This advert involves just one visual technique which is still colour photography but within this technique it has used different kinds of photography. The main image is a simple photo of the model with a TV but on the TV screen, is a photo of her lips so in effect; it’s a photo of a photo. The other photographic technique that is used is the ‘still life’ of the lipsticks. They have been positioned so you can see each colour and it looks unnaturally arranged and stands out on the background of the model’s natural hair. The effect this creates is that it stands out to the reader because it looks out of place. Colour has been used to great effect in this advertisement. Every element in it has been kept natural coloured with no bright or extreme colours being used excluding the lips and the product. This technique is used to really highlight the fact that the product being sold is this new pink lipstick because it is the boldest part of the page, and it could be suggesting that if you wear this make-up, you are going to stand out.
The lighting in this advert has little impact on the overall look of it, but I do think that it has subtly been used to make her lips shine more than they would in natural lighting. This makes her lips look healthier but it does not look false, because it is low key and not obvious.
To take the photograph, the camera was placed in front of the model, not completely central but on the right side of her face. This composition is to accommodate for the TV she is holding on her right shoulder. It does not really matter that a small part of her face is not seen because the part that matters, the lips, are fully there. The picture of the lips on the TV screen is not all revealed but this does not matter either because we know from the smaller picture what they look like, the replica is just to show them enlarged and enough of the image is there for us to know what it is and why it’s there. The shot that has been used for the photo of Kate Moss is a close up shot, where you can see the head and shoulders and the detail. The picture on the screen is an extreme close up and this shows in detail a small part of the face. The effect this creates is that we can see in detail the model’s face, in particular the lips. The extreme close up shot, shows how the lips have been ‘plumped’ by the lipstick, so it persuades the consumer that the product does actually make your lips look fuller.
Within the frame, my eye is drawn to the lips, first the bigger ones then the life size lips on the model. That is the first thing you notice because they are bright and bold and stand out from the natural colours on the page. You become aware of them as soon as you look at the page because they are out of proportion from the rest of the images and are larger than life. The image has been cropped at the sides; I don’t think there is meant to be anything happening outside of the frame. It has been cropped because it is close up so there isn’t enough room in the frame for the whole of her head or the whole of the TV. If the whole of her face or the whole of the TV was to be in the ad they would have had to of zoom out and used a middle shot instead but this wouldn’t have created the same effect and shown as much detail so cropping it was the answer as the rest of the picture is not really of any importance.
I think that the image has been treated as I believe that her face has been airbrushed. Although she is a model and is likely to have clear skin, I do not think that her skin could ever be that flawless and so perfect. The image has not been edited in anyway I don’t think, but the lipsticks have been put onto the picture after it has been taken as a separate element when the advertisement was being composed when the copy was being added. All of the elements in the image are in focus.
The photo of Kate Moss is the main image in the overall design of the ad but it also fits in as a kind of background for the copy and the picture of the product. In relation to the text it is the backdrop, all of the writing is in front of it and it takes up the whole page.
The text of the advertisement helps to persuade the consumer to buy the product. The brand name is ‘Rimmel London’ and this by itself suggests that the product is of good quality because Rimmel is a well known cosmetics company, known for being used by make up artists and a good value brand of make up. ‘London’ also suggests that it is a first-rate company because it is the place where all the top-class designers and companies are based. So just from looking at the brand name, the consumer is persuaded that the product being sold is of first-class standard.
The slogan is “Pump it up 40%” and it works by describing what the product does when applied to your lips and also depicts the image of the enlarged lips, explaining how the lips have been blown up in size. I think the work ‘pump’ has been used because it is nearly the same as ‘plump’ and that is what people want their lips to be so taking one letter out to make it ‘pump’ still looks like plump at a glance. The percentage has been used to show that your lips increase in size by an actual amount rather than saying ‘bigger’ or a similar word, because these seem less convincing as the lips could be pumped up by 5% and this would still come under the heading ‘bigger’ so describing the increase with a percentage shows evidence that there will be a significant difference to the look of your lips.
The copy in the ad is simple but effective and full of verbal persuasion. First is “NEW”, then the product name and underneath is a sort of table set out like stages. Down the left side of the box is what happens in steps after you have applied the product, and then on the right is more detail in what will happen. The last phrase, “Big is beautiful” relates to the image because as the image on the screen is big, it means that therefore it is beautiful and as the image is of the lips, this suggests that lips with Rimmel’s lipstick on them will be beautiful as they will be big. Also, the idea of standing out is re-addressed as it says “break the rules” and this will make you stand out, so it relates to how the pink lips stand out and “break the rules” against the natural background. There is also factual information where it states that the product will give you “up to 40% plumper lips” and will have a “collagen effect”. This language is simply enforcing once again what the product does and they are its unique selling points that make it special. It persuades the consumer that this product is special as it is different to other products on the market.
