by planes that show their hands and facial expression, seeking to give strength to the testimony. This way, families list the multiple benefits in the lives of the children they hosted: greater self-esteem and sense of belonging.
4.1.4. Analysis of the level of creativity: Ecrep Table
1. Originality: medium (3 p). It has some resources that, because of their rarity, are differentiators. Mainly the color used in the graphics.
2. Connectivity: low (2 p). It connects ideas whose relationship with each other is common or predictable. This can be seen in the use of images of different types of families. Logic: low (2 p). It solves the connection of ideas distant from each other, but the connection logic is quite predictable. This is reflected in a referential approach to images. Impact: low (2 p). It has few resources that weakly mobilize the inner world of the perceiver. The resources are articulated from an approach that provides aesthetics and visual contrast, without generating significant impact.
3. Emotivity: medium (3 p). It generates sensations and / or emotions with which the target audience is slightly identified or not. The campaign tries to mobilize the target, but it does so from standardized situations that fail to reach their emotional fibers.
4. Fantasy: null (1 p). It causes the perceiver not to complete the fantasy world that is being offered with his imagination.
5. Break (1 p): The medium and / or support is conventional: spot published in social and graphic networks on public roads, newspapers and magazines in the province and networks.
Results: Score: 14 points. Creativity level reached: Low.
4.2. Campaign nº 2
4.2.1. Technical data
1. Campaign name: Let’s end harassment. Year: 2017.
2. Category: SOCIETY.
3. Objective: to raise awareness among the target about the problem of street harassment as a way of exercising gender violence.
4. Concept: street harassment is violence.
5. Target: men and women aged 15 or older of all socioeconomic levels.
4.2.2. Context Analysis
To define street harassment, we took the one adopted by the First report of the Observatory of violence against women “Ni una menos”, of Argentina:
any conduct or action, physical or verbal, with sexual and unwanted connotation, carried out by one or more people against any woman or person who perceives himself as a woman, carried out in public places or spaces, or places of public access, that directly or indirectly affect and/or disturb her life, dignity, freedom, physical integrity and/or psychological and/or free transit, creating intimidation, hostility, degradation, humiliation and/or an offensive environment in public spaces, as long as it does not configure a more severely punished crime. (Vivanco, 2017, p. 28)
This problem is one of the most naturalized and accepted ones by society and it requires the development of State policies that help reduce the effects against women.
In Mendoza, there is the Directorate for Gender and Diversity, within the Undersecretariat of Social Development, whose objectives are the generation of policies with a gender perspective, promoting equal rights for women and men, assistance to women victims of violence, among others. In any case, there are no explicit policies against street harassment in the presented programs, only news about the commemoration of April 7 as a day to fight street harassment, within the framework proposed by Law 5742 on “Sexual harassment in public spaces or spaces of public access”, dictated by the Legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2016.
4.2.3. Content Analysis
Source: Mendoza Government.
Photo 3. Campaign: Let’s end harassment. Facebook piece.
The campaign is composed of a series of pieces for social networks that, covered by the same lower block of text, show a succession of men and women who carry the message. This element is proposed as the gateway to the story. The middle planes show the protagonists with body positions that support the forcefulness of the words displayed on posters and T-shirts. The use of the first person helps to consolidate the tone of denunciation, it is sought that the couples can denature such behavior towards the feminine gender, raised as a clear expression of violence. The protagonists look in the eyes of the target to imply it in the message, protected by urban scenarios that put the problem in context. Finally, the hashtag “TerminamosConElAcoso” is presented to fulfill a double objective: from the communicational proposal, it acts as a closure from the support, motivates the target to interact in social networks, seizing the text.
4.2.4. Analysis of creativity levels: Ecrep table
1. Originality: Low (2 p). It copies certain resources already seen in other ads: black and white photography, the presence of people with posters as a strike or claim.
2. Connectivity: Low (2 p). It connects ideas whose relationship with each other is common or predictable: streets of Mendoza City and the reference to street harassment.
3. Logic: Low (2 p). It solves the connection of different ideas but the connection logic is quite predictable: the relationship between the posters and the presence of men and women.
