WALKING BILLBOARDS (Part 1)
The world of Arts, Advertising and culture has gradually become a symbiotic Synergy. In a planet where perception is as real as reality itself, every creature including human beings cannot hide from this truth. This article seeks to unveil a very important discovery that big or small business owners could cleave to in order to increase sales and cash in turn. My observations unveil links between these three parts for effective business, and since Knowledge is power; it is therefore imperative that we come to terms with this fact so as to be able to use this to our advantage and the enrichment of our lives as well as the world at large.
It’s good to come to terms with these concepts so as to appreciate them even more. However, what is their origin, what do they really mean? In anthropology, geography and other social sciences, a contiguous geographic area is one within which most societies share many traits in common. (Culture area. (2010). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica). This is a definition of culture, the key for me would be the sharing of traits together, that is to say language could suffice as an arm of culture, the peoples of the former Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics for instance, have similar cultural traits, some still maintain such till today. The “cowboys” in the north of America also have a similar culture, we could also allude to the fact that there is a link between Race and Culture. The dark-skinned people of the world as well as their white, greenish and yellowish counterparts share cultural inclinations. And since the world in itself, is the total geographic ball, then such abstract realities as politics, diplomacy, love, death, etc are all included in this broad subject. We could logically argue for and against these points in relation to culture, but this may not be the avenue for that. Our concern here is to show the beauty and harmony of these concepts or what I call creative forces, and their link with each other.
Various persons have limited their understanding of Art to its entertainment only. By this they infer that musicians, sculptors, painters, photographers, etc, showcase their works only for amusement and pleasure, get applauded and remunerated. We may excuse the shadows on their scope, and may rather finger the world’s mass media for this piecemeal misrepresentation of nature. Of course the relevance of arts has its various parts and each has its roots in the evergreen rivers of nature which are inexhaustible. Many go unappreciated and others may not be recognised or seen, not perhaps in this life time. As an example of such, I believe if professional photographers could capture fresh the fascinating display of carbon monoxide emitted from fighter jets in the skies during independence or other special events, that would be a value of art like it has never been seen before; or if we could see a stage drama live that gradually evolves into a high definition (HD) cinema piece or something akin to it. All these lie within the creativity of the human mind, there are indeed no limitations as far as art is concerned because it’s in the human.
Speaking of creativity, today’s world of business employs various forms of art and culture for advancement of their day to day dealings, from billboards to signage’s, posters for office stationeries, even such unnoticed mode like dress codes and lots more, involving one if not both of them, whether it’s called branding or packaging it’s just a use of nomenclatures. I would say it’s an excuse or so, to use the arts and culture and give it another name. The social world can’t be left out of this equation, take sports for instance, be it American football, ice hockey, British Soccer or Japanese ping pong, beginning from the stadium and arena, which dates back to the era of the Greco-Roman Arts and Civilization. In modern times you would notice the beautiful colours in the arena, face caps, display items, painted faces, tattoos, etc, in fashion the designs are all Artistic, various fabrics are assembled from all over the world, this reflects the rich heritage of cultures, talk more of the sources of these fabrics, that would take us back to nature itself, which is the bedrock of all cultures and civilizations.
A significant thought came to mind and this could go for free, could serve as a challenge as well, how about having walking billboards? “Working billboards!” you might exclaim. If advertising connotes the techniques and practices used to bring products, services, opinions, or causes to public notice for the purpose of persuading the public to respond in a certain way toward what is advertised (2010). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica), Then these revolutions of the 20th and 21st century (tattoo for instance) should be put to good use, rather than constituting social nuisance. If a young man or lady is ready to show off his or her body indiscriminately for no benefit whatsoever, I believe such persons would be even more thrilled to know that this performing art, as it were, could add value to him or her economically. This might just bring in the needed advantage and competitive edge for most small/medium businesses, who can’t really afford the major advertising mediums of today’s world. Most blue-chips and multinational corporations today already have the name and have carved a niche for themselves, even to these class of businesses I would say,” you need it ” perhaps to move on with the social order in business, that would also mean been relevant in the social relations of this generation. The whole idea is just the same as the branded wrist band people wear these days, the logo and colours represent a specific organisation. So why not give it a try!.
In all, each of these three forces flow into each other, maybe you would want to say they are interwoven. A proper study of one would lead you to the other. Take a music production for instance one of the Natural endowment there would be the voice of the musician, that’s talent- that is somebody with a good ability and power exemplified clearly in his or her Art- that is the finish record or album. Now a manager or record label needs to publicise this talent of the art to those that need it, the larger majority, that’s Advertising.