Film–Oatly

Company: Oatly is the pioneer of the oat milk brand. The brand combines scientific rigour with emotional and playful creativity.

Competitor: Other oat milk brands in the UK include Alpro and Minor Figures, as well as Dream, a brand of rice plant milk, and innocent, a brand with coconut milk products.

Context: Oatly is unique for bundling oat milk with coffee and works with coffee shops. Their packaging is also an advertisement, as it puts the company’s philosophy and trolling on the product to market itself through self-hacking.

Customer: The audience of Oatly milk is mainly coffee lovers and lactose intolerant people. Oatly focuses on these two groups of people by launching a variety of flavours modelled on milk, focusing on the health needs of consumers.

Culture: Oatly emphasises sustainability, nutritional health, and a brand philosophy of trust and transparency. They will be honest in labelling ingredients to reassure vegetarians.

Rationale: Oatly currently exists to promote them all in a straightforward exposition, mainly in the form of quizzes to clearly let the audience know the product’s features. As a result, we believe that consumers are already well aware of the benefits of Oatly’s products and that the brand lacks some interesting expressions. We wanted to bring more memorable points about the product and use this to raise the profile of Oatly in the minds of consumers. 

Therefore, we chose to adapt the story based on Snow White, replacing the poisoned apple with milk, to express Oatly can offer people an alternative choice, especially for those who cannot drink milk (e.g. lactose intolerant and vegetarians). We invited a male to play the witch, and the bad characters shouldn’t always be female. The prince is just a character who delivers the Oatly, and the princess would not waiting for a prince to save her.

Working in the digital economy

Are you a free labor force for social media sites?

Social media has entered our lives and become a part of our lives. Every day, we spend our time using various applications on our cell phones.

https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2018/10/quitting-social-media/

An immeasurable number of 7.7 billion people in the world, including 3.5 billion of us online  users, and this number will increase with the popularity of the Internet.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/

For me

The first thing I do when I wake up is to open my social media sites on my phone to check if anyone is looking for me, to see what photos others are posting, and to see if there are any offline events, shopping discounts, or restaurant discounts.

The following two data charts show how much time I spend on social media sites in terms of weeks and days respectively.

From week to week, 56 hours of screen time, more than 33 hours are spent on social media sites, WeChat, TikTok, Xiaohongshu – Wikipedia, Instagram.

Platform to get free labor?

The reasons for spending the most time using WeChat:

1 I am studying in the UK and need to video call with my family at home.

2 WeChat has an online store, so I can buy some Chinese food in the UK.

3 There are some Chinese takeaways on WeChat.

https://www.wechatagency.com/wechat-marketing-ecommerce-eshop-miniprogram-mcommerce

TikTok 

I like visiting Tik Tok, I feel that this software knows me better than my friends. Because I always see some shopping information on it without thinking, such as this phone below, someone in the comment section recommended where to buy cheaper.

I will look carefully, do a price comparison, and then choose the way to buy. I follow 80 accounts; there is the introduction of travel, shopping recommendations, restaurant recommendations, and online shopping to receive discount codes.

https://v.douyin.com/h8GnXdU/

However, I just send a short video of playing in an amusement park, 325 people watch it, and only 2 likes. Another way to explain it is that I provide traffic for other accounts. However, I did not get the corresponding return myself.

Xiaohongshu – Wikipedia

It is a sharing platform for women in China all the girls around me use it, including my mom.

I share photos and videos of cooking, shopping, and traveling. At the same time, I’d find the same type of posts from other people every day.

Interestingly, I often brush up on London discounts, for example; I recently brushed up on the end-of-the-year Gucci shoes at Selfridges for 50% off, and I bought two pairs of shoes.

It sounds like I earned it, buying luxury goods on sale the platform information to promote me to spend. I posted something with hundreds of accounts tours but did not get the corresponding income.

http://www.xiaohongshu.com/user/profile/63406d45000000001802a9ed?xhsshare=CopyLink&appuid=63406d45000000001802a9ed&apptime=1670274482

Platform to gain benefits?

OR Platform to get free labor?

Social media platforms used by marketers 2022 – Statista

The latest data released by the survey reflects that Internet technology and different disciplines of mutual stimulation complement each other.

Advertising has become the pillar of the Internet technology revenue industry. The reason is that “traffic” – a trendy word – plays a decisive role.

As a representation of users’ attention, traffic directs the direction of advertising. As the owner of the traffic tidal wave.

Internet companies naturally receive a large amount of advertising revenue. This is the fundamental reason why we become their free labor while using social media.

Media and advertising II: algorithms and racial capitalism

Online dating software has to ignore a problem – racism

In today’s society, with the development of technology and the accelerated pace of life, people no longer rely on traditional ways of making friends in life.

