Journal articles on the topic 'Three Stage Billboard'

The research looked at the effectiveness of Opay Oride's outdoor advertisements for market expansion in Akure metropolis, Capital of Ondo State, Nigeria. The framing theory was used as the theoretical framework. The survey research method was employed, and the questionnaire and interview guide were used as data collection tools. Three hundred and eighty-six (386) respondents were chosen using a multi-stage sample approach. Two Opay sales agents in Akure were interviewed. According to findings, most respondents were exposed to Opay outdoor advertisements in Akure, particularly the billboard in Akure's Ijomu neighbourhood. Respondents could largely remember Opay's price reduction (promo) and advertisements with the phrase "Where you matter." Findings further revealed that patronage increased dramatically after enormous Opay Oride outdoor advertisements in Akure and a significant degree of exposure to it. It was concluded that Opay Oride outdoor advertising has considerable effectiveness in market expansion in the Akure metropolis. It is recommended, among other things, that the company continue to use outdoor advertising media to reach out to its target customers to outperform competitors.

The research looked at the effectiveness of Opay Oride's outdoor advertisements for market expansion in Akure metropolis, Capital of Ondo State, Nigeria. The framing theory was used as the theoretical framework. The survey research method was employed, and the questionnaire and interview guide were used as data collection tools. Three hundred and eighty-six (386) respondents were chosen using a multi-stage sample approach. Two Opay sales agents in Akure were interviewed. According to findings, most respondents were exposed to Opay outdoor advertisements in Akure, particularly the billboard in Akure's Ijomu neighbourhood. Respondents could largely remember Opay's price reduction (promo) and advertisements with the phrase "Where you matter." Findings further revealed that patronage increased dramatically after enormous Opay Oride outdoor advertisements in Akure and a significant degree of exposure to it. It was concluded that Opay Oride outdoor advertising has considerable effectiveness in market expansion in the Akure metropolis. It is recommended, among other things, that the company continue to use outdoor advertising media to reach out to its target customers to outperform competitors.

Abstract. The problems that want to be studied in this study are: (a) How is the increase in student learning achievement by the application of Billboard Ranking learning. (b) What is the influence of the Billboard Ranking learning method on student learning achievement. The purpose of this action research is: (a) Want to know the improvement of student learning achievement after the implementation of Billboard Ranking learning. (b) Want to know the effect of student learning motivation after the implementation of the Billboard Ranking learning method. This study uses action research as many as three rounds. Each round consists of four stages, namely: design, activity and observation, reflection, and refining. The target of this study is students of Class VII A. Academic Year 2016/2017. Data obtained in the form of formative test results, observation sheets of teaching and learning activities. From the results of the analysis, it was found that student learning achievement had increased from cycle I to cycle III, namely, cycle I (59%), cycle II (79%), cycle III (88%). The conclusion of this study is the Billboard Ranking method can have a positive effect on the learning motivation of Class VII A. Students in 2016/2017 lessons, and this learning method can be used as an alternative to learning history.

The importance of the existence of UMKM is able to support the surrounding economy and be able to revive other supporting local businesses. This community service aims to: 1) There is a need for community provision and understanding of the concept of digital-based marketing as a support for business activities in the village, 2) Facilitate access to village sales and production processes so that community businesses can run smoothly, 3) There is a need for bilingual digital eduliteration to the community as an effort in marketing in the village. This community service includes five stages including the preparation stage, the implementation stage, program preparation, program implementation, and reporting. At the preparatory stage, the team conducted a location survey and recruited participants for the service, and at the implementation stage there were several stages carried out by the team including: problem identification and needs analysis. The results of program implementation showed that the results of an internal meeting held by Ilomata KKNT students and the head of Ilomata Village had concluded several problems that would become priority work for students in Ilomata Village, including: 1) the problem of stunting; 2) Identity of UMKM in Ilomata Village; 3) Awareness of loose animal breeders. Each of these problems has been carried out by UNG KKNT students well through the stages of socialization and counseling, labeling of UMKM identities, as well as installing billboards related to regulations for loose animal breeders. The conclusion from this implementation is that every activity carried out is inseparable from the role of the Ilomata community, village government, and Bilato sub-district government in solving every problem faced by Ilomata village.

Abstract Free standing billboards (FSBs) have a significant negative visual impact on landscape. In majority of foreign countries the construction of FSBs is regulated by various legal instruments, guidelines, and control manuals. In Lithuania the construction of FSBs considering visual impact is poorly regulated by juridical and spatial planning means. Considering this situation methodological guidelines for regulation of FSB construction taking into account their visual impact were created. The guidelines are a part of the Landscape Guidelines for the Roads and Railways of National Significance [10] which is a manual set to fulfil the requirements of the European Landscape Convention [4] to broaden the knowledge on this subject and to integrate landscape issues into all matters that influence the state and the future of landscape. The aim of the article is to show the possibilities of application of the guidelines by performing visual impact assessment of FSBs in the road landscape near the town of Elektrėnai on one of the main highways of Lithuania: A1 Vilnius-Kaunas-Klaipėda. The proposed stages of FSB visual impact assessment are the following: analysis of landscape spatial structure designating visual spaces perceived from separate road sections; analysis of FSB layout possibilities designating visual spaces protected from FSB construction and visual spaces as FSB construction areas; establishment of possible visual contrast level of FSB, and establishment of FSB location in visual space and visual contrast character according to the Identity Index context (Similarity, Identity, Difference Index) theory and results of evaluation of aesthetic potential of the visual space. In the performed research we used the possibilities of spatial data management and analysis of geographic information systems (GIS) and basically implemented the first three stages of FSB visual impact assessment. The fourth stage was not implemented because it deals mainly with technical issues of FSBs. We tried to solve questions that are most important on the level of spatial planning when developing special plans for FSB construction.

Medium Voltage Air Line Conductor (SUTM) has a voltage of 20 kV. The SUTM network should have the criteria for electricity safety techniques, including minimum safety distances between the trees and the environment and the effectiveness of electricity distribution development. There are ten stages in the installation of the new SUTM 20 kV network. The results of the study concluded that the Conductor used in the planning of the 20 kV SUTM new network construction was AAACS - 150 mm2. The safe distance between the conductors and the conditions contained Billboards are 0.5 meters with a minimum height difference of ± 2.5 meters. Whereas the safe distance between the conductor and the tree is ± 0.5 meters, but the Medium Voltage Network Construction Standard for Electric Power must have a height difference of 2.5 meters. The distance between the conductor and billboards is 0.5 meters, which does not complete the standard instructions.

In marketing activities, marketing communication planning plays a role and is applied as a sales and promotion solution for a product to the public which uses several effective and interactive ways and the content of its service products can be felt by all target audiences. Hann Prawira Photography is a service provider company in the form of photography, the service company does photo shoots for Indonesian or foreign artists, not only shooting artists but also working on photo shoots for commercial needs, such as shooting for billboards, websites and others. This communication research focuses on symbolic interactions and has a very important role, in which Hann Prawira Photography uses this symbolic interaction by presenting his work through photography and also the importance of relationships with consumers. This study uses a qualitative methodology with a strategy and case studies. The data were collected using in-depth interviews directly to the founder of Hann Prawira Photography and his team. The conclusion of this research is that it has 8 marketing communication plans, namely, business objectives, target market, competitors, communication themes, tactical, implementation, monitoring, communication channels and evaluation. At all these stages there are symbolic interactions such as organizational goals, to the company's vision and mission.Di dalam kegiatan pemasaran, perencanaan komunikasi pemasaran berperan dan diterapkan sebagai solusi penjualan dan promosi untuk suatu produk kepada masyarakat yang dimana menggunakan beberapa cara yang efektif dan interaktif juga isi produk pelayanannya dapat dirasakan oleh semua target audience. Hann Prawira Fotografi merupakan suatu perusahaan penyedia jasa dalam bentuk fotografi, perusahaan jasa tersebut mengerjakan pemotretan artis indonesia ataupun luar negeri, tidak hanya pemotretan artis tetapi juga mengerjakan pemotretan untuk kebutuhan komersial, seperti pemotretan untuk billboard, website dan lainnya. Penelitian komunikasi ini berfokus pada interaksi simbolik dan mempunyai peran yang sangat penting, yang di mana Hann Prawira Fotografi sangat menggunakan interaksi simbolik ini dengan mempersembahkan karyanya lewat fotografi dan juga pentingnya hubungan dengan konsumen. Penelitian ini menggunakan metodologi kualitatif dengan strategi dan studi kasus. Data-data dikumpulkan menggunakan wawancara mendalam langsung kepada pendiri Hann Prawira Fotografi dan tim. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini yakni memiliki 8 perencanaan komunikasi pemasaran yaitu, Tujuan bisnis, Target Market, Kompetitor, Tema Komunikasi, Taktis, Implementasi, Monitoring, saluran komunikasi dan Evaluasi. Pada semua tahapan tersebut terdapat interaksi simbolik seperti, tujuan organisasi, sampai visi dan misi perusahaan.

This study aims to determine how Administration, Reporting and Accountability of Dana Nagari in Batang Anai District, Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatra Province. There are three (3) aspects in village funds, administration, reporting and accountability. To achieve these objectives, descriptive qualitative research methods are used. Data sources are primary data and secondary data. Data collection techniques are carried out by observation, interviews, and documentation using qualitative descriptive analysis techniques. The results of the study show: (1) Administration carried out by the treasurer in the form of receipts and expenditures which are recorded in the general cash book, bank book, income details book, and financing details book which is equipped with receipts. (2) Reporting that the delay in disbursing village funds was due to the late regulation of the Regulations of the Regent of Padang Pariaman which caused the disbursement of stage I and phase II village funds to be delayed too late. (3) Accountability Submission of accountability reports to the public through various media, such as websites and billboards. Submission through this media can make it easier for the public to obtain information about the performance of the village government.

This study aims to examine the management of the Village Fund Allocation in Pematang Tujuh Village, Rasau Jaya Subdistrict, Kubu Raya Regency, by implementing the principles of Good Governance. This research uses a case study method with a descriptive qualitative approach, employing data collection techniques such as observation, interviews, and documentation. The study involved three respondents as sources of information. The findings reveal that the planning stage adheres to the Ministry of Home Affairs Regulation No. 113 of 2014, starting with Dusun Meetings and Village Development Planning Meetings (Musrenbangdes), involving the active participation of the Pematang Tujuh Village community. The Village Institution's involvement in the preparation of the Village Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJM Desa) and the Village Government Work Plan (RKP Desa) is discussed in Musrenbangdes meetings, subsequently organized by a special team. The results of these meetings are then displayed on announcement boards and billboards. In the implementation stage, the management of the Village Fund Allocation is carried out by a management team responsible for the Accountability Report (SPJ), involving the Pematang Tujuh Village community in the execution of activities. All activities related to budget implementation are announced on the website and notice boards.

This study aims to determine how community participation, transparency, and accountability in managing village funds in Lada Mese village, East Manggarai district, East Nusa Tenggara Province. This type of research is qualitative research with a qualitative descriptive approach. This research was conducted in Lada Mese Village, East Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province. Data was collected using the interview method and checked using observation and documentation. The data analysis technique used in this research is descriptive qualitative analysis. The results of this study indicate that the level of community participation in the management of Village Funds in Lada Mese village is still low at the planning stage. In contrast, at the implementation stage, it is quite good. The study also highlights the crucial need for improved transparency in managing the Village Fund in Lada Mese village, which has not been maximized because there is only one billboard in front of the village office. At the same time, many people still live quite far from the village office. In terms of accountability, the management of the Village Fund in Lada Mese village is already good but not fully accountable because no types of accountability reports have been published for the community. The village government and the community must be able to work together to manage village funds so that these funds can be useful for village progress and the welfare of all village communities.

<p>Pilkada 2015 which took place in 21 regencies and cities in Central Java worth to be examined in terms of the use of political advertising embodied in the form of banners/billboards. The role and whereabouts of political advertising will help determine the public support of the candidates. This study aims to reveal the values of prophetic rhetoric on political discourse pilkada in 2015 in Central Java. Methods and techniques of data collection in this study is a method refer to the technique of free libat captive, recording techniques, and record techniques. Three stages of analysis used in this study, namely data reduction, data presentation, and description of conclusions and verification. To answer the questions and needs of the research, the researcher analyzed the research data in the form of banners and baliho pilkada 2015 in Central Java through observation technique and refers to the note that existed in the discourse fragment of advertisement which is supposed to be a statement which is the values of discourse of prophetic rhetoric. Based on the results of analysis on the political election advertising discourse concluded that there are various prophetic rhetoric which is the embodiment of the main values humanist, liberative, and transcendent.</p>

This research aims to describe the policies or programs of the Solok Regency Nasdem Party in realizing one of its political goals through Anies Baswedan's socialization. In writing this thesis, the author uses a qualitative approach with a qualitative descriptive method, namely, a method for revealing problems by explaining or describing what is in the research by linking the Use and Gratification theory and Hafied Cangara's communication strategy concept. The result of the discussion of this thesis is that the communication strategy implemented by the Solok Regency Nasdem party in the socialization of Anies Baswedan is structured communication from central leadership to administrators to cadres in Solok Regency so that the message can be conveyed evenly. Communication strategy explains the stages in a series of communication activities based on procedures for implementing communication goals. According to Hafied Cangara, there are 5 stages of communication strategy, namely Research, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation and Reporting. The media used are communication media such as billboards distributed in several places, tote bags, calendars and also social media such as the official central Nasdem website, Instagram, WA, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and so on.

Narcotics cases are complex problems related to legal, state security, health, economic and social issues. In 2022 Bantul Regency had 104 cases and became the second highest area prone to narcotics. In 2023 there was an increase to 129 cases. The drug-free village program aims to create a safe, comfortable, and peaceful situation in the village community. The study aims to find out the communication planning of the National Narcotics Board of Bantul Regency through Desa Bersinar (Drug-Free Village) in implementing the Drug Abuse Eradication and Illicit Trafficking Prevention program. This research uses an interpretive paradigm with a qualitative descriptive approach. Then the approach of the P-D-C-A (Plan-Do-Check-Action) stages of Strategic Management. The implementation of the shining village program has been running for 1 year, starting in January 2023. However, the implementation has not been optimal, such as budget planning for 2023 has not been budgeted, passive participation from the community in Shining Village activities, and the absence of effective communication between working groups, so that the use of communication media is still not optimal. The Plan and Do stages are very prominent, while the Check and Action stages are less prominent due to ineffective communication. A strategy is needed to develop all stages of effective communication. Then there is a need for additional outdoor communication media, such as pamphlets, posters, billboards, and banners at several points. As well as conducting Community-Based Intervention surveys every month so that evaluation and follow-up are running.

Media and local government are important research objects to provide information, understanding and education to the community. The present research analyses stages of dissemination to the public Sukaraja Village based on three models of Effendy (1997): one-step flow of communication, two-step flow of communication that explains the process of mass communication as well as SMCR model of Berlo that explains the communication process in general. To obtain data, the present research conducted observation, interviews, and literature review by compiling the existing resources materials and analyzing them based on the main theories above. The results indicated that an outline of community outreach programs performed by Sukaraja village can be categorized into two types: routine and non-routine outreach programs in various fields such as health, safety, and social development. Local government of Sukaraja Village used conventional media to deliver messages of the community’s character, culture and education. Furthermore, it shows the public acceptance community outreach programs of the government of Sukaraja village. The present research indicated the benefits of using conventional media such as billboard or radiogram in lieu of non conventional media such as email. Thus, the use of conventional media can be beneficial depending on the conditions of said society.

Exposure to tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (TAPS) has been associated with tobacco use. However, there has been a dearth of studies in Nigeria that have evaluated this association. This study evaluated the impact of TAPS exposure on smoking behavior among commercial motorcycle riders in Igboora community. A multi-staged cross-sectional study was used to recruit 255 commercial motorcycle riders in Igboora community using an interviewer-based questionnaire. TAPS factors associated with smoking were assessed using logistic regression. There were 138 ever-smokers and 117 never-smokers. Compared to the never smokers, ever smokers were more likely to have items with cigarette brand logo (aOR=2.36; p=0·003), watch sports or other events on TV where cigarette brand names were shown (aOR=2.56; p=0·002), see less anti-smoking messages on billboards (aOR=2.54; p=0·001), see cigarettes advertisement or promotion in newspapers and magazines (aOR=2.78; p=0·005), have been offered a free cigarette by a cigarette brand representative during tobacco promoting programs (OR=2.57; p=0·004). Our study result provided baseline information for the government to evaluate current TAPS regulatory efforts and guide future decision making.

Advertising services which include the process of creating, producing and distributing advertisements, one example of which is billboards used to help entrepreneurs in promoting goods and services sold in Pekanbaru. In the process of working on advertising media, especially in the cutting process using cutting tools in the form of circular saws and scroll saws. In the cutting process there are several obstacles that are often experienced by operators, cutting edges are difficult to find, the unit is expensive, cutting edges often break, dynamo power can drop dramatically, work takes a long time and operators feel tired, that's why it is necessary to design an acrylic cutting machine which can be used to meet the operators needs at work. The design method uses the Ergonomic Function Deployment (EFD) method. This method is a development of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method. The stages in this research are introduction, identification, formulation, goal setting, method application followed by analysis and discussion, and finally conclusions, suggestions, and improvements. Based on the research, the variable results obtained from a closed questionnaire and processed using SPSS 16 software.

The Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Rorano was established to respond to the high number of morbidity and mortality due to the HIV and AIDS virus which continues to increase every year in North Maluku. In addition, the lack of public knowledge about the spread of HIV and AIDS is also not a concern for many people in North Maluku. Starting and thinking about simplicity, the NGO Rorano wants to build public awareness and joint partnerships in Ternate City to break the chain of HIV and AIDS transmission and eliminate community stigma and discrimination as well as solve the phenomenon of the iceberg in the case of HIV and AIDS. The type of community empowerment carried out by the role of stakeholders in partnerships and community empowerment for HIV and AIDS prevention is carried out for 6 days and is divided into several stages of implementing activities, especially in the health sector, especially in HIV and AIDS in the City of Ternate, namely: counseling, making billboards and installing billboards, leaflets containing information about HIV and AIDS prevention, and as a medium of socialization to prevent HIV and AIDS transmission in the community as well as family members or their children. The results of the activities of the NGO Rorano in collaboration with the government of Ternate City, as well as contributing to stakeholders in partnerships and community empowerment with HIV and AIDS prevention. Based on the results of the socialization in community empowerment activities that have been stated, the researchers draw conclusions from the results of the analysis that are as follows: there is a need for collaboration between the government and Chasan Boesoerie Hospital, City Health Office, 11 Puskesmas and involving all stakeholders in Ternate City, especially in handling holders of infectious disease programs so that they can control family members to prevent the transmission of HIV and AIDS in the City of Ternate

Transparency is one of the principles that can guarantee access or freedom for all people to obtain information about the administration and management carried out by the government. With the principle of transparency, it is hoped that the Melilian Village government, Gelumbang District, will manage the Village Fund transparently and involve the Village community. This study aims to describe the management of Village Funds and the mechanisms for managing Village Funds carried out by the Melilian Village Government, Gelumbang District, Muara Enim Regency. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative method. Data collection techniques in this study include, observation, interviews and documentation. The results showed that the management of the Village Fund carried out by the Melilian Village government, Gelumbang District, was in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations and involved the community from the planning, implementation, administration, reporting and accountability stages to the delivery of development results. Based on the transparency indicator, it shows that there is availability of document accessibility as well as completeness, clarity and convenience for the public to access information as a whole with the installation of billboards and information boards at several points. This study concludes that Melilian Village, Gelumbang Subdistrict, has carried out the process of the Village Fund management mechanism in stages by involving several related elements including the people of Melilian Village, Gelumbang District.