The target audience of this advertisement is females, aged 11-19 and who have an interest in how they look and maybe an interest in celebrities. I know this because the magazine it was found in is aimed at this sort of person, so the majority of the people that will see the advert fit this category. Of course there will be people who see it that are older or younger or do not have these interests but they will be the minority. The advert could also be aimed at older girls as the model is 28 years old so would appeal to this age range as well as they might want to be like her. The text is straightforward however so I feel that this particular advert is aimed at 11-19 year olds.
This ad might also be seen in other publications such as ‘Sugar’, ‘J17’ and similar teen magazines as their readers would fit the same categories. The publication could be bought at newsagents, supermarkets or chemists so anyone could see it. The chances are that the person buying it is a regular reader (over half of Bliss readers buy it every month). This means that they have a kind of commitment to the magazine and this suggests that they trust it so therefore would probably buy a product advertised within it. The ad might be published on the first or second right-hand page because these are the first pages you see when you open the magazine and flick through. Or it might be printed on the back cover as this is what you see even without opening the magazine. It is also more widely seen than an advert on any other page because, for example, if it is left face down on, say, a table in your doctor’s waiting room, it is seen by everyone or if someone else is reading it on a train, you can see only that and the front page.
The overall message that the ad gives is that if you buy their product, you will have plumper lips and you will stand out from the crowd. The stereotype in the ad is that if you wear the lipstick, you will be beautiful and this really encourages the consumer to buy the product as, well, who doesn’t want to be beautiful! The ad gives you the desire that you want to look like Kate Moss and to do that you should buy the lipstick. It is an effective advert in showing primarily what the product does, and secondly what will happen to you if you buy it.
My second advertisement is from Nivea Lip Care, a cosmetics company specialising in caring for your lips with other products on the market like lip balms. The main image of my second chosen advertisement is a photo of a young woman with her mouth open in a circular shape. I do not recognise her face so it’s probable that she is just a model for this advert and not a famous face. From looking at the picture I would say that she must be in her mid-twenties, maybe about 25. Her eyes are looking straight ahead at the camera which gives the impression that she is looking at you. This persuades the consumer to look at the advert because it is like her eyes are drawing you into the picture as if she is with you and looking at you.
The only other object featured in the ad is an image of the product. It is a picture of what the product would look like if you saw it on a shop shelf. This helps to generate more sales because someone who has seen the advert, likes the product and wants to purchase it, can go into a shop knowing exactly what they are looking for and will be able to find it without hassle. It features very prominently in the ad so it is obvious that it is the product being advertised.
The product being sold is a Nivea Lip Care cosmetic called ‘CareGloss & Shine’. It has been placed in the frame in the bottom right hand corner above the company logo and slogan. From the other elements in the ad, you can tell a lot about the product being sold. Just from looking at the models lips you know immediately what the applied product looks like and then the big slogan printed across the picture sums up in three words exactly what it does. The short paragraph of copy then explains in more detail what is special about the product and states its unique selling points.
I think that this advertisement has been constructed very cleverly because the way it is put together really makes sure that the reader knows exactly what product it is that is being advertised. It uses just still photography of the model and the product; the first is used to demonstrate how your lips will look after you have used the product and the latter is to show the person who sees the advert what the packaging of the product looks like so you can find it in a store. I think it is very smart the way they have incorporated her mouth as part of the slogan. Her facial expression is saying, ‘look at me’ and it draws you into the advert and using her ‘o’ shaped mouth as a letter in the slogan means that you have to notice her lips because when you read the ad, her mouth is part of the copy. The images are colour, and the colours have been specifically chosen. Everything has been kept natural skin-coloured and the background and her attire, is all a light shade of blue. The model has brown hair and this has been used as a backdrop for the image of the product. This makes it easier to notice because the light peach-coloured product stands out from the dark hair. I think that they have chosen to use blue for the clothes and background because it matches her eye colour so doesn’t bring in another colour, and is quite a natural shade so doesn’t bring your attention away from the product and the lips, and it nicely compliments the peach colouring of her skin and the products package. Having everything on the page quite natural makes the lips stand out more because they are darker than the rest of the skin and have a reddish colour. This makes them the first thing you notice on the page.
