Television advertising as a means of promoting an intercultural and interracial South Africa and ...

159 Pages·2011·0.93 MB·English

Television advertising as a means of promoting an
intercultural and interracial South Africa and nation
building. A case study of the International
Marketing Council’s ‘alive with possibility’
campaign

Name: Sumaya Asmall
Student Number: 203500205
Supervisor: Ruth Teer Tomaselli

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree
of Master of Arts in the Culture Communication and Media Studies
programme, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of KwaZulu Natal,
Durban, 2010.
i
DECLARATION

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, in the
graduate programme in Culture, Communication and Media Studies, University of
KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
I declare that this dissertation is my own unaided work. All citations, references and
borrowed ideas have been duly acknowledged. I confirm that an external editor was not
used. It is being submitted for the degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Humanities,
Development and Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. None of
the present work has been submitted previously for any degree or examination in any
other University.
Sumaya Asmall
5 December 2010
ii
Dedication
To my dad, mum and brother. And my precious husband Bilal
iii
Acknowledgments
First and foremost I must thank the Almighty for granting me the ability and knowledge
to put this document together. I have realized that sincere prayer can conquer all
difficulties.
I must thank Professor Ruth Teer Tomaselli and Professor Keyan Tomaselli for their
patience and understanding over the course of this dissertation. Thank you for having
faith in me despite everything that has happened.
My deepest gratitude goes to Mr Mike Maxwell who guided me toward the latter part of
my dissertation. This document would not have been possible without his cutting-edge
editing skills.
Thank you to my mum and dad who have ensured that I received the best of education,
love and care for the last 26 years.
And finally to my husband Bilal who makes me a better person everyday.

