In what ways do the two adverts you have studied attempt to sell their products to different audiences?

GCSE Media Studies

Gabor Lakatos 11k

GCSE English Coursework: Media assignment

Media Assignment: Magazine advertisements

“ In what ways do the two adverts you have studied attempt to sell their products to different audiences?”

We consider a public notice or announcement especially one advertising goods or services in newspapers, on posters, in broadcasts, Internet and other types of media an advertisement. All major and many small companies use adverts as well, the advertising industry keeps on growing every year, and involves a great amount of capital. Most companies rely on adverts, and in todays society there is a huge competition between advertising companies to win the attention of the richest and most popular. It is really the question which company can come up with the best, most influencing and persuasive ideas.

The two adverts I have studied target the two genders, they are not unisex. One of them advertises the “Quiksilver” sports company; they make sportswear for both men and women, however this advert is directly aimed at men. This advert uses a strong and famous figure, Thierry Kunz to advertise the clothes, as him being a “Swiss pro snowboarder” will presumably impress the target audience. Obviously the targeted audience must have certain background knowledge or interest in this sport, or at least in the style of clothes the company produces. The men they are targeting would also be financially stable, since “Quiksilver” clothes tend to be expensive.

The other advert promotes a new perfume fragrance called “Glow” by “JLo” (Jennifer Lopez) for ladies. The advert clearly shows its target audience, since the picture has JLo herself posing in what looks like a shower, naked. The bottle is also shown on the picture, which also looks quite feminine. The words used as a caption also contains words that most women would be interested in, e.g. “fresh”, “sexy” or “clean”. Also, just like the previous advert, this one targets a wealthier audience, as designer perfumes like the one that’s advertised are usually quite expensive.

Just like most adverts, the “Quiksilver” one tends to use mainly pictures, instead of text in its advert. There is a “cool” picture of the snowboarder, a red “Quiksilver” logo on a white square background, which obviously makes it stand out and has a contrast with the background. “Quicksilver” is written on the page with big fonts, which increase in size towards the end of the word. The font looks like it has been painted on the page, as it is not very accurate hence the increasing size and the paint patches around the fonts. The main purpose of the advert is clearly to advertise the clothing and sports equipment made by “Quiksilver”. The main target audience is young men, probably aged 16-35, and that is why a famous snowboarder is used as the promoter of the products. The advert builds on men’s desires, which is to become someone like the snowboarder. The fact that such an influential figure is wearing the clothes will have a positive, persuasive affect on the target audience. The snowboarder man gives us a sense of being a strong, maybe wild, lively, challenging but friendly character, which also have a good influence on the targeted audience, since these are qualities which most men desire. Such an exciting lifestyle as a snowboarder’s is most definitely the dream that could be found in most men’s brains.

Like the “Quiksilver” advert, the ladies’ perfume advert also uses pictures instead of text as a foundation. The targeted audience is women, presumably between the ages of 18 and 40. The purpose of the advert is to try and persuade women mainly from the mentioned age group to buy the “new fragrance” by “JLo”. The word “new” suggests that the there are already products on the market by the same company, and therefore this advert also indirectly promotes these other products and the company itself. The picture of the naked Jennifer Lopez is rather erotic, and this plays a strong ...

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Like the “Quiksilver” advert, the ladies’ perfume advert also uses pictures instead of text as a foundation. The targeted audience is women, presumably between the ages of 18 and 40. The purpose of the advert is to try and persuade women mainly from the mentioned age group to buy the “new fragrance” by “JLo”. The word “new” suggests that the there are already products on the market by the same company, and therefore this advert also indirectly promotes these other products and the company itself. The picture of the naked Jennifer Lopez is rather erotic, and this plays a strong part in women’s desires. Jennifer Lopez’s perfect body is surely the dream of most women, and the advert intends to make them think that by using this perfume, they will be able to feel as perfect as Jennifer Lopez is.