<strong>ABSTRACT: </strong>LSHOP, a SaaS startup company that was introduced as a direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce enabler. With LSHOP&#39;s D2C strategy, MSMEs can benefit from technological solutions without the involvement of a third party. Building awareness is crucial for a new brand, particularly a startup company with an existence of less than five years, or even less than a year if it is computed since they conducted the rebranding, to concentrate on its position and remain in the sector. According to observations and conversations with LSHOP&#39;s marketing manager, there are still a lot of people who are unaware of the SaaS company, which is beneficial for MSMEs as one of their business channels, LSHOP. The frameworks of Porter&#39;s Five Analysis, Marketing Mix, SWOT, Competitor Analysis, and Customer Analysis are used in this study to examine business issues. Data and information were gathered from a variety of sources, including observation, employee interviews, questionnaire distribution employing sampling, and questionnaire distribution. According to the survey, LSHOP&#39;s underuse of marketing channels and customers&#39; lack of familiarity with the SaaS sector were to blame for the lack of brand awareness. The author suggests a marketing approach based on the 5A Framework to address the issues, namely how to raise brand awareness. The tactics employed for stage 5A of spreading awareness of LSHOP vary depending on the level. At the Aware stage, businesses can work with influencers, put up billboards and banners in MSMEs&#39; common areas, and introduce a distinctive catchphrase. The strategy that can be used in the Appeal stage is to produce engaging content regarding the brand&#39;s features or industry-related data. Additionally, to make it easier for customers to understand the information, viral or unique promotions are required. The business should implement a plan to build a community network utilizing Facebook and regularly produce content using short videos on TikTok during the Ask stage. Additionally, in the Act stage, launching internal events, working with the government, running promotional campaigns, and having live chats with customer care are all highly beneficial for LSHOP&#39;s new approach. Finally, LSHOP can strengthen relationships with consumers at the Advocate stage by developing referral and loyalty programs that offer rewards to customers.&nbsp; &nbsp;

HIV/AIDS is one of the health problems that concern the world today because of the increase in patient population causing health crisis in the world. The highest number of AIDS cases according to the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that people are infected while still in middle adolescence stage. Teens need to be provided with Problem Based Instruction (PBI) method, because PBI can improve knowledge and creativity. This study aims to determine the effect of Problem Based Instruction (PBI) learning methods on prevention behavior of HIV/AIDS in adolescents. The research design used pre-experimental pre-test post-test one group design. The population is all adolescents class VIII in SMP Negeri 1 Mojoanyar Mojokerto regency as many as 180 people with a sample of 36 people using cluster random sampling technique. The results of this study indicate that there is a change of negative behavior before given Problem Based Instruction Learning (72,2%) turns into positive after given Learning Problem Based Instruction (61,1%). Wilcoxon test analysis results show that P value &lt;α so that H1 accepted, meaning there is influence of Problem Based Instruction Learning to behavior prevention of HIV / AIDS transmission in adolescent. PBIs are developed to help students develop thinking and problem-solving skills, through engagement in real-life experiences and become autonomous and self-reliant learners. Schools working together with health workers are expected to create large posters or billboards about the prevention of HIV / AIDS transmission with attractive design to make it easier for students to read.

HIV/AIDS is one of the health problems that concern the world today because of the increase in patient population causing health crisis in the world. The highest number of AIDS cases according to the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that people are infected while still in middle adolescence stage. Teens need to be provided with Problem Based Instruction (PBI) method, because PBI can improve knowledge and creativity. This study aims to determine the effect of Problem Based Instruction (PBI) learning methods on prevention behavior of HIV/AIDS in adolescents. The research design used pre-experimental pre-test post-test one group design. The population is all adolescents class VIII in SMP Negeri 1 Mojoanyar Mojokerto regency as many as 180 people with a sample of 36 people using cluster random sampling technique. The results of this study indicate that there is a change of negative behavior before given Problem Based Instruction Learning (72,2%) turns into positive after given Learning Problem Based Instruction (61,1%). Wilcoxon test analysis results show that P value &lt;α so that H1 accepted, meaning there is influence of Problem Based Instruction Learning to behavior prevention of HIV / AIDS transmission in adolescent. PBIs are developed to help students develop thinking and problem-solving skills, through engagement in real-life experiences and become autonomous and self-reliant learners. Schools working together with health workers are expected to create large posters or billboards about the prevention of HIV / AIDS transmission with attractive design to make it easier for students to read.

This research discusses the management of village funds conducted by the Desa Suci government through the principle of Good Village Governance. The purpose of this study is to describe how Village Fund Management is carried out by the Government of Desa Suci in order to realize optimal village fund management through the application of the principles of Good Village Governance in Desa Suci. The theory used is the theory of Good Village Governance from Haris Fauzi (2023) in theory states the embodiment of Good Village Governance in village financial management through the principles of transparency, participation, and accountability. This study used descriptive qualitative methods. Data collection was used through interviews with the village government, the village consultative body (BPD), village assistants, and TAPMD of 10 people. The results of this study indicate that the management of village funds conducted by the Government of Desa Suci is good but still not optimal. Transparency conducted by the Government of Desa Suci using information media in the form of websites, Billboards, information distributed by each hamlet through RT and RW groups. The embodiment of participation in the form of community aspirations by holding deliberations, and involving the community in the implementation of activities. Accountability carried out by the Government of the sacred village from the planning stage to the accountability stage by conducting village fund management in accordance with procedures, accountable management through reports to the government on it and the village community. Although the management of funds by the Desa Suci government is good, there are still obstacles, namely from the condition of the community, the low capacity of the village apparatus, changing policies and regulations, and limited village funds to realize the needs of the community. Keywords: Accountability, Participation, Transparency, Village Fund, Good Village governance.

This research contains about the development of durian tapak silat which is located in the village of Kuranji as well as targeted efforts in maintaining the culture of pencak silat amid cultural degradation. This research uses the historical method which consists of four stages: first, heuristics or data collection, secondly the source criticism and interpretation of the data, finally making history writing so that this writing can be completed. The results of this study indicate that in the village of kuranji there are non-formal educational institutions engaged in the preservation of values and culture, namely pencak silat. The target of silat durian tapak was established in 1980, but the development ang change began in 2007 since it was inaugurated by the Mayor of Padang under the leardership of Erman Jamal. During the leadership of germany, Jamal began to form an organizational structure and management that were recognized leaglly by adat and government stakeholders. Since its establishment until now the number of enthusiast has increased. The form of durian in maintaining cultural degradation that occurred in Kuranji village is to seek financial assistance for the target so that facilities are equipped, conduct promotions by attending each invitation and making billboards as a form of promotion.

Subject of the research: Today, the design of flexible, extended in length and height structures of transport, industry, communication is one of the important directions of construction development. Such structures include continuous extended metal constructions such as chimneys, poles, billboards, monuments, bridges, pipelines. Besides ensuring the limit states for strength and deformability, there is another important condition for the durable operation of metal structures which is the absence of aerodynamic instability phenomena (mainly wind resonance) during the whole service life. Objectives: Review of the background, analysis of accidents that have occurred, proposals to avoid such situations at the design stage and in the occurrence of emergency conditions at existing facilities. Materials and methods: Review and analysis of existing data and proposals for further improvement of calculation and design methods. Results: The paper analyzes the mechanisms of the main types of aerodynamic instability (wind resonance, flutter, galloping, oscillations in the airfoil) on different types of structures, presents particular cases of the history of famous unique constructions and the authors' calculation practice, describes the ways to avoid this type of phenomena in the design of new buildings or in emergency situations on existing structures. Conclusions: The phenomena described in the article are applicable to an extremely narrow area of construction and are often ignored in calculation and design. This article is intended to draw special attention to these phenomena not only for designers, but also for research engineers in order to create new mechanisms for their analysis.

Ijen Batik is one of the new batik industries in Tamanan Subdistrict, Bondowoso Regency, which has its own characteristics compared to other batik industries, namely from the main motive inspired by the blue fire Ijen Crater, as one of the best known natural attractions in Bondowoso. The motif coloring uses the spray technique which produces a gradation color which is a distinctive feature for Ijen Batik. In its development, promotion is carried out only from mouth to mouth and there is no visual identity and promotional media used by Ijen Batik, many people inside and outside Bondowoso do not know about this batik industry, so it is necessary to design a visual identity in accordance with the character of the company and promotional media through communication design. visuals in order to produce an effective media to introduce and promote to the wider community. The initial stage of this design is by collecting data through the approach of observation, interviews, analyzing data with qualitative methods, SWOT analysis and promotional design methods, so that Ijen Batik can create a visual identity according to the company's character, namely using blue fire as a design concept that differentiates it from other industries. The identity created is then applied to various promotional media such as stationery, sign systems, packaging, paper bags and merchandise, posters, billboards, banners, and websites that visually look thematic to form a distinctive image. It is hoped that this design can make this industry known to the public with its uniqueness and character and can have a positive impact on the development of Ijen Batik.

In the early days of the Internet, philosophers, consumers, engineers, and futurists wondered what Web 1.0, the initial stage of the world wide web, might look like. At the time, there was not even a space called the world wide web, let alone the moniker “Web 1.0.” As the Internet flourished, consumers were spun into its sticky, silky residue. More connections and devices heralded in Web 2.0, including changes in both the form and the content of digital media. Now, with Web 3.0 right around the corner as we head into the thirtieth year of widespread web use, we explore the digital attitude adopted towards digital media in contemporary society. The idea of an attitude suggests the typical way we are feeling about a certain thing at the time. How do users and consumers and human beings in general assess their digital media use and understanding? Lines blur between where contents and forms begin and end. The digital media “content” needs a device and the “device” needs content to engage the consumer/user. Form comes through technological, electronic, digital, and device driven ways. Content proliferates through media through a variety of user generated programming, visuals, sound, apps, games, TV shows, billboards, and software. The combination of these elements provides digital media with its spreadable and participatory nature. This reflection considers the digital attitude as it relates to the human-technology experience approaching the Web 3.0 era. Does the web+digital+media’s ubiquity highlight or in some way name a new or different kind of in-between and taken-for granted attitude? Ideas from of Don Ihde, Alfred Schutz and Thomas Luckman, Marshall McLuhan, and Peter-Paul Verbeek are considered.

This study aims to determine the communication planning of the Health Office in the success of the vaccine program in Palu City. The research method used is descriptive qualitative with a case study research basis. Using purposive sampling technique to determine the informants in order to obtain twelve (12) people. Data collection methods are observation, in-depth interviews and documentation with data analysis techniques through data reduction, data presentation, and verification/drawing conclusions.&#x0D; &#x0D; The results of this study indicate that the communication planning carried out by the Health Office in the success of the vaccine program in Palu City is: (1) Analyzing the problem by going directly to the community and meeting community leaders, and finding the fact that the public's lack of interest in taking vaccines because of hoax news related to vaccines; (2) Analyzing audiences and formulating communication objectives, by dividing the vaccine program targets through three stages, namely: Phase I: Health Workers; Phase II: State Civil Apparatus (government officials, TNI, and Polres); Phase III: The general public by dividing into several categories, such as people aged between 12-17 years, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with disabilities. (3) Media selection and planning for media production, the Health Service cooperates with UPTD Puskesmas, Palu City Public Relations, and other government sectors to convey information using radio, local TV, banners, billboards, websites, Instagram, Facebook as information channels and also socialize. (4) Messages delivered by the Health Service are informative and persuasive, (5) Planning communication monitoring and evaluation by conducting field visits at vaccine sites and evaluating messages on communication media&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk menganalisis dan menemukan metode efektivitas pengelolaan dana desa di Kecamatan Pamona Barat Kabupaten Poso dan untuk mengetahui apakah pengelolaan dana desa di Kecamatan Pamona Barat Kabupaten Poso sudah efektif. Jenis Penelitian yang digunakan adalah Kualitatif. Menggunakan teknik analisis data interaktif. Teknik analisis data tersebut terdiri dari tiga komponen utama 1) Reduksi Data 2) Sajian Data 3) Penarikan Simpulan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan: 1) Pada proses pengelolaan dana desa yang telah dilakukan oleh Pemerintah Desa yang ada di Kecamatan Pamona Barat masih ada desa yang belum sesuai degan Permendagri No.113 Tahun 2014 mulai dari perencanaannya masih ada masyarakat yang belum ikut serta dalam musyawarah untuk menetapkan perencanaan penggunaan dana desa sehingga kuantitas yang ingin dicapai tidak sesuai sasaran. Kemudian dalam tahap pelaksanaan perencanaan masih ada kegiatan yang telah direncanakan tapi tidak terlaksana dan tidak tepat waktu. Selain itu, pertanggungjawaban pemerintah desa tidak sesuai dengan yang masyarakat harapkan, walaupun sudah terlihat bahwa pemerintah desa memasang baliho depan kantor desa agar masyarakat bisa melihat penggunaan dana yang telah dilakukan, namun hal tersebut tidak sesuai dengan yang masyarakat terima dan rasakan. 2) Tingkat efektif pengelolaan Dana Desa di Kecamatan Pamona Barat dikatakan belum efektif karena tidak sesuai dengan Permendagri No.113 Tahun 2014 yang berdasarkan hasil wawancara bahwa masih belum tercapainya suatu tujuan yang telah ditetapkan dan yang diharapkan masyarakat. The type of research used was qualitative. using interactive data analysis technique. The data analysis technique consisted of three main components 1) Data Reduction 2) Data Presentation 3) Conclusion Drawing. The results of this study indicated: 1) In the village fund management process that has been carried out by the village goverment in West Pamona sub-district, there are still villages that are not in accordance with Ministry of Home Affairs regulation No.113 of 2014 starting from planning, there are still people who have not participated in deliberation to determine plan for using village fund so that the quantity to be achieved is not on target. Then in the planning implementation stage there are still activities that have been planned but not implemented and not on time. In addition, village government accountability does not match what the community expect, even though it is has been seen that the village goverment has put up billboards in front of the village office so that the community can see the use of fund that have been made, but this is not in accordance with what the community receives and feels. 2) The effective level of village fund management is said to be ineffective because it is not in accordance with Ministry of Home Affairs regulation No.113 of 2014 which is based on the result of interview that there is still no achievement of a goal that has benn set and that is expected by the community.

The aim of the article. In modern conditions, marketing exists on a border between the traditional and the digital. The visual merchandising affects not only stationary but also online stores. It must be adapted to volatile trading conditions and be adapted to consumer behavior and needs. The authors believe that the ultimate goal of modern marketing is not only in the purchase of goods or services, but in the achievement of customer loyalty as well. Because in the changing of conditions of the economies of countries, high load of information, oversaturation of commodity markets and accelerating the overall pace of society, there is a need to form loyalty to their own customers for the survival of enterprises. Convenience of purchase, the level of service quality, price, quality and compliance with existing trends in the goods are the main motivation to the purchase and a prerequisite to the formation of loyalty. The aim of the article is to substantiate the influence of visual merchandising on the formation of customer loyalty on the example of a stationary and online store. The results of the analyses. The article investigates the tools of visual merchandising of a stationary and online store in the context of its influence on the formation of customer loyalty. The influence of modern marketing trends on the concept of AIDA and its transformation into 5A is revealed. The step-by-step content of the buyer's path from the stage of knowledge to the stage of propaganda is detailed and described. The essence of visual merchandising and the composition of its main elements are given. It has been shown how visual merchandising influence customer loyalty at the stage of purchasing through visual elements such as lighting, colors, fonts, signs, shop windows, shelves and cabinets, position of goods at the point of sale, place of store, etc., which in combination form impressions of the buying process and consumer satisfaction. There are revealed the tasks and tools of visual merchandising with details and descriptions of most of them. It is justified the choice of the store for conducting a study of the impact of visual merchandising on customer loyalty. The difference between the tools of visual merchandising of a stationary and online store on the example of Zara clothing retail chain is analyzed. A brief description of Zara store is presented. The possible actions of the buyer at the stage of the purchase process and the composition of the elements of visual merchandising of the website are analyzed. The analysis of the buyer's path in a stationary store is given. It is concluded about the different advantages of both options of trade, i.e. the possibility of direct contact with goods and the possibility of remote purchase. Possible mistakes of visual merchandising in the process of loyalty formation are indicated. It is also recommended to use additional principles of visual merchandising to enhance the positive effect (the pyramid principle and the rule of three). The scientific novelty of the work is the allocation of visual merchandising as a separate tool in the process of forming customer loyalty, which is justified by the extension of the AIDA concept to 5A: to aware, to appeal, to ask, to act, to advocate. Conclusions and perspectives for further research. Visual merchandising affects customer loyalty quite indirectly, which is unnoticed by the customer. But since it provides comfort of the purchase process through visual elements such as colors, spatial compositions, shop windows, lighting, location, signs, billboards, markings, etc., its impact should be taken into account in the marketing activities of enterprises. Prospects for further development should be in more detailed studies of visual merchandising in terms of information technology used in modern marketing. Keywords: marketing 4.0, loyalty, visual merchandising, stationary store, online store.

Effectively addressing public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic requires persuading the mass public to change their behavior in significant ways. Many efforts to encourage behavior change–such as public service announcements, social media posts, and billboards–involve short, persuasive appeals, yet the effectiveness of these messages is unclear. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, we tested whether short messages could increase intentions to comply with public health guidelines. To identify promising messages, we conducted two pretests (n = 1,596) in which participants rated the persuasiveness of 56 unique messages: 31 based on the persuasion and social influence literatures and 25 drawn from a pool of crowdsourced messages generated by online respondents. The four top-rated messages emphasized: (1) civic responsibility to reciprocate the sacrifices of health care workers, (2) caring for the elderly and vulnerable, (3) a specific, sympathetic victim, and (4) limited health care system capacity. We then conducted three well-powered, pre-registered experiments (total n = 3,719) testing whether these four top-rated messages, and a standard public health message based on language from the CDC, increased intentions to comply with public health guidelines, such as masking in public spaces. In Study 1, we found the four messages and the standard public health message significantly outperformed a null control. In Studies 2 and 3, we compared the effects of persuasive messages to the standard public health message, finding that none consistently out-performed the standard message. This is in line with other research showing minimal persuasive effects of short messages after the very early stages of the pandemic. Across our studies, we found that (1) short messages can increase intentions to comply with public health guidelines, but (2) short messages featuring persuasive techniques from the social science literature did not substantially outperform standard public health messages.

This study aims to analyze the problem of developing mutanaqisah musyarakah contracts in property financing by reviewing the benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks involved in mutanaqisah musyarakah contracts. This research uses a mix method between qualitative and quantitative with the ANP BOCR approach with the help of superdecision software. This research consists of four stages of research including pre-research, data collection, data processing and interpretation of results. The results of this study indicate that the ANP BOCR analysis regarding the development of property financing using the musyarakah mutanaqisah contract which is the top priority in the BOCR criteria aspect is Benefit with a Normalize value of 0.35644, followed by the risk aspect in second place with a value of 0.32573, followed by the opportunity aspect with a value of 0.19358 and in the last rank is the cost aspect with a value of 0.12426. The top priority in alternative strategies in developing property financing using the musyarakah mutanaqisah contract is the strategy that banks must work with honest developers. The next strategy is a socialization strategy, namely the bank conducts socialization to the public so that people understand more about the mutanaqisah musyarakah contract. In the third rank is to develop competitive and innovative products. Furthermore, the last rank is a promotion strategy in the form of banners, banners and billboards. Based on the calculation of the benefit cluster, each cluster has the same value, it means that the three benefit subcriteria have the same priority. Furthermore, in the opportunity cluster, the top priority is the development of property investment, followed by product innovation and needs according to the financing contract. Then in the cost cluster, the priority of the cost cluster is notary fees, followed by insurance costs in second place and administrative costs in third place. And in the risk cluster, the priority is credit risk, followed by market risk and compliance risk.

After WWII the genre of the animated poster was predominantly presented as advertisment films. The movie posters imagery in the 1950s tended to have an illustrative and spatial-pictorial artistic propensity. Grotesque and satire gave way to the dominance of realistic images, and the artistic design had gained coloration and splendor, creating the image of a cheerful world, affluence and prosperity. Films with propaganda and ideological orientations appeared along with the advertisement films, as the political and social poster developed. A special role in the poster genre development was played by the emergence of television as a major customer and distributor of this product. Unlike Western animation, the production of advertisement and social film-posters in the USSR was a state tool of the planned economy. Animated posters played an important role in the formation of new social strategies, behavior patterns and consumption. As a result, in the animated posters of the Soviet period, especially during the 1950s and 1960s, a didactic tone and an optimistic pathos in the presentation of the material dominated. The stylistics of film-posters changed in the 1960s. Their artistic image was characterized by conciseness and expressiveness, inclination towards iconic symbolism, and the metaphoric and graphic quality of the imagery. The poster aesthetics influenced the entire animation development in this period. The development of advertisement and social posters continued in the 1970s-1980s. The clipping principles of the material presentation began to develop in the advertisement poster, however, in the social and political poster there was a tendency towards narration. Computer technology usage in animation and the emergence of the Internet as a new communicative environment contributed to a new stage in the development of the animated poster genre. Means of expression experienced a qualitative upgrade under the influence of digital technologies in animated posters. While creating an animated posters artistic appearance the attraction and collage tendencies intensify due to the compilation of computer graphics and photographic images, furthermore, simulacrum-images are actively utilized as well. Since the 2000s, digital technologies are actively used for the development of social, instructional and educational posters. The advent of new technologies has led to modifications of the animated poster genre, changed the way it functions and converted its form. Along with cinematic and television forms - new types of animated posters have appeared which are used in outdoor advertising (billboards) as well as dynamic interactive banners and animated posters on web sites.

