Caption: There is one slogan at the bottom right, “Nokia Connecting People.” This is implying that Nokia’s main aim to connect people and help people to talk. At the top it advertises the phone’s name and advertises Nokia. The caption ‘Nokia Connecting People’ is effective because it builds peoples trust for Nokia, the ‘Connecting People’ tells the viewer that Nokia are helping them.
Copy: The copy is a small piece of text which gives information about the product. “Take a picture. Any picture. Choose it from a magazine or take it using the camera phone. Send it, edit it, make it into the cover for your Nokia 3200 phone. Your creation.”
This text tells us how to use this phone and what its capabilities are. There are clever techniques used in the copy. They use step by step, simple instructions on how to use the phone.
Here is a deconstruction of a charity advertisement:
Picture: There is no picture in this letter, but there is a logo. The logo is of Cancer Research UK.
Caption: The title on the letter is “£2 a month can help us cure cancer faster.” They are saying a small amount of money can help cancer research, the quicker they get the money, the quicker the research can be carried out. Other main facts are printed in bold, so they stand out. “A great deal has been achieved for people facing cancer, but a great deal more needs to be done.” Their aim from this point is to inform people that research had been done, but more can be done with the donors’ help. “Today I am asking if you will help us with a regular gift of £2 a month.” In this quote the Chief Executive is being polite and asking for help. He calls the donation a ‘gift’ and not a donation. This makes us feel it is better to give then to receive. Another sentence they have given us to keep us paying is, “because so much of our work is long term, we need long term funding.” This quote makes us feel sorry for the people suffering from cancer, so we give them what they need.
“You can help us reduce the fear of cancer for future generations with a regular gift of £2 a month.” Here they are implying we are generous to give £2 a month, as you think of it as a gift. This sentence comforts us and reassures us to believe, the fear of cancer will be reduced for the future generations. Also in this letter, there is a set of facts they have provided for us.
Facts:
- The overall death rate for cancer has fallen by 12% in the last decade.
- Over 7 out of 10 children with cancer now survive.
- Around 95% of men with testicular cancer are now successfully treated.
These facts are put there to show us what difference we can make, by giving just £2 a month.
Copy: There are too many small pieces of text to show in this essay. I will generalise their purpose, the copy in this letter is telling, informing and persuading us to pledge money, and to feel sorry for cancer victims. The letter is very polite and non-offensive. So people cannot complain that this letter is garbage or offensive. They also tell us where the money, we provide, is going and how it is being used effectively.
When the advertisements have been deconstructed they are easy to compare and contrast. I have already deconstructed them and now I need to compare and contrast.
Picture: In the product advert they had a picture of their product being used. But in the Cancer Research letter there was no picture at all. Usually the charity advertisements would have pictures of children looking ill, sad and miserable. In all product advertisements they show you the product and make it as good as possible.
Caption: On product advertisements, captions are short, but powerful. On charity advertisements most captions, give us information with lots of verbs and metaphors so we can imagine what is happening, to the people that we are donating money to. Charity advertisements have a large number of facts and they plan ahead. But they rely on donations to keep them going. They should come up with an idea or theme, which provides them with a stable income. The product advertisement, however, have come up with clever means of selling, e.g. celebrity endorsement makes the product look as if it is in fashion etc.
Copy: In the product advert, the copy informs us of the product’s features and uses. But in charity advertisements, the copy gives us long detailed information. The charity advertisements of Cancer Research is the best example, it has a lot of small text providing us with sufficient information, to make a choice of donating or not donating.
In conclusion I think that the product adverts have more effect on me then the charity advertisements. I choose the products because I believe that some charities do not use the money wisely, and also you cannot see if you get value for money. But by buying a product you can see for yourself if the product is value for money.
Persuasion makes a successful advert. A good advertisement is an advert which “tricks” the customer into buying their product and making the buyer think that they have a choice. I think advertising is a very dangerous weapon because it interferes with decision making. It makes you want what the people on television are wearing because the rest of the public will think it looks “cool”. It is a way to get popularity and attention. There are many positive aspects of advertising, as well as negative. The negative aspects are that it encourages a materialistic society. Also we can be affected by stereotyping images e.g. anorexia. Many people want to be what they see and imagine. The positive aspects are that advertisements build confidence by encouraging us to believe that the good things we do are right and not wrong. They also raise awareness of the world around us. They show how people are suffering around the world, as well as people that are better off then us.
Advertising is a very useful tool if treated with respect and if it is abused it can have a serious impact on the economy.
By Veenesh Halai