4. Impact: Null (1 p). It does not achieve the mobilization of the internal world of the perceiver, it is a current theme that is latent both in the media and in the reality of the perceiver, its communication does not cause the necessary impact.
5. Emotivity: Medium (3 p). It generates sensations and / or emotions with which the target audience is slightly identified or not: the resources used are not strong enough to generate the desired and expected reaction.
6. Fantasy: Null (1 p). It causes the perceiver not to complete the fantasy world he is being offered with his imagination: the lack of elements that refer to the problem posed.
7. Break: (1 p). The medium and / or support is conventional: graphics published only through social networks.
Results: Score: 12 points. Creativity level reached: Low.
4.3. Campaign nº 3
4.3.1. Technical data
1. Campaign name: Nothing happens. Year: 2017.
2. Speed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCharbzwtyg
Alcohol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKbiBxkQ444
Cell phone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8TQFUsu3XY
3. Category: SOCIETY/Road safety.
4. Objective: Reduce traffic accidents caused by cell phone use, alcohol consumption and speeding.
5. Concept: responsibility when driving.
6. Target: men and women aged 18 years and older.
4.3.2. Context Analysis
Road safety is one of the most worrying issues of Argentinean society. The annual death toll increases every year. According to an article from the Civil Association “Let’s fight for life (2017), in Argentina:
20 people die per day; there are 7,213 fatalities per year (2017) and about 120,000 injured of varying degrees and thousands disabled.” (Let’s fight for life, 2017, para. 2). The report highlights that “traffic accidents in Argentina are the first cause of death in children under 35, and the third in all of Argentina. (Idem, para. 7)
The Ministry of Transportation of the Presidency of the Argentinean Nation (2018) presented in a report “the motivations of young people between 16 and 30 years in relation to alcohol consumption in association with road safety” and highlights three dimensions that explain alcohol-related behaviors and driving. Lack of risk perception; absence of the State in control issues; and finally the culture of alcohol as a means to socialize.
4.3.3. Content analysis
Source: Mendoza Government.
Photo 4. Campaign: Nothing happens until it happens. TV notice.
Notices communicate the message from everyday situations. The first begins with a general plane of a family van that travels along the route. This situation seeks to generate emotional connection and the story is nuanced with shots that show the family unaware of the experience of the driver, when suddenly the noise of the brakes and the expression of fear will show the frontal crash of which they are victims. The screen turns black and the target listens to what is decided not to show: “NOTHING HAPPENS, UNTIL IT HAPPENS”. As a subtitle, it is finished: “IF YOU DRIVE, RESPECT THE SPEED LIMITS AND TRAFFIC SIGNS”.
The second spot aims to raise awareness about the risk of using the cell phone while driving, it maintains the same soundtrack as the previous one and starts with a shot from inside the vehicle that fulfills the function of presenting the protagonists a young mother and her son. The following shots show her nervous at the sound of a call she hears and show how she fragments her attention without noticing a red light. The spot ends up bringing the screen black to leave only the noise of the accident. The piece adds a new verbal element when it claims: “IF YOU DRIVE, DO NOT USE THE CELL PHONE”. The third piece is aimed at young people, the first shot shows the ride of a vehicle that circulates at night. The target will observe how both are exchanging alcohol and laughter, the instrumental soundtrack shares space with the radio of the vehicle. Then, the car zigzags and the two laugh showing disconnection with the environment. The presence of the announcer and text on the screen will be identical to the other audiovisual pieces of the campaign, seeking anchorage with the specific situation being represented: “IF YOU DRIVE, DO NOT DRINK”.
4.3.4. Analysis of creativity levels: Ecrep table
1. Originality: low (2 p). It copies all or most of the resources that have already been used. It shows different scenes in which the protagonists suffer accidents as a result of imprudence.
2. Connectivity: low (2 p). It connects ideas whose relationship with each other is common or predictable.
3. Logic: low (2 p). It solves the connection of ideas distant from each other, but the connection logic is quite predictable.
4. Impact: null (1 p). It fails to mobilize the inner world of the perceiver.
5. Emotivity: low (2 p). It does not generate any sensation and / or emotion in the target audience.
6. Fantasy: null (1 p). The perceiver does not complete the fantasy world that is being offered with his imagination.
7. Break (1 p): The medium and / or support is conventional: spot published in social and graphic networks on public roads, newspapers and magazines in the province and networks.
