What is pop culture? Anything and everything. To be truly deemed pop culture, it must have a following that makes it popular and must have an impact on our lives. Time usually is the indicator of when or if something becomes pop culture.
Pop culture is a very important part of our lives as it provides a means to measure our behavior, fashion style, interpersonal communication etc. against the standard that is being set. In business, these trends tell us stories that are vital to understanding business expectations and planning for the future. Paying particular attention to the trends will help me as a Human Resource professional design and implement programs that attract and retain all current and future employees. For example, keeping up with social changes and how it is reflected through our pop culture will help me understand that the millennial employees (born between 1977-1988) expect technological advances, are inventive and individualistic, have high demands and expectations within the work place. The work place of their parents will not meet their needs of today or tomorrow. Keeping abreast of and embracing these cultural changes will help me serve my Company’s needs in attracting and retaining talented employees.
The artifact I chose to share with you is a video compilation of Super Bowl commercials that have been rated in the top 10 best commercials for 2008. Have you noticed how the hype around the Super Bowl is not just about the teams and players anymore? The hype has been extended to include the multi-million dollar 30-second commercial spots during the game. These commercials have become part of the Super Bowl experience for the viewing audience. They are preceived as an integral part of the entertainment package – not to mention the paybacks the advertisers receive from increased sales or product/service awareness. I chose this artifact because I find it to be an art form. Actually I find it brilliant. How many times have we geared ourselves up for a fabulous football game to find it boring and unworthy of watching? The marketing geniuses have found a way to keep our attention and entertain us even when the football game may not be so entertaining. These 30-second commercial spots speak volumes to our pop culture and how we determine what's in and out of style. Another aspect of the Super Bowl Commercials is the media frenzy of analysis that goes on after the game. Deeper qualitative analysis reveals that most viewers wanted something new and funny, as 62% of members said that humor influences their purchase behavior. Other qualities of an ad that motivate consumers include excitement(9%), surprise (8%) and inspiration (8%) (Nielsen, 2008). The analysis after the game is just as entertaining as it can validate it’s effectiveness. I love football and now I love the commercials!
Reference
Holmes, G (2008, February 07). Nielsen's recap of 2008 super bowl advertising. Retrieved September 27, 2009 from www.reuters.com
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Jenny,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the commercials for the Superbowl have become an integral part of the experience. Even though I am not a football fan I have seen many of the commercials. It is amazing what company's now a days will pay for a spot during the Superbowl. This is a really good way to get exposure for your product. I thought that all the clips were quite funny and have seen most of them at one time or another.
I also agree with your football commercial comment. I have family member's who do not watch football at all, and are only interested in the commercials during the Super Bowl, they will usually spend most of their time during the game performing some activity, but returning as soon as the game goes to commercial.
ReplyDeleteI find your comment interesting about working in Human Resources. I agree with your comment about approaches being different for newer employees, and not so much for their "parent's company". I was wondering if you had considered how this would help you with training documentation, and policies. I think staying current with popular culture will help engage people in the training, and therefore they will hopefully retain more of the training provided.
I would say to also keep in mind that from those approaches, that the "Parent's company" culture will still most likely have a presennce within the company, and need to be considered for the approaches to the comapny as a whole.
That is so right what you said about the superbowl that i had to laugh. It tells you how much effort they put into making it want to watch it when it is actually what it is a game. I am not into sport but I always pay attention to the commercial or the openning of it
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