A comparison of two television adverts; to evaluate success in promoting the product to the target audience.

Authors Avatar

A comparison of two television adverts; to evaluate success in promoting the product to the target audience.

Television is the most important medium for advertising, and advertising is a vital component of traditional TV business models. It has always been difficult to assess the benefits of TV advertising as advertisers have traditionally had only a vague idea of who may have seen a particular advert and the actual impact on them. However, they can try and target an audience specifically e.g. time, channel of advert, etc. Most channels gain over 50% of their revenue from TV advertising firms. Without TV adverts, we probably wouldn’t buy half the products that are on show in shops. TV advertising also generates millions of pounds for TV channels, and this keeps the channel running. In fact, the main source of income is through advertising. Television is also the most reached audience, more than newspapers, the internet, the radio and even magazines. On the other hand, television advertising is the most expensive type of advertising to use. A 30 second clip on a national channel can cost up to £20,000. I will compare two adverts promoting similar products, and see the differences in advertising methods and measure the successful effects on its target audience.

The advert for the Vauxhall Corsa is 40 seconds long, consisting of 26 scenes. The car can be seen many times during this short advert. This instantly attracts the viewer’s attention. At one point 11 cars can be seen at once. This advert was found on ITV at a prime-time slot where Vauxhall believed it would attract the most number of people. The advert starts off with one vehicle and a voice over say, “1, 2, 3”, as the car parks into a car park. This is a close-up shot of the car. The next scene is the original vehicle being surrounded by 10 other cars of the same model. Repetition is a good device to use for adverts as it creates a lasting memory effect in the viewer’s mind. The vehicles are all of bright colours e.g. red, white and blue. Bright colours are also useful as they can commonly create a positive link with the viewer’s perception. Once the voice-over has counted to 3, then the other vehicles start to drive off in different directions. As this happens, music is introduced into the advertisement. This is touch sensitivity by the fall. This song is happy and joyful. It has a guitar melody playing alongside with the cars movements. We see the cars doing various manoeuvres and trying to hide as the vehicles are playing hide and seek. This ‘game’ between the vehicles creates a fast paced advert; another device commonly used by companies which can either create a good or bad effect depending on other various factors such as music, background colour and product. The first impression is effective because it instantly has the attention of the viewer. The catchy music plays a big role, but also with a lot of cars moving around fast and close together it is easy for viewers to remember.  The cars are seen ‘hiding’ in various places such as a lift, a supermarket and a rubbish skip.  By using common places of public interest, the viewers can easily identify themselves with the product. The way the vehicles manoeuvre into and ‘hide’ in such places, show the small size and practicality of the car to its target audience’ which would probably be people who are looking to buy a small, economical car. During the advert there is a good varied use of close, middle and long-distance shots. The close-ups are mainly when there is only 1 vehicle in sight. Long distance shots are used when there are a multiple number of cars. All the way through the advert there are many sound effects including the original vehicle being driven on gravel. Also, there is a vehicle jumping into a rubbish skip which is full of rubbish, causing a sound. There is also the sound of a bell in a lift when the doors open revealing the car, once again creating familiarity with the audience. This emphasizes the small size of the car to its target audience. As the original car has counted up to 100 in the ‘game’ and starts to travel to find the others, another car is revealed from just behind a metal sheet off a building site. This leaves a comedic, lasting effect on the audience that helps them remember the advert after it’s gone. As the advert finishes off with the word ‘Corsa’ and ‘Vauxhall’ the logo and website address are also displayed.

Join now!

The advert for the Volvo 850 T-5 is 39 seconds and is very different to the first advert. It uses different devices to promote the product as it has a different target audience and because it is a different vehicle. The advert begins with a very short half second close up of a man, the viewer can instantly tell the fear on his face and in his eyes even in such a short scene. The next scene is a long distance scene of cloud and lightening going to the floor. So we already know that this is a very ...

This is a preview of the whole essay