Form 5: Advertisements

Definition

A notice or a paid announcement in a public medium: print, broadcast, or electronic media, designed to:

 þ  promote a product, service, event

 þ  publicize a job vacancy     þ attract public attention or patronage
                             

 Formats/Types: 

 þ  Print Media (Newspaper,        magazine, billboards, flyers)

 þ Broadcast (Television, Radio)

 þ  Electronic (Internet which covers all other types)

Kinds: 

1) Small ads – provide basic information just to inform consumers about product/service/event.

2)    Promotional ads – designed to persuade consumers, not only to be aware of product or service, but to patronise (become loyal to).

Elements of a Good Ad

An ad that includes at  least the following elements might be expected to be good …

• Attention. In the clamour and clutter of sight and sound, and the competition for the reader's eye, ear, and heart, it's imperative that you compete successfully for attention. There should be some element in the ad -- whether it's the headline or the illustration or the layout -- that attracts the eye or ear and arouses sufficient interest to warrant attention to the message. And the copy itself must sustain that attention.

• Promise of Benefit. Something in the ad should promise the consumer (reader or the listener) some benefit that he will accrue from accepting the ad's premises.

• Credibility. The premises of the ad must be believable. (On the other hand, do you really believe that Exxon put a tiger in your tank? But it sold a lot of gas.)

• Persuasiveness. The ad should be persuasive. It should sell or generate the need for the service being offered, and project the service as superior. (On the other hand, what do those Nike shoe ads say that persuade you? But they sell a lot of athletic shoes.)

• Interest. Once you've captured the consumer's attention you've got to say or show something to maintain interest, or the message will not be transmitted.

• Desire. The ad must generate the consumer’s desire to accept what the advertiser has to say about what is being offered; to want to do business with the supplier.

• Action. The ultimate aim of an ad is to generate action on the part of the consumer (reader or listener); to cause the reader to want to do something that you want him or her to do, such as buy your service, or, in the case of professional services marketing, it might be to either generate an inquiry or accept a selling situation. On the other hand, just getting a reader to think about you in a specific way is an action, too. That’s what institutional advertising is about.

IN SUMMARY, good ads:

þ  Give information that is verifiable and useful to consumer

þ  Do not make false claims

þ  Use effective attention-getters: graphics, language, subjects (people), etc.

Advertising Techniques Used in Ads

(how these can influence purchasing behaviour)

The aim of one form of advertising is to persuade.

In most advertisements, you will observe that the advertiser APPEALS TO MAN'S BASIC DESIRES:

 - to belong to a certain social class           - to achieve success

 - to be secure                                             - to gain recognition

 - to identify with a particular life style  - to be part of an elite group

The advertiser appeals to these desires by using some of the following:

PERSUASIVE DEVICES

 * emotive language
 * repetition
 * scientific and technical terms
 * puns
 * exaggeration
 * rhyme and rhythm
 * proverbs and catchy phrases
 * research evidence
 * alliteration and assonance 

  

TECHNIQUES 

Broadcast:

1)      Humour

2)      Brand characters

a)      Founder/ Employees (John Dyson – Dyson products; )

b)      Actors / Real people ( e.g. PC/Mac; Jared – Subway)

c)       Created characters (e.g. Gecko – Geico; Talking Baby – Etrade; Talking mouth - Dairy Queen)

3)      Music

4)      Slang

5)      Connection to pop culture

6)       Bandwagon effect (Bandwagon is a form of propaganda that exploits the desire of most people to join the crowd or be on the winning side, and avoid winding up the losing side. Few of us would want to wear nerdy cloths, smell differently from everyone else, or be unpopular.)

7)      Facts and figures (Statistics and objective factual information is used to prove the superiority of the product e.g. a car manufacturer quotes the amount of time it takes their car to get from 0 to 100 k.p.h.)

8)      Appeal

a)      Snob (The suggestion that the use of the product makes the customer part of an elite group with a luxurious and glamorous life style e.g. a coffee manufacturer shows people dressed in formal gowns and tuxedos drinking their brand at an art gallery.)

b)      Emotional (get consumer emotionally entangled or worked up. E.g. starving children in Africa) 

c)       Compelling offers (the desire to get a good deal or gain rewards for doing good. E.g. free/ big minutes, money, prizes)

Print Media:

1)      Humour

2)      Brand characters

a)      Founder/ Employer (John Dyson – Dyson products; )

b)      Actors / Real people ( e.g. PC/Mac; Jared – Subway)

c)       Created characters (e.g. Gecko – Geico; Talking Baby – Etrade; Talking mouth - Dairy Queen)

3)      Colour

4)      Celebrity endorsements

5)      Visual effects (optical illusions, 3-D, graphics, Eye-catching font style, logos)

6)      Slogans and catch phrases

7)      Persuasive devices (repetition, analogy, rhetorical questions, play on words (pun), hyperbole, metaphors, etc.)

N.B.: The most important deciding factor in choosing the appropriate technique is first choosing a TARGET AUDIENCE; which age group, ethnicity, economic range, class, etc. are you advertising to?

In all of this, beware PROPAGANDA...

Activity:

Write a reflection paper on the information presented in this video, by completing the following sentence starters:

I learnt…

I re-learnt...

I discovered…

I realized…

I disliked…

I liked…

I wish…

Be creative with your presentation (E.g. a song, poem, acrostic, diagram, pictograph, et cetera)

Mark Scheme

Subject: ENGLISH A		Activity: Reflection Paper on “What is Propaganda?” Video
STANDARDS	Achieving     3		Achieving     7	Achieving     10
Reflection	- Response demonstrates a minimal reflection on, and personalization of, the concepts, and/or strategies presented in the material reflected upon. - Examples, when applicable, are not provided or are irrelevant to the assignment. - Response is missing some components and/or does not fully meet the requirements indicated in the instructions. Some questions or parts of the assignment are not addressed. - Writing is unclear and/or disorganized. Thoughts are not expressed in a logical manner. There are too many errors in C.U.P.S.		- Response demonstrates a general reflection on, and personalization of, the concepts, and/or strategies presented in the material reflected upon. - Appropriate examples are provided, as applicable. - Response includes all components and meets all requirements indicated in the instructions. Each question or part of the assignment is addressed. - Writing is mostly clear, concise, and well organized with good sentence/ paragraph construction. Thoughts are expressed in a coherent and logical manner There are some errors in C.U.P.S.	- Response demonstrates an in-depth reflection on, and personalization of, the concepts, and/or strategies presented in the material reflected upon. - Clear, detailed examples are provided, as applicable. - Response includes all components and meets or exceeds all requirements indicated in the instructions. Each question or part of the assignment is addressed thoroughly. - Writing is clear, concise, and well organized with excellent sentence/paragraph construction. Thoughts are expressed in a coherent and logical manner. There are few/ no errors in C.U.P.S.