Extracts from this document...

Introduction

In this essay, I will be describing and analyzing the linguistic features of a printed advertisement for financial services offered by the Halifax. The purpose of this advert is to persuade the reader to buy a financial service offered by the Halifax or to save using the Halifax's banking services. The intended audience principally, is young families. This can be deduced from the headline 'you'll be carrying him for the next 18 years' and is stated at the bottom of the advert, "Financial planning for young families". However, any age group could be potential targets as the 'best insurance scheme' and 'the right life assurance plan' are advertised which could be appealing to anyone. Financially and socially the advert would suggest the middle to upper 'class' are the target audience, as the figures mentioned for the initial expense of baby equipment would seem extreme to the working class man. Further indications of this can be denoted by talk of private schools. The tone of the advert is generally relaxed and informal in nature, using a colloquial tenor that makes the products advertised seem easily accessible. The audience is put at ease with the casual register used. A comfortable, stress-free atmosphere is created for the intended purpose of persuading readers to buy Halifax's services. ...read more.

Middle

The use of a full stop at the end of this declarative is big and bold as well as the title itself, which adds further to the strength of the statement, making it even more intriguing. The opening paragraph, remaining conversational in tone, uses a simile, which allows the reader to understand the full extent of the point made. "He's only six months old and he's already getting through money like water". It is interesting here how the emphasis changed from the reader's responsibility in the title to someone else's responsibility. The designer has done this to keep the readers interest and to gradually bring the reader to the 'soft sell' that follows later. The second paragraph reinforces the first with a declarative informing that, "...even before his birth, Oliver here had clocked up �1,000 in baby equipment, clothes and toiletries...". The writer has used tripling here to emphasize the numerous items a baby needs and this instills a thought in the reader of just how much finance is required to take care of their family. Further moving the reader to thoughts of providing for their family, the deictic word 'here', used in paragraph two, suggests a picture originally accompanied this advert and this image would probably have been a 'cute baby', playing on the reader emotions. ...read more.

Conclusion

This allows the designer to keep to the short digestable paragraphs that keep the readers interest. The writer uses humour in the penultimate paragraph to keep the reader entertained and keeps things feeling colloquial and lighthearted. The use of alliteration also adds to the entertainment value and re-enforces the incentive for taking the financial services on offer, to care for the 'bouncing baby' you may have in the future. The last paragraph is very important in the advert. It maintains the colloquial register but makes use of an imperative, conveyed in a relaxed tone. 'Pop into your local Halifax branch to arrange and appointment...'. A further motivational device, the free phone number, follows this. A change in register is seen at the bottom of the advert. The wording is in bold upper case lettering to ensure the reader sees it and is more formal in tone. It reads, 'FINANCIAL PLANNING FOR YOUNG FAMILIES - OUR EXPERTISE IS UNDERSTANDABLE'. The Halifax's logo is centered strategically between these two clauses. The message relayed is that the financial services on offer are easy to understand and the logo reminds the reader of the professionalism and competence of the company that is offering their services. The professional standard of this advert lends confidence and reflects the professional service the reader can expect from such an establishment. ?? ?? ?? ?? 1 ...read more.

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