an example of a slogan, “I cant believe it’s not butter”. The idea of this is to make a short sentence stick in your mind and when you see the product in the shop to remind you and make you buy it. An example of play on words: an advert for Stella McCartney perfume. It is called “Stella” which is the name of the perfume and or the maker but also “stellar” means star and this can suggest that wearing it will stress the illusion that you are in the company of stars and famous people. This is designed to make ordinary people feel special about themselves. They think that wearing the perfume will make them like the stars and famous people that perhaps they would like to be. There is one more example of what TEXT could mean: it could also refer to the font used or whether the type used is bold or italic. Thus is very useful to advertisers because if you want to emphasize a particular word for their product they could use very bold writing with a clear underlined font. This makes it stand out and as the average time a person looks at anyone advert is three seconds it puts this image about the product straight into your head whereas if the advert has many paragraphs the consumer might not stop to read it.
Image
The second key method used by advertisers to get us to look at their products is IMAGE. This is very important as it could make us relate to an advert in a split second. This is the power of images. One example of this is using famous people to promote a product. This is a very clever way to advertise as using a famous face makes you look and remember that advert and hopefully that particular product. It would encourage a consumer to buy that product because in doing so it would somehow make them appear alongside the successful and rich person in the advert and thus identify with them. One very good example of an advertisement that caught many people’s eyes is that of the Wonderbra advert in which model Eva Herzigova posed in the latest underwear. This advert was used in several places but most commonplace was on the side of bus shelters. This advertising campaign was so popular it eventually led to it being taken down after suffering many complaints due to many male drivers becoming distracted and crashing. Another way of making an advert more appealing is using colours to promote the feeling and attitude that you want to create. If you want a natural, cool feeling you could use colours such as whites and light browns or greens. But if you want a warm, comforting and romantic atmosphere you could use rich reds, deep purples and creams. By varying things as simple as the background could make the difference between your advertisements being successful or a catastrophe.
Layout
The third and final way used to advertise is LAYOUT.
This refers to the way we read the advert. For example it has been proved that we read from the top left down towards the bottom right. This way the advertisers can place what he feels is important in certain areas of the advert. For example the slogan could be placed in the top left, the image directly in the middle and the name of the brand in the bottom right so that you remember the name. Another thing that is placed under the title LAYOUT is television and radio advertising. Here the sound effects are very important more so that the imagery and particularly the radio. In some cases the jingle or song that has been placed in an advert can become more famous by being associated with the advert than for the song itself. An example is that of the advertisement for the football on Sky Sports. This advertisement used a song made by Elton John, “Are you ready for love?” Whilst it was used for the advertisement demand for the song was such that it made it to number one twenty-five years after it was first published. This shows the power of advertising.
Now I will analyse three adverts using these three points:
Advert Number One
Product: Ericsson Mobiles and Tomb Raide
Audience: No specific age, phone owners and
people who enjoy action movies.
Advertised in: FHM
Representation:
Denotation: the phone is high tech and robust
Connotation: by having the phone you can use
the same phone as Angelina Jolie
and by having this phone you
can have as exciting a life as her.
TEXT: Top left humour is used to draw the reader in.
this writing is in fairly bold writing and stands
out against the white background. Then at the
bottom left the name of the brand is placed in
bold writing and stands by itself so as not to
complicate the advertisement. This advert advertises two things at
once, both Ericsson the phone make and Tomb
Raider the movie.
This is clever because not only does Ericsson
get the image it wants by having Angelina
Jolie but the film gets sponsor money from Ericsson and gets
more advertising thus more money at the
box office.
IMAGE: For the advert they use Angelina Jolie wearing
appealing clothes. This will draw people’s
attention. The action scene from movie gives off a
rugged, robust yet, by using her, also a sexy
feeling.
LAYOUT: Image of Angelina Jolie dominates page.
Eyes are drawn down to Ericsson logo. Text
is simple and laid out spaciously keeping it
simple.
SELLING TECNIQUES: Use of young, sexy actress and
the reputation of film. This implies
that by buying and using this
phone you will have an exciting
life like Lara Croft.
Advert Number Two
Product: MOMO Alloys
Audience: Young to middle aged men, 18-35
Advertised in: Du Pont American car magazine
Representation:
Denotation: Having these alloys will make your
car look good.
