A Local Brand And “Fmot” Or First Moment Of Truth

This study examines the nature of an advertisement with the focus on social discourse and First Moment of Truth (FMOT) in the context of this research. This paper aims at analyzing different commercial advertisements (product/non-product ads) to investigate the intentions and techniques of consumer product companies in reaching more consumers and selling more products. First Moment of Truth (FMOT) represents the “a-ha” moment when a consumer is confronted with a product and related alternatives, assumed to take place in everyday life. This is considered to be the point when a consumer decides to buy a specific brand or product. Although commonly the First Moment of Truth as a technique, is used as online or in- store selling, this technique has a crucial role in the perception of print advertising too. “Any time a customer comes into contact with a business, however remote, they have an opportunity to form an impression,” said Jan Carlzon, president of Scandinavian Airlines, defining the Moment of Truth in business. It has now crossed over into sales and marketing as others have embraced the term to describe different customer and consumer behavior (Shep Hyken). As soon as people in Latviaare going to trust to the national brand more, it is very important to focus on the visual manifestation of a local brand. The Norman Fairclough’s 3-D model, Kress Van Leeuwen’s grammar of visual design, and the French semiotician Roland Barthes(1977) suggested theoretical and semiotic tools for analyzing and understanding advertisements are used to analyzing the data. All materials are taken from the Latvian media.