1. Title- Gerbner and Hall: OMO
LO: To develop ideas about representation of gender
5 minute task
What ideas are represented in this image?
How are they represented
(media language and representations)
Consider:
Women
Trend
The 1950s
Values
2. Objectives: Evolving to OMO
Learning: To build ideas of how to study media products by applying skills acquired
Application: To develop understanding by analysis of CSP products.
Knowledge: To develop ideas about the specific examination products
All our objectives are
AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
the theoretical framework of media
contexts of media and their influence on media products and processes.
AO2: Analyse media products using the theoretical framework of media, including in relation to
their contexts, to make judgements and draw conclusions.
3. OMO- KEY TERMS
KEY TERMS
Demographic- The study of audiences , specifically the details of
measurable elements. E.g. gender, age, where they live, their jobs/careers,
wealth, religion, education etc.
Ethnographic- The study of people as culture- their habits, values, beliefs,
behaviours, interests.
For 1950s advertisers
knowledge of demographics
was essential in marketing
their brand. It told them the
size of the market, its age,
financial and marital status.
4. OMO- KEY TERMS
The ideology of the role of women:
how they saw themselves, their
aspirations and desires became
identifiable elements that could
be appealed to. Most significantly,
they became elements that
advertising could manufacture
and make into desires.
The growing idea of applying ethnographic methods took hold in the 1950s
and spread rapidly in the decades that followed. Such an approach focused on
the construction of messages about the brand that the identified audience
would find appealing.
5. OMO- Applying Theory
Advertisers state that this is to ensure products and
services respond to consumers unmet needs.
The theorist Sam Ladner argues that understanding
consumers and their desires requires and shift in
what she terms their standpoint.
John Berger argues that all too often advertisers
construct false needs that consumers are unaware
they have until the advertisers make them believe
that they want them, need them. In constructing
these they all too often rely on stereotypes as a
means of easy, repetitive communication.
6. OMO- Uses and Gratifications Model
According to uses and gratifications theory, we have different uses of the media
that require use to make choices over which media platform and which media
product we engage with.
Our encounter with any media
product is not a passive
acceptance- we are expecting
to get something from it: some
kind of gratification. In this
model the individual has
power and selects the media
platform and products that
best suit our needs.
7. OMO- Uses and Gratifications Model
The Uses and Gratifications model suggests we consume the media for the
following reasons.
Information/Surveillance
Personal Identity
Social Integration (i.e. Fitting In)
Entertainment/Diversion
Which of these applies to Housewives seeing the OMO advert?
8. OMO- Uses and Gratifications
The woman shown is likely to be married (hanging
towels). They are white and appear happy in the
role and to lumped together and addressed as
millions of women.
The target audience of women, specifically
housewives, is constructed by the OMO adverts
use of graphic based images featuring a woman
with whom the audience are invited to identify
with.
This constructs ideas of identity that links to the
works of Blumler and Katz in their Uses and
Gratifications theory.
9. OMO- Two Step Flow
The Two Step Flow theory is the idea that
the mass media is communicated to us
through opinion leaders (e.g. a YouTuber)
who in effect act as a filter for media
messages, relaying the essential ideas
and opinions to individuals who then
acted upon them.
E.g. A YouTuber promoting a TV
programme, film or other media product
to their fans.
10. OMO- Two Step Flow
The Two Step Flow
theory is present in the
stamp of approval from
this housewife to her
mother. Such
endorsement reinforces
the idea of the quality of
the product and offers
reassurance that millions
of women make that
choice it is reinforced as
being the right one to
make.
11. OMO- Lexicon
Also the idea of something being OMO
brightness which seeks to reassure the audience.
The language choice- the lexicon of terms- is also
interesting. Notice the words and phrases
associated with image and self worth.
Clean
White
Bright
At the same time, the repetition of exciting,
wonderful, new seeks to emphasis the
difference between OMO and its competitors by
applying binary oppositions.
12. OMO- Reception Theory
Halls Encoding/Decoding Model
The message is first created by the producer (inevitable encoded with a
multitude of signs) to reinforce the mainstream viewpoint of that culture.
The message is then sent through a specific medium (TV, newspapers etc.)
where it reaches a particular audience.
From there the message is decoded by the audience in one of three ways:
1. The dominant position- where the viewer takes the meaning of the message
the way the producer intended
2. The negotiated position- where the viewer accepts part of the message but
rejects others that dont fit their interests.
2. The oppositional position- where the viewer decodes the message and
rejects the entire message,
13. OMO- Reception Theory
The Reception Theory model of Stuart Hall draws
attention to the idea of connotations of OMO as
heroically offering solutions to all of a
housewives needs and so constructs a
dominant hegemonic coding, the preferred
reading to be received, understood and then
acted upon.
There are imperatives in the repeated us of
exclamation marks in each of the blocks of text
or straplines, and the repeated use of personal
pronouns you ensure than mother
understands who the message is for.
14. OMO- Overall
The audience are aligned with the message and
the product.
They become avid consumers who have bought
into not merely the use of the product but the
brand values and dominant ideology.
15. Comparing Two Adverts
Task- Look at the two adverts on the next slide. Compare how audiences are
positioned (i.e. who is the target audience) by the representations shown in the
two adverts.
In your answer you must:
Consider how the representations
construct (false) versions of reality.
Consider the similarities and differences
in how audiences are positioned by the
representations.
How far do the representations relate to
the media contexts in which they were
produced? (1950s)
Success Criteria
Use evidence from both
adverts
Use media language terms
Show awareness of how
women are represented.
Stretch- Apply a theory we have
covered today.
17. Wider issues enable you to demonstrate that
you have acquired not only knowledge of the
products but understanding.
Looking at the OMOM advert. What inferences
can be made about the following wider issues:
The 1950s in general?
1950s views on the role of men and women?
1950s views on women?
What use is there of narrative?
How might we apply Propp?
What stereotypes are being used?
OMO- Aiming High
18. How well do you understand the OMO CSP? Write down RED, AMBER OR
GREEN.
Plenary
Ive begun to understand
the OMO CSP.
I am able to apply this to
my work.
Editor's Notes
Pg 41 of sample assessment material has MS for a NLG question detailing indicative content of a response