Some people prefer to make friends online because social networking software can be programmed with algorithms that allow the holder to get a date that interests her, including different races, colors, social identities, and classes.

https://www.scienceofpeople.com/best-friendship-apps

Inevitably, then, there is the race issue that no one wants to talk about.

This article will discuss the impact of race on online friendships, or simply the presence of racial discrimination in online friendships.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/29/wltm-colour-blind-dating-app-racial-discrimination-grindr-tinder-algorithm-racism

The data from the  Dating App report shows that people are becoming more accepting of the dating app model.

The number of new accounts has been growing steadily in recent years, with the most popular ones being TinderBumbleHingeBadooHappnGrindrTantanPlenty of Fish.

https://www.businessofapps.com/data/dating-app-market-sector-profile/

Grindr

As an influential online LGBT social dating software worldwide.

For quite some time in the past allowed users, in the process of starting the program to match people, can be filtered according to age, height, weight, and race.

https://vpnoverview.com/privacy/apps/privacy-grindr/

The core of the application is built into the operating system to operating, or you can pay a separate fee to become a member and get a search by race.

According to a survey in a 2015 paper , up to 90% of users have been exposed to profiles that contain racial slurs, and 50% of people consider themselves victims of racial slurs.

https://thenextweb.com/news/grindr-racism-how-users-justify-it-syndication

About 4 years ago, when I first came to the UK to study, I met my first black classmate.

His name is Tony, Tony had discussed the issue with me, and he said that it all made him feel frustrated and he originally thought that he would not be hurt by coming to a country that is very gender inclusive. But what he didn’t expect was; to be hurt by racial discrimination, look Douchebags of Grindr and hashtags like #grindrwhileblack.

https://www.facebook.com/pinknews/videos/720347088315941/

The Dating Divide: Race And Desire In The Era Of Online Romance also discusses that black skin is the most racially discriminated group of people in online dating apps.

Which can be interpreted as measuring a person’s quality by the color of their skin. Some believe that Grindr’s program is set up to promote racism to a certain extent have argued.

Grindr Announces  remove the “ethnicity filter”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA51xUkH9Fy/

In June 2020, Grindr  announced the remove the “ethnicity filter” feature in tribute to Black Lives Matter and said that it would never launch racial preferences in its apps again which is a very positive sign.

However, I think this is just the beginning, and it won’t solve the problem of racial discrimination in all online friendships, and there may be all kinds of racial discrimination-related apps in the future.

Personal recommendation

Technicians are developing programs to avoid racialize algorithms.

We hope that the government will establish a policy to review applications to avoid racial discrimination on the Internet.

Those who use the application should establish managing risk and safety, to prevent themselves from encountering it when using it.

The digital economy

UGC—Lululemon

What is User-Generated Content? 

https://blog.hootsuite.com/user-generated-content-ugc/

In the age of new media, the power of faster and wider distribution has replaced the fragmentation and one-way nature of traditional media advertising.

https://blog.hootsuite.com/user-generated-content-ugc/

A: Brands use the UGC model to advertise on social media sites at a lower cost by allowing User-generaed content to be advertised on media sites, reducing advertising costs, making it simple to operate, and achieving a new economic model of interactivity, 93% of marketers .

https://instagram.com/lululemon?igshid=YTY2NzY3YTc=

LuLaRoe

Canadian casual clothing brand, has a successful marketing approach to its yoga wear segment, which is the top-selling product.

To date, 1.5 million hashtags have been created on the topic.

https://instagram.com/lululemon?igshid=YTY2NzY3YTc=

Success Stories of UGC – Medium

https://medium.com/snapsea/success-stories-of-ugc-f20e769dc78a

Lululemon also has a YouTube account, which has reached 281,000 subscribers and 4,298,828 views since 2006.

Lululemon global works with the local team to produce short videos such as; product introductions, and yoga and fitness videos (meditation, running, and training by experts in the field).

https://www.youtube.com/@lululemon/about

Consumers can find different content according to their needs and the videos are available in short workouts ranging from 5 minutes to 45 minutes, catering to groups with different time needs.

http://www.pg-advisory.com/m/view.php?aid=146

I think Lululemon is growing steadily through its UGC business model, as the earnings report below shows now, from 2018 to 2019.

7 advantages of social media advertising for your business

 https://www.commonground.digital/paid-social/7-advantages-of-social-media-advertising-for-your-business/

Through the above examples, we can see that the two main drivers of revenue growth are traffic growth and increased conversion rates.

https://www.commonground.digital/paid-social/7-advantages-of-social-media-advertising-for-your-business/

Its content is just in line with the public demand, buying sports-type products, also want to exercise.

Easy to resonate with consumers, the marketing model draws closer to consumers, strengthens the sense of interaction, also allows consumers to interpret the brand concept in the community of social media sites.

