Blog feedback and learner response

WWW: 
Firstly, it is important to acknowledge the brilliant start you have made in Media lessons – your engagement and contributions to discussion and debate are impressive and appreciated. Your blog also reflects that engagement – the 50 Cent RBK advert analysis is excellent with particular insight in terms of dominant and oppositional readings.

EBI: My concern is that your blog is missing some work. Based on the high standard of everything I've seen so far, I'm assuming this is due to a lack of organisation rather than any deliberate attempt to avoid work. However, Media (the subject and the industry) is project and deadline-based and organisation is a critical skill. You’re missing your own advert analysis to go alongside the RBK advert and the institution work is also unfinished (summaries of the institutions we researched). Clearly we need to be aiming for the very top grade in A Level Media but you will need to manage workload to achieve that!

LR: Add the missing/incomplete work. Next, reflect on your first month of AS Media. What is your strongest piece of work so far? What is your weakest? What specific skills or knowledge do you need to develop over the rest of the course?

Learner Response

I've thoroughly enjoyed my first month of AS Media. It's a subject that I always had a passion for and I definitely have fun in every lesson that I have.

I personally think that the piece of work for the MEST 1 blog that I think is my most strongest piece is the analysis of different adverts. I've also been able to use the ideas of dominant and oppositional readings which I thought were very interesting in the sense that it gives us an insight in every day media and how behind the scene, these techniques can affect the every day audience and in turn influence our perception of different things. 

My weakest, I have to say is the Brand Values piece, as I feel like the values that I thought about, although are correct in my perception and relate to the brand, are vague to say the very least. I think breaking down something and really looking at something from the perception of a brand's marketing values is something that I might have to work on as I currently have trouble seeing from their point of view. I also think I need to work on my essay and analysis skills further and come up with a variety and range of ideas rather than just a few.

Institution: Brand Values

Coca Cola

The Coca Cola brand is all about happy families, which helps to give the sense of belonging to the audience and allows them to relate to the brand quite easily. The brand is quite old which creates reliability in the product, and is probably the reason Coca Cola is a favourite when it comes to choosing drinks. In the majority of their commercials and posters, they try to invoke the sense of belonging by adding images of families sharing their products together and having a good time. This shows to their audience that their company cares about the ideals of an every day family.

Coca Cola's brand is all about family and reliability, with quality content.

Coca Cola in one word: World wide

McDonald's

McDonald's started of as a small chain that sold sandwiches. The brand easily fits in to the idea of happy families and welcomes people to their products. They want their customers to belong; they do this by making their interior and design or products much more appealing to a family demographic. They also have a product called the Happy Meal which is aimed for children, therefore they want their consumers to bring in children and have a meal together. Their commercials are generally aimed at a family audience, as we normally see a whole family sitting down and enjoying a McDonald's meal together.

McDonald's brand is all about family and happiness with good food.

McDonald's in one word: Fast-food

Starbucks

The Starbucks brand and company are all about quality, lifestyle with a personal touch. It generally comes across as a local coffee place but is really a major business known world wide. Starbucks could fit into the idea of happy families as their signature move is to ask for your name for when you go to order, and also it could fit into successful careers as many of the people that generally go to Starbucks order coffee whilst going to work. Their company generally shows passion for their brand and a general passion for coffee which is shown in their products and employees.

Starbucks is all about passion for their brand and products.

Starbucks in one word: Quality

Sony

Sony's brand is all about rich and luxurious lifestyles as many of their technologies are expensive and generally for a higher class of people. Their brand value could also be dream and fantasy for successful people as many of their consumers are generally people that are rich. Their brand could also create aspirations for many people as it gives the general people for something to look up to that they could dream of buying their expensive products. Sony is also linked to entertainment so their brand value could also be linked to happy families that can use their products together.

Sony is all about happy families, innovation, and creating aspirations for successful careers.

Sony in world: Technology

Google

Google's company and brand focuses on technology and innovation for their products. It is all about professionalism and presents the idea of elite people and experts. This is true as many of the products that they create help to revolutionise the technology sector and many of their products are developed by experts in their fields of knowledge and technology. The brand value could also be related to successful careers as many of the employees of Google are successful people with expert and technical skills. This means that they are always at the top and the best of the best.

Google is all about passion and technology, it focuses on aspiring to be and making the best.

Google in one world: Innovation

Institution: Major Media Institution Research and Presentation

1. Trinity Mirror PLC - Trinity Mirror prints and distributes thirty-six major newspapers for the UK. The most influential and well known newspaper is the Daily Mirror and its sister paper the Sunday. Trinity Mirror also owns a number of local titles in Northern England and in Surrey and Berkshire, after acquiring a number of titles from the Guardian Media Group in 2010.
2. BSkyB - British Telecommunications company which formed in 1990 and is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Formed from the merger of Sky television and British Satellite Broadcasting. This merger was due to the fact that both companies were struggling financially because both had competed with each other for viewers.
3. News Corporation - An American multinational mass media corporation based in New York. It's the world's fourth largest media group in 2014 in terms of revenue. Founded in Australia in 1979 by the founder Rupert Murdoch.
4. Sony - Most well known for the Playstation, Sony Pictures and Sony Music. Sony has focused mainly on the Playstation area as their consoles have progressed over the years. They don't focus on Sony Movies as many of their movies aren't successful. They have moved their famous Walkman's idea onto their mobile phones.
5. Vivendi - Founded in 1853, and was originally a water company called Compagnie Generale des Eaux. It is considered the European equivalent of Sky because in 1983 the channel Canal+ was created and was the first ever pay-TV channel in Fance. In 1998, the company's name was changed to Vivendi.
6. Time Warner - An American multinational media corporation in New York. It is currently the world's largest television networks, filmed TV and entertainment company in terms of revenue. It is generally considered to be the American version of Virgin Media and currently has major operations in film and TV.
7. Viacom - Originally a spin off from CBS corporations created in December 2005. Founded by Tom Frestion and Summer Redstone. The current CEO is Philippe Dauman. It is currently the largest portfolio of ad-supported TV network in the USA.

The BBC
The BBC is a public service broadcasting channel which is located in London. It is the world's most oldest national broadcasting service and the second largest in the world by the number of employees. 

The BBC is run by a group of twelve governors which are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the government ministers. The organisation was created under a royal charter and strictly recognises that the company should be independent from any other organisation, and that it should always be neutral.

The organisation's is mainly funded through the TV license fee which are something that every home should purchase by law. It also is funded through other ways such as commercials.

The Walt Disney CompanyIt is a multinational mass media conglomerate founded in 1923 by Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. It is currently the world's second largest conglomerate by revenue, after Comcast. The company first established itself as the leader for animation before moving onto live action film production, television and theme parks.

The company also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network and channels such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family. The company also owns 14 theme parks around the world. 

Mickey Mouse, a well known cartoon creation of the company, is a primary symbol of The Walt Disney Company.

Comcast

Comcast is an American multinational mass media corporation founded in 1963. It is the largest broadcasting and cable company in the world in terms of revenue. It is also' the third largest home telephone service provider in the United States.

The corporate owns NBCUniversal since 2011 which is an international media company. It is the producer of many feature films and television shows made in America.

The company's customer services often ranks among the lowest in the cable industry.