Another basic persuader is the product name. Manufacturers have spent millions to establish their products as symbols of reliability and value. Once consumers gain confidence in it, the owner can use the product name and logo as a persuader, that is, as a device to reassure customers that all products bearing this symbol are reliable. The product name and logo are especially useful when the manufacturer introduces a new item to an existing line of goods.
Price appeal probably motivates more decisions to buy than any other appeal, and the magic words “sale” and “bargain” are directed at consumers with great frequency. Closely allied to these plain and simple discount offers are the “something for nothing” lures, such as “buy two and get a third free”, “send for free sample”, and “trial offer at half price”. Substantial cash prizes are frequent inducements, as are “buy now, pay later” offers.
Modern advertising employs an astonishing variety of persuaders. Among these are softer-selling, often humorous and entertaining television and radio commercials, appeals to the sense of smell by the use of perfumed ink on paper, endorsements of products by celebrities, appeals to parents to give their children a better life and future, appeals to children to ask parents to buy certain breakfast cereals, and the controversial use of “scare copy”. Because fear is a principal human frailty, this motivation is applied to the advertising of thousands of commodities, sometimes boldly, sometimes subtly. Fear of poverty, sickness, loss of social standing, and the spectre of possible disasters, great and small, sometimes moves previously unexcitable consumers to buy anything from insurance and fire extinguishers to cosmetics and vitamin capsules.
Adverts need to do lots of things. They need to attract attention, using visual images, colour, movement, sound, text or a familiar brand-name or logo. Once the advert has captured the attention of the reader, it then needs to hold the attention and keep the reader interested. This could be done by telling a story; showing characters with whom you find it easy to identify; or who are role-models; introducing a celebrity; offering attractive photographs; or artwork; using a slogan or catch-phrase; showing large blocks of text; focusing on the technical details of the product; showing the product in use in an attractive setting; making you laugh or engaging your sympathy. A lot of adverts also interest you by stressing the benefits that will follow a purchase, for example, more time, less stress, greater security ect.
The advert itself is an appeal. Whether it is appealing to your desire to express your individuality; your desire to be part of a group or your conscience. It is offering something to the consumer. Maybe a better lifestyle, a solution to your worries,
a chance to indulge yourself and have fun or a chance to help people or protect the environment.
The key point when talking about adverts is that they all have a purpose. To explain this, when analysing adverts you should always ask what its purpose is. Is it simply informing you, is it both informative and persuasive or is the advert asking you to do something?
Language, used effectively, can hold the interest and persuade. Memorable slogans and catch-phrases help people to remember the advert which makes it more likely, when they see the product in store, that the reader will subconsciously recall the advert and be ‘persuaded’ to buy. Sentences beginning with active, commanding verbs appeal to the reader and as a result more of the advert will be read. Instead of using regular verbs, advertisers use active verbs to say things like “This mountain bike outpaces the competition” rather than “is faster than any other”. Another tactic to make the language more appealing is the use of adjectives and adverbs – such as: new; professional; quality; superb; engineered; home; family; easy – often in great quantity, and the use of double meanings or puns to add humour. Advertisers also use other devices. They use similes, metaphors, and language features such as alliteration, assonance, repetition, rhyme. The Structure of sentences in an advert is very important, adverts don’t usually use full sentence structures and instead use short, active phrases, although varying sentence structures and lengths can make the advert look more intriguing.
To ensure the advert is effective enough advertisers must consider all factors surrounding visual Images. They must make the impact and get the attention. They do this by using bright colours; bright images and sometimes use well-worn, familiar images because people understand the messages they convey. Advertisers use the headline – the most important word or phrase – as a graphic as this lets them use it more creatively. One clever technique that advertisers like to use is comparative forms that are unrelated to any reference point like, “washes whiter” well, whiter than what?
To develop my Study further I analysed four adverts. My first advert was advertising a new film coming out on video. The main actor in the film is a relatively new but widely Popular young man called Josh Hartnett. He is Hugely popular with young girls because he is very attractive, so he, in himself, attracts a lot of attention and interest in the film. The advert has Very little text but includes all of the important information needed to sell the product. It tells us one of the actors, Which is in big, bold writing at the top of the page and an outline. The outline asks the reader to imagine something which gets the reader thinking. The picture of the Video in the bottom left hand corner is there to show people what they’re looking for which means it might catch peoples eyes more when they see it on the high-street. The most important piece of information is in Black and bold at the bottom of the page, which is when it is out to own on video or DVD. The logo in the bottom right hand corner is for universal studios, it tells us who the film was made by. The logo is widely known and few people wouldn’t recognise it. The most eye-catching thing about the advert, I think, is the familiar face of the young actor as the background is plain white and the writing all in the same font, so the image stands out.
