SNA & HERMore than a marriage of convenience

John McCreery, The Word Works, Ltd

DEFINITIONS

• SNA: Social Network Analysis

• HER: Historical and Ethnographic Research

LITERATURE REVIEWA burgeoning literature spanning sociologies of culture and social network methods has for the past several decades sought to explicate the relationships between culture and connectivity. A number of promising recent moves toward integration are worthy of review, comparison, critique, and synthesis. Network thinking provides powerful techniques for specifying cultural concepts ranging from narrative networks to classification systems, tastes, and cultural repertoires. At the same time, we see theoretical advances by sociologists of culture as providing a corrective to network analysis as it is often portrayed, as a mere collection of methods. Cultural thinking complements and sets a new agenda for moving beyond predominant forms of structural analysis that ignore action, agency, and intersubjective meaning.

Abstract from Mark A. Pachucki and Ronald L. Breiger ,“Cultural Holes: Beyond Relationality in Social Networks and Culture.” Annual Review of Sociology, 2010, 36: 205

A CLASSIC PROBLEM • The world is divided into things comprehended by

mathematics and things for which, if the mathematics exists, it hasn’t been discovered yet.

• Difficulties arise when only the things comprehended by mathematics are taken to be real and everything else only epiphenomenal.

A BIFURCATED WORLD

• Naturwissenschaft v Geisteswissenschaft

• Science v Humanities

• Quants v Quals

• Modelers vs Interpreters

TODAY’S PROPOSITION

USING REAL DATA FROM AN ON-GOING PROJECT

THE RESEARCH PLAN

• Credits data from Tokyo Copywriters Club Advertising Copy Annual: 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006

• Social Network Analysis with Pajek (SNA)

• Historical and Ethnographic Research (HER), Trade Press and Interviews

THE DATA 1981-2006

AdsRoles

Creators

3634

22907

7018

WHO IS IMPORTANT HERE?

Rank Value Id

1 244.0000 Nak190

2 172.0000 Sas3

3 139.0000 Soe903

4 126.0000 Aki264

5 90.0000 Oka258

6 89.0000 Iwa101

7 84.0000 Mak65

8 84.0000 Kas90

9 71.0000 Oka1165

10 67.0000 Oos113

Top 10 by Participation RateRank Value Id

1 421.0000 Sas3

2 345.0000 Nak190

3 332.0000 Oka258

4 289.0000 Iwa101

5 254.0000 Oos113

6 210.0000 Tad27

7 206.0000 Sig283

8 199.0000 Aki264

9 198.0000 Saw8

10 173.0000 Soe903

Top 10 by Co-Creators

1. Participation rate:=2-mode actor degree; number of ads 2. Co-Creators=1-mode actor degree; have worked together

WHY DOES THE ORDER CHANGE?

Rank Value Id

1 244 Nak190

2 172 Sas33 139 Soe903

4 126 Aki264

5 90 Oka258

6 89 Iwa101

7 84 Mak65

8 84 Kas90

9 71 Oka1165

10 67 Oos113

Top 10 by Participation RateRank Value Id

1 421 Sas3

2 345 Nak1903 332 Oka258

4 289 Iwa101

5 254 Oos113

6 210 Tad27

7 206 Sig283

8 199 Aki264

9 198 Saw8

10 173 Soe903

Top 10 by Co-Creators

1. Nak190 (Nakahata Takahashi) 2. Sas3 (Sasaki Hiroshi)

Cluster Freq Freq%

0 1 0.0142

1 345 4.91592 2519 35.8934

3 3172 45.19814 610 8.6919

5 69 0.9832

6 6 0.0855

K-NEIGHBOR DISTRIBUTIONS

Cluster Freq Freq%

0 1 0.0142

1 421 5.9989

2 3246 46.25253 2489 35.4659

4 506 7.2100

5 52 0.7410

6 5 0.0712

7 2 0.0285

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0 12.5 25 37.5 50

Mode at K3

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0 12.5 25 37.5 50

Mode at K2

K-neighbors of Nak190

K-neighbors of Sas3

1. K-neighbor distribution from 1-mode network projected from 2-mode network 1. Total ego-networks are same size (6722 of 7018 creators, with 296 unknown)

