Advertising is a key part of the sales process.

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Advertising is a key part of the sales process. More than £12 billion is spent on advertising every year in the UK, quite a phenomenal amount. So why do people spend out so much on advertising their products? It seems like a terrific waste of money, until you look more closely into the whole process. A fundamental reason behind advertising is the susceptibility of children to adverts. Adults, having developed a slightly more cynical view of the world, are more likely to see through adverts. Younger children, on the other hand, are easily influenced and more naïve. They see an advert for a toy of their favourite superhero, say Spiderman. The advert shows the action figure shooting webs from his wrists and swinging along tables. In actual fact the figure will do none of these things, but the child doesn’t realise this, and goes to beg his or her parents for the toy. Often the parents give in to satisfy the child and stop him or her from whining. In this case the adverts are targeting a younger audience, and are very effective.

        Adverts aimed at a more mature audience use different techniques. They might use statistics and factual information to sound more believable. Another useful technique frequently used by advertisers is preying on people’s fears and insecurities. This technique works well for selling anti-aging creams, moisturisers, etc. Humour might be used to encourage people to read the advert – people like to laugh.

        Advertising is often basically exploitation of our fears and weaknesses. It isn’t just the age of the audience that advertisers take into account either. There are all kinds of factors involved, including money and level of education. Some adverts are aimed at people with more money to spend, in which case they emphasise the price – the basic message being, it’s so expensive it’s got to be good, and very few can afford it – but you are one of those lucky few. This makes people feel special and privileged so they are more likely to buy the product. On the other hand, if the advert were aimed at people with less money the advertisers would emphasise what good value for money the item was, or make a “special offer.”

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        There are also a lot of different ways to advertise:

  • Advertising in directories
  • Advertising in magazines
  • Advertising in national newspapers
  • Advertising in local papers
  • Advertising on television or at the cinema
  • Advertising on the radio
  • Poster advertising
  • Direct mail
  • Exhibitions
  • Merchandising and point of sale
  • Sales promotion
  • Sponsorship
  • Using the Internet

So there is a lot more to advertising than immediately meets the eye. I have chosen to study how advertising techniques are used in adverts for beauty products. I have taken four adverts and studied ...

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