In current conditions, people can quickly move between regions, countries, and continents. This freedom of movement makes it easier to share knowledge and strengthen potential. However, the period of the COVID-19 pandemic showed that diseases move too. It becomes more challenging to detect and control conditions in time. Accordingly, there is a need to develop a concept of an innovative product. This innovative product must facilitate the timely detection, treatment, or prevention of diseases caused by pathogenic components, poisons, or toxins that may endanger human life and health during travel. The article aims to develop an innovation in the field of medicine and describe the marketing aspects of its promotion. The study showed that innovation is becoming an essential part of medicine. Artificial intelligence technologies and nanosized (microscopically tiny) materials and objects develop rapidly in the medical sphere. Following specific trends in treatment, we have formed the concept of an innovative product. The essence of the idea is as follows: a microchip «InBlood» can detect specific pathogens and toxins and create opportunities for timely medical care. At the initial stage, it was proposed to produce two versions of the innovative product: 1) «InBlood Tourist» the primary target audience of which are people who travel; 2) «InBlood Life» the target audience of which are people who have health problems and monitor the state of their performance or people for whom disease prevention is important. The analysis of indirect competitors helped to determine the price of innovative microchips. A system of discounts has also been developed. In addition, it is advisable to use a multi-channel distribution system to sell innovative microchips. It means using direct sales through online stores and sales departments of the manufacturer and sales through intermediaries. Thus, the principal intermediaries in the sale of chips «InBlood Tourist» will be travel agencies and «InBlood Life» – medical centers. For the innovative microchip promotion on the market, we proposed the following plan of communication activities: (1) participation in international electronics exhibitions; (2) collaborations with techno-bloggers on Youtube, Instagram, Tiktok; (3) personal presentation of goods to future partner companies (medical centers, travel companies, etc.); (4) launch of review articles on technological and tourist resources and stories in the media; (5) mailing to consumers, launching contextual advertising, and targeting search networks; (6) placement of outdoor advertising in the form of billboards and interactive screens. Moreover, a brand with a complete visual identity will be formed. Thus, the practical significance of the article consists in the strategy formation for innovative microchip presentation and dissemination among consumers in the field of medicine.

Abstract This study aims to explore and investigate translation procedures and how linguistic and cultural adaptation affects communication and marketing outcomes on consumer attitudes and behaviors in Zimbabwe. To answer pertinent questions, the study adopted a mixed-method research design, combining qualitative corpus analysis and quantitative data from questionnaires. Two different questionnaires were administered to different groups, and English-to-Shona translated adverts were collected. The study made use of participant observation and responses from both company representatives and consumers were analyzed. The study is grounded in the Skopos, communicative, and appropriateness theories to understand the interplay between translation strategies and marketing goals. Results of the study revealed that Shona translations frequently employ techniques such as cultural adaptation, modulation, and reformulation to achieve linguistic and cultural equivalence. However, the impact on consumer engagement varies, with 80% of surveyed consumers occasionally influenced by Shona advertisements. <strong><em>Keywords:</em></strong> advertising, consumers, English, marketing, Shona, translation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><strong>How to cite</strong></em><strong>: </strong>Phiri, R., Nge, D., &amp; Ayonghe, L. (2024). The impact of English-Shona translation of adverts on consumer attitudes in Zimbabwe. <em>GPH-International Journal of Educational Research</em>, 7(12), 15-31. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14566512 <strong>1. Introduction</strong> According to Munday (2002), translating advertisements are ways through which companies gain insight into other countries or cultures. The clamor for the presence of local languages in Africa has led to the vulgarization of adverts in various domains such as social media, audio-visual media and many more, hence the rise of translation of adverts from English to Shona languages in Zimbabwe considering culture and context to effectively communicate. Cook (2001), considers advertising to be simply, everywhere;&nbsp; we cannot walk down the street, shop, watch television, go through the mail, log on to the Internet, read a newspaper or board a train without encountering advertising. Zimbabwe&rsquo;s constitution recognizes 16 official languages, with English as the official medium, alongside Shona and Ndebele which are the predominant indigenous languages in their respective geographic spheres, namely Mashonaland in the east and Matebeleland in the west of Zimbabwe. Advertising is omnipresent, and its effectiveness depends heavily on cultural resonance and contextual appropriateness. Translating advertisements involves more than linguistic transfer, it requires transcreation and cultural adaptation to maintain the original message&rsquo;s impact. Industry theorists like Wu (2018) emphasize that advertising translation must evoke the same emotional responses as the source material. Advertising texts does not only include words, but also cultural concepts, ideas and visuals. De Mooij (2004:179) defines translating advertising copy as &lsquo;painting the tip of an iceberg and hoping the whole thing will turn red&rsquo;. To him advertising lies on the cultural notion, as advertising is not made of words only, but made of culture. Translating advertising goes beyond translating a regular written text as it includes cultural elements such as shared beliefs, attitudes, norms, roles, and values. Hence, Reboul (1978) suggests that to transfer an advertisement from one language and culture to another, it is worth considering translating, adapting, and creating. Advertising texts are rich in cultural and social elements, whether they are translatable or not is still being questioned hence attention has to be paid to cultural and textual nuances.Basem (2006) says when translating, two languages and two cultures are involved. Simply speaking translated advertisements have an attractive power to manipulate consumers as they advocate, encourage, ask questions, announcing about products or services invoking their cultures that are deeply embedded into their minds. A closer reading of these authors as well as others has led to the quest to study how advertisements are translated in Zimbabwe where there is multiculturalism thereby addressing the issue of techniques and strategies that are implied in the translation of adverts from English to Shona in Zimbabwe marketing terminology in terms of translation strategies. The purpose of this research is therefore to investigate the techniques, strategies, and impact of such translated advertisements. <strong>1.1 Problem statement</strong> It has been observed that translated advertisements from English to Shona fail to give the intended effect on the target consumers as those of the original advertisements. This study, therefore seeks to assess the translated advertisements on consumer attitudes and the procedures used in their translation. &nbsp; <strong>1.2 Research Questions</strong> 1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What is the impact of translating English language advertisements into Shona by companies on customers in Zimbabwe? 2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What are the various translation techniques used in these English adverts to Shona translated adverts? <strong>1.3 Objectives</strong> 1. Identify, analyze, describe and assess the effectiveness of the translation of advertisements in Zimbabwe on consumer attitudes and behaviors. 2. Identify, analyze and describe the techniques involved in the translation of&nbsp;&nbsp; advertisements from English to Shona. <strong>2. Review of related literature</strong> <strong>2.1 Conceptual Review</strong> In this part key concepts related to the study will be defined. <strong>2.1.1 Translation</strong> Bell (1991:20) highlights that the phenomenon of translation is, &lsquo;a replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in a second language&rsquo;. Bell (1991) refers to an important notion in translation theory, namely equivalence, whereby the translator renders the message to the targeted audience in the closest possible equivalence that will be well understood by the target audience. In line with this study, Bell&rsquo;s definition simply means giving an appropriate translation equivalence from source text to target text. <strong>2.1.2 Advertising</strong> Bovee and Arens (1986:5) views advertising as non-personal communication of information that is usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the diverse media. Bovee and Arens (1986) view advertising as persuasive in nature according to messages being conveyed on various media to catch the eye of anyone who could be a possible client; for example, on social media, television, billboards, and radios whereby marketers have to pay to convey a message about their goods or services, hence the words they use in this case should be catchy to quickly attract the target audience.&nbsp; <strong>2.1.3 Advertising translation</strong> According to Sharabi (2023), advertising translation covers the conversion of marketing content to effectively reach a full-target (full-fledged) market or audience through translation, transcreation, and localization. In this way advertisements will not only be linguistically accurate but also will resonate to the essence of culture. De Mooij (2004), considers translating adverts like painting the tip of an iceberg, what you see are the words, but there is a lot behind the words that must be understood to transfer advertising from one culture to another. <strong>2.1.4 Advertising slogans</strong> Brierley (2002) says advertising slogans are short, memorable phrases used in advertising campaigns. Their purpose is to emphasize a phrase that the company wishes to be remembered by, particularly for marketing a specific corporate image or connection to a product or consumer base. Slogans speak volumes about a product, service or even the company itself to the customer&rsquo;s attention. <strong>2.1.5 Consumer behaviour </strong> According to De Mooij, (2004: 181) the correlation between consumer behavior and cultural values show that a culturally appropriate advertising style is the key to successful advertising. Consumers are products of their own culture and language therefore one has to consider certain pre-established notions of each culture before advertising. <strong>2.1.6 Translation strategies </strong> Ngoran (2017:36) describes &lsquo;domestication and foreignization&rsquo; as the two main strategies in translation. He says &lsquo;foreignization&rsquo; is source-text oriented, word for word, structure for structure and literal while &lsquo;domestication&rsquo; is target text-oriented, free, natural,and transparent and message for message. <strong>2.1.7 Translation techniques </strong> Ngoran (2017:38), considers a translation technique as an operational mechanism put in place by the translator in the course of actual translation. Translation techniques are micro strategies which narrow down the strategies that the translator uses in their translation, while techniques usually concentrate on segments of the text. They fall under strategies and they are the decision made by the translator in translating segments. Examples of translation techniques include; borrowing, calque, literal translation, reformulation, explicitation, transposition, modulation, cultural, formal and dynamic equivalence, local and global adaptation. <strong>2.2 Theoretical review </strong> The Skopos, communicative and the theory of appropriateness were used. <strong>2.2.1 The Communicative theory</strong> According to, Ngoran (2017), the communication theory of translation is a theory that aims at communicative translation, which attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original language.Communication is the ultimate goal of language instruction to enable learners to communicate effectively with others in real-life situations.The communicative theory is applied to this study as translation of advertisements, requires not only the linguistic aspects but also the communicative aspect making sure that the meaning of the message has been transmitted and in its originality. <strong>2.2.2 The Skopos theory</strong> Skopos theory is a translation theory proposed in the 1970s by the German Hans J. Vermeer.Skopos as a technical term referring to the purpose of a translation and of the action of translation. Skopos is a Greek term which means &lsquo;aim&rsquo;, &lsquo;goal&rsquo; or &lsquo;purpose&rsquo;. Vermeer freed translation research from the constraints of the original text centered theory, believing that translation must follow the principles of purpose, coherence, and fidelity. Theprinciple of purpose is the primary principle as any translation behavior is determined by the purpose of translation, which determines the means of translation as stated by Munday,(2012). <strong>2.2.3 The appropriateness theory</strong> The appropriateness theory, proposed by Paul Grice in the 1970s, is a conversational implicature theory that focuses on the cooperative nature of human communication. According to this theory, speakers are expected to make their contributions appropriate to the context of the conversation. This includes observing maxims such as truthfulness, clarity, relevance, and manner (Grice, 1975), this is what is needed in the translation of adverts to make them comprehensible as the original text. <strong>2.3 Empirical review</strong> This section reviews other studies relevant to the present studies which were carried out by other scholars in different contexts To begin with, Sichkar et al (2023), on the investigation of the techniques used to translate advertising texts in English and Ukrainian languages, found that translated slogans are target-oriented and address groups of people with definite values and demands. The results of the study indicate that the translation of English advertising slogans is oriented towards preserving their pragmatic effect and function in the target culture. The results prove that lexico-semantic, grammatical, and stylistic transformations are used in rendering advertising slogans into Ukrainian. The present study relates with, Sichkar et al. (2023),however, the present study goes further to analyze the translation techniques used in the translation of advertisements and seeks to understand the impact of these translations on consumer behavior. Syahputra et al. (2022), aims to describe a unique phenomenon in a translated advertisement. The study analyses translated advertisements and their relation to translation techniques. The study focused on how the language that contains the culture of a country can be presented to other countries by one advertisement product. It is a challenge for producers to promote their products, and the translator takes over the role as a communication bridge between producers and target consumers. Results showed that translated advertisement tends to keep its original text to preserve its meaning, the sound and image of the video also influences the translated version. Kappe (2012)&rsquo; s study on the translation of advertisements seeks to assess the use of semiotics, symbolism, and techniques used by advertisers and translators in persuading customers and to know whether translators of advertisements use the same techniques in the target language as used in the original text. The study focuses on the comparative analysis of 30 English Coca-Cola advertisements and their French translations from 1905 to 2011. Analysis was done based on the relevance theory, equivalence theory, and Skopos theory within the framework of Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) which examines and analyzes the way existing translations are carried out on advertisements. De Mooij, (2004:179), asserts that &lsquo;translating an advertising copy is like painting the tip of an iceberg&rsquo;. The study focuses on the complex interplay between language, culture, and marketing strategies. His work emphasizes that effective advertisement translation goes beyond mere linguistic conversion; it requires a deep understanding of cultural nuances and consumer behavior. De Moiji employs comparative analysis by analyzing pairs of source and target language advertisements, focusing on linguistic choices, cultural references, and marketing strategies, to identify successful translation practices and common pitfalls, offering insights into effective cross-cultural advertising.The work equally examines how language functions within specific advertising contexts considering factors such as tone, style, and persuasive techniques. These works highlight the importance of translation of advertisements in preserving culture which is the main aspect in a human what will lure the consumer to have the will power to purchase a good or a service, which is what the current study seeks to investigate in Zimbabwe and the procedures used in the translations. <strong>3. Methodology</strong> <strong>3.1 Sample population</strong> The target population for this study is divided into two categories, the first category are the companies (Bakers Inn Zimbabwe, Saraquel Ltd, Coverlink holdings, NetOne Zimbabwe, and Nash Paints Zimbabwe) and the second category is a randomly selected public, who are the possible clients and consumers of the goods and services provided by these companies. Both groups, companies and the public, responded to online questionnaires that were designed with different questions to meet the expectations from each group making this study a success. <strong>3.2 Sampling </strong> For this study, purposive sampling was used to select companies that provided data for the studyand random sampling was used for the selection of participants to answer the questionnaire for the potential clients. Purposive sampling is the intentional selection or identification of individuals or groups of individuals based on their characteristics, knowledgeof and experience with a phenomenon of interest, Cresswell and Clark (2011). Random sampling refers to a randomly selected subset of the population; every individual has an equal chance of being selected. It is the method of selecting a sample of n units out of N units by drawing units one by one with or without replacement whereby, every unit has an equal probability of selection. It is applied to allow every individual to have an opportunity to be selected. <strong>3.3 Data collection instruments</strong> To carry out this study, questionnaires, participant observation and corpus analysis were used. Questionnaires were administered online to the proposed customers (public) and the advertising companies respectively together with online observations. The study makes use of corpus analysis to investigate and analyze the techniques used to translate the advertisements. The extracts of adverts were collected from websites and from the companies&rsquo; data. Twenty (20) excerpts were collected and analysed using the Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) model. <strong>3.4 Participant observation</strong> Participant observation was based on the advertisements on posters, flyers and social media posts, to examine carefully, check and see how the adverts are translated and the frequency of the translations. We immersed ourselves in the Zimbabwean society to observe and participate on social media sites and websites ensuring the translation of advertisements, identifying the procedures used in the translation of these advertisements, in order to fully convince customers. The goal was to gain a deep understanding of the culture, beliefs and practices from an insider&rsquo;s perspective. We even went on to consult company representatives through WhatsApp forum so that they verify if they translate their adverts from English to Shona. <strong>3.5 Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS)</strong> DTS model that involves comparative analysis of English and Shona texts, revealing cultural adaptations and shifts in meaning due to translation techniques used will be used as a guide in describing and analyzing the basic features of English and Shona corpus analysis. <strong>4. DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS</strong> Data collected through questionnaires and observations will be presented, analyzed and interpreted in this section. &nbsp; <strong>4.1 Respondent&rsquo; profile</strong> The measured demographic variables of sex, age, and level of education of the randomly chosen clients/public in Zimbabwe will be presented.&nbsp; <strong>a) Gender </strong> Results show that the majority of the respondents were female with 21 (52.5%), while the minority is male with a percentage of 19 (47.5%). <strong>b) </strong><strong>Age</strong> Twenty nine out of 40 respondents that is 72.5% of the population were 20-35 years old, then 6 (15%) were 36-55 years old, 4 (10%) were above 55 years old and 1 (2.5%) was below 20 years old.&nbsp; <strong>c) Level of English proficiency</strong> Concerning the level of English proficiency of the respondents, 32(80%) of the respondents have an advanced English proficiency, while 8 (20%) are on the immediate level in English language and no one is a beginner. The fact that most of respondents fluently speak and understand English contributed to the study as they comprehended the questions on the administered questionnaire. The level of literacy is also a contribution to the Zimbabwean marketing society as customers can understand English language. <strong>d) Languages spoken at home.</strong> Regarding the languages spoken at home 75% of the target audience speaks Shona in their homes, followed by 10% who speak English and Shona, 10% who speak Ndebele, and 5% who speak English. The majority of the respondents speak Shona, adding to the study on how Shona adverts can influence their purchasing decisions. This highlights the importance of the language in daily interactions. <strong>4.1.2 Attitude of respondents towards translation of adverts</strong> <strong>a) Purchase of product or service as a result of Shona advertisements.</strong> The study aimed to determine if Shona advertisements have influenced purchasing power. Results showed that 65% of respondents are sometimes convinced to buy goods, while 32.5% have never bought. The remaining 2.5% are neither convinced nor pushed to buy. The results suggest that Shona advertisements have not fully convinced customers to purchase or not. <strong>b) Preference of English words or translated Shona words on advertisement</strong> The majority of the population (72.5%) prefers English words over Shona translated words in advertisements, while 20% prefer their mother language for a sense of belonging and connection to their culture. The remaining 7.5% are indifferent, allowing the message to be passed regardless of the language used. This preference may be influenced by their English literacy, as the majority of the population speaks Shona at home. <strong>c) Conviction to buy goods or services as a result of either translated Shona words or English ones</strong> This question aimed to determine if consumers feel more convinced and connected with marketers when goods are advertised in their native language. Results showed that 65% of respondents found Shona advertisements more convincing than English ones, indicating patriotism or love for their language. However, 15% of respondents felt not compelled to buy goods or services by Shona advertisements. <strong>d) Motives behind the decision to purchase goods and services that are promoted in Shona: </strong> The decision to purchase goods and services advertised in Shona is influenced by the emotional and cultural resonance these advertisements evoke. Shona commercials, with their local rhythm and simple vocabulary, are rated higher by audiences compared to English ones, making them more relatable and engaging. These advertisements acknowledge the diverse consumer base, particularly by appealing to the Zimbabwean identity. When the message is relevant and the marketing strategy is tailored to the target demographic, Shona adverts inspire interest and enhance the likelihood of purchase. Skilled organizations often craft these advertisements with expertise and cultural insight. However, there are criticisms. Some respondents find Shona adverts unconvincing due to their lack of creativity, substance, and clarity, resulting in ambiguous or unrealistic messages. To enhance appeal, advertising in Shona should emphasize product attributes while avoiding jargon or overly technical language, ensuring clarity and relatability for potential customers. <strong>e) Improvements to be made to Shona adverts.</strong> Enhancing Shona advertisements requires a focus on clarity, engagement, and cultural authenticity. Advertisers should use simple, precise language and concise messaging to maintain viewer interest. Incorporating regional proverbs, idioms, and slang makes the content relatable and genuine. Adverts should consider Shona&rsquo;s diverse dialects and regional variations, using vibrant visuals such as traditional attire, local landscapes, and culturally significant symbols to resonate with audiences. Additionally, clear translation into Shona can extend the reach of the advertisements. Marketers should avoid complex sentences, excessive jargon, and overly scripted performances, instead fostering natural communication styles. Handouts with clear explanations and visual aids can cater to audiences with varying literacy levels. Regular production of high-quality advertisements, focused on authenticity and professionalism, is also essential. <strong>f) Opinions on the purpose of Shona adverts.</strong> The primary purpose of Shona advertisements is to promote product awareness, educate consumers, and encourage purchase while fostering a cultural connection. These adverts effectively communicate brand messages to diverse age groups, ensuring inclusivity across the Zimbabwean population. By leveraging the native language, advertisers create an accessible medium that helps bridge cultural gaps and expands product reach. Moreover, Shona advertisements celebrate and preserve African cultural diversity and heritage. They respect local languages while promoting open communication, ensuring that people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds understand the brand&rsquo;s message. This approach strengthens cultural identity while achieving marketing goals. &nbsp; <strong>4.2 Companies</strong> The companies that participated to this study were NashPaints, Coverlink Holdings, Dairibord Zimbabwe, Saraquel ltd, Netone Zimbabwe and Baker's inn Zimbabwe. The professional positions of the people in the companies are as follows; marketing manager, customer service representative, human resource worker, marketer, marketing assistant and professional marketer, these helped ensure that the results are more accurate and aligned to the companies. &nbsp; <strong>a)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </strong><strong>Gender</strong> Six company representatives responded to the questionnaire, 4 are female, representing 66.67% of the total sample. On the other hand, 2(33.33%), are male. <strong>b)&nbsp; Goods and services offered</strong> The products and services provided by the different companies, are paint; insurance on cash plans, medical health, funeral insurance, legal insurance, special savings, home and auto insurance; dairy products; borehole drilling and installation; network service provider; and bread and confectionery items. The aim was to gather their opinions on translated advertisements, as these products cater to a larger market. <strong>d) Target audience</strong> The target audience for NetOne Zimbabwe and Coverlink Holdings includes all age groups, including infants, teens, adults, and professionals. Nash Paints targets adults investing in building, Saraquel Ltd targets adults, workers, and professionals for borehole drilling and installation, and Bakers&rsquo; Inn targets teens, adults, workers, and professionals for their bread and confectionery products. <strong>e) Market range</strong> This study reveals that 3 out of 6 companies target large scale markets, while others target small, medium, and all ranges.&nbsp; <strong>f) Person or department responsible for the Translations</strong> The results reveal that Zimbabwe&rsquo;s translation departments are predominantly bilinguals and agencies, with three companies relying on bilinguals and three relying on agencies. However, no professional translators are employed, highlighting the underrepresentation of qualified translators and the low status of translation as a profession in Zimbabwe, necessitating action from translator associations in the country. &nbsp; <strong>4.2.1 Opinions and attitudes towards the translation of advertisements by companies</strong> This portion of the questionnaire seeks to discuss the attitudes and opinions of respondents towards the translation of adverts. <strong>a) Advertising languages</strong> According to the results English and Shona are the primary languages used for advertising goods and services, with Ndebele being a secondary option. English is used by 100% of respondents, while Shona is also used all the companies. Ndebele is used by approximately 50% of companies. The frequency analysis shows that English and Shona are universally used, with Ndebele having a significant presence but not dominating the overall language use. <strong>b) Does translating advertisements increase sales and profits in the company?</strong> <strong>R1.</strong> It has not been measured yet but the assumption is that the message was related to more people than an English advert locally. <strong>R2</strong>.The Company hasn&rsquo;t had a direct record on profits and sales, but assumes that some of the customers who consult it would have understood the posts in the local language. So overall sales are increasing due to translating advertisements <strong>R3</strong>. Translation of promotional materials enhances communication with potential clients by bridging language barriers. Languages like Shona or Ndebele help understand product advantages and fulfill demands, increasing market reach, cultural relevance, trust, conversion rates, client loyalty, and sales. <strong>R4</strong>. In 2022, sales increased by 12%. This was the result of the introduction of Shona posts in a specific rural area of Zimbabwe, where people could read the flyers and understand without needing an explanation. Since the message containing the services was clearly stated, a lot of customers were invited. <strong>R5</strong>. There is no actual report or proof of it improving sales. Translations are valued for their potential to improve sales by reaching a broader audience, both English-speaking and non-English-speaking, thus increasing customer engagement. <strong>R6</strong>. Yes. Because the market range is wide, we understand that there is a type of consumers who prefer to engage in their native languages.&nbsp; That&rsquo;s why we use Shona and Ndebele also.&nbsp; We consider the translation of advertising materials to be a strategic move and it contributes to increased sales and expands reach.&nbsp; <strong>c) Why did you decide to translate advertising materials?</strong> <strong>R1</strong>. To make customers the center of attention. It&rsquo;s tempting to use your original tongue because you can even use popular lingo like &lsquo;Ma1, Chiremerera, ndayura, tinoramba, tichipisa, etc&rsquo;. <strong>R2</strong>. Translating promotional materials helps overcome language barriers and strengthens client connections. By speaking in Shona, we gain trust and credibility with Zimbabweans, making us their first choice for insurance services, despite not being fluent in English. <strong>R3</strong>. Translations of advertising materials are done to reach a wider audience, including those who would like information to be expressed in their language or who may not speak English well. Adverts are also translated for competitive edge because people are more likely to purchase a product when they comprehend the message than when they do not. <strong>R4</strong>. The translation of materials acknowledges, empowers, and promotes our mother tongue while reaching out to nearly all possible customers without leaving out any group. Companies translate promotional content to establish credibility and persuade customers that they are dependable and trustworthy. <strong>R5</strong>. It boosts the possibility of expanding clientele. Resonating with the cultural and language inclinations of the target customers. It shows a dedication to diversity and improves brand image. <strong>R6</strong>. Translating advertisements enhances local search engine optimization, increases visibility and traffic for Shona-based users, and makes content more accessible. Localizing content boosts sales, customer engagement, brand awareness, and helps businesses introduce new products to clients who may not speak English well. &nbsp; <strong>d) How important do you think translation of adverts is, in the promotion of African languages and preserving culture and meeting the company&rsquo;s objectives? </strong> <strong>R1</strong>. It is crucial because the message is more relatable. It also aligns with our goals, since we want the brand to represent the middle class, upper class, and the ghetto. Since our brand is universal, our advertising makes it more relatable. <strong>R2</strong>. Translating adverts enables us to become more relevant in the market by helping us localize and blend in with our business. It enables us to adapt to the specific preferences and market dynamics of the area. Additionally, it helps customers to perceive and believe that we recognize and value their particular requirements on a regional market. <strong>R3</strong>. Translations of advertisements enhance customer and company communication, conserving culture through content adaptation to cultural context and audience preferences. This ensures content is appropriate for the target audience, relevant to their culture, and has its own colloquial expressions. Translating advertising materials reduces misunderstandings and misinterpretations due to linguistic barriers, ensuring accurate communication and desired impact. <strong>R4.</strong>Translating advertising materials helps ensure accurate communication and impact, reducing misunderstandings and misinterpretations. This is crucial for entering new markets or increasing market share. Locally relevant adverts establish brand relevance and accessibility, increasing the likelihood of expanding into the target market, attracting new clients, and earning market share. <strong>R5.</strong>The company aims to be a network provider, increasing commercial activity, and supporting the Shona language. Some translations preserve indigenous Shona culture to make consumers feel valued. <strong>R6</strong>. Translating commercials into Shona and Ndebele ensures cultural alignment with target market conventions, values, and preferences. This ensures better understanding and comprehension for clients, maintains original tone and style, and evokes desired emotions and responses from the target market, thereby preserving the intended meaning. <strong>4.3 Discussions</strong> The study reveals that translating advertisements from English to Shona is crucial for upholding African culture, reducing language barriers, and promoting marketing strategies. The majority of respondents support this translation, as it gives them a sense of belonging and importance. However, they prefer English-language advertisements, despite speaking Shona in their homes. This may be due to diglossia where English is considered high and Shona is considered low. Shona advertisements provide cultural relevance and help preserve culture.The study also highlights the need for professional translators in Zimbabwe to ensure good translations.Using professional translators could help avoid errors of inappropriate jargon. The translation of advertisements from English to Shona has a positive impact on companies, as it increases client loyalty, engagement, brand awareness, sales, and profitability. This broadens the market range and allows companies to effectively communicate with people from diverse backgrounds and demographic age groups, earning brand recognition in a competitive world. &nbsp; <strong>4.4. Analytical analysis of the corpus</strong> Excerpts extracted from adverts of different companies that were collected from websites and from the companies are analyzed in this section of analysis. <strong>ST: Special savings plan</strong> <strong>TT: </strong><em>Plan yekuchengetedza mari yakanaka</em> The excerpt from an insurance companyuses borrowing technique and domestication strategy to translate the word <strong><em>plan</em></strong> as the translator did not find a word that is equivalent in the target text. The word <strong><em>special</em></strong> was also not rendered with the emphasis that it should have given in the original text, the weight of the meaning was rather reduced. The word that was rather better to use for special was <strong><em>yakakosha</em></strong>, the translation would have been, <strong><em>hurongwa hwekuchengetedza mari hwakakosha. </em></strong>The skopos theory applied, the purpose and aim of the message was conveyed to the target audience that they can trust the insurance company, one would also justify the use of the word <strong><em>plan</em></strong> as it is a word that is widely used in the society. <strong>ST: Crystal Clear Water from the original source</strong> <strong>TT: </strong><em>Mvura yakachena inoyevedza, Yabva pasi pemvura</em> This is an advert from a borehole drilling company on the cleanliness of the water that the boreholes provide, the translator used the domestication strategy and the explicitation technique as they had to explain what the original text ought to say. There is also a mistranslation on the words <strong><em>yabva pasi pemvura</em></strong> which are the elements of interestas the words <strong><em>original source</em></strong> refers to where the water is coming from that is the <strong><em>bedrock</em></strong> and in most times these could be springs and in Shona the original source that brings clean and healthy water that does not need further purification is called <strong><em>chitubu</em></strong> therefore there was a repetition of water coming from under water rather than saying the water is coming from the original source in Shona. The suggested translation is, <strong><em>Mvura yakachena inoyevedza, inobva muchitubu</em></strong>. The first part of the advert is well translated but the second rather has errors, the possible constraints here could have been finding the equivalent words for the target language. The skopos theory applies as the purpose of the source text was rather achieved. <strong>ST: Get spotted with the Baker&rsquo;s Inn loaf and win USD10</strong> <strong>TT:</strong><em> Batika paMap nechingwa che Baker&rsquo;s Inn upihwe USD10</em> The excerpt is from a bread company advertisement featuring a man holding money, offering promotions for buying bread. The advertisement aims to lure customers to buy more bread to receive vouchers and increase their chances of winning. The translation strategy is foreignization, with borrowing techniques such as map, Baker's Inn, and USD10 from English to maintain the original writer&rsquo;s spirit and relevance. Words such as <strong><em>map, Baker&rsquo;s Inn</em></strong> and <strong><em>USD10</em></strong> are borrowed from English to keep the readers in the spirit of the original writer and to maintain the sense. The word <strong><em>map</em></strong> came in to stand in for spotted so the translator just used common slang used in the country referring to being available, they say <strong><em>batika paMap</em></strong> therefore this was relatable to the reader. The word win was translated to <strong><em>upihwe</em></strong> which does not really bring the sense yet the word <strong><em>win</em></strong> in Shona is <strong><em>kubudirira/ hwinha/ kukunda</em></strong> which was rather going to emphasis on the competitive part of the promotion. The theory of appropriateness applies as the translator used the appropriate words to give the message relevance and communicate the sense and meaning. <strong>ST: Welcome home</strong> <strong>TT:</strong><em> Dzoka uyamwe</em> This is an advert from a telecommunication company, the slogan <strong><em>Welcome home</em></strong> was translated to <strong><em>dzoka uyamwe</em></strong>. The direct translation will be <strong><em>tinokutambirai kumba </em></strong>which in the case of a telecommunication company wouldn&rsquo;t render the expected impact that the source text is giving. The translation <strong><em>dzoka uyamwe</em></strong> which basically means something else different that is come back and drink was found to be more appropriate in the sense that the company is a network company that helps people connect on the internet so it is encouraging the clients to come back and take from them to get connectivity from them as it is homely. The strategy that was used is domestication and the strategy is modulation. The theory of appropriateness is applicable as the translator used words that would be appropriate to the context of the target culture. <strong>4.4.1 Discussions</strong> This study analyzed 20 excerpts of advertisements translated from English into Shona, focusing on marketing terms to persuade clients to trust the services and goods offered by companies. Translation techniques like literal translation, calque, transposition, modulation, adaptation, transposition, and explicitation were used. The study identified theories like skopos, appropriateness, and communicative, but possible constraints include translators&rsquo; influence by the source text and inaccurate renderings. The results suggest the need for more professional translators to ensure translations are conveyed in their natural state in the target culture. <strong>5. CONCLUSION</strong> The study analyzed 20 advertisements and their Shona translations using both qualitative and quantitative methods. It used Newmark&rsquo;s communicative theory, Vermeer&rsquo;s Skopos theory, and Grice&rsquo;s appropriateness theory to understand the impact of translation procedures on consumer behavior and attitudes towards companies. Data was collected through questionnaires, corpus analysis, and participant observations. Results showed that translation techniques like explicitation, transposition, borrowing, direct translation, and cultural adaptation are often used to align advertisements with Shona-speaking audiences. Public responses indicated mixed outcomes, with some consumers finding Shona translations relatable but others feeling they lacked the persuasive impact of original English adverts. The study suggests improvements in translation in Zimbabwe to meet cultural norms and values.The study indicates a need for improvement in Zimbabwe&rsquo;s advertisement translation to align with the language&rsquo;s cultural norms and values. The process requires linguistic precision, cultural sensitivity, and marketing acumen. Despite challenges, these efforts promote linguistic diversity and inclusivity in Zimbabwe&rsquo;s advertising landscape. Further studies on other indigenous languages would be necessary to assess their role in shaping consumer perceptions and equally consulting the translators in the marketing field. <strong>REFERENCES</strong> Basem, A (2006).The translation of fast-food advertising texts from English to Arabic.University of South Africa Bell, A. (1991). Translation and the translatability of advertising. In L. Venuti (Ed.), <em>the translation studies reader</em> (pp. 77-92). Routledge. Bovee, C. L., &amp; Arens, W. F. (1986). <em>Contemporary Advertising</em> (p. 5). Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin. Brierley, S. (2002). The importance of cultural context in advertising translation. <em>Journal of Advertising Research</em>, <em>42</em>(2), 31-40. https://doi.org/10.2501/JAR-42-2-31-40 Cook, G. 2001. The discourse of advertising, 2nd Edition, London: Routledge. Creswell, J. W., &amp; Clark, V. L. P. (2011). <em>Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research</em> (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. De Mooij, M. (2004). Translating advertising copy: Painting the tip of an iceberg and hoping the whole thing will turn red. In <em>The Translator: Studies in Intercultural Communication</em> (Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 179&ndash;198). St. Jerome Publishing. Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole &amp; J. L. Morgan (Eds.), <em>Syntax and Semantics: Vol. 3. Speech Acts</em> (pp. 41&ndash;58). New York: Academic Press. Kappe.F.(2012).<em>The&nbsp;translation&nbsp;of&nbsp;advertisements:&nbsp;issues&nbsp;of&nbsp;semiotics,&nbsp;symbolism&nbsp; and&nbsp;persuasion</em>. University&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Witwatersrand. Munday, J. (2002). <em>Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications</em>. London: Routledge. Ngoran, C.T. (2017). <em>Mastering translation in four stages.</em> ISBN: 978 9956-765-4-4 Reboul, O. (1978). <em>The Rhetoric of Advertising</em>. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. Sharabi, C. (2023). <em>Marketing and Advertising Translation Techniques for International Companies.</em>Press.https://www.getblend.com/blog/marketing-and-advertising-translation-techniques-for-international-companies/ Sichkar, S., Kaminska, M., Bryk, M., Melko, K., Zhurkova, O., Kharkevych, H. (2023). Training of future translators through advertising slogans translation. Revista Rom&acirc;nească pentru Educaţie Multidimensională, 15(2), 418-439. https://doi.org/10.18662/rrem/15.2/742 Syahputra, , Suryadi, S., &amp; Azhar, R. (2022). <em>Cross-Cultural Translation in Advertising</em>. Jakarta: Universitas Indonesia Press. Syahputra F.P, Nasution E.H&amp;Widiantho. Y. (2022) <em>Translation Techniques in Translated Commercial Break Advertisement.</em>Proceedings of English Linguistics and Literature, Vol.3 (2022) Wu, J. (2018). Evoking Emotions in Advertising Translation: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. <em>Journal of Translation Studies</em>, <em>25</em>(3), 45&ndash;62. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. &nbsp; <strong>IMAGES</strong> &nbsp; Image 1: English advert with Shona translation from NetOne Image 2: English and Shona translated advert for Baker&rsquo;s Inn Image 3: English and Shona translated advert for Saraquel ltd

