Appearance is one of the determining factors for the life of an individual. Depending on your physical appearance, the vocabulary you use and the image you reflect for yourself and for others, you will define what kind of life, what job position and even define the destiny of your future generations.
While image is important to the individual, it is also important to society. The image it projects denotes characteristics in the subjects. It is not only physical appearance that affects individuals, clothing, their behavior and their posture also play a specific role in image creation.
The importance of the image on society is so great that there are multimillion-dollar industries that are dedicated to the aesthetic transformation and the image of individuals. The relationship between the image and the self-esteem of an individual is so strong that even these changes can mean a transformation in the way they relate to the environment.
Therefore, if this image is so important and it is possible to modify it by means of defined methods, we can define that there may be a kind of empirical and scientific knowledge that meets the objective of designing a public image that meets the defined standards.
On reflection, it is clear that social life and desires are in a certain way linked to the image we seek to represent. The products we consume and the way we do it shape our individuality and our projection towards the world.
This relationship with the social environment that surrounds us has existed since the beginning of humanity. Display of status through clothing, or clothing being used as a tool for role designation, is also a phenomenon observed within companies, religions, and governments.
With the arrival of the internet and social networks, a new paradigm has been entered within the image that we reflect as individuals. We not only get clothing and carry out public relations acts for society with immediate reach, but now we maintain a profile that is our image to the whole world.
This social media profile is a summary of your own identity, family, income, practices and customs. If any individual wishes to meet another, the modern practice is to inspect their profile. This online image management generates new paradigms about who we are and how we make ourselves known within society.
Being the image such an important issue within the scope of the development of human society and the individual, the sciences that study the appearance of things is aesthetics. Thanks to this interpretation, we can know how human compression works and its relationship with appearances.
Aesthetics studies the essence and perception of beauty, the study of art, but above all it is the state of perception in general. Aesthetics analyzes the way in which human beings perceive the world, and we interpret and classify the elements that surround us.
In order to fully understand the construction of a public image, it is necessary to know the history of Imaging itself, its practices and the human being's understanding of aesthetics. For this reason, the following essay aims to define the history and practice of imaging.
Semiology, semantics and symbology
An important part of the imagery is the symbolism exercised by the clothing. We can define semiology as the study of signs and the interpretation of the senses. Semiology analyzes the disciplinary field of linguistics and its function is to study the system of signs, codes, languages and signals.
Semantics studies the aspects of the meaning, the sense and the interpretation of linguistic signs as symbols, words, expressions or formal representations. Its difference with semiology is that the former studies code systems and semantics studies words per se.
On the other hand, symbology is the study of the perceptible representations of an idea, which are associated by a socially accepted convention. We can call a symbol a term, a name or an image that can be known in daily life depending on its specific connotations.
On these 3 social sciences, the practice that is imaging and the application within society that is the development of the public image is established. By understanding how the mentality of human beings, their culture and the relationship of gestures works, we can begin to delve into the application of imagery within the market.
The study of the public image
There are multiple schools dedicated to the study of Imaging and hundreds of people who specialize annually in some degree of study of public relations and who work as image consultants. At first it might seem that the methodological rigor of these schools is lax, however, the study of the public image is based on the study of physiognomy, psychology and marketing.
In Mexico, there is the Public Image College where the bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in public image are taught. Its rector, Víctor Gordoa Gil, is the author of numerous books on imaging and image-directed marketing. It is the only campus globally dedicated entirely to public image. (Public Image, 2014)
Abroad we can find Indiana University in Bloomington, Syracuse University in Maxwell and the same Harvard University in which "Public Affairs" is studied . The study of public relations and public image is essential for the audiovisual development of technology. (Graduate Schools, 2016)
On the public image
According to Gordoa (2007) the image is a result and therefore it is caused by something. The effect produced by the image will always depend on the coherence of the causes. It is also mentioned that the image produces a value judgment in the person who observes the image. This opinion will become the reality of the conservative.