Results: Score: 9 points. Creativity level reached: Low.
4.4. Campaign nº 4
4.4.1. Technical data
1. Campaign Name: 2017 Influenza Vaccination Campaign.
2. Generic spot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI0wgYAXSA8
3. Pregnant spot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssE0aYKHh-I
4. Category: HEALTH.
5. Objective: persuade the target to go and get a flu shot.
6. Concept: Get a flu shot.
7. Target: Residents in Mendoza over 65 years of age, pregnant women, mothers up to 10 days after delivery, health personnel, children 6 to 24 months, chronically ill or obese.
4.4.2. Context Analysis
The Ministry of Health of the Argentinean Nation promotes a program to protect the population from vaccine-preventable diseases, with the objective of achieving 95% coverage of calendar vaccines in all jurisdictions. The Annual Influenza Vaccination Plan is included in the vaccination schedule.
In line with the national policy, the flu vaccination campaign in Mendoza is intended free of charge to risk groups: pregnant women, at any time during pregnancy; postpartum women up to 10 days after delivery (if they were not vaccinated during pregnancy); children between 6 and 24 months inclusive; persons over 65 years; health workers; children and adults who are between 2 and 64 years old with chronic diseases - respiratory, heart, kidney, diabetes, obesity, with a prescription.
In 2017, more than 300 thousand doses were planned in the province, pointing to the prevention policy as a way to increase the efficiency of the Provincial Health System.
4.4.3. Content Analysis
Source: Mendoza Government.
Photo 5. Campaign: Get a flu shot. Graphic piece newspapers and magazines.
The graphic piece in response to a broad and heterogeneous target solves the proposal through chromatic diversity, this resource provides a pleasant tone that seeks to counteract the resistance of the target against issues related to health. The use of illustration acts in the same direction, seeking to make the message clear, iconic and universal. The visual resources are conjugated pursuing the objective of mobilizing the target to assume the desired behavior. As a subtitle, the service is indicated as an argument to support the proposal.
The television spot starts with a plaque that, with the voice of a broadcaster who is young and warm, replies: “Mendoza starts the flu vaccination campaign”. The central space will be occupied successively by full backgrounds of different colors accompanied by illustrations of the target members. The speech and the text on screen will be responsible for clarifying the different audiences involved in the problem. Towards the close, the characters are together on the top strip of the board. The second spot is focused on a specific target audience, pregnant women. Maintaining the aesthetic and compositional criteria, the audiovisual assumes an interrogative tone to achieve the initial identification of a key audience.
Clarification: the word “Vacunate” (Get Vaccinated) in River Plate Castilian has a prosodic accent in the syllable “na” and differs from the word “Vacúnate” typical of Castilian Spanish.
4.4.4. Analysis of creativity levels: Ecrep table
1. Originality: null (1 p). It copies all or most of the resources, the campaign appeals to simplified illustrations and the diversity of color resources commonly used in public health campaigns.
2. Connectivity: null (1 p). It does not connect ideas or make analogies, it only deals with communicating a message directly and referentially.
3. Logic: low (2 p). It solves the connection of ideas distant from each other, but the connection logic is quite predictable.
4. Impact: null (1 p). It fails to mobilize the inner world of the perceiver.
5. Emotivity: low (2 p). It does not generate any sensation and / or emotion in the target audience.
6. Fantasy: null (1 p). It causes the perceiver not to complete the fantasy world that is being offered with his imagination.
7. Break (1 p): The medium and / or support is conventional: spot published on social and graphic networks on public roads, newspapers and magazines in the province and networks.
Results: Score: 9 points. Creativity level reached: Low.
4.5. Campaign nº 5
4.5.1. Technical data
1. Campaign name: Take care of the water, so you don’t miss it. Year: 2017/2018.
2. Category: SOCIETY/Environment.
3. Objective: to sensitize society about the daily waste of drinking water, promoting its responsible use.
4. Concept: Take care of the water.
5. Target: men and women aged 15 to 65 years.
4.5.2. Context Analysis
One of the great problems of Mendoza Province has to do with water, its consumption, its scarcity and its care.