LSHOP, a SaaS startup company that was introduced as a direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce enabler. With LSHOP’s D2C strategy, MSMEs can benefit from technological solutions without the involvement of a third party. Building awareness is crucial for a new brand, particularly a startup company with an existence of less than five years, or even less than a year if it is computed since they conducted the rebranding, to concentrate on its position and remain in the sector. According to observations and conversations with LSHOP’s marketing manager, there are still a lot of people who are unaware of the SaaS company, which is beneficial for MSMEs as one of their business channels, LSHOP. The frameworks of Porter’s Five Analysis, Marketing Mix, SWOT, Competitor Analysis, and Customer Analysis are used in this study to examine business issues. Data and information were gathered from a variety of sources, including observation, employee interviews, questionnaire distribution employing sampling, and questionnaire distribution. According to the survey, LSHOP’s underuse of marketing channels and customers’ lack of familiarity with the SaaS sector were to blame for the lack of brand awareness. The author suggests a marketing approach based on the 5A Framework to address the issues, namely how to raise brand awareness. The tactics employed for stage 5A of spreading awareness of LSHOP vary depending on the level. At the Aware stage, businesses can work with influencers, put up billboards and banners in MSMEs’ common areas, and introduce a distinctive catchphrase. The strategy that can be used in the Appeal stage is to produce engaging content regarding the brand’s features or industry-related data. Additionally, to make it easier for customers to understand the information, viral or unique promotions are required. The business should implement a plan to build a community network utilizing Facebook and regularly produce content using short videos on TikTok during the Ask stage. Additionally, in the Act stage, launching internal events, working with the government, running promotional campaigns, and having live chats with customer care are all highly beneficial for LSHOP’s new approach. Finally, LSHOP can strengthen relationships with consumers at the Advocate stage by developing referral and loyalty programs that offer rewards to customers.

This study aims to examine the accountability and transparency of the Village Government in managing the Village Budget (APBDes) in Jongkong Kanan Village, Jongkong Sub-district, Kapuas Hulu Regency. This research employs a descriptive qualitative method with a case study approach. Data collection methods used in this study include interviews, observations, and documentation, categorized into two sources: primary and secondary data. The results of this study indicate that the accountability and transparency of the Jongkong Kanan Village Government in managing the APBDes have been implemented in accordance with the Ministry of Home Affairs Regulation (PERMENDAGRI) No. 20 of 2018. From the planning, implementation, administration, reporting, to accountability stages, all have been carried out properly. The application of the accountability principle is demonstrated through community involvement in deliberations related to the management of the APBDes. Meanwhile, the transparency principle is applied by providing information through the village website regarding infrastructure improvement and development processes, as well as through the installation of APBDes billboards in front of the village office. However, there are still several obstacles faced by the Jongkong Kanan Village Government, such as the lack of public interest in participating in village deliberations and challenges in the accountability reporting process, including delays in the return of financial accountability reports (SPJ) and frequently changing regulations.

e23123 Background: Unlike locally advanced melanoma, early-stage melanoma is highly curable. Yet, despite increased efforts that promote recognition of early-stage melanoma, many patients still present with locally advanced, thick primary tumors. This study focused on exploring patient reported factors influencing timely melanoma diagnosis. Methods: Using a mixed methods approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews exploring patient reported barriers and facilitators contributing to timely care for melanoma. Interviews were coded using a directed content analysis approach to generate themes within and across transcripts. Utilizing bivariate models, we examined the association between participant demographic factors and mean tumor thickness. Results: Participants (n = 14) were primarily recruited from Bellevue Hospital (n = 9), one of the largest public hospitals in the United States serving mainly underserved communities, and the Skin and Cancer Clinic at NYU Langone Health (n = 5). The median age at diagnosis was 59 years. Participants were mainly non-Hispanic White (85.7%), male (57.1%), and had incomes below $40,000 (57%). Nearly three-quarters were publicly insured (71%). Mean tumor thickness was 1.8 mm (range 0-9 mm). There were no statistically significant differences in tumor thickness between male and females; or between patients with annual incomes less than, or greater than $40,000. Participants with a highest education level of high school or equivalent or less (n = 3) had a mean tumor thickness of 4.4 mm (SD = 3.97); compared to undergraduate level (n = 4) with a mean tumor thickness of 2.1 mm (SD = 3.29); or graduate level (n = 7) with a mean tumor thickness of 0.5 mm (SD = 0.95), p = 0.096. Thematic analyses highlighted common barriers and facilitators to accessing care across patients. These barriers included: lack of melanoma awareness; lack of knowledge of risk factors and preventative efforts; perceived low susceptibility; inadequate health insurance. Common facilitators included: encouragement from family or friends to seek care; and noticing something changing or unusual on their skin. Participants recommended the use of strategically placed advertisements (e.g. billboards at beaches) and social media to increase knowledge about melanoma. Conclusions: The results of this pilot study emphasize the multiple personal and system-level barriers faced by the majority of patients who primarily utilize an urban public safety net hospital to obtain timely diagnosis of melanoma. Community-based efforts to increase melanoma awareness and access to care for this population may potentially reduce the diagnosis of thick primary melanomas.

