April 4, 2012

How advertising works


Made You Look: How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know
by Shari Graydon



The eight to fourteen-year-old age group is a prime target for marketers and advertisers. They know that kids have a big say in their parents' spending decisions. Thus their main motivation is to instill brand loyalty in children because if you own this child at an early age, you can own this child for years to come.


Shari Graydon's lively book seeks to raise preteens' awareness of themselves as targets of advertising messages. Using examples readers will find familiar, she deconstructs ad campaigns, exposing their sometimes less-than-honest subtexts and revealing the common techniques advertisers use to manipulate consumer appetites. She suggests exercises to try at home, which helps kids critically evaluate the ads they see, and often asks questions designed to get kids thinking before they buy. 


An especially useful title for kids immersed in (and often oblivious to) the workings of consumer culture.




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