The image forming objects can be conditionally divided into 3 categories:
1. Objects whose rating depends exclusively on the image created by them or for them.
This category includes individuals (politicians, TV presenters, leaders of social and religious movements), social groups (military, students, pensioners, etc.), parties, radio companies and individual programs, social movements (Greenpeace, feminism, nudism, anti-abortion movement, etc.).
The listed objects are mainly non-profit organizations. They do not sell goods or services, their position is determined by the attitude of the public towards them. The purpose of these objects can be called the possibility of influencing the mood in society.
2. Objects whose rating equally depends on both the image and the quality of the goods or services they produce.
These are, first of all, large national and transnational corporations (Philips, ZIL, Valio, etc.). The same category also includes smaller firms if their success in the market depends not only on what they sell but also on how they do it. These objects aim to increase sales while at the same time creating a positive image and improving product quality.
3. Objects for which image fluctuations are not a decisive factor in their success.
These are mainly small trading organizations. Their success in the market depends to a greater extent on the quality of products offered.
The number of objects in this category significantly decreases with the development of market culture.
Depending on the category of the object, the set of methods to form the image may vary. If for the objects of the third category it is enough to try not to allow a deliberate or accidental decrease of the image, otherwise relying on successful spontaneous development of the image; for the first and second categories, it is necessary to think over each step of the image campaign.
The difference in the complexity of the tasks determines the difference in the methods of image-making and the channels of influence on the audience. The main channels of influence (information transmission) can be called oral communication, visual agitation, periodicals, radio and television. The set of channels for all categories of objects remains unchanged and their choice is determined by the expediency and the customer's requests. The methods, unlike the channels, are different for each category.
The largest choice of methods in the second category, because the organizers of image-making actions for these objects are forced to mask their true goals and show great ingenuity. The most common methods: 1. Joining the client: - to the action already being taken by other clients; - to the action previously taken by them.
The effect is based on "psychological charging" when a person unconsciously learns the emotional state of the group or a person of authority for him/her. In practice, the effect is used as an institution and maintenance of useful traditions, rituals, holidays, etc. The effect is used as a joining of the Client to the actions already confidently carried out by other Clients.
a) The Client is invited to act 1, familiar to him, desired by him and related to action 2, necessary to the customer. (So, the shop sharply reduces the price for the goods well known to the Client. The calculation is based on the fact that the attracted Clients, along the way, will buy other goods in the store, that is, will commit action 2).
b) The client is gently placed in a situation where he is offered a range of goods and/or services to choose from (it is not specified that it is possible to refuse the choice at all).
c) Clients are put in a situation where they begin to discuss the problem, finding new arguments "for" and "against", thereby making the object familiar to themselves and the population (in the case of broadcast or publication of the discussion).
d) "Herostratus effect": an "ostensibly ban" on the action is introduced. To understand the actual prohibition, the client must first present the "prohibited act".
If the impact on the Client through the selected channel is not enough, then it is necessary to resort to - change of method;
- Changing the perception channel (it should be taken into account that an approximate person remembers 10% of what he or she read, 20% of what he or she heard, 30% of what he or she saw, 50% of what he or she heard and saw, 70% of what he or she said, 90% of what he or she did); - Changing the time or place of exposure; - Parallel exposure through different channels.
Ways to create a "miracle":
a) Abnormally large objects and record-breaking achievements;
b) Putting the Client at a dead end.... followed by a miraculous release from it.
c) Overcoming or violating prohibitions or norms of behaviour (real or imaginary).
to be continued in the next part