Consumerism...whats it all about?

A session on Ethics today has got me thinking hard about consumerism. What goes on in the industry and how are we the "consumer" driving the decisions made by companies? Is it our fault?

First of all what exactly is consumerism? The definition according to the Oxford dictionary states that it is:

1: the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers: the growth of consumerism has led to many organizations improving their service to the customer

2(often derogatory): the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods: many people are becoming increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of consumerism
(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/consumerism)

I favour the latter definition, the fact that it uses "derogatory" and "preoccupation" definitely depict the description I feel most would agree with, consumerism is basically how caught up we all are in having/owning/buying "stuff" (consumer goods).

 The questions I'm asking myself are why is it that the world we live in today has us all obsessed with what we have? Has it always been this way? Is it true that we now equate personal happiness with material possessions? And, if so, who is responsible for promoting this way of thinking?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/145_consumerism/

Lets have a think about advertising, how do clothes/ fashion and beauty advertisements and magazines make you feel? I'm guessing usually pretty rubbish if you're anything like most people out there, and I'm not just talking about women here. This, believe it or not is their aim.

Companies advertise to sell. Their aim is to make us believe that their product is a "must have", that it will improve our lives and make us feel better about ourselves. Images contribute to this as well as words. Images of "perfection", slim builds, perfect skin, perfect lifestyles all amount to make us want to buy into something, will it work or is the reality quite simply that something so trivial cannot amount to happiness?

Advertising decides what is "hot right now" and puts that out there for us to follow, however it is our, "the consumer's", decision whether or not we choose to follow that.

Is it wrong/ unethical of us to follow and then buy the product? or is this what we need to do in order to survive?

I'm just provoking thoughts here, take a look at these debates, which do you agree with?

http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-consumerism-ethical

http://debatewise.org/debates/345-consumerism/

http://www.theguardian.com/starbucks-ethical-living/ethical-consumer-debate

IN LOVE with Anthropologie...

Stumbled across these gorgeous prints doing some studio research for our latest module- print and embroidery techniques. I love the use of colour and how could I pass by the "Felicity" bedding without a mention, definitely on my Christmas wishlist this year!

http://www.anthropologie.eu/anthro/product/home-walldecor/7573465570024.jsp

Tagret markets continued...

Finding a market

There may be many people interested in the message that you are communicating. As an artist you may be used to referring to these people as your audience, buyers or clients. In marketing terms they are all your customers.

Your existing or potential customer is interested in art for a number of reasons:
Emotional
Educational
Links them with creativity
Fashionable
Social
Self-reflecting
Controversial
Communicative
Aspirational
Valuable
Speculative
Investment
Decorative
Longevity
Informative
Satisfies a need

Having established that you have customers out there you need to start building up a customer profile.

Customer profile

Different sorts of customers view, purchase and appreciate art differently. You need to start categorising and profiling these customers so that you can target them and market to them in a more focused way.

Examples of customer profile might be:
Private clients
Galleries
Shops
Architects
Educational projects
Local authorities
Agents
Funders
Sponsors
Corporate clients
Exhibition visitors

Note spending and frequency of visit or contact next to their profile.

Knowledge about your customer and their viewing/buying/commissioning habits will affect the promotional activity you use to reach them, eg private views, website, postcards, printed material, advertising, space at market-led shows (FreshArt, craft fairs, etc), direct mail, telephone and email contact.

Your marketing activity – its language, the frequency and message – needs to be planned. It needs to fit in with your budget and to be directly targeted at your customers.

http://www.a-n.co.uk/jobs_and_opps/shortcut/article/80614

Target markets...

Last week we looked into target customers/ markets. In teams we came up with these thoughts on what was important when working company on a job...

What is a Target Market?

Definition: A specific group of consumers at which a company aims its products and services.

://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/target-market

It's clearly one of the most important things to understand your target market, otherwise whats the point in designing a product?

I found these website's useful when nosing into the world of understanding your market:

http://www.a-n.co.uk/jobs_and_opps/shortcut/article/80614://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/marketing-strategy/your-target-market/six-steps-to-defining-your-target-market

Mollie makes, full of wisdom aswell as inspiration...