Royal Mail is a British multinational postal service and courier originally established in 1516 as a department of the English government. Until 2015 it was partially or wholly state-owned, but now operates as a private company. Royal Mail stands for high service standards and reliability. Part of its mission is to improve customer satisfaction levels and to deliver in a more customer-responsive and proactive way.
Because of this, we wanted to convey Royal Mail as a personable and reliable delivery service that achieves guaranteed delivery times. By adopting the theme of festivity, we related delivery back to its fundamental goal of connection and communication, and the difference this can make to people’s lives.
With the diversification of the delivery market, we wanted to capitalise on the qualities Royal Mail could use to differentiate itself from other services. Unlike international corporations, Royal Mail has a distinct, regional heritage that a British audience can uniquely relate to. Again, we saw Christmas time as a setting that could tap into a collective memory while highlighting the brand’s place in the modern world.
Focusing on one family, they face contemporary issues, exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic, such as living far away from each other and use modern solutions like FaceTime. In this, we highlight the kind of togetherness that a postal service can facilitate and its continuing importance in 2021. As well as this, in the film, people receive both letters and parcels, a service Royal Mail can uniquely offer. Other services such as Amazon Logistics or DHL deliver parcels but do not handle national post. With this, the brand can continue to appeal to a wide customer base, growing its range of services while improving/consolidating the ones it presently provides.
Consuming media is no longer merely defined as an enjoyable activity, audiences are recognised as a ‘labour’ in the process. To reflecting to the platform I utilised every day, I screenshot one specific day that could represent my daily social media usage. In the overview of my screen time, I have spent on my phone for 7 hours 49 minutes per day. The longest usage is WeChat, since I need to communicate and share information with my family and friends. The second is Instagram, where I can share my ‘story’, my daily life and thoughts with my friends. It then follows by Redbook (Chinese version of Instagram), Douyin (Tiktok), YouTube, Weibo, QQ Music.
Labour Power – WeChat & Instagram
As interpersonal communication apps, they allow users to free messaging and calling, also a space to post pictures, videos and text with their friend and followers. Dr. Lynn Schofield Clark (2017) defined those action as ‘connective journalism’ in which users could potentially generate political and economic influences. Smythe (2016) affirmed that audience is a kind of commodity that serves to raise questions, can develop a thought that shakes up the heart. When I am discussing the current policies and favourite products, I operated as a free labour to express and amplify the exposure of events and messages. I texted my friend in the chat that “I heard that the new series of lipstick from Chanel has just released, and Lily bought one yesterday, it was super gorgeous. Let’s get one!!” ” I had my dinner in Imperial Treasure, the peking duck there was so delicious. U definitely should try it. ” ” I just finished watching all the episodes of ‘YOU’ and it was so good.” The sentences I sent can potentially communicate positive ideas and viewpoints about certain brands or merchants, which provide values and benefits to capitalism and ruling class.
In the meantime, there are many other accounts that you can follow. When I am browsing the main page of official accounts on WeChat, the sub-posts of their main content always be advertising, or commercial content promoted by brands. As the time I am scrolling the post and stories on Instagram, the personalised promotions appear automatically on the main page or jumped unexpectedly just like you are watching the ads with a subjective conscious. After looking through those commercial content, users may turn their actions from initially purpose of online browsing to online/offline shopping. For example, I seen the ads of body lotion of L’Occitane, after which I realised that I need a body lotion, so I bought it in the end. Moreover, I ‘liked’ the sponsored posts published by my favourite online influencers, this behaviour not only potentially enhance the popularity of the post itself but also the trustworthiness between brand and audiences by seeing the high amount of ‘like’s. Because of sharing desire among users, the main content of social media platforms like Instagram and WeChat are relying on user-generated-content. Every single text or image posted online can be considered as a sort of ‘labour force’ that I or other users paid efforts to maintain a sufficient content for browsing and communications on the capitalised platform.
