By contrast, the Corolla advert is set in a totally different way. It is set in a sunny outdoor spot outside some houses. The atmosphere created is sort of usual “today” and normal effect. There is nothing unusual or bizarre about this advert in the background. It is just car advert on the tree that creates a sense of humour for the audience. It makes the audience think “That’s funny”, so they would have an interest in the advert. It seems like somebody has lost their car and they put a poster up on the tree for everyone to see, like a poster for a missing dog or cat. The person wants everybody to see his car because he is pleased with his car and he is definitely not ashamed to show it off.
While the Renault Clio advert is going for the futuristic and revolutionary setting to make its target audience feel they are in the 30th Century because of the snazzy neutral colours, the Ford Fiesta advert is making the audience feeling desperate, wishing that they had that car in the illustration, where you can go out partying and clubbing with a fabulous stylish car. On the left hand side of the advert is a close up of a young man sitting indoors with a pair of headphones on, that is partly the reason for making the audience feel desperate for his car. It is a very in-depth shot and the audience can feel his thoughts and feelings by the expressions on his face and the way he is sitting. This man has been chosen to represent boredom, but he is ready to get up and have some fun if only he had this new Ford Fiesta. He has been chosen to represent the thoughts of what most of the target audience is feeling without this car: miserable and low. His eyes are lightly gazing into total blankness, which conjures up dreamy out of this world effect. His clothes blend into the background so he himself does not take all the attention away from the car. The main colours are black, dark blue, dark green and silver, which create a dark cold mysterious feeling for the audience. The man is lying on his back on a cushion. His arms are softly folded on his chest and his long legs are upon the seat. His posture shows that he’s relaxed, cool and laid-back but because he’s got his arms crossed, he seems bored and a little fed up. He seems to be in deep thought, perhaps he is thinking about his life and he wish he could have more fun instead of being stuck in his house doing nothing.
The designers will have given a great deal of thought to the copy, logo and slogan of each of the adverts. In the Renault Clio advert, apart from the product illustration, the logo in the top-left of the page is a bright yellow which diverts some of the attention from the Renault Clio car, but as thee logo is quite small, it does not draw all the attention from the main illustration. “Va Va Voom” is the slogan for the advert. It interests the audience because it is the sound of the engine. It uses onomatopoeia, when the sound of the slogan tries to conjure up the meaning of itself in this case it is the roar of the engine. Further more, the actual words “Va Va Voom” implies feminism because when one says these words, it sounds feminine, perhaps because of the regular use of vowels, in which vowels usually sound very feminine. To make the words of the slogan even more powerful, the number 172 is scripted just above the slogan. The car features a 172bhp engine. It gives more impact to the slogan because it suggests that the car is about power and control. The actual text in the top right corner tells the audience about the luxuries of the car and why it is different from other cars. The copy is basically a list of the features of the car. However there is some quality effective vocabulary within the copy. For example “Boost your Va Va Voom to the power of 172” suggests that you can take your driving force up one more stage with this staggering car. “Va Va Voom – like beauty – come from within” suggests that the power of the engine comes naturally and also beauty links back to feminism. The size of the main copy is quite small but it stands out against the dark background because it is in white, which is also a calm relaxed colour and it works well with the blue and turquoise. All the writing in the photograph is white. The fonts are different. There are four fonts associated with the copy and none of them look tacky. They all look sophisticated and stylish – just like the car itself.
In the Corolla advert, the logo is in the top right corner. The actual logo is in red, which stands out against the light blue sky. The words in the slogan work very well. “The car in front is a Toyota” means that this car is the head of all cars; it is the leader of all cars. This shows the audience that this car is the boss, and therefore implies power, control and supremacy. These types of statements are used in adverts without backing frequently to convey calm assertion to our minds. The slogan “The new Corolla. A car to be proud of” is white against the dark background. These are the words that tell the audience why the Corolla is better than other, because it is a car to be proud of. Also in the bottom left corner there is a small copy informing the audience that Toyota won the Car of the Year Award in 2002. This has a lot of influence over the target audience because this is exactly what they want to hear because the audience want to buy a good-quality first-class car and Toyota proves that they have managed to create this image because they won the Car of the Year Award in 2002.
