The two adverts that I am analysing are both promotional adverts; one is a BT advert advertising BT together, and the other is a Garnier advert for a new hair colouring

Advertising

Advertising is a way of conveying information to a wide range of people. Companies use adverts to sell their products. Campaign adverts use persuasive language to encourage people to support their campaign, or to change their behaviour.

Advertising is everywhere, on T.V, in newspapers and magazines, on the Internet and in the cinema; you can’t even walk down the street without seeing and advert for something.

Companies use adverts to sell new products, increase brand awareness, and attract custom. As advertising is so successful it is used increasingly more. We pay for the adverts whenever we buy the product.

Advertising works by capturing the attention of the target audience with eye-catching images and catchy slogans. Some examples are Nike-“just do it” and Tesco- “every little helps.” Advertising also plays on people’s feelings of guilt, need, and insecurity by producing ideal worlds, making people feel that if they buy the product their lives will be better. studentcentral.co.uk

The two adverts that I am analysing are both promotional adverts; one is a BT advert advertising BT together, and the other is a Garnier advert for a new hair colouring. The target audience for the BT advert is young couples with small children, as these are featured in the advert, they would also use the telephone a lot. The target audience for the hair colouring advert is females, aged 25+ as these are the people most likely to want to dye their hair. Both adverts are taken from ‘You’, a magazine that comes with the Sunday Express. The magazine is more for females rather then males. The BT advert was place in the middle of an interview which both men and women may read, whereas the Garnier advert was in the middle of the fashion pages which are mainly read by women. The BT advert does exploit stereotypes as it suggests that men do not know a lot about caring for young children. The Garnier advert also exploits stereotypes, by the implicit suggestion that men would not use hair colouring.

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In the BT advert there are only two small pictures, most of the advert is text. The text is in a box, as are the graphics and heading. They are link together graphically, which ties in with the slogan about BT ‘linking you with the rest of the UK’ most of the Garnier advert is taken up by the picture. In the picture the women’s hair takes up most of the page as the v is for hair colouring. This is a good way to attract peoples attention to the advert. There is only one paragraph of text, whereas in the BT advert there are four paragraphs. Also in the BT advert the heading is very big and bold to draw attract peoples attention to the advert. The main text is quite small and there is quite a lot, it appeals to the target audience, because young couples might be looking for a telephone company and would read all the text. The heading is a little bigger then the main text, this is to focus on the interests of the target group. Near the bottom of the advert is where you can find more information. This is written very big and bold so that people can see it. At the very bottom is the copy. This is written very small so that people do not see it straight away and get put off by it.

The Garnier advert however does not have any copy. The main text is quite small, but the headings and sub-headings are big. At the bottom is the word ‘Garnier’ written very big and bold, because Garnier is such a well-known company, this helps to sell the product. In the foreground of the advert, is a picture of the product its self. This will help people if they want to buy the product as shows them what they are looking for.

I think that the Garnier advert is more eye-catching as it has more colour. However the heading ’ Free baby-sitting service from BT’ on the BT advert would attract couples with small children as they are the sort of people who would be looking for a baby-sitter.

In the Garnier advert, the picture is very effective as it is very big and will grab your attention. In both adverts there is a baby. In the Garnier advert, the baby is very small, down at the bottom of the picture. It is not immediately noticeable; it is used to show that the hair is so soft that even a baby likes to hold it. In the BT advert the baby has just been sick. It is not essential to the advert, but contributes towards the visual humour. The pictures in the BT advert are smaller, but sharper then in the Garnier advert. The BT advert is very black and white, whereas the Garnier advert is very bright. Although Garnier have lots of hair colourings, they have used the ‘Intense Red’ colouring in the advert as it is a bright colour, which symbolises passion. This will appeal to the target audience.

In both adverts language is at the centre of the persuasion. In the BT advert, there is a prominent headline ‘free baby-sitting service from BT’. This is a joke, adding to the visual humour. The slogan ‘BT, bring you and the UK together’ is a well-known BT slogan and is widely used. The graphics fit in with the text, as they show a girl out with her friends and a Dad looking after the baby. The Garnier advert also has a prominent headline though not as bold as in the BT advert. It describes what the product does, whereas in the BT advert, the headline was part of the joke in the advert. In the BT advert the text tells the reader about the product and at the bottom is more information. This would help persuade the target audience as it gives them all the information they need to take advantage of the offer. The Garnier advert uses lots of different adjectives to promote the hair colouring. In both adverts the text is very important as it persuades the taken audience to purchase the product.

Advertising is used to persuade people to buy products or to modify their behaviour. It does this through exploiting vulnerabilities and weaknesses’; creating an unattainable illusion of something that is never going to happen. I think that sometimes there is too much advertising, especially during films when you just want to watch the whole film without it being interrupted by adverts. However, in the UK, it is not as all pervading as in some countries, for example, in Canada, where the opening titles to a programme a shown, followed by a number of adverts, before the programme has even begun. There are some advantages to adverts; they give information, this is partially useful in campaign advertising, the may encourage a change in peoples behaviour (e.g., to stop drinking or to wear seat belts.) It is also productive when two companies are advertising a similar product as this may bring down prices for the consumer. Most adverts are enjoyable and some (like the Hovis advert with the little boy riding his bike down the lane) are memorable. The music that accompanies some adverts can also help to sell the product. However there are some disadvantages to adverts as they play on our vulnerabilities and encourage us to buy products we don’t really need. Overall though I think that advertising is a very effective way of getting information to a large amount of people.