This study aimed to identify the role of public and private university libraries in marketing information services from the point of view of their employees. To this end, the researcher used two questionnaires as tools for the study. The first included (25) items that covered a group of information services that university libraries market. The second questionnaire included a set of marketing methods and means in university libraries, numbering (17) items. The validity and reliability coefficients of these two tools indicate their suitability to what they were designed to measure. The study was applied and the necessary statistical treatments were carried out, which showed that the arithmetic averages of the answers of individuals in the study sample about the role of university libraries in marketing information services ranged between very high and low. However, the overall rate of these averages was average. It was found that the most widely used marketing means and methods in university libraries are telephone, regular mail, fax, billboards, guidance and advice. The results of examining the three hypotheses revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the averages of the answers of the study sample members on the tool as a whole according to the variable (university) and in favor of employees in public universities. According to the academic qualification variable, the differences were in favor of the category of master’s and doctoral degree holders, and as for the experience variable, the differences were in favor of The category of experience that falls between 10 years to less than 15 years. The study concluded with a set of recommendations that focused on the following: Marketing is a modern requirement in the field of work of government and private libraries, regardless of the trends and the diversity of the cultures of the employees, because the requirements of the current stage have the importance of knowledge and information, and the necessity of marketing them in any way to meet the needs of the beneficiaries and satisfy their desires. Supporting study plans and programs for the diploma and bachelor’s degrees with materials that enhance students’ concept of marketing and its various programs, and conducting further studies on marketing, its importance and programs in other public and private university libraries.

Background: Diabetes is currently one of the most prominent causes of mortality and among the intensifying concerns of public health in the world. Education and enhancement of people’s knowledge about this disease can play an effective role in diabetes prevention and control. The present study was aimed at assessment of the effects of the Health week’s programs about diabetes on the citizens of Fars Province.&#x0D; Methods: In this descriptive-analytical research, carried out interventionally, 501 people participated in the study both before and after the Health week. To define the sample’s volume, we used multi-stage cluster sampling. The study was conducted by using a made questionnaire which consisted of two parts, one part for demographic information and the other part for information about the people’s knowledge level of the Health Week and diabetes. The obtained data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Mc Nemar test, Paired t test, and independent sample t test in SPSS19.&#x0D; Results: The results indicated that holding up the Health Week had significant effect on enhancement of the participants’ knowledge about the disease and the ways of its diagnosis as well as the prevention methods (p-value &lt; .001). In addition, there was a significant change in the frequency of health informational resources in mass media such as TV, radio, social media and internet, pamphlets and poster (p-value &lt; .001), while no significant difference was observed through billboards, Healthcare centers’ staff, etc. before and after the week.&#x0D; Conclusion: Informing people about the Health week and its programs through mass media can play an effective role in enhancement of people’s health knowledge andlead to prevention of the disease and proper behavior to fight it.

The article analyzes the theoretical foundations of the use of social media as a tool for promoting initial products in the field of online coverage. During the course of the investigation, it was established that social measures play a key role in the promotion of light products in order to reach a wide audience and reduce the possibility of promotion Our products will always reach a wide audience, ensuring personalization of the approach to communication with clients. Most studies have shown that factors in the marketing mix are associated with the psychology of the employee. What is important is the combination of character, behavior and self-identification of a person, these characteristics help a person create a powerful buying behavior, but create a culture as a changeable one that can be grafted and easily implanted, taking up to Please note that people’s purchasing behavior consists of three phases: individual, family and situational. Approaches to psychological psychology are formed on the influx of situational changes and direct indicators of behavior, then in behavioral psychology. The tools available to an organization to inform potential consumers about a product include billboards, flyers, Internet websites, magazines, newspapers, videos, and television commercials. Typically, a range of such advertising tools is used to convey a single, coordinated message to potential consumers. The analysis confirmed that targeted advertising is a powerful and effective tool for interaction with employees at various stages of the client journey, meeting the needs of longterm commitments from target audience. It has been stated that the current market is even more customer-oriented, so it is very important for marketers to develop a clear product for their clients, and then deal with them in a proper manner and, of course, better. lower competitors. It has been revealed that social media allows for closer and more direct connections with clients, making it easier to personalize the approach to communication.

Engagement in any capacity with mainstream media since mid-2001 has meant immersion in the cross-platform, multimedia phenomenon of Harry Potter: Muggle outcast; boy wizard; corporate franchise. Consumers even casually perusing contemporary popular culture could be forgiven for suspecting they have entered a MÃbius loop in which Harry Potter-related media products and merchandise are ubiquitous: books; magazine cover stories; newspaper articles; websites; television specials; hastily assembled author biographies; advertisements on broadcast and pay television; children's merchandising; and theme park attractions. Each of these media commodities has been anchored in and cross-promoted by America Online-Time Warner's (AOL-TW) first instalment in a projected seven-film sequence—Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.1 The marketing campaign has gradually escalated in the three years elapsing between AOL-TW subsidiary Warner Bros' purchase from J.K. Rowling of the film and merchandising rights to the first two Harry Potter books, and the November 2001 world premiere of the film (Sherber 55). As current AOL-TW CEO Richard Parsons accurately forecast, "You're not going to be able to go anywhere without knowing about it. This could be a bigger franchise than Star Wars" (Auletta 50). Yet, AOL-TW's promotional strategy did not limit itself to creating mere awareness of the film's release. Rather, its tactic was to create an all-encompassing environment structured around the immense value of the Harry Potter brand—a "brand cocoon" which consumers do not so much enter and exit as choose to exist within (Klein 2002). In twenty-first-century mass marketing, the art is to target affluent consumers willing to direct their informational, entertainment, and consumption practices increasingly within the "walled garden" of a single conglomerate's content offerings (Auletta 55). Such an idealised modern consumer avidly samples the diversified product range of the parent conglomerate, but does so specifically by consuming multiple products derived from essentially the same content reservoir. Provided a match between consumer desire and brand can be achieved with sufficient accuracy and demographic breadth, the commercial returns are obvious: branded consumers pay multiple times for only marginally differentiated products. The Brand-Conglomerate Nexus Recyclable content has always been embraced by media industries, as cultural commodities such as early films of stage variety acts, Hollywood studio-era literary adaptations, and movie soundtrack LPs attest. For much of the twentieth century, the governing dynamic of content recycling was sequential, in that a content package (be it a novel, stage production or film) would succeed in its home medium and then, depending upon its success and potential for translation across formats, could be repackaged in a subsequent medium. Successful content repackaging may re-energise demand for earlier formatting of the same content (as film adaptations of literary bestsellers reliably increase sales of the originating novel). Yet the cultural industries providing risk capital to back content repackaging formerly required solid evidence that content had achieved immense success in its first medium before contemplating reformulations into new media. The cultural industries radically restructured in the last decades of the twentieth century to produce the multi-format phenomenon of which Harry Potter is the current apotheosis: multiple product lines in numerous corporate divisions are promoted simultaneously, the synchronicity of product release being crucial to the success of the franchise as a whole. The release of individual products may be staggered, but the goal is for products to be available simultaneously so that they work in aggregate to drive consumer awareness of the umbrella brand. Such streaming of content across parallel media formats is in many ways the logical culmination of broader late-twentieth-century developments. Digital technology has functionally integrated what were once discrete media operating platforms, and major media conglomerates have acquired subsidiaries in virtually all media formats on a global scale. Nevertheless, it remains true that the commercial risks inherent in producing, distributing and promoting a cross-format media phenomenon are vastly greater than the formerly dominant sequential approach, massively escalating financial losses should the elusive consumer-brand fit fail to materialise. A key to media corporations' seemingly quixotic willingness to expose themselves to such risk is perhaps best provided by Michael Harkavy, Warner Bros' vice-president of worldwide licensing, in his comments on Warner Music Group's soundtrack for the first Harry Potter film: It will be music for the child in us all, something we hope to take around the world that will take us to the next level of synergy between consumer products, the [AOL-TW cable channel] Cartoon Network, our music, film, and home video groups—building a longtime franchise for Harry as a team effort. (Traiman 51) The relationship between AOL-TW and the superbrand Harry Potter is essentially symbiotic. AOL-TW, as the world's largest media conglomerate, has the resources to exploit fully economies of scale in production and distribution of products in the vast Harry Potter franchise. Similarly, AOL-TW is pre-eminently placed to exploit the economies of scope afforded by its substantial holdings in every form of content delivery, allowing cross-subsidisation of the various divisions and, crucially, cross-promotion of the Harry Potter brand in an endless web of corporate self-referentiality. Yet it is less frequently acknowledged that AOL-TW needs the Harry Potter brand as much as the global commercialisation of Harry Potter requires AOL-TW. The conglomerate seeks a commercially protean megabrand capable of streaming across all its media formats to drive operating synergies between what have historically been distinct commercial divisions ("Welcome"; Pulley; Auletta 55). In light of AOL-TW's record US$54.2b losses in the first quarter of 2002, the long-term viability of the Harry Potter franchise is, if anything, still more crucial to the conglomerate's health than was envisaged at the time of its dot.com-fuelled January 2000 merger (Goldberg 23; "AOL" 35). AOL-TW's Richard Parsons conceptualises Harry Potter specifically as an asset "driving synergy both ways", neatly encapsulating the symbiotic interdependence between AOL-TW and its star franchise: "we use the different platforms to drive the movie, and the movie to drive business across the platforms" ("Harry Potter" 61). Characteristics of the Harry Potter Brand AOL-TW's enthusiasm to mesh its corporate identity with the Harry Potter brand stems in the first instance from demonstrated consumer loyalty to the Harry Potter character: J.K. Rowling's four books have sold in excess of 100m copies in 47 countries and have been translated into 47 languages.2 In addition, the brand has shown a promising tendency towards demographic bracket-creep, attracting loyal adult readers in sufficient numbers to prompt UK publisher Bloomsbury to diversify into adult-targeted editions. As alluring for AOL-TW as this synchronic brand growth is, the real goldmine inheres in the brand's potential for diachronic growth. From her first outlines of the concept, Rowling conceived of the Potter story as a seven-part series, which from a marketing perspective ensures the broadscale re-promotion of the Harry Potter brand on an almost annual basis throughout the current decade. This moreover assists re-release of the first film on an approximately five-year basis to new audiences previously too young to fall within its demographic catchment—the exact strategy of "classic" rebranding which has underwritten rival studio Disney's fortunes.3 Complementing this brand extension is the potential to grow child consumers through the brand as Harry Potter sequels are produced. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone director Chris Columbus spruiks enthusiastically that "the beauty of making these books into films is that with each one, Harry is a year older, so [child actor] Daniel [Radcliffe] can remain Harry as long as we keep making them" (Manelis 111). Such comments suggest the benefits of luring child consumers through the brand as they mature, harnessing their intense loyalty to the child cast and, through the cast, to the brand itself. The over-riding need to be everything to everyone—exciting to new consumers entering the brand for the first time, comfortingly familiar to already seasoned consumers returning for a repeat hit—helps explain the retro-futuristic feel of the first film's production design. Part 1950s suburban Hitchcock, Part Dickensian London, part Cluny-tapestry medievalism, part public school high-Victorianism, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone strives for a commercially serviceable timelessness, in so doing reinforcing just how very twenty-first-century its conception actually is. In franchise terms, this conscious drive towards retro-futurism fuels Harry Potter's "toyetic potential" (Siegel, "Toys" 19). The ease with which the books' complex plots and mise-en-scene lend themselves to subsidiary rights sales and licensed merchandising in part explains Harry Potter's appeal to commercial media. AOL-TW executives in their public comments have consistently stayed on-message in emphasising "magic" as the brand's key aspirational characteristic, and certainly scenes such as the arrival at Hogwarts, the Quidditch match, the hatching of Hagrid's dragon and the final hunt through the school's dungeons serve as brilliant advertisements for AOL-TW's visual effects divisions. Yet the film exploits many of these "magic" scenes to introduce key tropes of its merchandising programme—Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, chocolate frogs, Hogwarts house colours, the sorting hat, Scabbers the rat, Hedwig, the Remembrall—such that it resembles a series of home shopping advertisements with unusually high production values. It is this railroading of the film's narrative into opportunities for consumerist display which leads film critic Cynthia Fuchs to dub the Diagon Alley shopping scene "the film's cagiest moment, at once a familiar activity for school kid viewers and an apt metaphor for what this movie is all about—consumption, of everything in sight." More telling than the normalising of shopping as filmic activity in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the eclipse of the book's checks on commodity fetishism: its very British sensitivity to class snubs for the large and impecunious Weasley family; the puzzled contempt Hogwarts initiates display for Muggle money; the gentle ribbing at children's obsession with branded sports goods. The casual browser in the Warner Bros store confronted with a plastic, light-up version of the Nimbus 2000 Quidditch broomstick understands that even the most avid authorial commitment to delimiting spin-off merchandise can try the media conglomerate's hand only so far. Constructing the Harry Potter Franchise The film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone constitutes the indispensable brand anchor for AOL-TW's intricate publicity and sales strategy around Harry Potter. Because content recycling within global media conglomerates is increasingly lead by film studio divisions, the opening weekend box office taking for a brand-anchoring film is crucial to the success of the broader franchise and, by extension, to the corporation as a whole. Critic Thomas Schatz's observation that the film's opening serves as "the "launch site" for its franchise development, establishing its value in all other media markets" (83) highlights the precariousness of such multi-party financial investment all hinging upon first weekend takings. The fact that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone broke (then standing) box office records with its 16 November 2001 three-day weekend openings in the US and the UK, garnering US$93.2m and GBP16m respectively, constituted the crucial first stage in AOL-TW's brand strategy (Collins 9; Fierman and Jensen 26). But it formed only an initial phase, as subsequent content recycling and cross-promotion was then structured to radiate outwards from this commercial epicentre. Three categories of recycled AOL-TW Harry Potter content are discernible, although they are frequently overlapping and not necessarily sequential. The first category, most closely tied to the film itself, are instances of reused digital content, specifically in the advance publicity trailer viewable on the official website, and downloads of movie clips, film stills and music samples from the film and its soundtrack.4 Secondly, at one remove from the film itself, is AOL-TW's licensing of film "characters, names and related indicia" to secondary manufacturers, creating tie-in merchandise designed to cross-promote the Harry Potter brand and stoke consumer investment (both emotional and financial) in the phenomenon.5 This campaign phase was itself tactically designed with two waves of merchandising release: a September 2000 launch of book-related merchandise (with no use of film-related Harry Potter indicia permitted); and a second, better selling February 2001 release of ancillary products sporting Harry Potter film logos and visual branding which coincided with and reinforced the marketing push specifically around the film's forthcoming release (Sherber 55; Siegel, "From Hype" 24; Lyman and Barnes C1; Martin 5). Finally, and most crucial to the long-term strategy of the parent conglomerate, Harry Potter branding was used to drive consumer take up of AOL-TW products not generally associated with the Harry Potter brand, as a means of luring consumers out of their established technological or informational comfort zones. Hence, the official Harry Potter website is laced with far from accidental offers to trial Internet service provider AOL; TimeWarner magazines Entertainment Weekly, People, and Time ran extensive taster stories about the film and its loyal fan culture (Jensen 56-57; Fierman and Jensen 26-28; "Magic Kingdom" 132-36; Corliss 136; Dickinson 115); AOL-TW's Moviefone bookings service advertised pre-release Harry Potter tickets on its website; and Warner Bros Movie World theme park on the Gold Coast in Australia heavily promoted its Harry Potter Movie Magic Experience. Investment in a content brand on the scale of AOL-TW's outlay of US$1.4m for Harry Potter must not only drive substantial business across every platform of the converged media conglomerate by providing premium content (Grover 66). It must, crucially for the long run, also drive take up and on-going subscriptions to the delivery services owned by the parent corporation. Energising such all-encompassing strategising is the corporate nirvana of seamless synergy: between content and distribution; between the Harry Potter and AOL-TW brands; between conglomerate and consumer. Notes 1. The film, like the first of J.K. Rowling's books, is titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the "metaphysics-averse" US ("Harry Potter" 61). 2. Publishing statistics sourced from Horn and Jones (59), Manelis (110) and Bloomsbury Publishing's Harry Potter website: http://www.bloomsburymagazine.com/harryp.... 3. Interestingly, Disney tangentially acknowledged the extent to which AOL-TW has appropriated Disney's own content recycling strategies. In a film trailer for the Pixar/Disney animated collaboration Monsters, Inc. which screened in Australia and the US before Harry Potter sessions, two monsters play a game of charades to which the answer is transparently "Harry Potter." In the way of such homages from one media giant to another, it nevertheless subtly directs the audience to the Disney product screening in an adjacent cinema. 4. The official Harry Potter film website is http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com. The official site for the soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone is: http://www.harrypottersoundtrack.com. 5. J.K. Rowling." A page and a half of non-negotiable "Harry Potter Terms of Use" further spells out prohibitions on use or modification of site content without the explicit (and unlikely) consent of AOL-TW (refer: http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/cmp/te...). References "AOL losses 'sort of a deep disappointment'." Weekend Australian 18-19 May 2002: 35. Auletta, Ken. "Leviathan." New Yorker 29 Oct. 2001: 50-56, 58-61. Collins, Luke. "Harry Potter's Magical $178m Opening." Australian Financial Review 20 Nov. 2001: 9. Corliss, Richard. "Wizardry without Magic." Time 19 Nov. 2001: 136. Dickinson, Amy. "Why Movies make Readers." Time 10 Dec. 2001: 115. Fierman, Daniel, and Jeff Jensen. "Potter of Gold: J.K. Rowling's Beloved Wiz Kid hits Screensand Breaks Records." Entertainment Weekly 30 Nov. 2001: 26-28. Fuchs, Cynthia. "The Harry Hype." PopPolitics.com 19 Nov. 2001: n.pag. Online. Internet. 8 Mar. 2002. Available &lt;http://www.poppolitics.com/articles/2001-11-19-harry.shtml&gt;. Goldberg, Andy. "Time Will Tell." Sydney Morning Herald 27-28 Apr. 2002: 23. Grover, Ronald. "Harry Potter and the Marketer's Millstone." Business Week 15 Oct. 2001: 66. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Dir. Chris Columbus. Screenplay by Steve Kloves. Warner Bros, 2001. "Harry Potter and the Synergy Test." Economist 10 Nov. 2001: 61-62. Herman, Edward S., and Robert W. McChesney. The Global Media: The New Missionaries of Corporate Capitalism. London: Cassell, 1997. Horn, John, and Malcolm Jones. "The Bubble with Harry." The Bulletin/Newsweek 13 Nov. 2001: 58-59. Jensen, Jeff. "Holiday Movie Preview: Potter's Field." Entertainment Weekly 16 Nov. 2001: 56-57. Klein, Naomi. "Naomi KleinNo Logo." The Media Report. ABC Radio National webtranscript. Broadcast in Sydney, 17 Jan. 2002. Online. Internet. 19 Feb. 2002. Available &lt;http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8:30/mediarpt/stories/s445871.htm&gt;. Lyman, Rick, and Julian E. Barnes. "The Toy War for Holiday Movies is a Battle Among 3 Heavyweights." New York Times 12 Nov. 2001: C1. "Magic Kingdom." People Weekly 14 Jan. 2002: 132-36. Manelis, Michele. "Potter Gold." Bulletin 27 Nov. 2001: 110-11. Martin, Peter. "Rowling Stock." Weekend Australian 24-25 Nov. 2001: Review, 1, 4-5. Pulley, Brett. "Morning After." Forbes 7 Feb. 2000: 54-56. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 1997. Schatz, Thomas. "The Return of the Hollywood Studio System." Conglomerates and the Media. Erik Barnouw et al. New York: New Press, 1997. 73-106. Sherber, Anne. "Licensing 2000 Showcases Harry Potter, Rudolph for Kids." Billboard 8 Jul. 2000: 55. Siegel, Seth M. "Toys &amp; Movies: Always? Never? Sometimes!" Brandweek 12 Feb. 2001: 19. ---. "From Hype to Hope." Brandweek 11 Jun. 2001: 24. Traiman, Steve. "Harry Potter, Powerpuff Girls on A-list at Licensing 2000." Billboard 1 Jul. 2000: 51, 53. "Welcome to the 21st Century." Business Week 24 Jan. 2000: 32-34, 36-38. Links http://www.bloomsburymagazine.com/harrypotter/muggles http://www.harrypottersoundtrack.com http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com http://www.poppolitics.com/articles/2001-11-19-harry.shtml http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8:30/mediarpt/stories/s445871.htm http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/cmp/terms.html Citation reference for this article MLA Style Murray, Simone. "Harry Potter, Inc." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 5.4 (2002). [your date of access] &lt; http://www.media-culture.org.au/mc/0208/recycling.php&gt;. Chicago Style Murray, Simone, "Harry Potter, Inc." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 5, no. 4 (2002), &lt; http://www.media-culture.org.au/mc/0208/recycling.php&gt; ([your date of access]). APA Style Murray, Simone. (2002) Harry Potter, Inc.. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 5(4). &lt; http://www.media-culture.org.au/mc/0208/recycling.php&gt; ([your date of access]).