Therefore, the judgments made by the observers are analyzes of a fictitious reality. This fictitious reality will be true for the observer despite not assimilating to the general reality. The value judgment is the step that prompts a person to accept or reject what is perceived. That is why people can point to a person as false, because he interprets that the message issued is false.
When the individual mental image is shared by an audience or a group of audiences, this image is transformed into a collective mental image. This collective image is the integration of the public image. This public image is formed by stimuli.
Stimuli are the tools a person uses to shape an image. These stimuli can be verbal which are made up of the use of oral or written words in order to declare and establish statements about individuals. The area that studies oral and written expression is rhetoric.
Nonverbal stimuli are those that are more difficult to control because in most cases they are unconscious and are behaviors that humans perform. In addition to movements and gestures on the face, the human being detects colors as signals that show meanings.
The clothing used by individuals is another of the non-verbal stimuli and also shows the use of semiotics to confer symbolism and status. The use of mixed stimuli helps us to ensure the message that we are distributing.
The human being manages the way in which he generates his images and the way in which the rest of the human beings react to the image. (Gordoa, 2007)
- Imagotypes: Imagotypes are the images that humans generate. Self-imaging: The image that we generate for ourselves. Heteromagotypes: The image that the rest of the public has about ourselves.
However, currently we could handle a fourth imagotype which is the cyberimagotype, which is our digital image, which is a summary of our life in an internet format. The future of social relationships is on the internet and taking care of the image on the internet is essential for individuals and companies.
Imagology and social networks
With the development of technology, the image of an individual in the first instance was massed through television. With the popularization of the internet, all individuals have turned themselves into figures of social interest. By having a profile in which the personality and life of the individual is established, each person becomes their manager in a matter of image.
With the incorporation of images, people can use their judgments and feelings to interpret the characteristics of individuals. As the writing of PuroMarketing.com (2014) mentions, pages such as Twitter and Facebook have become forums for analysis and discussion of brands and personalities.
Currently an indicator of the popularity of a product or a person can be obtained by its popularity in social networks. Even a new group of professionals in charge of regulating the image of individuals on the internet is having a new boom in the job market.
Image designers must be aware that the image handled by an individual on the Internet is even more important than the one handled privately, since within the Internet an indelible record of the actions and words that individuals perform is kept.
A well-known example of this situation is the Barbara Streisand effect. (Pico, 2015). This famous actress and singer had the misfortune to be the focus of attention in 2005 because a photographer took a series of photographs near her home to later upload them to the internet.
The actress, who valued her privacy very much, demanded that the Google company, the photographer and the community in general have her address removed from the internet. However, the reaction of the people was the most curious, since the individuals who traveled the network were dedicated to viralizing the address to the degree of being virtually impossible to eliminate.
In this case, it was only the address of a house, however, it was the power of the people on the internet that prevented the removal of that information. Not because that will affect you, but because it challenged the power of people on the internet. The same happens with the mistakes of politicians or celebrities, people tend to viralize their mistakes and they are impossible to eliminate.
The Barbará Streisand effect is a sample of the new logistics that operates within the world of information. The public image within the internet is essential for the development of political campaigns and social and commercial marketing. By handling a good image you can yearn for success.
Imagology applied to the political and business market
The following examples are intended to show the application of Imaginology within the economic, political and social sphere. The imagology applied within the environments of human relations can be considered as "Public Relations".
Nixon vs. Kennedy
A classic political case that has been studied countless times is the struggle for residency in the United States in 1960. Nixon was a seasoned politician in oratory and rhetoric while Kennedy was a relatively inexperienced young man. (Gordoa, 2007)
For the first time in history, television was used as a means of communication to broadcast a political debate for both candidates. While Nixon's image during the debate was of a neglected, negative-looking man, Kennedy took the podium looking young and neat.
People who heard the debate on radio declared Nixon the winner while people who watched the debate on television named Kennedy the winner. Nonetheless, most voters watched the debate on television.
