city culture assignment 3

When we did the observation, one of our interviewees had mentioned that he knew APM because of the advertisement outside the West Tunnel.

Indeed, advertisements are located everywhere: body of the buildings, tunnels, televisions, magazines and even the web banners. According to the Advertising Association, one of the definition of advertisements is "Advertisements are messages, paid for those who send them, intended to inform or influence people who see them." In other words, advertisements aim to promote the goods and service by various channels. In fact, media is a powerful tool in advertising since it helps to sustain and concentrate a set of images through constructing and representing the images.

Kilbourne mentioned that some advertisements show the products such as jewelry, fashions etc consist of symbolic meanings. And those products are the means of achieving different lifestyles and the aspiration of certain group. On the other hand, writers believed that advertisers often make us think that consuming the products showing on the advertisements can also gain something that money cannot buy such as youth, beauty and even good relationship with the others etc. (Kilbourne, 2004)

In the case of APM, we can see how media represent and construct the image of it and on the other hand how APM itself constructs the images so as to make consumers think about the images of APM. APM was opened on 17 September, 2005. When we were searching it’s advertisement, we found tat there were numerous APM advertisements showing on different media such as television, magazines and also the Sun Hung Kei club booklet about 3 months before opening and the ads are presented in various way such as special issue in magazines, special series of the TV program, advertisements boards in the MTR, outside the body of their shuttle bus or even outside the buildings.

For the ads in the print media, we found that a fashion, Japanese-style girl smile happily and say “play more, sleep less”. From the advertisement, it shows that the girl dresses fashionably is the main feature of the board and the font color is sharp and cute. These can attract youngsters to read because fashion and trendy are youngsters usually pursue. Besides, those ads were mainly posted on the trendy, youth magazines such as Monday, Milk etc. In fact, the concepts of the above magazines have the similar ideas with APM’s vision. Most youngsters would like to consumer the above magazines as they mainly report in-fashion stuff such as clothes, accessories and places that youngsters would like to go. On the other hand, in APM official website, it mentions APM targets young people as their main consumers. It provides a place for youngsters as it doesn’t have time restriction to the shops’ opening hours and the allocation of the shops which is similar as omni lifestyle magazines.

When we did observation in APM, we went to reception counter and took their APM leaflet. We found that APM holds different events with various companies, such as exhibitions, mini concert, film promotion etc. It holds the events once a week. When we went there, we saw a fashion show which was held by Joyce and Peace Company, exhibiting their spring collection. On the one hand, those events can help company promote their products, on the other hand, it can attract customer to go APM. In fact, APM not only a place to consume, but also become a place to receive information and see exhibitions.

From the above analysis, it shows that how media and APM construct the image. When people saw these images, it can let people think about the images of APM and its uses. In the following, it will show the interviews of the youngsters asking about their feeling about APM.

Interview one

A girl who live in Kwai Chung, she told me her impression of Kwun Tong was: “except APM, other parts of Kwun Tong are factories! Isn’t it?” She used to go shopping in Kwai Fong, she saw the APM billboard there.

She was reminded by the billboard that, there was a new shopping mall established in Kwun Tong. That was why she went there, a place which she though only factories would locate. APM seems help to break the stereotype of Kwun Tong.Rethinking her first time to APM, she said she just want to have a look at the new shopping mall. However, the first impression of APM was not so good for her. She thought the mall was not convenience to walk. The shops were messy as different kinds of shops would open on the same floor. (this actually was the special ideas that APM wanted to bring, it wanted to destruct the theme of the floors) She also did not like the design of the escalators. She said: “the distant between escalators are just so far, it takes a “long” time to walk form one to another one.” Besides of the design of APM, she also thought the shops there only sells expensive products which are not so suitable for her, so she would not go there unless necessary.

Interview Two

A girl who like APM quite much. She has been to there for few times already. She thought the mall is quite specious, that would not be too crowed. She agreed that the mall target youths as its customers just because the shops like Muji, b+ab etc were her favorite. Remembering the last time she went to APM, there was a small book exhibition; she thought that was one of the methods that the mall used to promote. When asking which decks she loves the most, she said that was the basement floor which means JUSCO. She added the supermarket sold special snacks which other JUSCO did not sell, but most of the shops in APM were chain store, she could just go to TST to buy these things, it even closer than Kwun Tong for her.