At the same time, brands can filter out quality content in line with the brand values as advertising to attract more potential consumers according to user preferences.

B: The creators of the UGC (Bran ambassador)

the 2022 Influencer Report from the Morning, It was discussed that the majority of people want to make money on social media sites.

With 86% wanting to be paid for posting content for brands on social media sites by being [The creators of the UGC].

26% want to be exposed to social media sites and become influencers through production.

https://taggbox.com/blog/ugc-creator/
https://taggbox.com/blog/ugc-creator/

I think Lululemon is good at using the creators of the UGC, as the brand invites these people to become Bran ambassadors, quite literally workers for the brand, and gives them a certain salary.

https://www.lululemon.co.uk/en-gb/home

Through the brand ambassador’s network and social circle, they promote the product online.

https://www.youtube.com/@lululemon

On Lululemon’s official website and social media sites [Instagram, YouTube], the creators of the UGC show exercise videos; yoga, gym, and exercise tips.

C: Consumersuser-generated content (UGC).

The advantage of UGC for consumers is that they feel authentic and can show their attitude to yoga, their attitude to life, and their body through the communities on social media sites.

Lululemon, which has created a platform for consumers to express themselves to the fullest extent.

At the same time, consumers identify with the values of the product and can share their feelings about exercise through the communities that the brand has created on social media sites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkBeBTN09Lg

who benefits most of all?

Brands become the most profitable
The UGC model is a crucial part of a brand’s marketing product, mainly to increase the credibility of the product, drive social media traffic and enhance consumer purchasing power.

https://ewhabrandcommunication.wordpress.com/2022/10/19/ugc-marketing-take-lululemon-for-example/

In the long run, lululemon uses the UGC model to stimulate consumers to participate in activities and purchase sports products.

Media, ideology, and hegemony: media meanings

What’s Wrong with Popular Feminism?

Feminism has evolved from the 19th century to the present day, with each period of feminism making new claims. From its beginnings, women in Western countries launched movements to improve the status of women in society.

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/whats-wrong-with-popular-feminism/

 Post-modern feminism put forward the values of diversity and difference and rejected the binary thinking of black and white.

https://mobile.twitter.com/mantoneofficial

This is the core of what will be discussed in the next article, and it seems that feminism can be found everywhere in our lives, for example in an advertisement or a large event.

https://mariannetaylor.co.uk/punky-pins-stills-and-lifestyle-photography-of-colourful-pins/

More specifically a bottle of drink, a feminine product, a dress, a song, or a piece of jewelry.

Engagement Rings Bring Your Love Story to Life

https://www.liherald.com/stories/engagement-rings-bring-your-love-story-to-life,131891?

Today’s product marketing teams and advertisers are well aware of the buying power of women and most often tie feminism to consumerism, using language and visuals to promote sales.

https://www.mic.com/articles/91961/10-worst-ways-companies-have-used-feminism-to-sell-women-products

 In our stereotypical view, diamond rings are advertised as a gift of true love, purchased by a man to be worn by a woman in person.

https://academic.oup.com/book/12242

Popular Feminism —-De Beers

De Beers’ diamond ring advertisements create a diamond culture, promoting the hardness of the diamond as a symbol of love and fidelity.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/02/how-an-ad-campaign-invented-the-diamond-engagement-ring/385376/

Promoting through various forms of advertising that diamonds are inseparable from sweet love and that a man must buy a diamond ring for a woman and put it on herself when she gets married.

Citigroup report (which relies on De Beers data)

https://www.middiamonds.com/the-diamond-blog/woman-are-diamonds-new-frontier-now-as-self-purchasers/

1: De Beers’ advertising portrays a male desire to buy the bigger the diamond ring, the stronger the love for the other person.

2: The De Beers campaign makes women believe that a diamond ring is an essential part of courtship.

3: The De Beers advertisements show that the diamond ring represents a beautiful and eternal blessing of love, i.e. it is associated with engagements, weddings, and wedding anniversaries.

https://www.middiamonds.com/the-diamond-blog/woman-are-diamonds-new-frontier-now-as-self-purchasers/

Why more millennial women are buying their own ement rings

https://www.holtsgems.com/blog/more-millennial-women-are-buying-their-own-engagement-rings

With the rise of women in all walks of life, the economic income structure of men and women in society is changing.

De Beers, a company with a keen eye, shifted its marketing strategy.

Popular Feminism De Beers, one of the world’s largest diamond dealers, created a different kind of advertisement, using independent women as a vehicle to get women to buy diamond rings for themselves.

https://www.middiamonds.com/the-diamond-blog/woman-are-diamonds-new-frontier-now-as-self-purchasers/

This is a prime example of a campaign that uses visual language effects to create a concept that elicits empathy from the consumer base, linking independent women to consumerism.