Connotation: Having these alloys will make
your car look as good as the one
In picture.
TEXT: First your eyes are drawn towards the bold italic writing in capitals at the top. This is a play of words, where they use the word EMOTIONS but change it to EMOMOTIONS thus including the alloy’s brand. Then they name some of their products in the same writing. At the bottom of the page they list their branches and their website. Finally they display their brand in the bottom right hand corner. The colour used makes the writing stand out and indicates style and power.
IMAGE: Car fading in the background with just the lights and the product being very clear. Light is aimed at the wheels to outline them as the most prominent image on the alloy. The black background sets a dark and mysterious feeling. Other products also set in light so as to highlight them.
LAYOUT: Image of wheel dominates page, eyes drawn towards top slogan. Slogan set against black with light grey and a vivid red and is placed bottom right hand corner where we finish looking at the article.
SELLING TECNIQUES: Use of exotic, expensive car implies that buying these alloys will make your car look a lot better and will change it to something different. By association the purchaser’s image will also improve.
Advert Number Three
Product: Polo Ralph Lauren Blue Aftershave
(double sheet)
Audience: Teens to middle age 14-28 men
and women.
Displayed in: FHM men’s magazine
Representation:
Denotation: Having this new aftershave will
make you smell good.
Connotation: Wearing this aftershave will make
you more civilised, therefore
more attractive to the opposite sex.
TEXT: There is one type of font used in this advert. This font suggests elegance and sophistication. Inside the tester they use a poem that ends with the name of the brand – Polo Ralph Lauren Blue. The text is very bold and all in capitals. The front cover uses blue writing set against a white background so its stands out. On the back white writing is used against a black background meaning it stands out well. The advert has small text at the bottom of the tester “OPEN TO DISCOVER…” this entices you in and makes you want to smell the product. It has an air of mystery about what might be concealed. The white writing is very elegant and suggests taste and refinement. At the bottom of the back page it has the text reading “NEW FRAGRANCE. NEW CLASSIC.” This suggests elegance again as it is stating it as a classic that might provide the image a person would like to have. New is also a word that sells products and this also appears in the advert. It sells because people always want the latest and newest thing.
IMAGE: On the front cover an old classic boat is crashing through the waves. This gives an image of freedom and of luxury. The main part of the advert is the tester, which peels up from the back of the advert. This is the best way of advertising because it is relatively cheap and it lets the customer sample the product. This is good because when you go to the shop you will be able to recognise the fragrance from the sample. When the sample is closed the main picture is of the product bottle. It is set against the black background and shows up clearly. Light has been aimed at the lid so that it reflects the light and is shimmering. All the writing in this advert is placed cleverly against a contrasting background so it is very clear.
LAYOUT: The front page has the name of the brand set in the centre, which draws your eyes, and makes you read on. When you turn over the name of the brand is again set quite boldly at the top of the page. Then as you browse down the picture of the product is directly in the middle. Then at the bottom there slogan is placed. To the left is the phrase inviting you to look closer at the sample. Inside this as well as the fragrance a poem is at the top leading down to the bottle sizes available
SELLING TECNIQUES: Use of sophistication and class works very well in promoting the product. The thing that sells this for me though is the sample that encourages you to buy the product. I believe this works very well as it encouraged me to buy this particular product. This advert implies that by wearing the aftershave you will be classy and sophisticated. This advert could be aimed at both woman and men. It has appeal for both sides. A woman would buy this for her man to be more appealing and a man would buy it for himself to seem more and classy. A teenager would buy it to appear more mature.
CONCLUSION
We will never be able to escape advertising. Whilst there are always two different brands trying to be the best there will always be advertising. We could not have television without advertisements, what would we fill the gaps with. Without advertisements what would we put on our walls? There will never be a world without advertising. With companies such as MacDonald’s and Nike spending hundreds of millions of dollars it is evidently important. I have discussed just a few of the many, many ways of how to sell a product. New ideas are constantly being dreamt up day after day. As long as there are products to sell people will continue to invent new ways of cleverly promoting their product whether it be on a conscious or sub-conscious level. Adverts will always be in our head one way or another.