AKB0048: Madison and Vine, Love Marks, and Narrow Casting

When I first stumbled on this anime, the synopsis was so ridiculous that I had to watch it. It is about a world where entertainment is banned and there are idols that perform guerrilla performances in order to bring their fans entertainment. It is based off a real and popular idol group, AKB48. It may have been a surprise to some as Kawamori Shouji was the main writer and director for the series.

Throughout the series, there were constant references to the real idol group. There were songs from the group. This is an example of Madison and Vine. They mixed entertainment with advertising. With anime being such an effective medium to reach their audience and the strong pathos that they conveyed, this is considered both love marks and narrow casting.
Even so, I don't might the native advertising at all because it fits perfectly with the entertainment. They belong perfectly with each other. By having them both in there, people will have a more positive mindset towards the real group and will have a higher chance in buying their products.

Many techniques are being employed in order to attract the audience's attention. As I have said earlier, the silly plot would already attract people, people that are already fans of the group, and fans of anime. There are more.

As you can see from the video, the lady says, "AKB has evolved from idols you go to see into idols who come to see you." The first part is referring to the real group and the second part is referring to the anime. The is not only advertising but it is also creating a need for affiliation. People really feel a connection and is why the pathos is so strong. People connect themselves with it because people would not want their entertainment to be taken away. It is inevitable that people will do entertainment but entertainment is banned. The main characters are the ones that are against the entertainment ban which makes the audience feel a stronger and more positive connection with them.  They used the medium that is anime which is the perfect audience for people who like entertainment. Words with positive connotations are used like "legendary," "reborn," "hope," "miraculous," "never stop," "speedy," "cute," etc.

With their hard work and dedication shown, we associate them with extreme emotion. We associate certain bonds with them. In effect, "They didn't like them, they didn't admire them, they didn't respect them, they didn't use them. None of that wimpy-wompy stuff. They loved them."

The whole series was actually very entertaining. Were the different marketing techniques successful? Yes, it even made me want to check out the real group because of the more positive emotion it made me feel. This was quite a common reaction in the anime community. Although I may not be a fan of the real group, this was a perfect combination of advertising and entertainment.