Personal data and digital capitalism
In order to present more accurate ads and personalised content pushes, platforms often categorise users according to their click preferences and information. So, users’ private information is also collected and managed by capitalist software. I use these social media while also acting as a free labour path for capital, i.e., unconditionally receiving the information they want us to see and unconsciously working for them. Many sociologists recently announced that users’ data need to be protected since it is part of user’s privacy. In my viewpoint, rather than using ‘point-to-multiple’ and standard algorithms system and products, a precisely targeted advertising and product manufacturing could facilitate users more. Moreover, the daily non-noticed user activities are inevitable. The digital economy system is worth to exist in the society and could bring-up fast-paced and higher efficient life.
Last year, Scientists at Duke University published PULSE, an algorithm that clarifies blurry photos. But a blurry photograph of former president Barack Obama was altered to produce a clear white face.
Photo credit: Twitter/ @chicken3gg
This is seen as a classic case of algorithmic bias. Algorithmic bias is the influence of non-neutral position on users in the process of information production, distribution and verification, which leads to the spread of one-sided and untrue information concepts. Algorithmic bias can happen to everyone in the real world. Wallach (2016) affirmed that as long as the bias existed in the society, more attention is given by machine learning system on this specific bias. In the era of capitalised platform, the ideology and value transmitted are mastered and controlled by the ruling class and head of social platform. The discourse of racism and patriarchal are dominant in the previous online communities and drive platforms, which shows the biases on feminism, anti-racism or other social topic, into public controversy. According to Google (2017), the biases manipulated by platforms are based on Interaction Bias, Potential Bias and Selection Bias. The process of machine learning still has a long way to go.
Furthermore, I am going to critically analyse the content of Chinese social media named Weibo within a feminism perspective by narrowing down the content on platform to one specific section.
Hot-spot Topic List：
The 11th topic (A company executive in Shanxi was suspended for domestic violence to his wife) was the sign of feministic revolution on Chinese social media and reversing stereotypical policy of Chinese companies. As Weibo is the first feminists-dominated platform in China, this topic has been pushed to the hot-spot list immediately since the event was exposed. However, the 12th topic (Leung advises women to choose a spouse who is not necessarily stronger than they are) is quite controversial among Weibo users. The suggestion to women would enhance the stereotype that women always desire to find a boyfriend or partner who is more competent. It opposed the common value among female citizens of shaping a better self but not dependence on men. Most feministic discussers claims that the topic was raised because women are becoming stronger in the society and men, on the contrary, are asking women to accept partners weaker than themselves because their pride doesn’t allow them to be the weak one. In fact, men are the ones who need to become stronger.
The topic of gender equality changes from a marginal issue to a mainstream issue on Weibo in recent 10 years. Since 2009, Sina Weibo has been the main internet platform for public events to take place, and its development has been a continuous process of regulation and commercial logic infiltrating the social space created by technological innovation.
Due to the trend of commercialised feminism and increasing amount of female users on Weibo，the algorithm on the platform tend to matches the female audiences. Meanwhile, the gender discourse and justices published by feministic users influence and restructure machine learning system of Weibo.
Nowadays, the whole production system has transformed from Fordism to Post-Fordism era. Manufacturers no longer focus on standardised products but see consumers as producers. UGC (User Generated Content) campaign is a new trend in the free economy market. In the Spring of 2020, Converse launched its creative All-star series of sneakers in London, featuring Converse Pro leather. Using Converse’s iconic products as a canvas, giving converse fans the opportunity to create their unique Converse product, the collection cemented converse’s position as a street staple in London and beyond. Converse decided to launch their campaign on TikTok, the hottest start-up platform. TikTok always exports creative content with rich UGC to enhance user stickiness. This novel form of advertising and content could attract users’ attention at the first time. Meanwhile, an unexpected theme can form explosive styles and stimulate users’ desire to imitate and create.