While the copy in the Renault Clio advert looks clear, neutral and stylish, the copy in the Ford Fiesta advert does not make a bold statement because it does not divert the attention from the main illustration. Although the illustration is the main focus of the advert, after the audience have looked at it, they would automatically turn to the copy, so this is the second focus of the advert. The main copy is black on fresh calm white, so it stands out. The main copy is actually very persuasive because it tells the readers the main reasons for buying this car. It starts off by describing who the car is for. There is an emotional appeal that makes the audience feel desperate because the copy tells the audience they do not get out more and this is the car they are looking for. The audience want to get out more; they want to have more fun. The slogan “Designed for living, engineered to last” is broken down into two parts. The first phrase tells the audience what the pleasure is of the car, and the second phrase tells the audience how Ford rates the quality of its cars. The Ford logo does make a clear and bold statement and it catches the audience’s eye. This is because the dark blue colour of the logo stands out against the bright white background. Also the words “Get out more” are placed on the illustration. This links to the bored man sitting indoors wishing he could get out more. These words are important because they are outlining the general point of the advert and without them the audience would be confused of what the advert is about. The words “get out more” are grammatically a command, often used in advertising too. They also make the audience feel a little small, when they are told commands, which is an effective way of persuading the audience to buy the car.
Layout is equally significant in display adverts. The layout of the Renault Clio advert is unusual but effective. When looking at the advert, the eye is drawn to look at the features of the advert in a V – Shape line. The eye is firstly drawn to the bright yellow logo in the top – left corner because when you turn the page in a magazine to this advert, you will automatically look at the exterior of the advert and then work your way in. When the advert was in the magazine, the advert was on the left hand side of the double page, so the logo is brighter and bolder being placed on the exterior of the double page After looking at the logo, you will look at the car because it is the largest feature and it is taking up half of the page. The reason because the eye is not drawn to the car first is because the logo is the brightest and the boldest and the colour yellow is totally opposite to the calm tranquil blue and turquoise. Lastly, the eye is taken to the top – right corner where the copy is. It is not forgotten because it is bright too. On the top half of the page, there are two lines crossing each other. I think the purpose of this is so that it gives a border to the product illustration. The car has a bit of privacy and so the copy does not interfere with the car nor does the layout at the of the page look scattered or cluttered. Each feature has its own shape and design and they work well together.
The main feature of the Corolla advert is the product illustration and the advert on the tree. So when the audience look at the advert they are immediately drawn to the advert on the tree because the lettering is bold and that is where the product illustration is placed and it takes up most of the left – hand side of the page. After the audience has seen the advert on the tree they are drawn to the bottom right of the page because again the lettering of the slogan stands out. The way that the audience look at the advert is a line and it starts off at the top left and ends at the bottom right. Also in the magazine this page was on the left hand side of the double page, so when the audience look at the advert they start on the exterior of the page, usually at the top, then they work their way into the centre, and then the bottom on the interior of the page.
The layout of the Ford Fiesta advert is simple yet effective because the copy is placed underneath the illustration. So once the audience have looked at the illustration and understood the purpose of it, they look down to the copy. I think the line in which the eye follows starts at the top right of the advert, where the silver car creates the image of style and elegance, so all the attention is diverted there. Then the audience looks at the words “Get out more”, because it is the next boldest feature. Then the attention is diverted to the man sitting in the window because a close – up of any person catches the audience’s eye even if he is not staring directly at the camera. The only reason the eye does not look at him first is because his clothes blend in with the dark mysterious image and the silver car is more bright and beautiful to look at. After understanding the advert, the eye is drawn to the bottom left corner, where the start of the copy begins. When you start reading a sentence, you begin at the left hand side and this is the point on the advert where the line in which the eye draws attention ends.
Car adverts have a lot of influence over our decision to buy a car. All car adverts have a particular target audience they aim to interest and it is very important which magazine they decide to place an advert in. For example if a car company is aiming to advertise their car at young woman, they will put their advert in a woman’s magazine. There is no point putting the advert in a man’s magazine if it is aimed at women. It was easy to understand which target group each advert was aimed at because it linked to the magazine they were found in.
Overall, car adverts use different techniques to interest the audience. Renault Clio uses a fresh neutral yet futuristic style to show the ladies that this car can boost their energy to the maximum. The Corolla advert uses humour in a usual outdoor sunny spot to advertise its car, causing the audience to take an interest. The Ford Fiesta advert uses an emotion appeal to try to make the audience feel desperate in buying the car so they can have more fun wherever they take it instead of being stuck at home, like the man in the illustration. I think they are similar in one particular way. The designers would have given a great deal of thought to the image that the audience have in mind. The three adverts are very similar in making the car stand out from other normal cars. The designers of these adverts want us to feel that their particular car is unordinary and completely different from all the other cars. By portraying the car in each advert and the main statement, it shows that each car is unusual in one way or another, and this is what brings the audience to feel more towards the decision of buying the car. Either way companies use many methods to advertise their product, in different ways and styles. The point of the adverts is to make their target audience sense a feeling that brings them closer to the decision of buying their car.
Sources
Ford Fiesta advert – Sky Magazine
Corolla advert – Sky Magazine
Renault Clio advert – She Magazine