Post 7/8: publicity.

"Any publicity is good publicity."

This phrase brings many things to mind: Miley Cyrus's publicity antics, celebrities endorsing potato chips, and loads of sexist advertisements displayed throughout popular women's fashion magazines. i also think about my business textbook's advantages and disadvantages of publicity. It's important to remember that publicity has no control or no filter as to what is published in the media and to what extent. Belch describes publicity as "sources that are not confined by standards" which means that social networks can get a hold of all information and spin it to have many positive/negative meanings (589). For example, Miley Cyrus's recent displays of using drugs or wearing drug related paraphernalia can dissuade consumers from listening to her music. Even if she may be doing illegal activities in her personal spare time, her celebrity status signifies that anything she does is public information.

Good or bad publicity also relies on timing. Belch describes publicity's time issue as being "completely under the control of the marketer" (589). Relating to a specific celebrity's status, good advertising should depend on the celebrity's current or recent status in the media. For example, if Katy Perry had just done something illegal and it showed up in the press, companies would not want Perry endorsing or marketing new products under the market's name. McCracken's meaning transfer process is described through the various stages a celebrity's meaning is transferred onto the product and vice versa. Katy Perry's status, class, gender, age, personality, and lifestyle would be included in a consumer's choice of whether or not to purchase the product she is endorsing (190).

Despite timing and lack of control, Belch also mentions publicity needing to have accuracy when being generated. A lot of publicity's messages could get "lost in translation" due to the person advertising it or the message not being clear enough. This could constitute as bad publicity if the consumer does not understand the product or service's purpose. For example, Target Corporation recently experienced a data breach with their credit card services. To make up for the bad publicity that they dealt with as a company, they began offering 1-year free credit monitoring for all customers who felt betrayed by the company. This action began generating new (and positive) publicity so that their stocks could increase and customers would become brand loyal again.