Introduction From the annual ‘Pink Test’ cricket match in Australia to Mother’s Day fun runs, there has been a proliferation of ‘pink’ uniformed charity events. This article analyses the pink uniform of the 2020 Cancer Council Tasmania’s Women’s first virtual 5K walk/run (W5K). The Women’s 5K event took take place virtually in September 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. The annual event, which runs through the CBD of Launceston, a regional city in Tasmania, typically attracts around 2,000 participants and is Cancer Council Tasmania’s major annual fundraiser. Cancer Council received 798 registrations for the 2020 virtual event and raised over $120,000. Locating the W5K pink uniform within the emergence of “embodied philanthropy” (Robert), this article analyses how pink uniforms were used by virtual walkers and runners to recreate the mass affective and community spectacle of the usually in-person event. Drawing upon Vilnai-Yavert and Rafaeli’s artifacts framework, the article extends the concept of “embodied philanthropy” to outline the instrumental, symbolic and aesthetic dimensions of the pink sports charity uniform. While acknowledging the risks of “pinkwashing” in reproducing narrow gender ideals and bright-siding cancer, the article argues the pink uniform was vital in staging a meaningful and impactful virtual event. Sports Uniforms Uniforms are central to the formation and expression of collective and organisational identities (Craik; Timmons and East; Joseph and Alex). The classic sociological articulation of uniforms is that they function to define boundaries, ensure conformity, and suppress individuality. Sport provides a key space to analyse how uniforms discipline individuals and bodies but also challenge and reject rules and bodily regulations. Sport is a window to examine how uniforms involve a tension between both tradition and innovation and regulation and experimentation (Craik 139). While research has examined sport fans and team uniforms there is little research on the sport charity uniform. Much of the sociological literature on sporting uniforms focusses on male football fans. Back et al. point out that “the notion of “wearing the shirt” summons the “deepest level of symbolic identity and commitment” (82). For dedicated fans, wearing their team’s apparel is a potent and embodied “emblem of locality and identity” (82). More recent research has focussed on the ways in which sporting uniforms can be used in social movements and political protest. These include the inclusion of LGBTQI ‘rainbow’ tops in basketball (Bagley and Liao) and the ways in which Serena Williams’s clothing choices were used to challenge traditional race, class and gender assumptions in tennis (Allen). Redressing the skewed focus on uniforms among male sports fans, Sveinson, Hoeber, and Toffoletti argue that pink merchandise and clothing are cultural artifacts worn and conceptualised by female fans as representing different aspects of their identity. Their findings show that women who follow professional sports teams tend to reject “pink and pretty” offerings, as they reproduce a traditional view of femininity that delegitimatises their fan identity. This laden symbolism is critical to understanding the pink uniform of the W5K. Pinkification of Cancer One of the most well-known aspects of the pink uniform is the “pink ribbon” campaign. Ribbon wearers acknowledge that they are connected to cancer in some way; as a survivor, a friend or relative, or as advocates committed to the medical research needed to find a cure for breast (and other) cancers. Moore’s ‘ribbon culture’ identifies four main symbolic uses of the ribbon: show solidarity with a cause or group; tool for community campaigns; a token of mourning; or to display ‘self-awareness’ in the wearer. The emergence of the pink uniform in sports charity can be linked to the Susan G Komen foundation, one of the early pioneers of cause-related marketing and the founder of the Race for the Cure, the earliest of sports charity events (Palmer). King suggests the colour pink was chosen for race merchandise as it conveyed traditional notions of femininity and was part of the Foundation’s strategy of normalising discussion of breast cancer. The associations between pink, breast cancer, and identity categories of women (mother, sister, daughter, etc.) have been key to the fundraising success of Komen, largely because they were implicitly positioned in opposition to other health promotion campaigns (e.g., AIDS) also competing for market attention in the 1980s and 1990s. While AIDS was associated with “deviant” identities of gay men, drug users, and sex workers, breast cancer was made visible “through straight, White, married, young to middle aged women” (King 107). Since this time many men’s sporting leagues and events globally have partnered with breast cancer and other “pink” initiatives. In Australia, the annual ‘Pink Test’ cricket match raises money for breast cancer care nurses, while in the US NFL players wear pink socks and gloves. The proliferation of pink events and associated merchandise has led to criticisms of “pinkwashing” (Lyon and Montgomery 223), whereby corporations exploit pink branding to promote products which contribute very little – if anything at all – to cancer research, education, and advocacy efforts (Carter; Devlin and Sheehan). Sociologists like Ehrenreich and Moore have been critical of this “pinkification”, suggesting that it “bright-sides” breast cancer – by relentlessly emphasising a positive resolve – while simultaneously amplifying concerns about the illness. Rather than “awareness raising”, Moore suggests the close association of pink ribbon culture with consumer beauty and fitness products (e.g., Estee Lauder; LessBounce sports bras) reinforces narrow ideals of femininity, but also adds to the pervasive dread of breast cancer in relation to these same ideals (for example, via chemotherapy-induced hair loss and mastectomies). The following section introduces the theoretical framework. Embodied Philanthropy and Material Artifacts Julie Robert’s “embodied philanthropy” provides a useful theoretical starting point for analysing the pink uniform of sports charity. Robert (1) describes embodied philanthropy as part of a cultural movement where people "pledge their bodies to raise funds for and awareness of a variety of causes". Embodied philanthropy often relies on the body to publicly display altruism and one’s own ‘will to health’. Embodied philanthropy thus offers a highly visible means of modeling “good citizenship”, particularly in practicing both care of the self and civic minded entrepreneurialism (Wade et al.). While embodied philanthropy draws attention to the body and its emerging role in charitable endeavours, it overlooks how material “things” such as clothes, costumes, and uniforms are integral to the embodied performances characteristic of sports charity events. Vilnai-Yavetz and Rafaeli’s interdisciplinary organisational artifacts framework provides a useful way to extend Robert’s focus on the body in philanthropy to include embodied artifacts such as uniforms and clothing. For this article, artifacts are conceptualised as material objects such as pink t-shirts, ribbons, and hats purposely worn for W5K participation and fundraising. Vilnai-Yavetz and Rafaeli posit three dimensions through which organisational artifacts produce meaning: 1) instrumentality: the “impact of an artifact on the tasks or goals of people, groups, or organisations” (12); 2) aesthetics: the “sensory experience an artifact elicits” (12); and 3) symbolism: the “meanings and associations an artifact elicits” (14). Vilnai-Yavetz and Rafaeli’s model offers a way of conceptualising the embodied role of uniform for understanding more short-term or ephemeral types of sporting community, such as the “neo-tribes” (Maffesoli) that form around fitness philanthropy events (e.g. annual fun runs). How then do people understand the role of the pink uniform when participating in sports charity events? What role does the pink uniform play instrumentally, aesthetically, and symbolically? Do cancer charities need to rethink their use of pink considering concerns about pinkwashing, bright-siding cancer, and reproducing constrictive gender ideals? The following section uses the findings from a wider qualitative interview-based study on motivations and experiences of participating and fundraising in the 2020 virtual W5 to help answer these questions. The interview sample comprised 12 women and one man with an age range of 32 to 75. Transcribed interviews were thematically analysed, guided by the theoretical framework. Recreating the ‘Sea of Pink’: Instrumental, Symbolic, and Aesthetic Dimensions of the Pink Sports Charity Uniform Most participants framed their virtual participation in terms of missing the in-person spectacle of the “sea of pink running through the streets” (Emily). In the context of this mass “absence” of pink, wearing and displaying artifacts such as pink T-shirts, ribbons, bandanas, hats, face paint, and dyed hair were assembled as an “informal” sports charity uniform. The following participants capture this creative use of the pink uniform: I had the pink shirt and then we had pink hats and my neighbour who’s had cancer came and she had pink on. (Grace) I decked myself out in pink and all the number and whatever else and yeah, I had a great time by myself. I had music going and yeah … I think I might have even had pink hair at the time. (Leah) These descriptions evoke Robert’s claim that embodied philanthropy leans heavily on the “showiness of the body for philanthropic ends” (4). However, rather than moralised displays of suffering or neoliberal models of self-responsibility, the pink uniform plays out as part of a rejection of more ‘elite’ forms of embodied philanthropy with the emphasis on ‘fun’, ‘play’, and ‘enjoyment’. The pink uniform figures as a rejection of martyr-like displays and expectations commonly observed in other forms of embodied philanthropy, with participants not expected to suffer for the cause but rather to gather, play, remember, and celebrate. Building on uniform as a feature of embodied philanthropy, the following section uses Vilnai-Yavetz and Rafaeli’s framework to analyse the instrumental, symbolic, and aesthetic dimensions of the W5K pink uniform. Instrumental Dimensions Instrumentality relates to how artifacts serve to achieve individual and organisational goals (Vilnai-Yavetz and Rafeili). Three key instrumental functions of the pink uniform can be identified in the participants’ stories. First, wearing and displaying artifacts such as pink T-shirts and hair-dye enabled participants to become producers of their own sports charity events. As Elizabeth said: “I would happily wear my t-shirt and do my own fun run”. Displaying the pink uniform enabled participants to stage their own “micro” fitness philanthropy event in the absence of the “sea of pink”. The pink uniform was central to participants and organisers being able to produce and stage individualised embodied philanthropy events without the corporeal ‘mass’ of the mass-participation event. Second, the pink uniform helped participants simulate the affective spectacle, ritual, and “neo-tribal” warmth (Maffesoli) of the face-to-face event. The pink uniform was key to producing a sense of ritualised ‘atmosphere’ and generating feelings of connection and solidarity. The shift to a virtual format meant greater reliance on participants producing imagery of their participation to generate a sense of online community and affective spectacle. Social media affordances, including the use of the #doitforher hashtag, were vital to creating this collective affect. Without sharing and circulating imagery of the pink uniform through social media, organisers would have struggled to host a meaningful and viable event. Chloe commented how “I felt the presence with the online kind of sharing of other people’s experiences, quite motivating and really wonderful … just being out and seeing other people in a sea of pink and doing their version of the event was quite special”. Third, participants used their own creative labour to craft and display pink uniforms that expressed their connection to the cause (fighting cancer) and organisation (Cancer Council). In Robert’s terms, the pink uniform transformed the body into a charitable “billboard” and “income generator”. For example, Penelope discussed how their running club made their own t-shirts for their event – complete with individual nicknames –, while Elizabeth described how they designed a stamp that featured a picture of herself wearing a Cancer Council t-Shirt to publicise the event. This echoes aforementioned claims that ‘wearing the shirt’ establishes symbolic identity and commitment. However, rather than generating feelings of allegiance to a club, the pink shirt expressed connection with the cause or organisation while also serving advocacy purposes. As Chloe said: “just getting out there in the pink top is raising awareness”. The t-shirt also operated as a communicator of “good citizenship”, implicitly enjoining others to support the cause (Palmer). Elizabeth, for instance, described wearing her pink Cancer Council T-shirt to an aged care facility where she volunteers to solicit “a couple of extra donations”, while Katie and Sandra explained how they wore pink shirts during their walk/runs as a way of gaining recognition and showing others “you’re doing that good work”. Symbolic Dimensions The pink charity uniform had powerful symbolic functions for participants. Participants discussed how wearing pink was linked to honouring loved ones who had died from cancer. Leah discussed how she ran her event wearing the same pink ribbon she wore at the funeral of her friend’s mother, who died from breast cancer. This aligns with Moore’s research, where ribbon wearing to signify mourning proves one of the key symbolic uses of ribbon culture. Zoe similarly expressed the links between wearing pink and rituals of reminiscence: “we both made sure we had some pink on … as we walked, we talked about [their friend] and her battle and why we were doing it … we were thinking of who we were walking for”. Pink was also worn by survivors of breast cancer such as Sandra who walked with her mum (also a breast cancer survivor) and friends: “we all had pink stuff. We painted pink on our faces. Walked the main road when we knew there was going to be a lot of traffic … so people could see us dressed in pink”. Sandra described “walking the streets with pink love hearts on our faces” as her most memorable moment of the event. While “pink ribbon culture” and the wider “pinkification” of cancer has been critiqued as “brightsiding” cancer and reinforcing narrow ideals of femininity (Ehrenreich; Moore), it is hard to deny the symbolic power of pink for these participants as a means to mourn, remember, and celebrate survivorship. The meaning of pink clothing as a gendered marker was also important in this research. While Sveinson et al. highlight problems that female sports fans have with pink merchandising, this was not an issue for the charity participants. There was a congruence between wearing pink and participants’ charitable identities. Despite pink being a close signifier of breast cancer fundraising (King), participants reflected on the importance of the W5K in supporting all cancers, particularly as breast cancer attracts “more donations” (Sandra) and “gets a lot of attention in the media” (Maureen). However, W5K’s pink branding did lead some participants, like Greg, to mistakenly believe the event is a “breast cancer race”, despite the target audience being all Tasmanians impacted upon by cancer. The feminine associations of pink – coupled with the event name – also meant some participants were unclear whether men could participate. Katie said “I love that they have the pink colouring” but it “wasn’t obvious to me that both men and women could do the walk”. Katie showed how there can be an incongruence between masculine identities and the “pink run” uniform. She commented: “my Dad was a bit reticent about wearing pink ...but he was willing to take it for the team for the day”. While Greg said he was a “metrosexual man” and “didn’t mind wearing a bit of pink”, he agreed the pink uniform created a strong impression the W5K was a “women’s only race”. Both Katie and Greg suggested that organisers should look to include more men wearing pink as part of promotional materials. Unlike Sveinson et al., who showed a tension between pink clothing and women’s fan identities, in the W5K men and women were generally comfortable wearing pink due to its higher-order symbolism as part of “fighting” cancer and “doing something good”. More widely, these findings highlight the unstable gendered meanings of pink and that rather than the pinkification of cancer simply reinforcing narrow gender ideals, it may also open possibilities, particularly for men, to express inclusive and ‘caring’ masculinities (Elliott). Aesthetic Dimensions The Cancer Council actively encourages fun and creativity in costumes for the W5K event. Images of this irreverent costuming and effervescent spectacle are re-circulated via social media to promote future participation. This is illustrated in the image below from Cancer Council’s Instagram account: Fig. 1: Instagram post by the Cancer Council While pink clothing is encouraged by the Cancer Council, individual comfort and expression is emphasised in efforts to make the event as inclusive as possible. Hence, some participants – especially ‘serious’ runners – dress in purely utilitarian modes, opting for pink running singlets, shorts, tights etc., while others embrace comically non-utilitarian styles, such as wearing tutus, feather boas, fairy wings, colourful wigs, face paint, or dyed hair. Unlike comparable events – like Nike’s women’s-only ‘She Runs the Night’ event, where all participants were required to wear identical Nike-branded pink singlets or t-shirts – the Cancer Council’s W5K encourages individual expression and creativity in clothing and adornments. In short, a kind of non-uniformity of uniform is actively promoted, so long as these displays can still be captured and circulated as signifiers of support for the cause. While the aesthetics of the ‘sea of pink’ inevitability reproduce narrow gendered tropes, it also resists others, including the ‘tailored modesty, neatness, demureness’ (Craik 13) expected of women in uniform, along with burdensome cultural ideals around the ‘fit’ and ‘feminine’ body. The lighthearted, intentionally comical pinkification – while introducing ambiguities about whether the W5K is a women’s only event – does potentially make it easier for men to participate, enabling them to shake off any stereotypical assumptions related to wearing ‘unmasculine’ colours and clothing. Greg said that ‘while I don’t think I wore pink on the day … I would’ve been happy to put some pompons on, and really jazz it up!’ Conclusion Using Cancer Council Tasmania’s first virtual 5k walk-run as an empirical case-study, the article discusses creative pink adornments as a unique sports charity uniform. Locating the pink uniform within the rise of global “pink events” and initiatives, the article suggests that the pink uniform provides a new lens to examine the material role of uniforms beyond existing research in the sociology of sport and leisure. Theoretically the article positions the emergence of the pink charity uniform as part of Robert’s “embodied philanthropy”. A key theoretical argument is that while Robert’s framework helps grasp the push toward the body-as-signifier in mass participation fundraising events, it downplays the role material artifacts such as clothing play in embodied sporting performances. It is suggested that Vilnai-Yavetz and Rafaeli’s organisational artifacts model provides a useful way to attend to the extra-corporeal aspects of “embodied philanthropy”, underlining the instrumental, symbolic, and aesthetic dimensions of uniforms as artifacts. Empirically the article highlights three key instrumental uses of the pink uniform for W5K participants. First, the uniform enabled participants to produce their own charity event; second, it helped recreate the affective spectacle and “neo-tribal” (Maffesoli) warmth of the physical event; and third, the uniform expressed connection to the cause or organisation and turned the body into a “charitable billboard” (Robert). Symbolically, the uniform, via practices such as wearing pink ribbons, helped foster rituals of mourning and remembrance. Notwithstanding persuasive critiques of pinkwashing, participants celebrated the use of pink, though some felt it sent an ambiguous message about whether men were welcome. Nonetheless, there was little identity incongruence between wearing pink and expressing sports charity identities. These findings highlight how the gendered meaning of pink artefacts are fluid and thus challenge ideas that the pinkification of cancer simply reinforces narrow gender ideals. For example, the men interviewed show how pink artefacts may work to symbolically and materially challenge traditional gendered orthodoxies and even help men express more progressive gendered identities. Aesthetically a “non-uniformity of uniform” was promoted, with the pink uniform working as a loosely aggregated symbolic system accommodating both utilitarian and non-utilitarian styles. While many theorists have raised concerns about the pinkification of cancer – both in its insistent positivity discourses and reproducing narrow gendered ideals – the aesthetics of the pink uniform in the W5K were overwhelmingly celebrated and embraced as light-hearted and fun: as material artifacts key to a joyously inclusive and community-building spectacle. References Back, Les, Tim Crabbe, and John Solomos. The Changing Face of Football: Racism, Identity and Multiculture in the English Game. Berg, 2001. Bagley, Meredith M., and Judy Liao. "Blocked Out: Athletic Voices and WNBA Uniform Politics." Sportswomen’s Apparel in the United States. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021. 57-74. Carter, Meg. "Backlash against 'Pinkwashing' of Breast Cancer Awareness Campaigns." BMJ: British Medical Journal 351 (2015). Craik, Jennifer. Uniforms Exposed: From Conformity to Transgression. Berg, 2005. Crawford, Garry. "The Career of the Sport Supporter: The Case of the Manchester Storm." Sociology 37.2 (2003): 219-237. Devlin, Michael, and Kim Sheehan. "A 'Crucial Catch': Examining Responses to NFL teams’ Corporate Social Responsibility Messaging on Facebook." Communication &amp; Sport 6.4 (2018): 477-498. Ehrenreich, Barbara. Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. Metropolitan Books, 2009. Fawbert, J. "Replica Football Shirts: A Case of Incorporation of Popular Dissent?" Social Science Teacher 27 (1997): 9-13. Joseph, Nathan, and Nicholas Alex. "The Uniform: A Sociological Perspective." American Journal of Sociology 77.4 (1972): 719-730. King, Samantha. "Pink Ribbons Inc.: The Emergence of Cause-Related Marketing and the Corporatization of the Breast Cancer Movement." Governing the Female Body: Gender, Health, and Networks of Power (2010): 85-111. Lyon, Thomas P., and A. Wren Montgomery. "The Means and End of Greenwash." Organization &amp; Environment 28.2 (2015): 223-249. Moore, Sarah E.H. Ribbon Culture: Charity, Compassion and Public Awareness. Palgrave, 2008. Maffesoli, Michel. The Time of the Tribes. The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society. Sage, 1996. Palmer, C. Fitness Philanthropy: Sport, Charity and Everyday Giving. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020. Robert, J. "Practices and Rationales of Embodied Philanthropy. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing 23.3 (2018): e1595. Shaonta’E, Allen. "Braids, Beads, Catsuits and Tutus: Serena Williams' Intersectional Resistance through Fashion." Athlete Activism. Routledge, 2021. 132-143. Sveinson, Katherine, Larena Hoeber, and Kim Toffoletti. "'If People Are Wearing Pink Stuff They’re Probably Not Real Fans': Exploring Women’s Perceptions of Sport Fan Clothing." Sport Management Review 22.5 (2019): 736-747. Timmons, Stephen, and Linda East. "Uniforms, Status and Professional Boundaries in Hospital." Sociology of Health &amp; Illness 33.7 (2011): 1035-1049. Wade, Matthew, Nicholas Hookway, Kevin Filo, and Catherine Palmer. “Embodied Philanthropy and Sir Captain Tom Moore's 'Walk for the NHS'.” Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing 27.3 (2022): e1747. Vilnai-Yavetz, Iris, and Anat Rafaeli. "Managing Artifacts to Avoid Artifact Myopia". Artifacts and Organizations: Beyond Mere Symbolism. Eds. Anat Rafaeli and Michael G Pratt. Lawrence Erlbaum, 2006. 9–21.

