Critical Questions 02-23

For Video: The Changing Face. For Reading: Before & After.

To me, one of the interesting parts of the video was when he talked about how "people are becoming more aware of being marketed to and filter out a lot of current marketing." This then forces advertisers to think differently about how they are going to get the attention of consumers.
When he first mentioned this I thought straight away of my parents. Whenever they are watching TV, as soon as a commercial break starts they put the TV on mute. Just like Ewen says, they are aware that they are being marketed to and they don't want anything to do with it.
My question is: How do advertisers reach people like my parents who are purposely avoiding them?
I believe that it is through family and friends influence. When my parents do take the TV off mute to listen to a commercial it is often one that they have heard other people talking about. I may have mentioned to them about Google's Parisian Love commercial and how I thought it was clever and neat, so the next time it comes on they are inclined to take the TV off mute and watch it, simply because I recommended it.
So perhaps the right direction for advertisers would be to try and make commercials that can become something that people want to talk about and tell others about.

When reading Before and After in the Designing Brand Identity book, I found myself pausing over the section about packaging redesign, specifically the box on HP Inks.
The box reads "HP's new packaging increases appeal to a younger audience while staying true to HP's world-class leadership position."
This is all well and good that they want to try and target a younger audience, but when they already have such a recognizable package ca it be harmful to their brand image to change?
I myself am an HP user and whenever I go to buy ink for my printer I am looking for the recognizable blue HP box. Of course, when I can't find the blue box, I look a little further to see that the ink is still there just in a different box, and I can deal with that, I'll just know to look for a different box next time. The problem is though that not everyone may be as open to change as I am. Perhaps hay do not trust the ink coming from a different box, perhaps their perception of the entire company changes because of the frustration they felt when they couldn't find the box they were looking for.
Packaging redesign can work wonders for lesser known companies who are trying to stand out amongst the crowd. But for larger already established companies the change can end up being a negative rather than a positive.