Suggesting that they go out and buy diamond rings for themselves as independent women.

https://youtu.be/ngzSFeKhf1I

Scholarly articles for Feminism in Consumerism

Feminism has evolved to the point where she is a very multi-latitude idea, with many schools of thought and a lack of common perception between them, even if part of the ideas does not belong to any school of thought.

https://www.middiamonds.com/the-diamond-blog/woman-are-diamonds-new-frontier-now-as-self-purchasers/

  As a marketer, it is clever to quote some of these ideas to link them to consumerism.   capitalist point of view, this looks like a kind of Popular feminism, using consumerism for ideological and practical means to promote consumption.

https://instagram.com/debeersofficial?igshid=YTY2NzY3YTc=

It is also clear from De Beers’ social media campaigns that the language of the campaign is interconnected with women as individuals and is not limited to romantic love stories.

https://instagram.com/debeersofficial?igshid=YTY2NzY3YTc=

Economic systems and the organization of the media industries

Economic systems and the organization of the media industries

 Chinese media organizations

https://www.cgtn.com/

The text will describe the organization of the media industry in the country from a Chinese perspective.

On the other hand, the “democratization” of media companies in the media industry under socialism with Chinese characteristics is further discussed.

These two aspects will be of great significance for the future development of Chinese media organizations.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1232505.shtml

Characteristics of Chinese media

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40636-015-0012-3

The Chinese media system is not exactly the same or different from the rest of the world, but its most distinctive feature is that Chinese media organizations promote the stability of the local regime and maximize the interests of the media industry in the market without challenging political rights.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40636-015-0012-3

Along with the development of the media industry, China’s media is increasingly showing its diversity, growing together with the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, intermingling and influencing each other to build up the complexity of the Chinese media system.

TIK TOK

https://www.tiktok.com/en/

I will use Tik Tok as an example for discussing the democracy of Chinese news, because TIK TOK is a private social media site in China, which can be understood as a capital-controlled social media platform, and discuss the news part inside.

https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/6057996-tiktok-logo-on-transparent-background

Positive news

Pandemics & propaganda: How Chinese state media creates

https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/pandemics-propaganda-how-chinese-state-media-creates-and-propagates-ccp-coronavirus-narratives/

After the first outbreak of the virus in Wuhan in 2020, in just 10 days, “China Speed” accomplished an impossible miracle, with two hospitals rising from the ground, bringing new hope to the people of Wuhan.

The video received huge traffic on Tik Tok (China version), while General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the hospital and mentioned the safety and health of the people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huoshenshan_Hospital

This instantly gave the people of China a great sense of security. By visiting Tik Tok, the news about the virus was very positive, believing in the Chinese government and the Communist Party of China, and that China could beat the virus.

At that time, my Chinese friends around me kept discussing with me how timely and brave the Chinese government was in responding to emergencies, as people all over the world could see.

Negative news

China Covid Unrest Boils Over as Citizens Defy Lockdown Efforts

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-27/china-covid-unrest-boils-over-as-citizens-defy-lockdown-effort

The following two images show the international and Chinese versions of TIK TOK, searching for the White Paper Revolution, the results are that the international version can see the relevant videos and information, the Chinese version of the search results are blank.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_COVID-19_protests_in_China

The White Paper Revolution describes a group of people who opposed the virus embargo policy.

The main trigger was the 10 deaths caused by the fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, which some Chinese people realized was caused by the excessive embargo and the fire could not be put out in time. China needs to open up and return to normal life after two years of the embargo.

Among the protesters there were also calls for the removal of President Xi Jinping and the end of his personal dictatorship and the end of the ruling Communist Party of China.

However, these videos and related information are not available in China, but only on the international version of TIK TOK.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-27/china-covid-unrest-boils-over-as-citizens-defy-lockdown-efforts

By using TIK TOK as an example

China’s media industry is characterized by a “market-oriented authoritarianism” or “commercial authoritarianism” that accompanies the development of the market.

The Chinese Communist Party’s media organization has a controlling and influential role; through the media industry, it builds the ruling party’s media image, its ability to govern, its philosophy and performance, and obtains a special form of command that permeates the entire country.

Media Censorship in China

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/media-censorship-china

The Chinese government’s media organizations

(National Radio and Television Administration) are mainly involved in supervising, guiding, promoting and making regulations, such as the traditional media industry, TV series, movies, and news media publishers.

The private sector; the capital market has entered the Chinese media system, bringing fresh blood and accompanying development as part of the Emergence of platform capitalism, while satisfying the public’s need for diversified information flow.

However, media democracy in socialist China is a situation in which political rights cannot be challenged.


This article does not represent a personal political position, I am very passionate about China