Juan Manuel Lucero (2017, para. 1) from the newspaper “Va con firma Mendoza” analyzes the following:
Since the summer of 2009, Mendoza Province goes through consecutive water emergencies. What does being in a water emergency mean and imply? (...) water emergency means that the water that flows into the Mendoza rivers carries a volume of water that will not exceed the historical average, due to the scarce snowfalls that have fallen during the last years. This translates, according to Irrigation technicians, into a hydrological year that will range from “dry” to “poor”. Spillage values are considered “dry” below 65% of the historical average value. Instead, it will be “poor” when spillage is between 65% and 85%, below the historical average. (...)
The historical analysis of researcher María Virginia Grosso Cepparo (2017) shows us that the organization of the Mendoza water system, embodied in the Water Law as of 1884, was not only in the duality “oasis - desert”, to push viticulture as economic exploitation but it also established water rights and privileges, in relation to private property, benefiting some and harming many, creating a dispute that is inherited until today.
4.5.3. Content Analysis
Source: Government of Mendoza.
Photo 6. Campaign: Take care of it so there’s no shortage of it. Graphic piece for outdoor signage.
The campaign consists of graphics, TV spot, LEDs and outdoor signage. The variety of media and supports seek efficient coverage of the wide audience to which this campaign is directed. The words assume the complaint from a direct tone to indicate the seriousness of the problem. The use of numbers to indicate the number of liters wasted in each situation seeks to make the cause tangible and give credibility to the message. In this sense, the ads show the daily behaviors of citizens making a bad use of water. The double meaning attributed to the term “costs” makes it possible to generate a comparison marking the complexity of the subject in opposition to the easy way to solve it. The lower space is occupied by a blue base and the public is asked: “TAKE CARE OF IT SO THERE’S NO SHORTAGE OF IT”. The color value of the campaign has a referential role, blue indisputably linked to water and a recurring presence in campaigns aimed at its preservation is present in the backgrounds, texts and clothing of the protagonists. This way, its use pursues the objective of being directly linked to the subject of communication, while serving aesthetic purposes.
In River Plate Castilian, the imperative “Cuida” (Take Care of) is accentuated in the last syllable: “Cuidá”, while “Cuídala” (Take Care of It) has a prosodic accent in the second syllable: “da”.
4.5.3. Analysis of creativity levels: Ecrep table
1. Originality: low (2 pts). It copies certain resources: presence of the citizen committing an act that is sought to be discouraged, everyday situations, reference color code in reference to water.
2. Connectivity: null (1 pt). The campaign does not link distant ideas, it only limits itself to communicating a clear, direct and referential message.
3. Logic: null (1 pt). It does not present any linkage of distant ideas (analogy).
4. Impact: null (1 pt). It fails to mobilize the inner world of the perceiver.
5. Emotivity: null (1 pt). The campaign generates negative feelings, protected by images and texts that blame the target for their actions.
6. Fantasy: null (1 pt). The pieces we analyzed show a direct and transparent message, which does not involve the target as a sense builder.
7. Break: (1 pt). It is conventional in the use of its media and supports
Results: Score: 8 points. Creative level reached: Null.
4.6. Campaign nº 6
4.6.1. Technical data
1. Campaign name: Grooming. Year: 2018.
2. Category: SOCIETY.
3. Objective: alert parents of children and adolescents about the risks of grooming.
4. Concept: let us protect the boys from grooming.
5. Target: Men and women living in Mendoza, parents of children and adolescents.
4.6.2. Context analysis
The school government of the Mendoza Province (DOAITE, 2018) gives the following definition of Grooming:
“(...) a deliberate action by an adult who seeks to sexually harass a child, girl or young person through the use of information and communication technologies. It is always an adult who exercises grooming.
(...) These adults usually generate a false profile on a social network, chat room, forum or other, where they impersonate a boy or a girl and establish a relationship of friendship and trust with the boy or girl who they want to harass (…)”
It establishes three moments of contact and approach; It seeks to gain confidence, confessing intimate issues, promoting the sending of photos; and the third moment is the cyberharassment by which the adult uses the material about the boy or girl and blackmails them looking for personal encounters.