Converse is taking a multi-level approach to marketing gameplay on TikTok. The first is using a hashtag challenge, #ConverseAllStar, to engage the TikTok community. The campaign invited users to use a pair of Converse shoes as their “creative canvas” with their imagination to create a special, unique pair of shoes. Each creator is asked to create a custom music track to accompany the creative piece, then released them on TikTok using the hashtag #ConverseAllStar. In order to encourage more users to participate, Converse set up a special reward for this event. If the user participates in the event will have a chance to win tickets to Converse London All-star Creative activities. Eventually, converse consumers and followers uploaded thousands of videos capturing the process they paint, draw and recreate the All-star trainers.
From the perspective of brand, this campaign increased the exposure and discourse of new launched products and brands itself. According to TiktokForBusiness, Converse branding Challenge generated more than 24 million video views, 29.7 million presentations, and brought together 2,900 talented Converse creators over the course of six days. In total, 16.86 million views and 1.8 million hits were delivered to the challenge page. The event had a 9.22 percent participation rate, with many users also commenting in hopes of owning a new pair of Converse Leather Pro shoes. The brand attached a wider potential buyer through this campaign. In the new economy system, sharing culture emerges, people are willing to show themselves on the network. From the perspective of Creators of UGC, users’ needs of interaction and be seen has been satisfied in this campaign, as humans need to feel connectivity and socialised. From the material aspect, all the participants have opportunities to win the tickets to Converse London All-star activity for free. As Converse consumers, it is a way to obtain connectivity between the product and online community. The exposure of the products they owned encourage them to buy it once again and satisfied their vanity in the material world.
In my opinion, Converse benefits the most in this campaign. Although the publishers and consumers got part of their psychological needs fulfilled during the event, while gaining the possibility of material rewards. However, the participation and interaction between the publisher and the audience sparked a buzz in the online community and accelerated the exposure of the brand’s new product launch. This will attract more potential users with purchase intentions and bring greater revenue for the brand and new product sales. Furthermore, the rise of digital economy with platform capitalism exacerbates the dominance of brands over social ideology and consumer behavioural insights. The digital information and data generated from this campaign could benefit to reshape the next commercial or execution.
This slogan is from the latest campaign of Shanghai’s emerging lingerie brand NEIWAI, which shows six real women with “different types of beauty”. They invited six women who have different concerns on their body’s “imperfection”, they either have scars, or have belly, as well as large breasts, flat chest, ageing skin, pregnant. These “defects” lead many women feeling dissatisfied with their own body, also represents the real body of most ordinary women. However, the women in the film all accept their real bodies from the bottom of their hearts and overcome all the social prejudices that come with it. They break the inherent aesthetic standard of “thinness as beauty” and define their own “beauty”, which is true, confident, diverse and beautiful of being themselves.
It is a campaign for spring/summer 2020 series, which has been planned since July 2019, with the theme of “Body Diversity”. The brand invited girls with different body shapes to shoot the film, which was helmed by photographer Luo Yang. NEIWAI owner illustrated, “We insist on making designs for different body shapes, and we also expect every real interpretation.” NEIWAI dedicated to encouraging people to explore and understand their inner selves and the real world.
Is NEIWAI’s campaign a microcosm of the transformation of women’s status in China?
Women have been defined and expressed in all types of media all over the centuries. Specifically, in the category of advertising, female characters have mostly been constructed and narrated in some stereotypical roles such as housewives and flower vases. With the rise of neo-liberalism and rapid expansion of the number of female consumers, more and more advertisers are desperate to meet the requirements of female consumers, followed by the emergence of ‘femvertising’ (feministic advertising). However, ads that give a voice to women don’t indicate a successful revenge of women. Stuart-Hall (1980) conveyed that popular feminism is allocated at a ‘terrain’ of struggle. Advertisers and manufacturers tend to sale ’empowerment’ to their female consumers. Banet-Weiser (2018) claimed that advertising is a way to define material products to be visible, recognisable and accessible. For consumers, buying a brand who strength female power equals to buying empowerment to female, a way to challenge the patriarchal society. Furthermore, many scholars argued that all these social debate and ideology are decided by the ruling class and head of companies on contemporary knowledge systems. Female consumers are utilised in this free economy system, while they occupied in the majority of purchasing power in recent years.
