DISSERTATION - Tutorial 2

I managed to create a structure for my dissertation before this tutorial and email it to Richard as requested, however, I didn't get round to actually writing anything or drafting up the first chapter as suggested. This wasn't too much of a problem it turned out as we got to talk about some ideas that I had developed from my research visit to NIKETOWN in London over dissertation week and we also refined the structure of my dissertation.

Here are the notes I took from the tutorial.

• change from 4 chapters to 3 chapters
• consumerism branding
• start chapter 1
• ask support how to structure that chapter
• introduction
• main body
• 4 or more theories of branding in consumer culture
• conclusion
• relates back to title
• Can use a variety of examples (don't go mad)
• famous brands - Pes soap
• brands associating itself with something else
• expand on methodologies

Richards notes and feedback.

• amended dissertation to focus on three chapter structure.
• 1 - brand theory and consumer culture
• 2 - NIKE and cool branding
• 3 - case studies
• Chapter 1 (2000 words) - use a variety of examples
• intro
• main body
• 4 or more theories
• conclusion
• relate back to title
• link to next chapter
• By next tutorial - start chapter one

So basically this was a good tutorial and I don't feel as behind on the work as I did beforehand and I just need to draft my first chapter for the next tutorial and we can go from there.

RESEARCH - trip to London and NIKETOWN

To strengthen my case study with some primary research I took a trip to London (for the first time ever) specifically to visit the NIKE flagship store and observe what they are doing with there products and the experience customers have when they visit.

The store was very organised and precise, it had a lot of installations that display the clothes and products which made it almost feel like a museum dedicated to NIKE. They have utilised different popular sports and urban subcultures and echoed them in the displays. For example, there were shoes suspended in frames made from basket ball hoops, and when you enter the building you're greeted by not only the staff but a series of mannequins dressed in American Football gear tackling each other.

A lot of brands seem to be doing this with their bigger stores. They are reinvesting in the layouts and displays to give customers a new experience of shopping. With the every growing online world of retail and the expanding availability of purchasing something without even leaving the comfort of your own home, these new 'experience' driven outlets are attempting to bring people back to the world of manual consumption.

Some of the image quality isn't great because I had to use an iPhone instead of my SLR so I didn't look like I was stealing designs or anything like that. Fortunately looks of other people were doing the same so I blended in quite well.

This is the main reason why I wanted to come and visit. To see the NIKEID studio where you can get your NIKE trainers customised. Even though you are wearing a NIKE product you still get some of you put into it.

RESEARCH - NIKEID

With people in consumer society forever wanting to be individual and unique it's difficult for brands to give their customers something that will make them feel that way. The word brand itself implies that something is permanently marked and it's unchangeable so when we buy a branded product we'll be getting the same branded product as every other consumer.

NIKE have tackled this with their NIKEID brand. It's a sub brand to the overall NIKE brand that allows customers to go online or to their stores and customise their shoes. I've tried this myself on the NIKEstore website. http://www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/

So you can see that you can customise pretty much every part of the shoe besides the sole and tread of it. You can even remove the NIKE name and SWOOSH from the shoe entirely in some cases.

RESEARCH - the century of self

This is a link to the documentary thats been broken down into small chunks that can be viewed with great ease than the full length video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC-FSZQgwdA&playnext=1&list=PL983A4502BAD80B3A&feature=results_main

A very long documentary which I probably wont be able to get through but I've been watching it and taking notes when I can. I've been picking up specifically on the consumer and brand related topics and quotes. Trying to select specific points that relate to my topic I hope to use the theories to build up my first chapter and reference to it in the second.

DISSERTATION - 1st tutorial

This was the first of my six half hour tutorials for my dissertation. I felt quite under prepared for it as I haven't done copious amounts of reading and I don't have any sort of structure planned out for my topic and content. Fortunately Richard and I managed to discuss quite a bit and it really helped to verbalise some ideas. As we picked apart the topic and asked some fundamental questions, it made the direction of my dissertation more clear.


These are the notes I took during the tutorial, some are brief but others I've tried to expand on.


When do I bring the case study into my dissertation? Does it come in straight away or do I make a few analytical points first?

At the end. Make general points on the methodologies to begin with then direct it towards the specific with you case study.



Look at the the first two chapters of Naomi Kliens 'No Logo' and read the chapter on the marketing of cool.

Analyse consumer culture and apply brand theory to the NIKE franchise - use  no logo chapter one and two and the documentary 'The Century of Self'


Plan of action

define methodologies
set up dyslexia tutorial sessions
use appropriate theories
speak to Lisa about Vans - similar topic for dissertation
watch century of self again and take notes - extract useful parts and quotes and ideas
look at the consumption reader

1st task - take the shell structure we discussed and add flesh to the bones of it in bullet points

2nd task - email it to Richard ASAP

3rd task - book second tutorial, roughly 2 weeks time



Richards feedback sheet

DISSERTATION - google scholar search on consumerism

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8608.00063/abstract

DISSERTATION - Consumerism - the typical wikisearch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism

Extract

Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in ever-greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen. Veblen's subject of examination, the newly emergent middle class arising at the turn of the twentieth century, comes to full fruition by the end of the twentieth century through the process ofglobalization.^[1] In this sense, consumerism is usually considered a part of media culture.

Sometimes, the term "consumerism" is also used to refer to the consumerists movement, consumer protection or consumer activism, which seeks to protect and inform consumers by requiring such practices as honest packaging and advertising, product guarantees, and improved safety standards. In this sense it is a movement or a set of policies aimed at regulating the products, services, methods, and standards of manufacturers, sellers, and advertisers in the interests of the buyer.^[2]

In economics, consumerism refers to economic policies placing emphasis on consumption. In an abstract sense, it is the belief that the free choice of consumers should dictate the economic structure of a society (cf. Producerism, especially in the British sense of the term).^[3]

The term "consumerism" was first used in 1915 to refer to "advocacy of the rights and interests of consumers" (Oxford English Dictionary) but in this article the term "consumerism" refers to the sense first used in 1960, "emphasis on or preoccupation with the acquisition of consumer goods" (Oxford English Dictionary).