Regarding the measures taken by the Argentinean State to combat this problem, we found out that on November 13, 2013, as of Law 26,904, article 131, which establishes a prison sentence of six months to four years for this crime, was incorporated into the Argentinean Criminal Code. Accordingly, in October 2018, Law 27458 was enacted from the Senate of the Nation that declares November 13 as National Day of the Fight against Grooming.
4.6.3. Content analysis
Source: Mendoza Government.
Photo 7. Campaign: Virtual world, real danger. Graphic piece newspapers and magazines.
The audiovisual pieces incorporate the presence of a boy and a female teenager who, assuming the role of presenters, are in charge of talking to their peers about the risks of using the internet. Following this approach, the protagonists look at the camera and emulate a “one to one” communication with direct interpellation. In the first spot, the female teenager, who holds a smartphone throughout the story, begins her speech by pointing out that “On the networks your friends see you, but also many people you do not know”. Her words are supported by a red vector illustration that turns on the left side of the screen and illustrates the idea of “networks”. Each of these actions is visually supported by a red icon that is then marked as “negative”, putting a “dislike” icon in black. The concept of “danger”. The second spot stars a boy who starts with the words “Talking with strangers is not good”. This preventive behavior is resolved visually, when the boy holds the icon (representing the aggressor) and drags it into a bin.
The graphic warning replicates the code of the spots to add a headline that stands out from the top of the page: “VIRTUAL WORLD. REAL DANGER”. In this sense, the comparison is used from the writing to oppose the two worlds that the message seeks to link conceptually. A subtitle, in red, supports the first person in the plural to make a collective request to involve a “we”: “Let us protect our children from harassment on the web”. Misuse of the internet means increasing dangers for children and adolescents”. This way, the campaign that until now had focused its efforts on “grooming” equals the problem with what happened in “cyberharassment”. Without deepening its dynamics and differences, the copy highlights, through the use of bold red typography, the irremediable and “unfortunate consequences” of both social phenomena.
4.6.4. Analysis of creativity levels: Ecrep table
1. Originality: low (2 pts). The campaign maintains a tone and resources that repeat what is known.
2. Connectivity: low (2 pts). It connects ideas whose relationship with each other is common or predictable: the “lack of protection” to which children are subjected on the internet and the harassment to which they are exposed.
3. Logic: low (2 pts). It solves the connection of ideas distant from each other, but the connection logic is quite predictable.
4. Impact: null (1 pt). Although the spot shows a differentiating element, the other audiovisuals and the graphic have imperative proposals that they cannot involve.
5. Emotivity: null (1 pt). Far from generating involvement towards the message, it proposes resources that generate distancing.
6. Fantasy: null (1 pt). The weak connection of scenarios (virtual - real unprotection), only finds its place in the television piece.
7. Break: (1pt). The medium or support is conventional.
Results: Score: 10 points. Creative level reached: Null.
4.7. Campaign nº 7
4.7.1. Technical data
1. Campaign name: Do not buy what was stolen. Year: 2018.
2. Category: SOCIETY.
3. Objective: raise awareness among the target about their necessary role in the criminal circuit, dismissing the purchase of stolen products and motivating their reporting suspicious cases.
4. Concept: Do not buy what was stolen.
5. Target: Residents in Mendoza from 15 to 55 years old.
4.7.2. Context Analysis
As for the illegal trade in stolen goods, Fernando Carrión (2018) explains that, after being stolen, objects must enter the market, explaining that there is an economic system that supports it; circuits according to the type of objects. The author believes that the most effective way to combat this type of crime is to attack all phases of the economic cycle of the illegal market, which begins with the theft, then with intermediaries who send the objects to their destination. Also, he points out that, together with this crime, there are other types of crimes such as tax evasion, illegal transportation, etc.
The Argentinean Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME) of Argentina made the National Map of Illegality, in 2017, it indicates that most of the illegal trade is carried out through “saladitas” and “manteros”, although informal sale grows indefinitely through social networks like Facebook and WhatsApp.
4.7.3. Content analysis
Source: Mendoza Government.