What commercial benefits does NEIWAI obtained through operating those idea？ Advertising itself is a product of market. Whether a brand commercial or a company advertising, their goal is to make a profit. So, the promotion of feminism in the advertising is a customer-oriented service from companies, in order to sell their commodities or services. As a female-oriented underwear brand, NEIWAI has to meet the psychological needs of women who are seeking to be understood. The term of ‘body shaming’ meets the current trend of feministic discourse and is in line with the brand’s values and intentions. “No body is nobody” expresses a point of view that wants women to focus more on themselves, buying a feminism brand (implies NEIWAI) that suits you is a method to self-love. As the original commodities which are defined as feminism and empowerment, it could stimulate the consumption of female groups. Meanwhile, NEIWAI serves various kind of underwear to an expended body types among women. The branded content shows six different group of females, display the diversity of products they provide by appeals public to appreciate the beauty of diverse body-shape and individuals.
Speaking of the ‘democracy’ in China, the government has officially announced ‘socialised democracy regime’ in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Differ to western system, China is characterised as a dictatorship, runs socialism with Chinese characteristics since its unique history and social conditions. Hence, the freedom of Chinese citizen is still limited in recent years. Banned articles on WeChat, deleted discourse on Douban, taken-downed hot-spot titles on Weibo. The discourse around speech freedom of Chinese citizens has inevitably become a controversial topic in democratic countries.
With the development of information technology, the utilisation rate of social media has been greatly increased, and all kinds of information have flooded people’s lives. However, most of messages on social media is controlled by the ruling class, which means public ideology of democracy is under threat. Yet, the longing of the masses for democracy and freedom in China has given rise to a few special independent media organisations, breakthrough the highly regulated media circumstance. McChesney (2015) addressed the notion of civic and political engagement is shrinking, where non-profit media takes core role on building liberal political thoughts among citizens.
The characteristic non-profit media organisation is ‘In3’, a Beijing underground hip-pop band composed of Chen Haoran, Jia Wei and Meng Guodong, founded in 2007. They use Beijing slang to reveal Chinese reality lives within a joking and flirtatious manner. Unrestrained lyrics and fast-paced rhythm have been widely circulated in the private sphere among citizens. They publish their album on unregulated web pages and cloud disk, where followers can download for free.
The first song named ‘Black’ released in 2018. ‘Betrayal and deception, Women and money; Countless businesses have black conspiracies, repeated in the society, I want to quit in anger’. Those lyrics exposed the dark side of society including corruption, chaotic lives of the upper classes, gap of wealth and artificial social value. The catchy melody facilitates audiences to spread the word of mouth interpersonally, leads audiences to be willing and excited to download and enjoy the experience of verbal ‘tirade’. The number of downloads and followers reached the peak as the band and albums go viral.
Even though ‘In3’ group was fully banned by government in 2015 as they were accused of disrespecting the heads and policies in China, they back with a new name – ‘Purple Soul’, continues their democratised song on western music platform – ‘Spotify’. There is an increasing number of audiences using VPN (an app allows users to breach the Great Firewall of China) to download songs and listen. The emergence of “In3” led for the first time to a conceptual innovation in the Chinese hip-hop scene and all the 90s to 00s, as well as building a collective consciousness of neoliberal democracy at the same time. McChesney demonstrated that, for absolute democracy, political power needs to be transferred from the minority to the majority. ‘In3’, as a special non-profit media form, gives Chinese masses the opportunity to speak freely, to vent one’s emotions. Furthermore, the lyrics expressing critique of politics and realities generates common reflections among the citizens, influences contemporary political system. Although the movement mostly is operated in the private sphere, but the creation of a collective consciousness was a milestone in democratic innovation. The collective concerns mentioned in their song like bribery, arises the recognition of government. Since 2012, Xi Jinping, the president of China, launched an extensive and harsh anti-corruption campaign in which more than a million officials were purged. To conclude, public power can be possessed by non-regulated media form, even under a hegemonic society, then strengthen the democracy in neo-liberalism era.