TEAM SIZE BY MEDIA

TV Other Media

No. of Ads 914 2720

Min 1 1

Max 31 17

Median 9.000 5.00

Mean 10.1575 5.0085

Std. Deviation 4.3250 2.0443

1. Team size=2-mode event degree; creators per ad 2. On average, TV teams are twice as large as teams

for other media

BY MEDIUM & AGENCY

Cluster Freq Freq%

1. TV 67 38.95352. Radio 6 3.4884

3. Newspapers 31 18.0233

4. Magazines 4 2.3256

5. Posters 51 29.6512

6. Other 13 7.5581

Cluster Freq Freq%

1. Dentsu 168 97.67444. Other 4 2.3256

Cluster Freq Freq%

1. TV 40 16.39342. Radio 2 0.8197

3. Newspapers 92 37.7049

4. Magazines 36 14.7541

5. Posters 68 27.8689

6. Other 6 2.4590

Cluster Freq Freq%

1. Dentsu 43 17.6230

2. Hakuhodo 8 3.2787

4. Other 193 79.0984

Nak190 by Medium

Nak190 by Agency

Sas3 by Medium

Sas3 by Agency

BREAKDOWN BY YEARS1981, 1986,1991,1996, 2001, 2006

TWO OVERLAPPING BUT VERY DIFFERENT CAREERS

DIFFERENCES BY YEAR & MEDIA

Nak190 By Year and Media

1981

1986

1991

1996

2001

2006

0 20 40 60 80

TV Radio Newspapers Magazines Posters Other

Sas3 by Year and Media

1981

1986

1991

1996

2001

2006

0 20 40 60 80

TV Radio Newspapers Magazines Posters Other

NAK190 (1981)Nakahata Takashi (Nak190) is already an established figure; had won his newcomer prize and become a TCC member in 1970His winning ads are all for “Other” agencies, primarily Sun Ad, which he joined in 1972 and works with art director Kasai Kaoru (Kas90)

The majority are print, primarily newspaper ads; but his TV commercial for Tory's whiskey wins the Grand Prix at Cannes

1986, A Rival Appears

Sasaki Hiroshi (Sas3) is a newcomer, with only three winning ads

He works for Dentsu, Japan's largest agency

First ads are print ads, one newspaper, two magazine ads; a pattern typical for young copywriters

Nak190 Sas3

1991, Sasaki Rising

Sasaki’s network is growing

Nakahata is involved in ads produced by Dentsu and Hakuhodo; but most of his work is still for Other agencies

Sasaki is now doing TV

Nak190 Sas3

1996, The Rivalry Peaks

Sasaki’s network is growing

Nakahata continues to work primarily for Other agencies. Sasaki is Dentsu all the way (the blue, I discover, is a coding error)

Both are doing more TV

Nak190 Sas3

2001, Sasaki Surges

Sasaki’s network is larger than Nakahata’s

Nakahata, Other; Sasaki, Dentsu (again the blue is a coding error)

Note the diversity of media in Sasaki’s ads. He is now a senior creative director in charge of large campaigns

Nak190 Sas3

2006, Nakahata Declining

Nakahata’s network now resembles the one with which Sasaki started out

Nakahata’s three winning ads were all done for Dentsu

All three of Nakahata’s winning ads are TV commercials

Nak190 Sas3

WHO DID THEY WORK WITH?Top two quartiles of generalised core distribution

NAK190 (1981)

NAK190 (1986)

NAK190 (1991)

NAK190 (1996)

NAK190 (2001)

SAS3 (1986)

SAS3 (1991)

SAS3 (1996)

ANZAI TOSHIO SASAKI’S BIG BREAKTHROUGH “OF COURSE KYOTO, LET’S GO”

SAS3 (2001)

SAWAMOTO YOSHIMITSUThe Softbank “White Family” Another huge success for Sasaki Another huge topic for cultural analysisSoftbank Mobile has topped the CM Popularity rankings for a sixth consecutive year making it the first company to achieve the feat. The 'White Family' series is of course the commercials behind Softbank's success on the chart, which is compiled by CM DATABANK. !The series, which stars a dog as the father, Kanako Higuchi as the mother, Dante Carver as the brother, and Aya Ueto as the daughter, continued its trend of unusual casting with appearances by comedian Sugi-chan, talento Reina Triendl, pop duo Every Little Thing and Hollywood actor Tommy Lee Jones !What the success of this commercial says about how Japanese families now see themselves is a very interesting question, indeed.

SAS3 (2006)

CONCLUSION

• From SNA to HER

• From HER to SNA

• Every turn of the cycle generates new questions that lead to richer descriptions and deeper understanding

THANK YOU