Photo 8. Campaign: Do not buy what was stolen. Graphic piece outdoor signage.
The graphics use the realism provided by the use of photography to present a comparison. The rhetorical weight of the message falls on the figures and the balaclava incurs a synecdoche: such an element suggests the concept of “crime” and the entire criminal chain that made it possible to obtain the products. The contrast between the naturalness of the daily scene and the intrusive element constitutes the creative axis to impact the target. The headlines arranged obliquely opt for the direct and imperative tone: “IF YOU BUY WHAT WAS STOLEN YOU ARE AN ACCOMPLICE”. Words that seek to involve the target to take charge of their responsibility and graphic resources that suggest the sleaze of the world of crime. The first two shots of the audiovisuals allow the target to observe a member of the scientific police who puts on the gloves and prepares his working material. This way, the introductory seconds advance to the public what will be presented, a crime scene. The absence of dialogues allows the viewer to focus their attention on the people, facts and objects of the story. A series of planes and counter-planes make it possible to observe the interaction between professionals and behind them, the tape that marks the crime scene includes the concept of a campaign: “DO NOT BUY WHAT WAS STOLE” On the upper left corner, a text appears that is accompanied by the campaign announcer: “WHAT YOU BUY CHEAP WAS EXPENSIVE TO ANOTHER”. All spots maintain the same code, they explore the rhetorical side of the message through a hyperbole. The creative impact is subject to the exaggeration of certain crimes considered minor, showing them as if it were a crime committed against a person.
In River Plate Castilian the verb “compras” (you buy) is accentuated in the last syllable: “Comprás”.
4.7.4. Analysis of creativity levels: Ecrep table
1. Originality: medium (3 pts). It has some resources that, due to their rarity, are differentiators, people wearing balaclavas, generating prominence within “everyday” and familiar scenes; objects as victims of crime scenes.
2. Connectivity: low (2 pts). It connects ideas whose relationship with each other is predictable. The criminal aspect is presented through crime scenes.
3. Logic: low (2 pts). It solves the connection of ideas distant from each other, but the connection logic is quite predictable.
4. Impact: low (2 pts). It manages to weakly mobilize the internal world of the target, by presenting a message with a differentiating element that challenges it.
5. Emotivity: medium (3 pts). It generates sensations and / or emotions with which the target audience identifies lightly: worry and guilt.
6. Fantasy: high (4 pts). It causes the perceiver to complete the fantasy world he is being offered with his imagination, linked to the social cause that is communicated.
7. Break: (1pt). It is conventional in the use of the medium and support.
Results: Score: 17 points. Creativity level reached: Low.
4.8. Campaign nº 8
4.8.1. Technical data
1. Campaign name: To consume more does not go any further. Year: 2018
2. Category: SOCIETY / Environment / Responsible consumption.
3. Objective: Raise awareness about the responsible consumption of gas.
4. Concept: Consuming responsibly benefits us all.
5. Target: Men and women since the age of 18, residing in Mendoza Province.
4.8.2. Context analysis
According to the article by Guillermina Jacinto and Silvina Carrizo (2018), which analyze the relationship between energy and poverty in Argentina:
Having safe, efficient and quality energy services is essential for well-being and social equity. (...) 60% of households in Argentina are connected to natural gas networks and use this fuel for cooking. It is also used for heating sanitary water and heating. Considering natural gas and LPG, the percentage of families that use gas is 97%. 3% of households still use firewood for cooking, that is, more than one million people. (Jacinto, Carrizo, 2018, para. 1)
Carlos Manzoni and Pablo Bernasconi (2018) say that Argentina consumes more natural gas than any other country in Latin America.
In this framework, during 2017 and 2018, the removal of subsidies for energy service tariffs such as gas and electricity was carried out in Argentina, producing so-called tariffs that greatly increased the prices that the final service consumers must pay for them.
Among the consequences of these State decisions, we find the increase in poverty, directly related to the economic restriction to the use of basic services and, of course, the fall in consumption.