The character in the “Quiksilver” advert reflects a strong character. This is a good image to use, since strength and power play an important role in today’s society, especially in the lives of men. A snowboarder was a good choice by the company, since it takes lots of strength and stamina to pursue a career in snowboarding. The snowboarder (who’s called Thierry Kunz) has his hands up with his palms turned towards himself, like as he was calling the audience to join him, or challenge him. He also has a small smile on his face and sunglasses, which gives him a mysterious look. He wears clothes made by “Quiksilver” of course; they suit him very well, which also helps to promote the products. The fact that he’s wearing the sunglasses although it is dark around him, also gives him a “cool” looks. He is standing in spotlight to highlight the features of the clothes. The main purpose is to make men feel that if they purchase the products made by “Quiksilver”, they will be available to associate themselves to the snowboarder.

Jennifer Lopez, the promoter (and owner) of the products of the second advert is a very well known image in the celebrity world, and therefore has a bigger influence on people than if she was an unknown woman. The fact that she’s naked might also help her with the publicity, however unless we presume that many women are bisexual or lesbian, this fact perhaps isn’t particularly necessary. They created a “glowing” image of her by using make up and spotlights and the blurry background around her imitating a shower. So no wonder the perfume advertised is called “Glow” by “JLo”. She has her right arm lifted up so that it covers her breasts (as she’s turned to the side but facing the audience), and she’s holding something shiny between her fingers, which looks like the sun. And the sun is known for being shiny or glowing. If we look closely, we can also notice some glowing in her eyes. All these little details emphasise on the name of the product.

The two characters are very different in the representation of the promoted products, however they are both individuals that people like to look up to. They both seem to have very positive and attractive qualities.

The key images in the “Quiksilver” advert are the picture of the snowboarder in the clothes, the “Quiksilver” logo with the contrasting background and the “painted” name of the brand. The clothes connote quality and style, and the contrasting logo and painted brand name connote freedom, wildness and maybe some sense of art. The previously mentioned qualities are very commonly used, stylish words, and therefore they are good to use since the targeted audience (young men) all seem to chase these qualities. The painted brand name and contrasting logo again give the advert a fresh and young feeling, makes it more informal and by this more people friendly. The background image of this advert is a road with a couple of trees by it and a car parked on the side. It is quite a dark background, which contrasts with the logo and its contrasting background colour, and the picture of the snowboarder who s in spotlight. This highlights the products and the brand name. The contrast could also represent a feeling of being special; it makes the audience feel that they will stand out from the “grey” stereotypical surroundings if they wear “Quiksilver” clothes. There is also a small “Quiksilver” logo in the bottom right corner of the advert, it promotes the website of the company (quiksilver.com).

The images used in the “Glow by JLo” advert are different. They are more artistic and artificial at the same time. They focus more on the senses of the women, than their desires. The gorgeous naked body of Jennifer Lopez behind what seems to be the side panel of a shower is very eye-catching, and the targeted audience will definitely want to find out what the superstar is promoting. It is more likely that people will actually buy the product due to the fact that JLo promotes it. The colours used such as light tones of pink, yellow, brown and generally light colours are glowing, hence emphasising the name of the product (“Glow”). There is a picture of the actual perfume bottle on the page, which also persuades the purchase of it. The picture of Jennifer Lopez under the shower connotes femininity, freshness, erotica and purity. It makes women think they can adopt these features if they use the advertised perfume.

Unlike in the “Quiksilver” advert, there is no contrast between the colours at all on the advert of the “Glow by JLo”. The similarity between them is that they are both very friendly and positive; they make their target audience think positively about the product, which is exactly the purpose of the adverts. The fact that they are both famous or respected people for their achievements will also help the adverts persuade the targeted audience to buy the products. The biggest difference is however that as the “Quiksilver” advert is directed at men, it is very masculine; and as the “Glow by JLo” advert is targeted at women, it is very feminine. So they clearly show their target audience.

Generally, the “Quiksilver” adverts looks very simple, and probably that is the message the makers wanted to get across with it. Simplicity, quality and style are the main themes of this advert. The text on the page also shows simplicity, since it only states who is on the picture, and the name of the brand that is being advertised. This could also suggest that the promoted product is not something that has to be written essays about, but something that speaks for itself just by the looks of it, and by the fact that someone such famous and professional user of the clothes is actually wearing them.

