Postmodern Discourse in Digital Advertising: A Study on “Deneysel Bankacilik” Advertising Series

Introduction

In parallel with technological developments, advertisements are in an effort to show the brand in every field that the potential audience is located. In the postmodern world, advertisements try to establish an emotional bond between the consumer and the storytelling, instead of classic “Buy it!” expression. One of the most used methods of storytelling in terms of advertising in social media is viral advertising. Viral advertising makes an effort to attract attention to the brand in social media, sometimes by showing the brand, sometimes with an implicit expression. Viral advertising that gets its name from its spread to the consumer like a virus, can also be considered as successful advertising because the advertising costs are significantly reduced, the spread expands implicitly and the consumer sees them with a trust that it comes from their acquaintance rather than being aware of the fact that it is an advertisement. As a result of the same postmodern marketing, viral advertising stands out as an alternative way for the advertising sector to capture the fleeing target audience.

Sözer defines postmodern marketing communication as “The whole of the activities planned and carried out for the delivery of creative, consistent and continuous messages through selected communication channels in line with the needs and market characteristics of the target audience in order to create consumer-based brand value” (2009, p. 28). The transition from the tangible to abstract has manifested itself in the brand, marketing communication and, of course, advertising in the postmodern era. Advertisements are now more than just convincing the consumer that the branded product meets the need in a concrete way, they have become a means of reflecting the personality of the brand and the impersonation of the brand that stays with target audience on the good and bad day. In this context, through advertisements, brands try to act on a communication frequency that is more natural and sincere with the target audience.

Advertising is moved from information-loaded property to a meaningful dimension. As one of the advertising creators, Larry Light says, today’s advertising does not aim to create a sales proposal, but a unique brand personality and image. Advertising can be defined as a form of cultural communication that gives personality to products, idealizes consumers' self-images and lifestyles and offers suggestions. The way of effective advertising is to create brands that offer the opportunity to produce cultural and symbolic meanings and to offer consumers the opportunity to express themselves (Stutts and Barker, 1999, p.209). According to Kayaman and Armutlu, the postmodern consumer prefers to go beyond the narratives of modernism and prefers to be happy in separate and different moments instead of looking for centralized, unified moments. As a result of this situation, the market has become a center where moments of fragmented self and pleasures take place. In other words, the market builds on many consumers and products and presents a structure in which all relations are temporary and the consumer does not need to establish a comprehensive relationship for each change (Kayaman and Armutlu, 2003, p.8).