Persuasion

Radio er den nye radio

Du siger brugergeneret indhold og kollaborativ filtrering. Men inderst inde ved du det godt: Den digitale udviklings væsentligste frembringelse er radio på din iPod.

Jeg elsker podcast. Jeg har elsket podcast siden jeg, i 2005, havde en lang daglig bustur gennem Sydney, hvor jeg klyngede mig til min lille iPod Shuffle.

Særligt interaktivt eller teknisk revolutionerende er det ikke. Ja, det er faktisk oftest ren shovel-ware, hvor eksisterende indhold blot klemmes ud gennem endnu en kanal. Men det løser et indlysende problem: Der produceres strålende radio, og du har aldrig tid til at lytte koncentreret lørdag kl. 13. Og samtidig passer det som fod i hose til en brugskontekst som de fleste af os lever med: Transport. Her duer hverken læsning eller video – på din cykel er radio the shit.

Interessant nok er det langt hen ad vejen de samme programmer, jeg hører i dag som for fem år siden. Og her kommer en kort intro til et par af de langtidsholdbare.

Mennesker og Medier (DR, P1). Lasse Jensen er utrættelig i sin løbende analyse af det danske medielandskab. Han er bedst, når han giver sig lov til at tale selv og mindst interessant, når han fortaber sig i journalistik-specifikke diskussioner som kun the gentlemen of the press vist kan interessere sig for.
Kommunikationscast (selvstændig produktion). Når man tænker på, at de hverken har budget eller forretningsplan, så er Katrine Thielke og Mikkel Westerkams ugentlige Kommunikationscast et lille mirakel. Selv hvis man ikke tager denne kontekst i betragtning er det pretty damn imponerende. Thilke og Westerkam dækker kommunikationsbranchen og omkringliggende herreder med både viden og humor. Og de gør det uge efter uge.
Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo’s Movie Reviews (BBC, 5 Live). Jeg mindes, at den let elitære filmanmelder Kermode og hans mere prosaiske sidekick Mayo var endnu morsommere for nogle år siden, men de er stadig voldsomt underholdende. Kermodes holdninger er skarpslebne og leveres med overskud og energi. Når man har lyttet til de to herrer (og det kræver en indsats at hoppe med på deres mange indforståede temaer) virker mange P1-programmer pludselig som energiforladt plejehjemsradio.
Harddisken (DR, P1). På den ene side opfylder Harddisken et specifikt behov (danske teknologinyheder i radioen) ganske godt og tager sit tema fuldt ud seriøst. På den anden side har programmet periodevis været plaget af lange ufokuserede indslag som har syntes dikteret af formatet (programmet skal vare en time) snarere end indholdets relevans. Og så har der meget længe været kludder i filerne på iTunes, hvilket i kombination med iPhonen’s dårlige podcastunderstøttelse er ret belastende. Programmet jeg i princippet elsker – og som ofte er godt – men som af og til irriterer mig i praksis.
Skeptoid (selvstændig produktion, skeptoid.com). Brian Dunnings ugentlige angreb på pseudovidenskab, overtro og vandrehistorier. Her bliver man klogere, underholdt og til tider skræmt af hvor bizarre nogle menneskers verdensbilleder er.

Hvad hører du?

Strategisk kommunikation, dit navn er spil

Playful Persuasion: The Rhetorical Potential of Advergames, en artikel om computerspil i markedsføringssammenhæng som jeg har skrevet sammen med Sine Nørholm Just, er nu udgivet i tidsskriftet Nordicom Review. Den kan hentes som PDF.

I artiklen præsenterer vi en analytisk model for advergames og applicerer den på udvalgte eksemplarer fra Toms Chokolade, Dansk Retursystem, og Danske Bank.

Artiklens abstract lyder:

The use of video games for advertising purposes is persuasive communication which directly involves the recipient in the construction of an argument. This form is becoming increasingly common, and the present article explores the phenomenon of game-based advertising. We begin by discussing the increased reliance on participatory and digital rhetoric. We then proceed to examine game-based persuasion in light of rhetorical theory, and we propose an analytical model for such games which is applied to three sample games. The analytical model takes into account the degree to which the game makes a self-contained argument, the degree to which the product or service is integrated into the game, and whether the game goal and learning goal overlap. Finally, we discuss perspectives for the integration of communication studies and game studies.

Unrestrained animosity

I’ve just finished Richard Dawkins’ bestselling anti-religious The God Delusion. Entertaining for sure but in a sort of indulgent way since I pretty much found its premises about as hard to swallow as Italian ice cream on a sunny day. Having one’s own views intelligently and conveniently confirmed – hasn’t that sort of become the domain of podcasts these days?
Anyway, one interesting feature was the rhetorical effect of Dawkins’ outright anger. An example:

“I have described atonement, the central doctrine of Christianity, as vicious, sado-masochistic and repellent. We should also dismiss it as barking mad, but for its ubiquitous familiarity, which has dulled our objectivity.” (p253)

It is one of Dawkins’ points, of course, that religion deserves no particular respect and that its claims and concepts should be treated as critically as all other types of claims and concepts. Nevertheless, there is obviously spite here and while it can read as honesty it can also read as personal vendetta and thus, perhaps, seem dismissable out of hand to some. Anyway, it illustrates the interesting and complex rhetorical features of anger.

All in all, I recommend the book, but earlier work by Dawkins is more essential if you haven’t been there already.

BTW, the New York Times was somewhat sceptical while The Guardian‘s reviewer had a better time.

Reverse rhetorics

I’ve become acutely interested in argumentation in preparation for the course on Digital Rhetorics (Danish course website) I’ll be teaching next semester. On that note, I found the following quote quite interesting:

One of the most basic laws in the universe is the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This states that as time goes by, entropy in an environment will increase. Evolution argues differently against a law that is accepted EVERYWHERE BY EVERYONE. Evolution says that we started out simple, and over time became more complex. That just isn’t possible: UNLESS there is a giant outside source of energy supplying the Earth with huge amounts of energy. If there were such a source, scientists would certainly know about it. [emphasis added]

… not to say funny.

Thesis on advergaming (or whatever the term is)

This paper suggests advertisers should experiment with in-game advertising to gain skills that could become vital in the near future. It compiles, arranges and analyzes the existing body of academic and industry knowledge on advertising and product placement in computer game environments. The medium’s characteristics are compared to other channels’ in terms of their attractiveness to marketers, and the business environment is analyzed to offer recommendations on the relative advantages of in-game advertising. The paper also contains a brief historical review of in-game advertising, and descriptions of currently available and emerging advertising formats.

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