English
中文Abstract –
This dissertation seeks to produce a specific industry brief on image enhancement, brand recognition, trend forecasting and consultancy through the utilisation of focus group work, editorial team-working, styling and image making, lay-out, film-making and presentation to advise our client. P & G Prestige & Beauty need to know what consumers may want in 2014 by undertaking detailed brand research and analysis that show a basic knowledge, critical understanding and application of cultural theory. Moreover, this paper will also identify new opportunities, research current culture, extrapolate future developments and use presentation and promotional skills, whilst constructing written and verbal arguments to produce interactive content and conclude with a summary of the key points from this study for the keynote speech and live presentation.
Statement of the Problem
Companies like P & G Prestige & Beauty need to remain at the forefront of their industry by embracing new forms of media to maintain and develop interest in their products. Therefore, it is necessary to look five years into the future and consider how that may affect the way we think and respond to different areas in fashion, beauty and lifestyle. This is because, since consumers increasingly shop and even live online it is necessary to consider how retail and leisure will evolve – particularly due to the current global economic problems (Weale, 2007). Moreover, it is also important to consider other issues that have influenced consumer activity including the fact people are becoming increasingly aware of environmental problems effecting consumer habits.
Proposed Resolution/Focus
- The use of individual ‘DNA sampling’ could become significant with every individual having their own based so it is then necessary to consider how we nurture and explore the DNA code (Kitcher, 1995). As a result, it will be argued future developments will be much less about the mainstream idea of ‘plastic’ or more ‘artificial’ beauty considered prevalent today because of its apparent accessibility to everyone (Edmonds, 2007) whereas eternal youth is more individual and hopeful for the future (Tongren, Hecht & Kovach, 1995).
- As a group we have been able to discern a large amount of factual research – by way of illustration, ‘L’Oreal’ analysts have recognised that everyone has their own personal chronological age as well as a skin age (Parry, 2009). Therefore, the future of fragrance and beauty products could be founded upon the individualising of products to suit individual needs because there is still an astounding 70% of ageing we can control (Van Der Mei et al, 2007), since this current generation is likely to live well into their 100s (Kleinfeld, 2003).
- It may also be interesting to consider euthanasia because social ideas about dying are likely to change due to principles of individual autonomy since noted legal theorist Ronald Dworkin (1993, pp.223-224) recognised “we should respect the decisions people make for themselves … because each person generally knows what is in his own best interests” that “encourages and protects people’s general capacity to lead their lives out … of what is important to and for them” (Ibid). As a result, this principle enjoys primacy over the sanctity of life under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 (domestically implemented by the Human Rights Act 1998), but is qualified where autonomy requires active involvement and can only be breached with express consent or under the Mental Health Act 1983 (amended by the Mental Capacity Act 2005) (Case, 2003).
Media Stunts/Literature Review
We want to show beauty is timeless since things that worked years ago can still work today and ageing does not mean you can no longer be beautiful (Tongren, Hecht & Kovach, 1995). Therefore, we shall also look at flower petals because they are beautiful even when they are dried to be juxtaposed with close ups of an older woman’s skin and veins to say something like ‘Beauty is skin deep’ allied to fragrances as they become 3-D (Rosen, 2001). With this in mind, it will also be necessary to look at possible advancements in advertising (Okonkwo, 2007) since advertising could become increasingly ‘sensory based’ involving ‘touch’, ‘taste’ and ‘smell’ to play more off individuals receptors in their brains to evoke a certain feeling or memory that may encourage consumers to purchase the product on offer (Smith & Kiger, 2006, p.26). After all, even in his book ‘Charlie & The Chocolate Factory’, Roald Dahl put forward the idea of ‘physically’ advertising products through the TV to consumers by way of a sample effectively expressed in the film adaptation to make it seem like a product is actually there in the room with the potential consumer.
Therefore, ‘smell’ is particularly important for the purposes of our client and it is interesting to note that the use of fragrances to derive more from a product is not a new thing (Synnott, 1991). ‘Smell-o-vision’ and ‘Aromarama’ have previously been utilised in cinema theatres to transport patrons to the places depicted before them on screen (Crowther, 1959). However, although its success was somewhat mixed (Martin & Kiger, 2006, p.26), these techniques are still sometimes used today and are likely to be used increasingly in the future as technology advances (see, for example, SMELLIT, 2009). This is because, in view of Nuno Teixeira’s invention (i.e. SMELLIT), we are not too far from having the ability to ‘pump’ smells through computers and out of television screens to potential consumers (Salzman & Matathia, 2006).
Methodology
Through the utilisation of a combination of secondary sources (i.e. text books, journal articles and websites) and primary research (i.e. case studies, questionnaires, interviews and focus groups (Morris, 2002) it will be necessary to utilise a suitable breadth of material to show different views and theories that are developing in relation to how cultural influences may promote fragrance in the future because ageing is an important area of concern to consumers (Van Der Mei et al, 2007). Then, it is also important to produce empirical data from primary research involving those actually working in the industry and with an interest (e.g. designers, architects, sociologists, and economists). Therefore, there is a need to utilise ‘closed’ and ‘open’ questions to be both effective and efficient in the gathering of primary research data to save time for both the participants and the questioner themselves (Stott, 1998) to be presented in both table and graphic forms to best illustrate the data that may be utilised as part of a power point presentation for the client.
