Comparisons Between Two Adverts.

Media Coursework

Comparisons Between Two Adverts

I have chosen to compare two advertisements, a Mazda MX5 advert and a Vauxhall advert. I chose these because it was visible that the companies’ two marketing techniques were completely different.

The Mazda advert begins with a small child elegantly dressed on what seems a motionless scorching motorway whispering the words zoom – zoom, and so begins the catchy tune “zoom, zoom, zoom,” images begin instantaneously.

In the first scene you see a young boy playing with his racing toy car on the kitchen work top then, there is a quick scene change to a pre-school boy playing on his first tricycle in what looks like quite a rich suburban estate of houses the screen freezes and writing appears, “Remember that feeling,” there is another rapid screen change followed by a new child being pushed in his first toy car by whom we can only assume is his brother surrounding them is a further typically American style estate the screen freezes again with the text “When you first took control.” Subsequently we see some other slightly older boys on bicycles and then back to a younger child being swung around by his father, visible in the background is magnificently crafted old English styled wooden house, after this there is yet another screen freeze accompanied with the words, “Had the freedom to go as you pleased,” then we observe a boy holding the toy Mazda and suddenly the camera zooms into the car excuse the pun and the car speeds past on what can only be described as some sort of desert motorway. The car carries on wordlessly boasting its potential there is a sudden scene change incorporating a women driver so as not to eradicate all possibility of women buying the car. The final freeze frame is, “With Mazda this feeling comes as standard,” ending with the logo, email address on the closing frame and slogan, the very same words from the little boy at the beginning zoom – zoom.

This is a preview of the whole essay

There are many positive aspects in this advert. It is very well presented marketing, this is visible through its almost annoyingly catchy tune relating to speed, “zoom, zoom, zoom,” that dwells in your head for hours upon end. What constitutes a good advert is one, which does not give everything away at the very beginning. You must be kept in suspense waiting for the product it is trying to sell you. This advert amounts to roughly thirty seconds and the car is only really introduced halfway through. It plays upon the idea of ‘big boys toys,’ throughout the commercial most adults would be reminded of the sensation of when they were young and had there own little toys and felt the freedom to come and go as they pleased as fast as they pleased. This is the truly outstanding element of the advertisement that it not only sells a car but a lifestyle to go with it. The freedom, the taking control, coming and going as you please comes as standard with the Mazda MX5 and you instantly conjure the image of how easy it was with your first bicycle, motorbike and car. What Mazda is essentially trying to do is provide rejuvenation through the Mazda MX5, which is a brilliant marketing concept.

There is only one negative point that can be made about the Mazda advert and that is that there was very little information about the car itself.

The audience this advertisement is aimed at is not at all general, it implies that it is designed for the committed adult to feel free again. Therefore it is intended for people who need take “control.”

The Vauxhall advertisement is very different and begins white text on black, “Something to brighten up the dark British winter,” similarly to your average television a brightness gauge appears in the bottom left hand corner and begins to increase until you finally see the Vauxhall Zafira in full focus, also music begins to play. The car is travelling through an urban road with trees visible alongside the pavement, information is immediately brought on screen, “Excludes Northern Ireland,” a voice over then announces that ‘Vauxhall is now offering 0% finance over 3 years on the Vauxhall Zafira’ which is also added as text to the screen as it is being said, “0% finance over 3 years.” There is a screen change where you see the second and third car the Astra Club and XXI which are then quickly mention, ‘Astra Club and XXI. The Corsa, Club Comfort and XXI also come with one years free insurance.’ There then appears information about the insurance, “Insurance 21-80. Offers subject to status/conditions. For written quotations contact Vauxhall Finance. Excludes Zafira GSI.” Screen text changes to “0% finance and free insurance” again, you are finally told to ‘Brighten up your day by visiting your Vauxhall dealer… now. Concluding screen shows the logo, accompanied by the telephone number and website address.

There were some positive aspects for example it was relatively fast moving it, showed the product and gave lots of informative details regarding the car and its price. This commercial also came to approximately thirty seconds.

There are not as many positive aspects in this advertisement simply because from the word go you are simply bombarded with so much information that you cannot take it all in. This is not at all good because if there is too much you tend not to remember any at all where as if it is easily remembered, informative and quite straightforward you are likely to remember it.

The audience that Vauxhall was aiming at was the average family looking for a good deal on a new car this is clear through its constant repetition of ‘0% finance over three years’

Both adverts contrast each other, this is evident through the presentational view points, in my opinion Mazda makes you visualise yourself in an MX5 and portrays it as the dream car from your childhood. Vauxhall is basically appealing to the masses losing the sense of exclusivity which is depicted in the Mazda advert, the fact that you cannot see who is driving is also symbolic to anonymity, the company does not want the Vauxhall cars to seem purposely designed for anyone in particular, where as Mazda narrows down its target audience by using reference to “when you were young.” What Mazda also cleverly did was to incorporate the female masses into the advert so as not to lose the female market, they did this by inserting a scene with a woman driving the MX5. The female market being roughly fifty percent can make all the difference to boosting sales.

In all honesty watching both adverts consecutively amplifies the effectiveness of the Mazda advert but also intensifies how low budget the Vauxhall advert was.

Mazda used every opportunity to make the viewer desire the car, through emotions by reminding you the viewer of what the feeling was like when you had your first tricycle or bicycle, also the frequent use of children, it is well known that children tend to influence the sale of most products, the zealous looks in those children’s eyes helped to reminisce the feeling of freedom and taking control. In addition the advert used similes to express how important these feelings were for example “With Mazda this feeling comes as standard” The use of a simile here accentuates the lifestyle that you acquire when you buy the car.

There is furthermore an enormous amount of camera adjustment throughout the commercial this is shown in the relentless panning from left to right as the car speeds past allowing you to see the car from many angles.

The weather has always and will always influence the way a product is regarded, the MX5 just happens to be cruising open top, in the blistering sun, which in effect does appeal to everyone, nobody would pass of the opportunity to experience the freedom of speeding around on a hot motorway with the wind in your hair.

The general message that comes across from this advertisement is a car to revive your youth.

The Vauxhall advert is excessively informative and is immediately put into perspective when both adverts are viewed. The background music really does not compliment the commercial in the slightest unlike Mazda’s catchy jingle. The condescending benevolence of, “0% finance over three years,” just emphasizes how desperate Vauxhall are to sell their cars. The slogan, “Something to brighten up the dark British winter,” also converted into a cheap pun with the brightness gauge appearing in the bottom left of the screen. Five seconds into the advert and it simply becomes sensory overload too many images and words appear at the same time as voiceovers.

My opinion is that Mazda far exceeds Vauxhall in the effectiveness of the adverts this is apparent through the amount of people one hears humming zoom, zoom, zoom and through how effortless it is to remember the Mazda advert as opposed to Vauxhalls’.