It is clear that while Nixon's oratory was superior to Kennedy's, Kennedy's body language, as well as his appearance, showed a friendlier and more trustworthy appearance than his competition. In the end, the winner of the contest was the young Kennedy and although we all know his murky future, this lesson in appearance and image on television is still important.
The Macintosh Image
In 2011, one of the most important figures in computing and business leadership passed away. Steve Jobs was a momentous figure for the Apple company due to his relationship with the product approach. After his dismissal, Jobs is rehired as director of the company when he was only 2 months away from his bankruptcy. (Entrepreneur, 2012)
How did Jobs change Apple's destiny? Changing the public image of the product and the company by expanding the advertising budget and the design of the products. The Apple company changed its destiny by focusing on a unique and exclusive range of products.
Despite the fact that the characteristics of its products are surpassed or equaled by multiple competitors within the technology market, the company has made extraordinary profits thanks to its design and business system. The product has become a desirable object despite its questioned superiority by specialists in the field.
Before Jobs' return in 1997, the company was going through a crisis in the design of its products, so the public image of the company was in decline. With the development of products whose aesthetics are shaped by aspects recognizable as dedicated to creative people, a new era of success began.
Another success of Jobs was that his image and his clothing were recognized around the world. His eccentricity allowed him to break through hundreds of business attire. His clothes and way of dressing gave him the appearance of a business guru and a person exempt from the rules of the corporate world.
Obama and the Internet:
The president of the United States of North America, Barack Obama is one of the first world leaders who has had to deal with the internet. However, his group of image consultants has done an exemplary job in making clear how world leaders should regulate their public image online.
Luckerson (TIME, 2014) mentions that President Obama's successes are based on actively participating on the internet by registering on the Reddit page and asking users to ask him questions. Also the fact of having a Twitter account that is not controlled by the president himself, but by a group of specialized advisers.
Also on Twitter, the images of his personal life that are published reflect his leadership, family unity and classic North American values without forgetting his progressive vision. Obama's re-election in 2012 is mainly due to his skill with people, his public speaking and the credibility of his public policy proposals.
Out of Book: The Public Image of Donald Trump
Although, public relations schools have specific manuals on how to build a personality and a product, there are cases that go further and break paradigms, depending on the context and the society where these strategies are carried out, these will be successful or successful. terrible.
In the specific case of the United States, public relations situations and techniques reach the point of the implausible. In 2015, C. Donald Trump offered a speech that we could define as hate, against Mexican migrants. Things did not wait.
The first reaction from the Latin American world was indignation and rejection. The general idea in 2015 is that Donald Trump would not become president. However, this speech raised the uncomfortable problems that exist within any society with a high number of immigrants.
Trump is currently discussing the candidacy of the Republican party with Ted Cruz, Trump being leader and a confrontation with the Democrat Bernie Sanders or the Democrat Hilary Clinton is expected. How have you managed to reach that level of popularity with a hate speech having that kind of public image?
A product is designed for a specific market, therefore, the design of an image is also done in the same way. In the United States there is economic fear, immigration as well as the means of terrorist attacks. Xenophobia is a market that needs to be served by a defined product, Trump is this product.
Thesis proposal:
The theme is proposed: "Improving the public image: How to improve company relations?" in order to develop marketing and imaging techniques that improve the company's relationships with its partners, competitors and buyers.
The objectives of the thesis are:
- Development of applied imaging techniques. Development of human and social relations techniques. Technical application of imaging and symbolism. Generation of protocols for the development of the public image.
Bibliography
Gordoa, V. (2007). The power of the public image. Mexico: Random house mondadori.
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Leerssen, J. (1999). Imagological. EU. Retrieved from Imagology: History and method:
Luckerson, V. (2014). TIME. Retrieved from 6 Modern Marketing Strategies From Barack
Obama:
Pico, R. (2015). The Barbara Streisand Effect: Brands Worst Nightmare. Retrieved from
Pure Marketing. (2014). The power of the image triumphs in social networks. Retrieved from
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