The “Glow by JLo” advert uses more computer technology to make the images look enigmatical and to represent the glowing, which is used to symbolise the perfume. This advert is much more sensitive and meaningful, it seems to have a better quality of techniques used. However, this factor is only determined by the money the company was willing to pay for the advert. The picture of the actual perfume bottle also makes it easier to sell, as people like to buy things that they can see. A good picture can mean a lot to people.

The “Quiksilver” advert doesn’t use any slogans or words to be remembered. The only important information is the name and profession of the pictured person, and the website of the company. These are both easy to remember. The painted “Quiksilver” word however is quite memorable, since it is presented in an unusual way. All information about the man on the picture is written in small letters, so it doesn’t stand out much. Again, the only thing that stands out quite a lot is the brand name; and as that is not presented very clearly, it might take a bit of time to figure out what it says, holding the readers attention.

There is more text used in the “Glow by JLo” advertisement. The name of the product is written with big, orange letters, which stand out. The words above the name of the product say “Fresh-sexy-clean”, these are written with small, but capital letters. They are supposed to describe the product. They are joined together by two “dashes”, to show that these words represent the qualities of the product. They are also fashionable and easy-to-remember words, so they can plant themselves inside the readers mind. Underneath the name of the product, there is an explanation/description of it, which states that it is a new product and that it is made by Jennifer Lopez: “The new fragrance by Jennifer Lopez”. This just general information, to let people know that by purchasing this product, they will be buying something new and also something made by someone famous. The name of the product is strongly anchored to the picture used, since the name is “Glow by JLo”, and the picture shows a glowing image of JLo or Jennifer Lopez herself.

The “Quiksilver” advert assumes that men would like to be like a famous snowboarder, that they like stylish and modern clothing. Snowboarder’s are generally quite well respected, and this sport is still usually recognised as not an ordinary, but more of an extreme sport. It basically says that men like to look good, like to wear stylish clothes, like to live “dangerously” and like to act “cool”. Despite this however, I don’t think that the advert is trying to show a stereotypical image of the “perfect” man. It is just trying to show that there are certain ways by which a man can make himself more attractive.

Jennifer Lopez looks very feminine in the advert, and the advert obviously assumes that all women like to be “Fresh-sexy-clean” so basically “glow”. It assumes that women like attention. That is what glowing usually does, it attracts attention. Jennifer Lopez isn’t stereotypical image ether, since women like her cannot be seen on every corner. This advert also shows that while men would be interested in masculine things (such as snowboarding, and acting cool), women enjoy more “civilised” things such as beauty itself and taking care of themselves. And since all women can use a perfume, this advert is very effective.

In general, I think both adverts are effective at selling their product. The Jennifer Lopez one is more direct, since it only promotes one product. The “Quiksilver” advert however promotes a whole range of products, so therefore the company itself. The reason for this is that “Quiksilver” cannot show pictures of all of its products because there are a lot of them, so really they are selling the brand and making it more popular. The Jennifer Lopez advert is unique; it’s quite daring since it shows a naked woman. In today’s society, this sort of advertisement is more accepted, than it would’ve been 10-20 years ago. Women are much more open about themselves. So clearly, the unique selling point of the Jennifer Lopez advert is Jennifer Lopez herself, and of course the fact that she’s naked. The unique selling point of the “Quiksilver” advert is probably the same thing: the man promoting the product. The presence of a famous or respected person in an advert is a factor strongly considered by the targeted market when buying a product.

To conclude all of this, all I can say is that both adverts are really clear at who they are targeting their products at, and their get their messages through in a very simple but effective way. They both focus on their audience’s presumed desires, and use these well to persuade their audience to buy the product. They also use a wide variety of techniques to make the adverts look more professional and enjoyable to look at. Both adverts have something in them to catch and hold the attention of the reader.

They are good and useful adverts.