iv
ABSTRACT
The study is concerned with how television advertising content in South Africa promotes
diversity and nation building. It looks at whether advertising representations reflect the
idea of a new South Africa. The basis of the study involves a thorough analysis of the
International Marketing Council’s (IMC) ‘alive with possibility’ television campaign
through content analysis as well as Focus Group discussions. These advertisements are
then comparatively examined with corporate advertisements on South African television.
Post 1994 advertising was facing a new era with new challenges, especially due to the
emerging black middle class as an important target market. Advertising in South Africa
went through an enormous transformation, especially with regard to race and cultural
representations and symbols of nationalism and patriotism. Some adverts, like those of
the IMC, took on a specific didactic role to try and shift the perceptions of people. These
ideals were also noticeable in corporate advertising in the country.
Although television advertising itself went under transformation, people were unable to
progress as quickly as broadcasting did. The dissertation looks at the variety of opinions
regarding this type of advertising in South Africa.
Key words: Nation building, Cultural Diversity, Intercultural, Interracial, Television
Advertising, South Africa
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Table of contents
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................... iv
Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... v
CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1
The International Marketing Council of South Africa (IMC) ..................................................... 2
The ‘Alive with Possibility’ Campaign Advertisements and Corporate advertisements .......... 3
The role of advertising .............................................................................................................. 3
Issues associated with advertising ............................................................................................ 4
Television Advertising ............................................................................................................... 6
Television advertising in South Africa ....................................................................................... 6
A brief History ................................................................................................................... 6
In Recent Times ............................................................................................................... 11
Stereotyping in South African television advertisements ...................................................... 16
Some issues in South African advertising ............................................................................... 19
The role of images in television Advertising ........................................................................... 21
Cross Cultural Television advertising and the use of images ................................................. 22
The SABC ................................................................................................................................. 25
The Advertising Standards Authority ...................................................................................... 25
The role of SAARF in advertising ............................................................................................. 27
Nation building in South Africa ............................................................................................... 28
Culture – a definition .............................................................................................................. 30
Intercultural communication .................................................................................................. 33
A critical look at intercultural communication in South Africa............................................... 34
Cultural imperialism ................................................................................................................ 35
Ownership and control ........................................................................................................... 36
Criticisms of advertising .......................................................................................................... 37
Television and audience studies ............................................................................................. 38
Audiences and Advertising ..................................................................................................... 43
Advertising agendas ................................................................................................................ 43
Advertising production for television ..................................................................................... 45
Stage 1 – Design .............................................................................................................. 45
Stage 2 – Approvals ......................................................................................................... 45
Stage 3 – Selection of production House ........................................................................ 45
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Stage 4 – Pre production ................................................................................................ 46
Stage 5 – The shoot ......................................................................................................... 46
Stage 6 – Post Production ............................................................................................... 46
Effects of advertising .............................................................................................................. 47
CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................ 49
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................... 49
Qualitative research ................................................................................................................ 49
Researching the effects of advertising ................................................................................... 50
Textual and non-textual analysis ............................................................................................ 51
Textual............................................................................................................................. 51
Non-textual ..................................................................................................................... 51
Classifications of advertisements ........................................................................................... 51
Analysis of iconography .......................................................................................................... 52
Analysing content and ideology in advertisements using semiotics ...................................... 53
Ideology ........................................................................................................................... 53
Semiotics ......................................................................................................................... 54
Denotation and Connotation .......................................................................................... 56
Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic ....................................................................................... 56
Concluding semiotics .............................................................................................................. 57
Audience studies ..................................................................................................................... 58
Testing consumers’ responses to advertisements ................................................................. 59
Reliability ................................................................................................................................. 60
Focus groups ........................................................................................................................... 60
Detailed research methodology for this research .................................................................. 62
Transcription ........................................................................................................................... 65
Difficulties encountered in the focus group discussions ........................................................ 66
Who conducts advertising research?...................................................................................... 67
Research design ...................................................................................................................... 67
Principal Theories upon which the research project is constructed .............................. 67
Prior research into area .......................................................................................................... 69
Data analysis – qualitative research ....................................................................................... 70
Analysing transcripts ............................................................................................................... 72
Analysing themes .................................................................................................................... 72
Using graphic representations in Data Analysis ..................................................................... 74
CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 75
ANALYSIS OF ADVERTISEMENTS USING SEMIOTICS ............................................................... 75
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Advert: one ............................................................................................................................. 75
Title: Today I woke up ..................................................................................................... 75
Advert: Two ............................................................................................................................. 82
Title: Rhythm of the Nation ............................................................................................ 82
Advert: Three .......................................................................................................................... 87
Title: We’ve done it before ............................................................................................. 87
Analysing themes in advertisements ...................................................................................... 93
Recurrent themes and symbols across advertisements 1, 2 and 3 ........................................ 93
Brief Description of Corporate Advertisements ..................................................................... 96
Castle Lager Advert ......................................................................................................... 96
Standard Bank Advert ..................................................................................................... 96
South African Airways Advert ......................................................................................... 96
CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................... 97
RESULTS................................................................................................................................... 97
Table 4.1.1 Results for Advertisement One (age Category 45 years and older.) ........... 97
Table 4.1.2 Results for Advertisement Two (age Category 45 years and older.) ........... 99
Table 4.1.3 Results for Advertisement Three (age Category 45 years and older.)....... 100
Table 4.2.1 Results for Advertisement One (age Category 25-44) ............................... 102
Table 4.2.2 Results for Advertisement Two (age Category 25-44) ............................... 104
Table 4.2.3 Results for Advertisement Three (age Category 25-44) ............................ 104
Table 4.3.1 Results for advertisement one: Age Category 25 and under..................... 105
Table 4.2.2 Results for Advertisement Two (age Category 25-44) ............................... 107
Table 4.2.3 Results for Advertisement Three (age Category 25-44) ............................ 107
Corporate Advertisements ................................................................................................... 108
Diagrams Representing Flow of General Discussion (post Focus Group) ............................. 111
CHAPTER FIVE ....................................................................................................................... 114
ANALYSIS and discussion ...................................................................................................... 114
Age Group 45 years and older .............................................................................................. 115
Age group 25-44 years .................................................................................................. 119
Age group 25 years and under .............................................................................................. 123
Comparison between ‘alive with possibility’ campaign advertisements and three corporate
advertisements. .................................................................................................................... 125
Perceptions of different generations towards advertisements in the study ....................... 126
Perceptions of different races towards advertisements in the study .................................. 127
Common Symbols used to promote an intercultural and interracial South Africa and nation
building ................................................................................................................................. 128
Branding a country – South Africa ........................................................................................ 129
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Selling the idea of an intercultural and inter-racial South Africa and nation building ......... 130
The advertising campaign and cultural diversity .................................................................. 132
The advertising campaign and language use ........................................................................ 132
Politics in South African advertising ..................................................................................... 133
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 134
The current projects of the International Marketing Council of South Africa ..................... 136
References ............................................................................................................................ 138

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CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
As an individual born into apartheid but raised in the era of democracy, the
transformation of South Africa is fascinating. The ‘new’ South Africa has initiated
changes in all spheres of life, many of which involve undoing the prejudices of the past.
However, one of the defining aspects of this ‘new’ country is the building of a ‘new’
nation powered by diversity. This thesis studies this process in the light of television
advertising. My experiences of the old and the new South Africa have made me aware of
the difficulties associated with change, and the many amendments that have to be put in
place to catalyse this change harmoniously and without creating friction. My research is
therefore based on a paradigm or a world-view that is informed by my own experience of
South Africa.
The study looks at whether advertising in South Africa facilitates and promotes the idea
of an intercultural and interracial South Africa and Nation Building. The investigation is
primarily conducted by studying the International Marketing Council’s ‘alive with
possibility’ television campaign.
The ‘alive with possibility’ campaign is an initiative of the International Marketing
Council of South Africa (IMC). It utilises specific depictions in its advertising to suggest
the idea of an intercultural and interracial country that is progressing despite its past. In
order to show how this type of marketing has filtered through in other advertisements, the
research compares the ideology of the IMC’s ‘alive with possibility’ advertisements with
corporate advertising in South Africa. The corporate advertising used for the purpose of
this study includes television advertisements for South African Airways, First National
bank and Castle Lager.
The case study involves three steps. The first of which is the selection of television
advertisements from the ‘alive with possibility’ campaign and other organisations. The
second identifies thematic conventions in the advertisements through a semiotic analysis.
The third deals with the interpretations, perceptions and opinions of people in three focus
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