Advertising
Adverts/commercials are designed to sell a product or services.
- The art of selling has evolved considerably over the years.
Advertising Techniques
- Overt (OBVIOUS) messages -basically the meaning is shown clearly. They:
- Are Product centered
- Have constant reminders of the brand name -maybe by means of a 'Jingle'
- Characteristics of the product/service are clearly promoted.
- Hidden Messages are the exact opposite and they:
- Have no clear product/service
- Have no 'Jingle' with the product name
- The Brand appears at the end only
- Use humour
- Are often tied into apps/social networking.
Task: Find a youtube clip for both an Overt and a Hidden piece of television advertising.
- Overt Advertising -Jaffa Cakes Advert.
- Hidden Advertising -Mercedes benz adverts (With Chickens)
Emotional Responses
Advertisers want emotional responses to their product or their service as emotions affect our decision making and on our judgements.
- Adverts get us feeling positive, excited, sad/scared or they are used to entertain us -to make us laugh.
Analysing The Content Of Adverts
Advertising companies focus the content of adverts on the chosen product/service's characteristics such as:
- The Benefits of owning/using their product.
- Advantages of their product against the competing product or companies.
- The Unique Selling Point of the product/service -the USP.
- The Lifestyle appeal of the product/service.
- The Brand Identity/Culture.
The Benefits -the big message being the product will improve your life.
Advantages vs opposing products -ease of use, references competition, highlights health benefits.
USP -the products are promoted on the feeling that they will provide something that no other product or service can.
Lifestyle Appeal -some adverts sell an aspirational lifestyle which associates the product/service they buy to living that specific lifestyle.
Brand Identity/culture -a brand can often be a logo but it also means a concept. Celebrity endorsements used often in this characteristic type.
Structure Of An Advert
Adverts (as productions) have certain forms and styles. Adverts also have codes and conventions e.g. using slow motion when advertising shampoo.
Forms:
- Animation
- Documentary -interviewing, people talking to the camera etc.
- Narrative -cinematic shots, clear plotline.
- Series
- Stand Alone
- Taking Heads
Styles:
- Dramatic
- Humorous
- Parodic -A Parody
- Surreal
Task: Select 2 adverts with different characteristics>
- Compare the characteristics -similarities/differences.
- Why had the advertisers chosen to promote their product in this way?
- Which characteristic works best for you?
L'oreal Advert -The advantages of using their product/usp -'powerful formulas' 'silky soft' 'undetectable pores' -it highlights the benefits and it uses celebrity endorsement to promote the advert and show it's benefits rather than any negatives. I think they chose to promote it this way to highlight selling points and make people believe that their product is better than others, the use of celebrities helps this to become a more effective way of advertising and marketing.
Apple TV Ad -Lifestyle appeal -'this is our brand' 'This is what matters' 'the experience is our product' -it suggest that the product affects the lifestyle. It differs from the previous advert as it doesn't mention positive points or a unique selling point it just references the lifestyle. I think the advertisers have chosen this way to advertise because it draws people in subtly and looks to appeal an audience through showing them an aspirational lifestyle that they want to achieve. and proving that this product can help you get there.
For me the characteristics all work in different ways, I cannot decide which works best as they are all used to draw people in and each advert style and characteristic is different. I always like knowing a brand's identity but lifestyle appeals draw me in because I want that aspirational lifestyle it appeals to me because I dream of something better. It is useful to know advantages of a product for some products if they are what I like which also links in with the benefits and the unique selling point all of which are important factors in advertising and gaining an audience.
Task: Watch the Origina Advert (from Steph's Blog) and identify the form and style -explain how you know. USE THIS STRUCTURE WHEN DOING MY ASSIGNMENT.
- The form is Narrative -I know this because their is clearly a plot, a bear and a man playing on the beach and a plain crashing it has cinematic shots and transitions within the shots cutting from one to another in the way of shot reverse shot. Follows story of the prop of the satellite. It is of a humorous and dramatic/surreal style as it makes you laugh when the prop of satellite hits man on the setting of the beach. It is slightly unrealistic and the event ending is unrealistic and over dramatised -the costume and characterisation of the bear playing tennis show this point further. The characteristics used are lifestyle and brand identity because the humorous costume, setting and narrative make the brand seem fun. Therefore it shows us a lifestyle that we would want to buy into. The techniques used in the advert started off as hidden but then as you see the prop that the bear is holding it becomes overt this makes us laugh which forms an emotional response. We know this because the first setting is of a satellite interior which does not link to a product or does it link to a drink's adverts. We know it is overt because we see the key prop in the bear's paw and humorous responses because of the narrative and the high angle of satellite and prop crashing into character.
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