On the other hand, we must take into account the conception of the State regarding Energy Efficiency, from the Ministry of Energy and Mining of the Presidency of the Republic of Argentina, the following is disseminated:
Energy is essential for human life and the development of countries, but it is also a scarce resource throughout the world. Energy Efficiency is a practice / way of managing energy growth, obtaining an equal result with lower consumption or a higher result consuming the same (...)
4.8.3. Content analysis
Source: Mendoza Government.
Photo 9. Campaign: “To consume more does not go any further”. Commercial on television
The protagonists offer a message, halfway between the testimonial and presentation genres, in which they suggest to other women various daily ways of saving. This way, what “does not go any further” is excessive consumption without awareness. The message, with a close and positive tone, has been reinforced by an instrumental band that progressively increases its intensity. In this sense, the words extend the recommendations, finally a female voiceover with a young and warm tone closes the message: “Consume responsibly, it benefits us all”. The closing of the spot is dressed in the resources that will be sustained in all audiovisuals: unfocused scene, warm female announcer and text on the screen that provides the closure. Each piece assumes responsibility for communicating certain recommended behaviors. In search of identification, the choice is to vary the protagonists: women of different ages, a man and a young man are in charge of speaking to the target “on equal terms”. The choice of the focus and warm tone does not take away a certain “imperative” air in the verbal and nonverbal expressions of the characters: seriousness, stares and hand gestures, the words deepen that sense: “regulá” (regulate), “cerrá” (close), “apagá” (turn off), “bajá” (turn down), among others. All these verbal imperatives correspond to the pronunciation of the River Plate Castilian.
4.8.4. Analysis of creativity levels: Ecrep table
1. Originality: low (2 pts). The creative approach and the resources used are already known by the target. The daily life situations of the different characters that are shown do not allow this campaign to have a greater creative takeoff.
2. Connectivity: low (2 pts). It connects ideas whose relationship with each other is common or predictable. This resource is used with the intention of achieving a high degree of identification with the target.
3. Logic: low (2 pts). It solves the connection of ideas distant from each other, but the connection logic is quite predictable. This is reflected in a referential approach and the use of the testimonial gender.
4. Emotivity: medium (3 pts). It generates sensations and/or emotions with which the target audience identifies lightly: worry and guilt.
5. Impact: low (2 pts). It has a few resources that manage to mobilize weakly with a series of testimonies.
6. Fantasy: null (1 pt). The perceiver is not invited to complete the fantasy world that is being offered with his imagination, which is posed in a timid way (from the use of the resource) and spontaneously (from the performance of the characters).
7. Break (1 pt): The medium and / or support is conventional: spot published on social networks and YouTube.
Results: Score: 13 points. Creativity level reached: Low.
4.9. Focus Group
We worked in three focus groups of 10 people each, volunteer members between 18 and 65, of different educational levels and social classes, representative of the target audience of the campaigns.
In relation to the campaign preference, the most chosen one was ““Do not buy what was stolen”; then came “Grooming”, “Temporary Family; “Take care of the water” and “Street harassment”; “Get vaccinated” and “Traffic” and finally “To consume more does not go any further”.
As for the levels of Recall, the highest one was “Grooming”, followed by “Do not buy what was stolen”; “Temporary Family”; “Street harassment” and “Take care of the water”; “To consume more does not go any further” and “Get vaccinated”. Reminder levels were measured 15 days after each Focus.
Internet and TV were the most chosen media, then the public road, non-choice of newspapers standing out. The resource with the greatest impact was that of the “child without a family”, followed by the “balaclava and music”; then the images; and finally the subject and voice of the announcer.
As for the opinion on public good campaigns, 23 people replied that they help a lot, 7 people stated they do not always help, 1 expressed they help little, and none answered that they do not help at all.
As for the open question “Why?” The answers were: because they make us aware of some issues; because they touch important issues in a creative and entertaining way; they help us realize; they are very important to start thinking about a better society; it is the only way to make us change some customs that are not right, such as driving and using the cell phone.
