This is a linear model, progressing from source to destination, therefore it is one way. This model could be used to describe advertising on the television or radio. The information source would be the company advertising a product and their specific advert. An example of this could be the Orange advert promoting media messaging. This advert is then transmitted via air waves, satellite or cable to the receiver which would be a television set. It then reaches its destination, which is the viewer by them turning on the TV.
During this process however there is noise. Noise can come in many forms. It may be technological such as there being a bad reception or a power cut when the advert comes on. The noise can also be caused by the viewer as well. They may change channels when the adverts come on or leave the room to get a cup of tea. To overcome this viewer noise, Orange has developed an advert that makes the viewer sit down and watch it. The advert consists of several scenes where faces appear in the scenery, such as on a beach or in the hills.
When you first watch this advert though, many people can’t see the faces and they look for the advert again so they can try to find them. Orange also places their adverts at the beginnings and ends of commercial breaks to increase the chances of the viewers watching the correct channel. O2 are a mobile phone company that was launched in early 2002 after taking over from BT Cellnet. When they began their advertising campaign, they started off with short adverts on TV just saying O2. In magazines as well, it just said O2. No one knew who this company were.
Then as time went on they started releasing more details about who they were and this culminated in their launch. After their launch, they continued to provide more information about themselves and the services they have to offer, the latest being media messaging and bolt ons. A communication model that could be used to describe this form of advertising is Dance’s helical model. There is a diagram below. The model shows that communication is a circular process and is a two way relationship between the viewer and the company, in this case O2.
As the viewer receives more information, the company is able to react to feedback, either through sales figures or customer enquiries and send out even more information for the viewer to process. For O2 this may be by providing extra services, such as bolt ons or just by providing them with extra information for example, use your mobile phone abroad. This means that as you move up the spiral it gets wider, due to more information being passed around. Harold D. Lasswell (1948) developed a formula which is basically made up of several questions. It is an easy formula to follow and can be applied to a variety of forms of communication.
The formula is outlined in graphical form below. This formula could be applied to Marks and Spencer because they are currently trying to change their image. If you follow the formula through, the communicator would be the company Marks and Spencer. They’re message is that they’re trying to change they’re image and that it’s fashionable to wear Marks and Spencer clothes. One way in which they’re trying to do this is by using high profile celebrities in their advertising campaign such as David Beckham. The channels which they are using are mainly television and magazines.
The type of magazine and TV scheduling are pretty much target audience related. The receiver is the target audience for this new, improved Marks and Spencer. The new campaign is aimed at the younger person so the adverts are found in magazines like Cosmopolitan or Loaded. Then finally, the effect is that hopefully younger people will look at the adverts and think ‘Yeah, Marks and Spencer don’t seem that bad, maybe I’ll shop there. ‘ or thoughts to that effect. The level of effectiveness though can only be measured through sales of goods or by surveys of people entering the Marks and Spencer stores.
