Advertising

**Advertising Strategies**
Advertisers have many methods to try and get you to buy their products. Lots of times, what they are selling is a lifestyle, or an image, rather than the product. Here are some tricks of the trade**.**
 * **Ideal Kids (or families)** - always seem perfect. The kids are really hip looking, with the hottest fashions, haircuts and toys. Ideal families are all attractive and pleasant looking -- and everyone seems to get along! Ideal kids and families represent the types of people that kids watching the ad would like themselves or their families to be.


 * Family Fun** - a product is shown as something that brings families together, or helps them have fun together; all it takes is for Mum or Dad to bring home the "right" food, and a ho-hum dinner turns into a family party.


 * Excitement** - who could ever have imagined that food could be so much fun? One bite of a snack food and you're surfing in California, or soaring on your skateboard!


 * Star Power** - your favorite sports star or celebrity is telling you that their product is the best! Kids listen, not realizing that the star is being paid to promote the product.
 * Bandwagon** - join the crowd! Don't be left out! Everyone is buying the latest snack food: aren't you?


 * Scale** - is when advertisers make a product look bigger or smaller than it actually is.


 * Put Downs** - when you put down your competition's product to make your own product seem better.


 * Facts and Figures** - when you use facts and statistics to enhance your product's credibility.


 * Repetition** - advertisers hope that if you see a product, or hear its name over and over again, you will be more likely to buy it.Sometimes the same commercial will be repeated over and over again. || **Heart Strings** - ads that draw you into a story and make you feel good, like the McDonalds commercial where the dad and his son are shoveling their driveway and the son treats his poor old dad to lunch at McDonalds when they are done.


 * Sounds Good** - music and other sound effects add to the excitement of commercials, especially commercials aimed at kids. Those little jingles, that you just can't get out of your head, are another type of music used to make you think of a product. Have you ever noticed that the volume of commercials is higher than the sound for the program that follows?


 * Cartoon Characters** - Tony the Tiger sells cereal and the Nestlés Quick Bunny sells chocolate milk. Cartoons like these make kids identify with products.


 * Weasel Words** - by law, advertisers have to tell the truth, but sometimes, they use words that can mislead viewers. Look for words in commercials like: "Part of..." "The taste of real....." "Natural...." "New, better tasting....." "Because we care..." There are hundreds of these deceptive phrases -- how many more can you think of?


 * Omission** - where advertisers don't give you the full story about their product. For example, when a Pop Tart claims to be "part" of a healthy breakfast, it doesn't mention that the breakfast might still be healthy whether this product is there or not.

//Source: Some of the above information was adapted, with permission, from the Center for Media Literacy.//
 * Are You Cool Enough? -** this is when advertisers try to convince you that if you don't use their products, you are a nerd. Usually advertisers do this by showing people who look uncool trying a product and then suddently become hip looking and do cool things. ||

Assignment 1 - Marketing to Teens 10 marks
Whether or not you realise it, teens already know a lot about advertising. Many ads are targeted specifically at you and there are advertisements everywhere. 1. What are three reasons why advertisers would want to target teens. 2. Name three ways marketers reach teens. 3. Of the ways you listed above, which do you considered the best way of reaching teens and why? 4. Name 3 places you see ads in school. 5. Can you think of a place that has no ads?

Assignment 2 - Marketing Tactics 35 marks
__**Part A:**__ Consider the following statement Dr. James Twitchell //Smithsonian,// April 2000 ||
 * "Often advertising is not about keeping up with the Joneses, but about separating you from them. That's especially true of advertising directed at a particular group, such as adolescents or young-adults - it's called 'dog-whistle' adversiting because it goes out at frequencies only dogs can hear."
 * 1) What does the author mean by this statement?
 * 2) Can you think of examples of ads that appeal to you, but not to your parents?
 * 3) What is it that separates these ads from those that appeal to their parents? Are there 'set' strategies or themes in advertisements geared to your age group?
 * 4) Within the teen demographic, is there a difference between ads geared to teenage girls, and ads geared to teenage boys?

__**Part B**__ You are going to be an advertising executive. You must complete the following

Write the name of a product that would be difficult to get teenagers to buy, or something that is unlikely to be trendy among teenagers. Indicate whether it will be marketed to boys or to girls, or to both genders. //ex. lawnmowers, shoehorns, and medicated itch powder//. Write down the names of two magazines you read regularly //(except pornography - we don't want to hear about that in this setting)//. (product name here) //Marketing Hype// people need to get excited about (product name here)!!!!!!!!!!!! The company that makes (product name here) knows that many teenagers have a lot of disposable income (money they can spend on things they want or enjoy, not things like rent or groceries). They are going to spend $2 million on an ad campaign to promote (product name here) to this market. You work for an advertising agency, and your job is to make (product name here) a trendy product for teenagers. Your print ad will appear in (magazine names here).
 * Scenario:**

After you have created your ad, briefly describe your campaign and then answer the following questions:


 * 1) Did you use a "traditional" strategy (methods that we see all the time in ads) to market your product?
 * 2) List strategies that were used on the board. For example: "made the product sexy," "made it seem like people using the product are popular," "associated the product with rebellion," etc. (review the advertising strategies from above if you are unsure.)
 * 3) Did you use an approach we haven't seen before? Is there much originality in advertising?
 * 4) Was your campaign respectful of teenagers? Of girls? Of guys? Were there any that reinforced traditional gender roles //(i.e., girls need to be pretty and sweet, guys need to be macho//)?
 * 5) Do you think your campaign would be most effective in the real world? Why?
 * 6) Is your ad trying to associate the product with a cool lifestyle? What do you imply teen lives will be like if they buy the product?
 * 7) Did you create an ad that didn't actually show the product in your advertisement? How do you feel about those sorts of ads?
 * 8) If you could turn your idea into a TV commercial, what kind of music and effects could you use to hype the product?
 * 9) Agree or disagree with the following statements:


 * Advertising sets us up to feel dissatisfied - even if we think we have everything we need, ads will still try to convince us that there is something else we need.
 * Advertisers try to show us how much more satisfied, popular, happy, hip, attractive, sexy, fun and in control we would be if we had their product.
 * Fashion and trends are always changing so that we must continually spend money to be current.
 * Advertising stresses competition and status versus feeling good about being who you are and accepting others for who they are

Assignment 3 - Sex in Advertising 20 marks



 * //Answer the following questions for the four of the advertisements above//**

1. What is the product being sold by the ad?

2. Who is the target audience for this ad? (Include age range, culture, gender, race, socio-economic level.)

3. What underlying message or value is being sold by the ad? Is it obvious or subliminal?

4. Do you agree/disagree with this message?

5. Which aspect of human sexuality is being appealed to? (Emotional/physical? Spiritual? Biological?)

6. In this a positive or negative portrayal of sexuality?


 * //In your 'couple' advertisement//**


 * 1.** What is the women doing?


 * 2.** What is the man doing?


 * 3.** Who is in the foreground?


 * 4.** Who is in the background?


 * 5.** How is juxtaposition used to convey meaning?


 * 6.** Is the woman or man placed beside objects that send out specific messages?


 * 7.** Who is active?


 * 8.** Who is not?


 * 9.** Is one person more //eroticized// than another?


 * 10.** What is the message you receive about this relationship?


 * 11.** Who has the power in this relationship?


 * 12.** Is this a positive or negative depiction of relationships and sexuality?

Assignment 4 - Parody/Spoof Ads - 20 marks
Parody ads are a fun way to analyze popular advertisements. When you spoof an ad, you take the elements of the ad that give it power, and make them absurd. You turn the message around to show that it is ridiculous or even untrue.

Your task:

Go to the following website and select 2 spoof ads and answer the following questions.

[]

Using one of the ads, answer the following questions.
 * 1) What was the first thing you noticed about the ad?
 * 2) What is being made fun of in the ad?
 * 3) What is different or the same compared to the real ad?
 * 4) How did it make you feel?
 * 5) Did the parody ad change how you look at the original advertisers?
 * 6) "Why is humour an effective way to make a point?"
 * 7) With a partner, create a spoof ad of your own. Please provide a link to the original ad you are spoofing.

=ANALYZING MEDIA: Movie Posters= You see them everywhere. Movie posters are prominently displayed on billboards, in the lobby of your local movie theater, in magazines, on the Internet, and even on the sides of buses. But how often do you stop and think about the effects movie posters have on you?

It's important to remember that movie posters are **advertisements.** The goal of a poster essentially is to "sell" the movie—to make you want to see it. How does it do that? The poster may have the movie title in a big and bold font. Images of the movie's attractive actors are usually featured. In addition, the actors' names are probably included somewhere on the poster to remind you that the movie has big-name stars. Designs, colors, and fonts are used to appropriately reflect the [|mood] and [|tone] of the film. And the poster probably includes a catchy sentence or [|slogan] that piques your interest and makes the plot seem intriguing.

The visual elements on a movie poster can convey powerful messages. The best posters may make you anxiously anticipate an upcoming release. The worst ones may not have a persuasive effect at all. By analyzing movie posters, you can gain a better understanding of the elements that effectively grab the attention of movie-goers and sell the movie's story—even before viewers see it for themselves.

Assignment #5 - Movie Poster Analysis - 25 marks
Now's your chance to evaluate the best and worst movie posters you've seen. Search the sites below for movie posters that advertise all different types of films, from the most current releases to older classics. After you've searched these poster archives, __**select one poster that you find visually interesting and effective and one that does not have a persuasive effect. Write a comparative analysis of both posters, explaining what you like and don't like about each one. Refer to the Questions to Consider as you write your analysis**__. __//**Provide a link to the poster you have chosen.**//__

[| Poster Image Archive] [| http://www.hundland.com/ posters/ main.htm]

[| The Internet Movie Database] [| http://us.imdb.com/ Sections/ Gallery]

[| Posteritati Movie Posters Online Gallery] [| http://www.posteritati.com/]

 The positioning of objects, actors, and text within the frame of a poster to achieve a particular effect. For example, a movie poster for an action film might feature the main actor framed in such a way as to make him seem attractive, strong, and invincible.
 * Questions:**
 * 1) Is the movie title prominently featured? Is the text easy to read?
 * 2) Are the main actors shown? If so, which ones? What do their appearances and expressions convey about the movie?
 * 3) What is the design of the movie poster? Does it accurately reflect the [|mood] and [|tone] of the film?
 * 4) What other images are included? What do you notice about the [|framing] of the images?
 * 5) What text is shown on the poster? Is there a catchy [|slogan]? If so, what does it tell you about the movie's story?
 * 6) Is there any other important information included on the poster?
 * 7) Why do/don't you think this movie poster is persuasive?

 The feeling created for a viewer by the director's use of details, music, and cinematography.

 A catchy and memorable phrase or sentence on a movie poster. An effective slogan should convey the mood, tone, and main idea of the film without giving too much away. It should capture viewers' attention and make them interested in the story.

 The filmmaker's attitude as reflected in the movie—ironic, serious, and so forth.