5. CONCLUSIONS
The survey of the sample nominated the Government as the main advertiser faithful to its social function, it makes a reading of the social problems and generates campaigns to respond to the context. The priority topics focus on two categories: Health and Society. The content analysis allowed us to understand that general messages are articulated, taking into account that budgets are tight and issues are cross-cutting, multitarget campaigns are generated. Given this situation, the recognition of the heterogeneity of the public is especially observed in campaigns such as “Do not buy what was stolen” or “To consume more does not go any further”, in which there is a variation of sex and age of the protagonists with a slight adaptation of the code and no actions specially directed to each of the segments. This conception of an excessively generic audience coupled with a rational approach to the message is opposed to the current advertising trend that deepens the diversity of audiences and the value of emotion to generate social commitment. The speech emphasizes the problem or the solution; however, many pieces culminate “blaming” the target, others “blame” their actions as the trigger for situations like “Nothing happens, until it happens” and “Do not buy what was stolen”. It is not intended to persuade but deter the public to abandon harmful behaviors. Far from a participatory and dialogic approach, the pieces are constructed from a classic look with unidirectional messages. These types of messages result in very low levels of creativity when measured with the Ecrep table, out of the total number of campaigns, more than half recorded a “null level” of creativity, which obtained the best score was in turn the most chosen one by the focus participants, a clear sign that creativity must also be a protagonist in the public good. The selection of media is limited to the traditional ones, without observing other complementary instances that explore the value of the active participation of the target. The best case was the use of social networks that urge sharing a publication and the campaign hashtag (“Street Harassment”). The crossing of media reflects the advertiser’s concern to impact the entire target, a higher frequency of exposure is also observed, which is positive and is reflected in the results of the focus groups that show high levels of recall and continue to mark the public predisposition towards social messages that collaborate with awareness. In this instance, it was shown that the attitudinal change occurs in the short term and in parallel with the issuance of the campaigns. If efforts were devoted to incorporate these themes in leisure times and spaces where the artistic and recreational is an effective framework, the social impact would be increased.
“The role of advertising as a social institution is evolving, in the case of advertising that concerns me, towards a role more related to social action. We are passing from advertising as a social institution to advertising as a social agent, as an element of social action at the service of rational change, with the capacity to contribute to the improvement of society, groups and people“ (Alvarado López, 2003, p.691)
REFERENCES
AUTHORS:
Carolina Tomba: Bachelor of Social Communication and Specialist in Higher Education, developing the Master’s Thesis in Higher Education. In the field of research I work in the area of Advertising, Communication and Social Sciences. As director, I carried out three research projects: “Rethinking the Advertising of the 20th Century from a socio-historical perspective”; “The social responsibility of advertising: effectiveness of public good campaigns” and “The social responsibility of advertising: the role of public good campaigns”. Currently I work as Academic Secretary of the Faculty of Communication of the UMaza, as a director of thesis and as a tenured professor in Advertising.
ctomba@umaza.edu.ar
Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0472-7875
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JAbreEYAAAAJ&hl=es
María Cecilia Muñoz: Professor of University Degree in History, graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, of the National University of Cuyo. I develop as a teacher at the University Level, as attached in the Chair of History of Modern and Contemporary Political Ideas for the Degree in Advertising and Communication; and as holder in the Chair of Advertising History, for the degree in Advertising. I also worked in the area of Social Sciences, Communication and Advertising, as a Beginning Researcher in the research work “Rethinking Advertising of the twentieth century from a socio-historical perspective” together with Lic. Carolina Tomba and Lic. Andrés Allisiardi, completed in 2014 and with the same research team, as Associate Researcher at work: “The social responsibility of Advertising: Effectiveness of Public Good Campaigns”; and in 2015, “The social responsibility of advertising: the role of public good campaigns”.
cmunoz@umaza.edu.ar
Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4542-4769
Andrés Adriano Allisiardi: Bachelor of Advertising, I dedicate myself to advertising and corporate communication. In addition, I explore the advertising reality from teaching and research, in key aspects such as the study of messages and their impact on the social sphere. I work as a teacher in different chairs belonging to the Degree in Advertising at the UMaza. In research, I participated as a Fellow in the work “Rethinking Advertising of the twentieth century from a socio-historical perspective” and as a Researcher in “The Social Responsibility of Advertising: Effectiveness of Public Good Campaigns”.
allisiardi@umaza.edu.ar
Orcid ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4813-1571
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=0FIkzq4AAAAJ&hl=es