This essay originates out of our shared interest in genres and media forms used for identity practices that do not cohere into a narrative or a fixed representation of who someone is. It takes the current heightened visibility of drag as a mode of performance that explicitly engages with identity as a product materialized—but not completed—by the ongoing process of performance. We consider the new drag, which we define below, as a form of playing with identity that combines bodily practices (comportment and use of voice) and adornment (make-up, clothing, wigs, and accessories) with an array of media (photography, live performance, social media and television). Given the limited space available, we will not be engaging with the propositions made during earlier feminist and queer thinking that drag is not inherently subversive and may reinscribe gender and race norms through their hyperbolic recitation (Butler 230-37; hooks 145-56). While we think there is much to be gained from revisiting these critiques in light of the changes in conceptualisations of gender in queer subcultures, we are not interested in framing drag as subversive or resistant in relation to the norms of masculinity and femininity. Instead, we follow Eve Sedgwick’s interest in reparative practices adopted by queer-identified subjects who must learn to survive in a hostile culture (“Paranoid”) and trace two lines of analysis we identify in drag’s new found visibility that demonstrate the reparative potential of automedia.At time of writing, RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR) has truly hit the big time. Pop icon Christina Aguilera was a guest judge for the first episode of its tenth season (Daw “Christina”), and the latest episode of RuPaul’s All-Stars season three spin-off show was the most-watched of any show in its network’s history (Crowley). RuPaul Charles, the producer and star of RPDR, has just been honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, decades after he began his career as a drag performer (Daw “RuPaul”). Drag queens are finally becoming part of American mainstream media and drag as an art form and a cultural practice is on its way to becoming part of discourse about gender and identity around the world, via powerful systems of digital mediation and distribution. RPDR’s success is a good way to think about how drag, a long-standing performance art form, is having a “break out” moment in popular culture. We argue here that RPDR is doing this within an automedia framework.What does automedia mean in the context of drag on television and social media? We understand automedia to be about the mediation of identity when identity is both a product of representation and a process that is continually becoming, expressed in the double meaning of the word “life” as biography and as process (Poletti “Queer Collages” 362; Poletti and Rak 6-7). In this essay we build on our shared interest in developing a critical mode that can respond to forms of automedia that explore “the possibility of identity in the absence of narration” (Rak 172). What might artists who work with predominantly non-narrative forms such as drag performance show us about the ongoing interconnection between technologies and subjectivities as they represent and think through what “life” looks like, on stage and off?Automedia names life as a process and a product that has the potential to queer temporality and normative forms of identification, what Jack Halberstam has called “queer time” (1). We understand Halberstam’s evocation of queer time as suitable for being thought through automedia because of their characterisation of queer as “a form of self-description in the past decade or so … [that] has the potential to open up new life narratives and alternative relations to time and space” (2). Queer time, Halberstam explains, comes from the collapse of the past and shaky relation to futurity gay men experienced during the height of the American AIDs crisis, but they also see queer time, significantly, as exceeding the terms of its arrival. Queer time could be about the “potentiality of a life unscripted by the conventions of family, inheritance, and child rearing” (2). Queer time, then, evokes the possibility of making a life narrative that does not have to follow a straight line or stay “on script,” and does not have to feature conventional milestones or touchstones in its unfolding. If queer time can be thought alongside automedia, within drag performances that are not about straight lives, narrative histories and straight time can come into view.Much has been written about drag as a performance that creates a public, for example, as part of a queer world-building project that shoots unpredictably through spaces beyond performance locations (Berlant and Warner 558). Halberstam’s shift to thinking of queer time as an opening of new life narratives and a different relation to time has similar potential when considering the work of RPDR as automedia, because the shift of drag performance away from clubs, parades and other queer spaces to television and the internet is accompanied by a concern, manifested in the work of RuPaul himself, with drag history and the management of drag memory. We argue that a concern with the relationship between time and identity in RPDR is an attempt to open up, through digital networked media, a queer understanding of time that is in relation to drag of the past, but not always in a linear way. The performances of season nine winner Sasha Velour, and Velour’s own preoccupation with drag history in her performances and art projects, is an indicator of the importance of connecting the twin senses of “life” as process and product found in automedia to performance and narration.The current visibility of drag in popular culture is characterised by a shifting relationship between drag and media: what was once a location-based, temporally specific form of performance which occurred in bars, has been radically changed through the increased contact between the media forms of performance, television and social media. While local drag queens are often the celebrities (or “superstars”) of their local subcultural scene, reality television (in the form of RPDR) and social media (particularly Instagram) have radically increased the visibility of some drag queens, turning them into international celebrities with hundreds of thousands of fans. These queens now speak to audiences far beyond their local communities, and to audiences who may not have any knowledge of the queer subcultures that have nurtured generations of drag performers. Under the auspices of RPDR, drag queens have gained a level of cultural visibility that produces fascinating, and complex, encounters between subcultural identity practices and mainstream media tropes. Amongst her many tasks—being fierce, flawless, hilarious, and able to turn out a consummate lip sync performance—the newly visible drag queen is also a teacher. Enacting RuPaul’s theory of identity from his song title—“We’re all born naked and the rest is drag” (“Born”)—drag queens who in some way embody or make use of RuPaul’s ideas have the potential to advance a queer perspective on identity as a process in keeping with Judith Butler’s influential theory of identity performativity (Butler 7-16). In so doing they can provide fresh insights into the social function of media platforms and their genres in the context of queer lives. They are what we call “new” drag queens, because of their access to technology and digital forms of image distribution. They can refer to classic drag queen performance culture, and they make use of classic drag performance as a genre, but their transnational media presence and access to more recent forms of identification to describe themselves, such as trans, genderqueer or nonbinary, mark their identity presentations and performance presences as a departure from other forms of drag.While there is clearly a lot to be said about drag’s “break out,” in this essay we focus on two elements of the “new media” drag that we think speak directly, and productively, to the larger question of how cultural critics can understand the connection between identity and mediation as mutually emergent phenomena. As a particularly striking practitioner of automediality, the new drag queen draws our attention to the way that drag performance is an automedial practice that creates “queer time” (Halberstam), making use of the changing status of camp as a practice for constructing, and mediating identity. In what follows we examine the statements about drag and the autobiographical statements presented by RuPaul Charles and Sasha Velour (the winner of RPDR Season Nine) to demonstrate automediality as a powerful practice for queer world-making and living.No One Ever Wins Snatch Game: RuPaul and TimeAs we have observed at the opening of this essay, queer time is an oppositional practice, a refusal of those who belong to queer communities to fall into step with straight ideas about history, futurity, reproduction and the heteronormative idea of family, and a way to understand how communities mark occasions, conceptualize the history and traditions of subcultures. Queer time has the potential to rethink daily living and history differently and to tell accounts of lives in a different way, to “open up new life narratives,” as Halberstam says (2). RuPaul Charles’s own life story could be understood as a way to open up new life narratives literally by constructing what a queer life and career could mean in the aftermath of the AIDS epidemic in the United States. His 1995 memoir, Lettin It All Hang Out, details RuPaul’s early career in 1980s Atlanta, Georgia and in New York as an often-difficult search for what would make him a star. RuPaul did not at first conceptualize himself as a drag star, but as a punk musician in Atlanta and then as part of the New York Club Kid community, which developed when New York clubs were in danger of closing because of fear of the AIDS epidemic (Flynn). RuPaul became adept at self-promotion and image-building while he was part of these rebellious punk and dance club subcultures that refused gender and lifestyle norms (Lettin 62-5). It might seem to be an unusual beginning for a drag star, but as RuPaul writes, “I always knew I was going to be star [but] I never thought it was going to be as a drag queen” (Lettin 64). There was no narrative of mainstream success that RuPaul—a gay, gender non-binary African-American man from the American Midwest—could follow.Since he was a drag performer too, RuPaul eventually “had an epiphany. Why couldn’t I [he] become a mainstream pop star in drag? Who said it couldn’t be done?” (Workin’ It 159). And he decided that rather than look for a model of success to follow, he would queer the mainstream model for success. As he observes, “I looked around at my favorite stars and realized that they were drag queens too. In fact every celebrity is a drag queen” (Lettin 129). Proceeding from the idea that all people are in fact drag artists—the source of RuPaul’s aformentioned catch-phrase and song title “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag” (“Born”), RuPaul moved the show business trajectory into queer time, making the “formula” for success the labour required of drag queens to create personae, entertain, promote themselves and make a successful living (and a life) in dangerous work environments—a process presented in his song “Supermodel” and its widely-cited lyric “You better work!” (“Supermodel”). The video for “Supermodel” shows RuPaul in his persona as Supermodel of the World, “working” as a performer and a member of the public in New York to underscore the different kinds of labour that is involved, and that this labour is necessary for anyone to become successful (“Supermodel” video).When RuPaul’s Drag Race began in 2010, RuPaul modelled the challenges in the show on his own career in an instance of automedia, where the non-narrative aspects of drag performance and contest challenges were connected to the performance of RuPaul’s own story. According to one of RuPaul’s friends who produces the show: “The first season, all the challenges were ‘Ru did this, so you did this.’ It was Ru’s philosophy” (Snetiker). As someone who was without models for success, RuPaul intends for RPDR to provide a model for others to follow. The goal of the show is the replication of RuPaul’s own career trajectory: the winners of RPDR are each crowned “America’s Next Drag Superstar,” because they have successfully learned from RuPaul’s own experiences so that they too can develop their careers as drag artists. This pattern has persisted on RPDR, where the contestants are often asked to participate in challenges that reflect RuPaul’s own struggles to become a star as a way to “train” them to develop their careers. Contestants have, like RuPaul himself, starred in low-budget films, played in a punk band, marketed their own perfume, commemorated the work of the New York Club Kids, and even planned the design and marketing of their own memoirs.RPDR contestants are also expected to know popular culture of the past and present, and they are judged on how well they understand their own “herstory” of the drag communities and queer culture. Snatch Game, a popular segment where contestants have to impersonate celebrities on a queer version of the Match Game series, is a double test. To succeed, contestants must understand how to impersonate celebrities past and present within a camp aesthetic. But the segment also tests how well drag queens understand the genre of game show television, a genre that no longer exists on television (except in the form of Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy), and that many of the RPDR contestants are not old enough to have seen, performing witty taglines and off-the-cuff jokes they hope will land in a very tight time frame. Sasha Velour, the winner of season nine, won praise for her work in the Snatch Game segment in episode six because, acting on advice from RuPaul, she played Marlene Dietrich and not her first choice, queer theorist Judith Butler (RuPaul’s). Sasha Velour was able to make Dietrich, a queer icon known for her film work in the 1920-1940s, humorous in the game show context, showing that she understands queer history, and that she is a skilful impersonator who understands how to navigate a genre that is part of RuPaul’s own life story. The queer time of RuPaul’s narrative is transmitted to a skill set future drag stars need to use: a narrative of a life becomes part of performance. RPDR is, in this sense, automedia in action as queens make their personae “live,” perform part of RuPaul’s “life” story, and get to “live” on the show for another week if they are successful. The point of Snatch Game is how well a queen can perform, how good she is at entertaining and educating audiences, and how well she deals with an archaic genre, that of the television game show. No one ever “wins” Snatch Game because that is not the point of it. But those who win the Snatch Game challenge often go on to win RPDR, because they have demonstrated improvisational skill, comic timing, knowledge of RuPaul’s own life narrative touchstones and entertained the audience.Performative Agency: The Drag Performance as Resource for Queer LivingVelour’s embodied performance in the Snatch Game of the love and knowledge of popular culture associated with camp, and its importance to the art of drag, highlights the multifaceted use of media as a resource for identity practices that characterizes drag as a form of automedia. Crucially, it exemplifies the complex way that media forms are heavily cited and replayed in new combinations in order to say something real about the ways of living of a specific artist or person. Sasha Velour’s impersonation of Dietrich is not one in which Velour’s persona disappears: indeed, she is highly commended by RuPaul, and fans, because her embodiment of Dietrich in the anachronous media environment of the Snatch Game works to further Velour’s unique persona and skill as a drag artist. Velour queers time with her Dietrich in order to demonstrate her unique sensibility and identity. Thus, reality TV, silent film, cabaret, improvisation and visual presentation are brought together in an embodied performance that advances Velour’s specific form of drag and is taken as a strong marker of who Sasha Velour is.But what exactly is Sasha Velour doing when she clarifies her identity by dressing as Marlene Dietrich and improvises the diva’s answers to questions on a game show? This element of drag is clearly connected to the aesthetics of camp that have a long tradition in gay and queer culture. Original theories of camp theorized it as a practice of taste and interpretation (Sontag)—camp described a relationship to the objects of popular culture that was subversive because it celebrated the artificiality of aesthetic forms, and was therefore ironizing. However, this understanding of camp does not adequately describe its role in postmodern culture or how some queer subcultures cultivate the use media forms for identity practices (O’Neill 21). In her re-casting of camp, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick argues:we need to [think of camp] not in terms of parody or even wit, but with more of an eye of its visceral, operatic power: the startling outcrops of overinvested erudition; the prodigal production of alternative histories; the ‘over’-attachment to fragmentary, marginal, waste, lost, or leftover cultural products; the richness of affective variety; and the irrepressible, cathartic fascination with ventriloquist forms of relation. (Sedgwick The Weather 66)This reframing of camp emphasises affect, attachment and forms of relation as ongoing processes for the making of queer life (a process), rather than as elements of queer identity (a product). For Sedgwick camp is a practice or process that mediates queerness in the context of a hostile mainstream media culture that does not connect queer ways of living with flourishing or positive outcomes (Sedgwick “Paranoid Reading” 28). In O’Neill’s account, camp does not involve attachment to the diva as a fixed identity whose characteristics can be adopted in irony or impersonation in which the individual disappears (16). Rather, it is the diva’s labour—her way of marshalling her talent to produce compelling performances, which come to be the hallmark of her career and identity—that is the site of queer identification. What RuPaul wittily refers to as a drag queen’s “charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent” (the acronym is important), O’Neill refers to as the diva’s “performative agency”—the primary “power to perform” (16, emphasis in original). This is the positive power of camp as form of automediation for queer world making: media forms provide resources that queer subjects can draw on in assembling a performance of identity as modes of embodiment and ways of being that can be cited (the specific posture of Dietrich, for example, which Velour mimics) and in terms of the affect required to marshal the performance itself.When she was crowned the winner of season nine of RPDR, Sasha Velour emphasised the drag queen’s performative agency itself as a resource for queer identity practices. After being announced the winner, Velour said: “Let’s change shit up. Let’s get all inspired by all this beauty, all this beauty, and change the motherfucking world” (Queentheban). This narrative of the world-changing power of the beauty of drag refers to the visibility of the new drag queens, who through television and social media now have thousands of fans across the world. Yet, this narrative of the collective potential of drag is accompanied by Velour presenting her own autobiographical narrative that posits drag as an automedial practice whose “richness of affective variety” has been central to her coming to terms with the death of her mother from cancer. In interviews and in her magazine about drag (Velour: The Drag Magazine) Velour narrates the evolution of her drag and her identity as a “bald queen” whose signature look includes a clean-shaven head which is often unadorned or revealed in her performances as directly linked to her mother’s baldness brought on by treatment for cancer (WBUR).In an autobiographical photo-essay titled “Gone” published in Velour, Velour poses in a series of eight photographs which are accompanied by handwritten text reflecting on the role of drag in Velour’s grieving for her mother. In the introduction, the viewer is told that the “books and clothes” used in the photos belonged to Velour’s mother, Jane. The penultimate image shows Velour lying on grass in drag without a wig, looking up at the camera and is accompanied by nineteen statements elucidating what drag is, all of which are in keeping with Sedgwick’s reframing of camp practices as reparative strategies for queer lives: “Drag is for danger / Drag is for safety / Drag is for remembering / Drag is for recovering.” Affect, catharsis, and operatic power are narrated and visually rendered in the photo-essay, presenting drag as a highly personal form of automediation for Velour. The twentieth line defining drag appears on the final page, accompanied by a photograph of Velour from behind, her arms thrown back and tensile: “Drag is for dressing up / And this is my mother’s dress.”Taken together, Velour’s generic and highly personal descriptions of drag as a process and product that empowers individual and collective queer lives define drag as a form of automedia in which identity and living are a constant process of creativity and invention “where ideas about the self and what it means to live are tested, played with, rejected, and embraced” (Rak 177).Velour’s public statements and autobiographical works foreground how the power, investment, richness and catharsis encapsulated in drag performance offers an important antidote to the hostility to queer ways of being embodied by an assimilationist gay politics. In a recent interview, Velour commented on the increased visibility of her drag beyond her localised performances in “dive bars” in New York:When Drag Race came on television I feel like the gay community in general was focussed on […] dare I say, a kind of assimilation politics, showing straight people and the world at large that we are just like everyone else and I think drag offered a radical different saying [sic] and reminded people that there’s been this grand tradition of queer people and gay people saying ‘actually we’re fabulously different and this is why.’ (PopBuzz)Velour suggests that in its newly visible forms outside localised queer cultures, drag as a media spectacle offers an important alternative to the pressure for queer people to assimilate to dominant forms of living, those practices, forms of attachment and relation Halberstam associates with straight time.ConclusionThe queer time and performative agency enacted in drag provides a compelling example of non-narrative forms of identity work in which identity is continuously emerging through labour, innovation, and creativity (or—in RuPaul’s formulation—charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent). This creativity draws on popular culture as a resource and site of history for queer identities, an evocation of queer time. The queer time of drag as a performance genre has an increasing presence in media forms such as television, social media and print media, bringing autobiographical performances and narratives by drag artists into new venues. This multiple remediation of drag recasts queer cultural practices beyond localised subcultural contexts into the broader media cultures in order to amplify and celebrate queerness as a form of difference, and differing, as automediality.ReferencesBerlant, Lauren, and Michael Warner. “Sex in Public.” Critical Inquiry 24.2 (Winter 1998): 547-566.Butler, Judith. Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex. New York and London: Routledge, 1993.Crowley, Patrick. “‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Sets New Franchise Ratings Records.” Billboard. 2 Mar. 2018 &lt;https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8225839/rupauls-drag-race-sets-franchise-ratings-records&gt;.Daw, Stephen. “Christina Aguilera Will Be First Guest Judge of ‘RuPaul's Drag Race’ Season 10.” Billboard. 1 Mar. 2018 &lt;https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8223806/christina-aguilera-rupauls-drag-race-season-10&gt;.———. “RuPaul to Receive a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.” Billboard. 1 Mar. 2018 &lt;https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8223677/rupaul-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star&gt;.Flynn, Sheila. “Where Are New York’s Club Kids of the 80s and 90s Now?” Daily Mail. 4 Sep. 2017 &lt;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4851054/Where-New-York-s-Club-Kids-80s-90s-now.html&gt;.Halberstam, J. Jack. “Queer Temporality and Postmodern Geographies.” In a Queer Time and Place. New York: NYU P, 2005. 1-21.hooks, bell. “Is Paris Burning?” Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End, 1992.O’Neill, Edward. “The M-m-mama of Us All: Divas and the Cultural Logic of Late Ca(m)pitalism.” Camera Obscura 65.22 (2007): 11–37. Poletti, Anna, and Julie Rak, eds. “Introduction: Digital Dialogues.” Identity Technologies: Constructing the Self Online. Madison, WI: U of Wisconsin P, 2014. 1-25.Poletti, Anna. “Periperformative Life Narrative: Queer Collages.” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 22.3 (2016): 359-379.PopBuzz. “Sasha Velour Talks All Stars 3, Riverdale and Life after Winning RuPaul’s Drag Race.” 16 Feb. 2018 &lt;https://youtu.be/xyl5PIRZ_Hw&gt;.Queentheban. “Sasha Velour vs Peppermint | ‘It's Not Right But It's Okay’ &amp; Winner Announcement.” 23 Jun. 2017 &lt;https://youtu.be/8RqTzzcOLq4&gt;.Rak, Julie. “Life Writing versus Automedia: The Sims 3 Game as a Life Lab.” Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly 38.2 (Spring 2015): 155-180.RuPaul. “Born Naked.” Born Naked. RuCo, Inc., 2014.———. Lettin It All Hang Out: An Autobiography. New York: Hyperion Books, 1999.———. “Supermodel (You Better Work).” Supermodel of the World. Tommy Boy, 1993.———. “Supermodel (You Better Work).” Dir. Randy Barbato. MTV, 1993. &lt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw9LOrHU8JI&gt;.———. Workin’ It!: RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style. New York: HarperCollins, 2010.RuPaul’s Drag Race. RuPaul. World of Wonder Productions. Season 9, 2017.Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. The Weather in Proust. Durham and London: Duke UP, 2011.———. “Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading; Or, You’re So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Introduction Is about You.” Novel Gazing: Queer Readings in Fiction. Ed. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Durham: Duke UP, 1997. 1-37.Sontag, Susan. “Notes on ‘Camp’.” Camp: Queer Aesthetics and the Performing Subject: A Reader. Ed. Fabio Cleto. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1991. 53-65.Snetiker, Mark. “The Oral History of RuPaul.” Entertainment Weekly (2016). &lt;http://rupaul.ew.com/&gt;.WBUR. “Sasha Velour on Why Drag Is a ‘Political and Historical Art Form’.” 24 July 2017. &lt;http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/07/24/sasha-velour&gt;.Velour, Sasha. “Gone (with Daphne Chan).” sashavelour.com. &lt;http://sashavelour.com/work/#/daphnechan/&gt;.