Lighting has been used in this ad to highlight the models cheekbones and lips. Highlighting the cheekbones gives the appearance of a slimmer and therefore, prettier, face and I think that is the only reason for doing that, but highlighting the lips really emphasizes them and draws your attention to them. It also gives them a more glossy finish, which is vital because they are showing what the product does and the consumer must believe that it does what it says on the packet! I think this lighting technique helps to persuade the consumer to buy the product because it shows that the lips really are glossy so it is a product that works.
The camera has been placed directly in front of the model to take a completely central picture of her. This helps to make her look prettier because it gives the idea that she has a perfectly symmetrical face, and a perfect face is said to be beautiful. It is important that the model is seen as beautiful because this makes people want to be like her and therefore encourages them to buy the product that she is sporting. A close up shot has been used showing just her head and shoulders and the detail of her face. This creates the effect that she is near us as her face is almost life size so we feel close to her and therefore you gain a sort of trust with her picture. This trust is vital because it means you are likely to have faith in the product she is advertising.
The first thing that your eye is drawn to in the frame is the lips as they are the most central part of the page and because they have also been used as a part of the lettering, you look at them within the text and within the image so there is double the chance you are going to notice them! Also they are the brightest part of the page so you notice them first. This composition really helps to advertise the product because you see the lips and how they are glossy-looking and if you like how they look, you want to look closer at the advert to find out what product has been used on them and then with any luck you go ahead and buy the product. The image has been cropped but this has no importance to the advert because it doesn’t suggest that there is anything going on outside of the frame, it was just so the whole of her face would fit on the page with her lips being big enough to form the letter ‘o’ of the word ‘gloss’.
The layout of the ad has been though about carefully I think. The words ‘care & gloss’ have been placed exactly around the lips and the character spacing has been exacted so that the lips fit in perfectly as the ‘o’ as if they were written along with the other letters. In relation to the text, the image is like a background but it isn’t completely in the background because the lips are in the foreground of the composition with the text wrapped around them. The image of the product is at the front of the frame and does not look as though it is part of the picture, but has been added on after. This layout encourages the consumer to buy the product because it draws their attention to the lips and then the product so they first see what they want their lips to look like then they see how they can get their lips to look like it so they are persuaded to buy the product.
The brand name of the product, ‘Nivea Lip Care’, is a well known brand of lip cosmetics and has an image of a company selling decent, value products that will improve the health of your lips. This alone suggests that the product you are buying will be of good quality. If however you had not heard of this particular company, you would be encouraged to believe it sells good lip products because of the phrase ‘lip care’ in its name, showing the consumer that it cares about your lips. The advert uses two slogans, the first being the three words that are printed big and bold across the advert. “Care & gloss” is basically just the name the product separated and with an ‘&’ in between. This is a good choice of slogan because not only does it sum up what the product does, it also guides the consumer to it, because it is nearly the name of the product so without even seeing the product image, they know what to look for. The other slogan used on this advertisement is “care that shines on”. This is also describing what the product does and again, includes the name of the product with the words ‘care’ and ‘shine’. Keep repeating the name like this really makes sure that the consumer knows what the product is.
The copy on the ad is an extension of the slogan with factual information, giving more detail on what it is the product does, and it also includes lots of verbal persuasion. It uses adjectives like ‘brilliant’ and ‘beautiful’ to describe the effect the product has on your lips, persuading the consumer that if they buy it, they will also be like that. It also includes unique selling points that are trying to impress, for example; ‘first time’, ‘unique’ and ‘new way’, which indicate that this is the first product on the market that does what it does, meaning it is the only product you can buy with the effect this one has. This encourages the consumer to buy the product because it makes them feel special as they will be one of the first people to have such a product. The copy relates to the images in the way it is describing what is happening to her lips when the product is applied. It uses very positive language to illustrate what the product does and it is aimed straight at the person reading it using ‘your lips’ making it seem more personal and as though it is talking to the individual reading it. Using personal language like this makes the advert seem closer to you and makes it seem more special.
The audience for this particular ad is female, 11-19 years old and someone who follows fashions and cares about their looks. I know this because it came from ‘Bliss’ and that is the target audience of the magazine. It could however be placed in a different publication because I think it would appeal to most women. Nearly every female likes to take good care of their lips, and having a product that looks after lips and gives them a glossy look as well, while moisturising them surely has to be a good product. I think it is specifically aimed at the younger woman though because of the age of the model in the picture as teenagers want to be like her so buy the product.
The overall message of this advertisement is that CareGloss & Shine is a brand new product on the market which is unique, and does exactly what it says in its name.
