Blog Post #10 - Pitch Reflection

What main appeals did you use in your pitch? Why did you decide they would be the most effective?

The main appeal my partner and I included in our pitch were: Rational or logical appeals, Need to satisfy curiosity and Need to achieve. the reason we chose to use these appeals were:

• Rational or logical appeals
• Give reasons and explain how product is better than competition
  
  
• Need to satisfy curiosity
• Talk about how the tent could use recycled material to be environmentally friendly
• Price efficiency
  talk about how cheap it would be for the NGO's and major influential companies as they will then have the ability to say that they are fighting against some of the issues in conflict zones
  
  
• Need to achieve
• Mention how NGOs and governments can help solve the issues of housing and shelter for refugees in conflicts zones.
  
  
• Need for Affiliation
• Talk about how companies who help achieve the goal will benefit by having their company name in the online video

What were some specific persuasive techniques you used (include examples) why did you believe these would be effective?

The persuasive techniques which were used in the pitch were:

1. Association

• To relate the tent/“house” to solving problems with shelter. I feel this was effective because large organisations want to be associated with helping the world, as this often helps with marketing and sales. In addition, I feel that if we had not used association as a persuasive technique then the companies being pitched to won't feel the desire to help with the issue.

2. Experts

• Someone who has been working in a conflict zone to talk about problems
• For example a Humanitarian worker, as they have had and lived similar experiences to the refugees and can relate to them. By using a humanitarian worker we can gain the trust of refugees.

3. Explicit claims

• Mention we are environmentally friendly and cheap to produce
• Working together with other companies to reduce costs

4. Fear

• Get NGOs scared about the consequences when not using the product. We needed to tell them that if they were scared to be associated with this effort, then nothing would improve, risk is needed in order to succeed.

5. Maybe 

• It could possibly be the solution to the housing problem in conflict zones AND potentially in 1st world country refugee housing problems

6. Extrapolation

• The advertisement hypothesizes that the housing problem could be solved through this tent/house

How did an awareness of audience and context influence your overall approach to this activity?

The awareness of the audience my partner and I were targeting majorly influenced the way we approached this activity, mainly because we could narrow down the ways in which we were going to advertise the product, and from the way we presented our pitch. If we had used a form of advertising which middle to low class companies used, we wouldn’t be able to target the intended audience and therefore we would be unable to provide shelter for a larger number of people.

If you were to complete this presentation again, what would you do differently in terms of content and preparation?

The first thing I would do is understand the words used in my presentation, especially as I embarrassed myself by not knowing what the word “Extrapolation” meant as I was not meant to talk about this slide but it was decided at the last minute that I would present half of the slide.