The western world has an enthusiasm for blondes that amounts to a cultural fetish. As a signifier the blonde is loaded: blondes have more fun, blondes are dumb, blondes are more sexually available, blondes are less capable, less serious, less complicated. The blonde is, in modern day patriarchy, often portrayed as the ideal woman. The Oxford Dictionary defines a Goddess as a female deity or a woman who is adored for her beauty. The Blonde Goddess then is the ultimate contemporary female, worshipped for her appearance, erotically idolised. She may be a Playboy bunny, the hot girl on the beach or the larger than life billboard, but everywhere her image haunts mere mortals: the men who can’t have her and the women who can’t be her. During the second wave of feminism the Blonde Goddess was vilified as an unrealistic illusion and exploitive fantasy and our enthusiasm for her was roundly challenged. She was a stereotype, feminists cried, a site of oppression, a phoney construct. Men were judged harshly for desiring her and women were discouraged from being her. Well beyond hair colour and its power as signifier the very notion of Goddessness, of being adored for one’s beauty, was considered repressive. Women were called upon to refuse participation in blondeness (in its signifying sense) and Goddessness (in the sense of being revered for attractiveness) and men were chastised for being superficial and chauvinistic.Nevertheless, decades later, many men continue to lust after her, women (and increasingly younger girls) work ever harder at being her — bleaching, shaving, breast augmenting and botoxing — and the media promotes endless representations of her. If the second wave thought the Blonde Goddess would give up the ghost easily it was mistaken but what their enthusiastic critique did enable is the birth of a new type of Blonde Goddess, one generally considered to be stronger, more empowered and a better role model for the 21st century Miss. Though the likes of Mae West hinted at this type of Blonde Goddess well before Madonna it was not until Madonna’s generation that she went mainstream. There have been many Blonde Goddess “It girls” — Jean Harlow, Jayne Mansfield and Debbie Harry (singer of the band Blondie) to name a few, but two in particular stand out as the embodiment of these types; their bodies and identities going beyond the image-making machinery to become a kind of Blonde Goddess performance art. They are Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. The enthusiasm for blondeness and Goddessness routinely gives rise to faddish cultural enthusasisms. In Monroe’s day her curvaceous figure was upheld as the model female form. After Madonna appeared with her bangles and layered tops girls all across America and around the world dressed like her. Drawing on Angela Carter’s feminist readings of De Sade in The Sadeian Woman and envisioning Monroe and Madonna, two of the most fêted examples of Blonde Goddessness in history, as De Sade’s Justine and Juliette reveals their erotic currency as both couched in patriarchal gender relations and binding us to it. Considering Monroe and Madonna with the Marquis De Sade characters Justine and Juliette in mind illustrates that Goddessness as I’m defining it here — the enthusiasm which with women rely on beauty for affirmation and men’s enthusiastic feeding of that dependence — amounts to a feminine masquerade that disempowers women from a real experience of femaleness, emancipation and eroticism. When feminists in the 60s and 70s critiqued the Blonde Goddess as the poster-child for good old-fashioned sexism it was women like Monroe they had in mind. What feminists argued for they largely got — access to life beyond the domestic domain, financial autonomy, self-determination — but, as a De Sadian viewing of Madonna will show, we’re still compromised. While many feminists, most notably Andrea Dworkin, rejected the Marquis De Sade, notorious libertine and writer, as a dishonourable pornographer, others, such as Luce Irigaray and Angela Carter, felt he accurately reflected the social structures and relations of western civilisation and was therefore fertile ground for the exploration of what it is to be a woman in our culture. Justine and Juliette are erotic novels that recount the very different fortunes of two dissimilar sisters. They are beautiful (of course) and as such they are Goddesses, even while being defiled and defiling. Monroe and Madonna are metaphorical sisters in a man's world (and it was an infamous touch of video genius when Madonna acknowledged as much by doing Monroe in the video for “Material Girl” early on in her career). Yet one is a survivor and one isn't. One is living and one is long dead. Monroe is the Blonde Goddess as victim; Madonna is the Blonde Goddess as Villain. Monroe cast a shadow; Madonna has danced with the shadow. Both Marilyn and Madonna assumed a feminine masquerade so successful, so omnipotent, that they became not just Goddesses, desired by men, admired by women, and emulated by girls, but the most iconic and celebrated Blonde Goddesses of their age. It was, and in Madonna’s case still is, a highly sexualised masquerade that utilises and promotes itself as a commodity. Both women milked this masquerade to achieve notoriety and wealth in a world where women are disadvantaged in the public sphere. Some read this kind of exploitation of erotic desire as a mark of subjugation while others see it as a feminist act: a knowing usage of means toward a self-possessed end, but as Carter will help demonstrate, masquerade is, either way, an artificial construct and our enthusiasm for trading in it comes at a high price. Monroe, the sexy, fragile child-woman, was the firstborn of the sisters. Her star rose in the moralistic fifties, and by all accounts she spent most of her time in the limelight frustrated by her career and by the studio’s control of it. She was “owned”, and she rebelled against it, fleeing to New York City to study acting at the renowned Actors Studio. She became a devoted student of method acting, a technique that encourages actors to plumb their emotional depths and experiences, though her own psychological instability threatened her career. She was scandalously difficult to work with: chronically late, forgetful, and self-indulgent; and she died alone, intoxicated and naked. Conspiracy theories aside, it seems likely that a cocktail of mental disturbance, man trouble, and substance addiction led to her premature death by overdose in 1962. Monroe’s traditional take on blondeness and Goddessness embodied the purely feminine masquerade and translated to the classic Justine trajectory.Madonna can be thought of as Monroe’s post-modern younger sister, the next generation of Blonde Goddessness. Known for her self-determination, business savvy and self-control Madonna’s self-parody and decades long survival and triumph in a male dominated industry is remarkable. Perhaps this is where the sisters differ most: Madonna challenges the dominant semiotic code of traditional gender roles in that she combines her feminine masquerade with masculinity, witness the pointy cone bra worn with pinstripe trousers and monocle on the “Blonde Ambition” tour. Madonna is the new blonde — shrewder, more forceful, more man-like. She plays girly in her feminine masquerade, but she does so self-consciously, with a wink, as the second sister who has observed and learned the lesson of the first. In Carter’s exploration of the characters of Justine and Juliette she notes that when the orphaned girls are turned out of the convent to fend for themselves, Justine, the sister whose goodness and innocence is constantly met with the brutality and betrayal of men, "embarks on a dolorous pilgrimage in which each preferred sanctuary turns out to be a new prison and all the human relations offered her are a form of servitude" (39). During Monroe’s pilgrimage from foster care, to young wife, to teen model, to star she found herself trapped in an abusive studio system that could not nurture her and instead raped her over and over again in the sense that it thwarted her personal aspirations as an actor and her desire for creative autonomy by overpowering her with its demands. Monroe did not own her own life and sexuality so much as function as a site of objectification, a possession of the Tinsel Town suits. In her personal life she was endowed with the “feminine” trait of feeling; she was, like Justine, "the broken heart, the stabbed dove, the violated sepulcher, the persecuted maiden whose virginity is perpetually refreshed by rape” (Carter 49).In real life and in most of her characters Monroe was kind hearted, generous, caring and compassionate. It is this heart that Justine values most; whatever happens to the body, no matter how impure it becomes, the heart remains sacred. The victim with heart is morally superior to her masters. In a suffering that becomes second nature, "Justine marks the start of a kind of self-regarding female masochism, a woman with no place in the world, no status, the core of whose resistance has been eaten away by self-pity” (57).Conspiracy theories and rumors of Monroe's suffering and possible murder at the hands of the Kennedys (cast as evil Sadian masters) abound. Suicide attempts, drug dependency, and nervous breakdowns were the order of the day in her final years. The continuing fascination with Monroe lies in the fact that she was the archetypal sullied virgin. Feminine virtue and goodness require sexual innocence and purity. If Monroe’s innocence (a feature of films like Some Like it Hot) was too often confused with stupidity she made the most of it by cornering the market on bimbo roles (Gentleman Prefer Blondes is her ultimate dumb blonde performance). But even those who thought she couldn’t act realised that her appeal was potent because her innocence was infused with the potentiality of an uncontainable libidinous energy. Like Justine, Juliette was a woman born into a man's world, but in her corruption Juliette decided beat men at their own game, to transcend her destiny as woman at any cost. Carter says of Juliette: She is rationality personified and leaves no single cell of her brain unused. She will never obey the fallacious promptings of her heart. Her mind functions like a computer programmed to produce two results for herself — financial profit and libidinal gratification. (79)Indeed, it could be said that it is financial profit and libidinal gratification that most defines Madonna in the public’s eye. She is obscenely rich and often cited for her calculated re-inventions and assertive sexuality (which peaked in the early nineties with the album Erotica and the graphic Sex book). Madonna, like Juliette, is a story-teller. Even if she isn’t always the author of her songs she creates narrative interplay using song, fashion, and video. Like Juliette Madonna takes control of her destiny. She heads her own production company and is intimately involved with the details of her multi-faceted career. Like Monroe Madonna is said to have slept around strategically in her pre-stardom years, but unlike Monroe she was not passed around. The men in Madonna’s life early in her career were critical to advancing it. From Dan Gilroy, who helped form her first rock band, the Breakfast Club to DJ John "Jellybean" Benitez, who remixed tracks on her debut album Madonna took every step up the ladder of success guided by a precision instinct for self-preservation and promotion. She was not used up as she used others. Her trail leaves no sign of weakness, just one envelope-pushing accomplishment after another, with a few failures along the way, most notably in film. Though very different central to both Monroe and Madonna’s lives and careers is a mega-watt erotic appeal, an appeal that has everything to do with their respective differential repetitions of being blonde.In Eroticism Georges Bataille defines eroticism as the fusion of separate objects involving the play of discontinuity and continuity. In Bataille’s work these words have a specific and unconventional meaning. Discontinuity describes our individuality, our separateness from each other, a separateness that reigns in our social and work-a-day lives. Continuity refers to dissolution of separateness that is most associated with death but which is also experienced by way of exalted living through a taste of transcendence. Bataille posits three types of eroticism: physical, emotional and religious and he claims that they all “substitute for the individual isolated discontinuity a feeling of profound continuity” (15).Here Bataille meets De Sade. In the Introduction to Eroticism Bataille speaks of De Sade’s assertion that we come closest to death (continuity) through the “licentious image.” Further, Bataille declares that eroticism is not just an enthusiasm; it is the enthusiasm of humankind. “It seems to be assumed that man has his being independently of his passions,” he says. “I affirm, on the other hand, that we must never imagine existence except in terms of these passions” (12). He goes on to state that our enthusiasm/eroticism is not just an aspect of our being, but its driving force: “We are discontinuous beings, individuals who perish in isolation in the midst of an incomprehensible adventure, but we yearn for our lost continuity. We find the state of affairs that binds us to our random and ephemeral individuality hard to bear.” (15).Human beauty is, Bataille suggests, measured by its distance from the animal — the more ethereal (light and unearthly) the female shape and texture, and the less clear its relation to animal reality, the more beautiful — the erotic moment lies in profaning that beauty, reducing it to its animal essence. Perhaps this is another reason why blondeness matters and signifies sex, conferring as it does a halo, an ethereal “light” which evokes the sacredness of continuity while denying the animal (the hairy and base reality of the body). This is the invitation The Blonde Goddess makes to defilement, her begging to be reduced to her private parts. Juliette/Madonna subverts her blonde invitation to be profaned by actively taking part in the profanation. Madonna has openly embraced gay culture, S &amp; M, exhibitionism, fetishism, role-play and religious symbolism placing herself centre stage at all times. Justine/Monroe attracted erotic victimisation while Juliette/Madonna refused it by sleight of hand, and here again De Sade can help make sense of this. The works that illustrate this difference between Justine/Monroe and Juliette/Madonna most clearly are The Misfits and Truth or Dare. The Misfits is a beautiful and delicate film, written by Monroe’s then husband, Arthur Miller. The role of Roslyn is rumored to be based on Monroe's own character and her relationship with its three metaphorically dying cowboys reveals an enchanting and pale Justine broken by the dysfunctional and dominating masculinity around her. In contrast, Truth or Dare is a self styled documentary of Madonna’s “Blonde Ambition” tour. It portrays Madonna striking a pose as the tough-talking Queen of the castle, calling the shots, with a bevy of play-thing pawns scuttling beneath her. But, opposite as these characterisations are, some sameness emanates from the two women in these works. Something haunts the screen and it is this: the sisters’ unavoidable cultural roots as women. Even as Madonna sucks on a bottle in faux fellatio, even as she simulates masturbation on stage or scolds her messy young dancers there is something melancholic about her, a vague relationship to Monroe. And here Carter helps solve the mystery: "She [Juliette] is just as her sister is, a description of a type of female behavior rather than a model of female behavior and her triumph is just as ambivalent as is Justine's disaster. Justine is the thesis, Juliette the antithesis” (79).In other words, in Carters’ view Justine/Monroe as heart personified maintains the traditional role of woman as body, as one belonging to the private sphere who pays dearly for entering public life, while Juliette/Madonna as reason personified infiltrates the male dominated territory of culture. Unlike Monroe, Madonna gets away with being a public figure, flourishes even, but as Carter’s Juliette, this victory has required her to betray herself in some way. It is “ambivalent” and Madonna doesn’t quite get off scot free. Madonna has been progressive in that she moved away from the traditional feminine role of body in a forbidding industry, but even though her lucrative maneuvering is more sophisticated than Monroe’s careening, she walks a fine line. In De Sade the sexuality of a libertine is a male identified desire in which women are objectified and exploited. Madonna’s trick is to manifest in feminine masquerade then take an ironic turn in objectifying and exploiting herself in what amounts to a split persona, half woman, half man. In other words she seduces herself under our gaze, and she dares to enjoy it. Ultimately, neither sister can escape the social structure into which she was born. Monroe, who was unable to live as a real woman, lives on as a legend, a Blonde Goddess in the eternal feminine masquerade. Madonna is reborn every time she re-invents herself but it’s hard to tell, with all the costume changing, who the real Madonna is. It was the unactualised real woman that the second wave tried to free by daring to suggest that she existed and was valuable beyond signification and Goddessness and that she had a right to her own experience of enthusiasm/eroticism rather than being relegated to the role of being the “licentious image” for the male gaze. The attack on the Blonde Goddess underestimated the deeply rooted psychic/emotional conditioning at play on both sides of the Blonde Goddess game. Here we are in a new millennium in which the ‘pornified’ Blonde Goddess is everywhere but even if she’s more unfettered and sexually active that deeply rooted conditioning remains. For Carter neither Justine nor Juliette is a worthy role model for the women of today and it would seem to follow that neither are Monroe nor Madonna. However, Carter does speak of “a future in which might lie the possibility of a synthesis of their modes of being, neither submissive nor aggressive, capable of both thought and feeling” (79). Blondeness as a signifier and Goddessness as a function inhibit an experience of shared enthusiasm and eroticism between men and women. When Bataille speaks of nakedness he means eroticism as the destruction of the self-contained character that gives rise to an experience of continuity. This kind of absolute nakedness is impossible for those trapped in the cycle of signification and functional relations. I suggest that the liberation project of the second wave of feminism stalled when in our desire to not be Justines we simply became more akin to Juliette. Blondeness as a signifier is still problematic, and Goddessness of the kind I have spoken of here — women’s attachment to using beauty to garner adoration in place of an innate sense of self and worth and men’s willingness to patronise it — is still rampant and both the Justine and Juliette feminine masquerades produce a false economy of enthusiasm and eroticism that denies the experience of authenticity and the true potential of relationship. The challenge now is one that most needs to be met not in the spotlight but in the privacy of our own beings and the forum of our lives as the struggle for synthesis continues in those of us, female and male, blonde, brunette, redhead, black or grey-haired, who long for an experience of ourselves and each other that transcends masquerade. ReferencesCarter, Angela. The Sadeian Woman. London: Virago Press, 1979.Bataille, Georges. Eroticism. London: Marion Boyars Publishers, 1987.Madonna. Erotica. Warner Bros, 1992.———. “Material Girl.” Like a Virgin. WEA/Warner Bros, 1984.——— and Steven Meisel. Sex. Warner Bros, 1992. The Misfits. Dir. John Huston.. MGM, 1961. Some Like It Hot. Dir. Billy Wilder, Billy. MGM, 1959. Truth or Dare. Dir. Alek Keshishian. Live/Artisan, 1991.