Interview Three

A boy that went to APM very often. He thought APM was not bad, at least that was better than Lagham Plaza. He said these two newly established shopping malls were quite different form the others malls in Hong Kong, they seemed have a verticle development while others would have a horizontal one.

I asked him if he knew the mall would open until very late. His response was yes. He told me last time when he was asked to go out with a friend, that was already 10 or 11 o’clock at night. They needed to buy a gift at that time. So they planned to go to APM as he was reminded by an advertisement that APM is the only shopping mall which open until late in the mid-night. (even that was what the mall claimed, but actually many people’s experience shown that was not true.)

The above three interviewees are not living in Kwun Tong, but all of them knew the establishment of APM by seeing its advertisements or by reading news. Youngsters is the group that have higher mobility as they have more time for leisure, they can go to different places freely in Hong Kong. Even APM is not locating in the location which youngsters usually visit, (like Mongkok, Causeway Bay) it can still attract people to go there. As a result, APM publish its advertisement in many youth magazines, and its advertisement boards appeared in places which youngsters gathered like Causeway Bay, Kwai Fong, etc.

Interview Four

Joe, a girl who lives in Kwun Tong but studies in Mongkok. We saw them her in the t:>> park with a friend. They were studying there. She goes to APM about once every two weeks, that we the first time that she study in the t:>> park. She told us that she used go to shopping or hanging in Mongkok, one reason was because she is studying in Mongkok, another main reason is because Kwun Tong has no place for them to spend time!

After the establishment of APM, they have a new place to gather, they may not go shopping there, but they can go window shopping or just hang around. This time, they found out t:>> park was a good place to study. When the study room was so full, APM provided them a space for both leisure and study!Joe also saw the advertisement on the bus. She said the advertisement did not affect her so much. She went to APM for the first time was not because she saw the advertisements; she just wanted to see the new shopping mall in her district. She even didn’t notice what was APM’s slogan.

Interview Five

Four secondary school students who all live and study in Kwun Tong. We saw them queuing in line to wait for a seat in a restaurant. They used to visit Telford Plaza or even went to Mongkok before APM’s establishment. After it opened, they went to APM very often, like after school, weekends. That day, they went there to have afternoon tea. One of the boy told us that they know form advertisements that the mall would close later than other shopping mall. However, they had been to APM at about mid-night once, although the mall was still open, the shops were mostly closed already. He also told us his friend’s experience. After his friend went to Yum Cha in the morning, he went to APM, again, the mall was opened, but the shops were not open yet. So the boy said the opening hour is actually not as long as the advertisements said.

For those people who live in Kwun Tong or near APM, their visits to APM seemed not affected by the media so much, they just see APM as a new place for them to gather but not really a shopping mall which only for shopping.

Form the above interviews, people’s experience in APM seemed not totally consistence to the media’s presentations. Just take interview one as an example, APM’s advertisement shown that they target youths as their main customers that means young people would enjoy shopping there. However the interviewee’s response was that, she did not like to shop there because the things there are too expensive. APM could just cater young people who have higher purchasing power to shop there. Actually, besides of the shops, the restaurants there are quite expensive too. Just like the food court, people may need to spend more than $30 per meal. The advertisements just show how trendy the mall is but it neglected the purchasing power problem the teenagers.

Besides, the advertisement or the news always emphasize on telling the mall created a new shopping mode which was consumption at night. It mall was originally aim to provide a shopping environment both in AM and AP, which means the whole day. However, many people’s experience was not match with the advertisements. When people went there early in the morning or late at night, the conditions were not like the one that promoted in the ads, the shops were closed. So, the news titled “changing the mode of shopping” or “play more, sleep less” seemed not representing the real suitable.

The development of Sun Hung Kei also release news about APM, saying APM would attract many mainland visitors to go there to shop as they close later than other shopping malls. However, we could not see visitors during the last two visits to APM. In the coming Labor Day which is a long holiday for mainlanders, and we can see in the future if APM really attracts people to go shopping in their tight schedule.