THE POWER OF

PERSUASION

Commercials and Advertisements

in Our Modern Media

WHAT IS THE GOAL? The primary purposes of advertising are:

1. To inform people about a product or service offered, and

2. To persuade people to choose this particular product or service every time

PRODUCT: A material item that a person can own

SERVICE: Assistance with something a person can’t do (or doesn’t want to do)on his/her own

HOW DO ADS REACH YOU?

Television commercials

Magazine print ads

Radio commercials

Billboards

Internet ads (including pop-ups and

banners)

Product placement

…and more!

IT IS IMPORTANT TO

BE AWARE OF ALL OF THE

WAYS ADVERTISEMEN

TS ARE TARGETING

YOU, BECAUSE…

TERMS TO KEEP IN MIND

- The specific name of the product 

- The type of person targeted by ad

- Terms and conditions hidden in ad

Brand 

Consumer

Fine Print

HOW DO THE AD COMPANIES

GET STARTED?

TARGETING CONSUMERS First, you have to do one of two things:

1. Have a product or service that you are offering and find people who want it, or

2. Identify a target group of people who may need a product or service, and design something for them.

Next, you need to learn everything you can about the people who may pay for your product or service…these people are your CONSUMERS

This leads to a lot of stereotypes about people…

ASSUMPTIONS Assumptions are the generalizations we

make about people and their wants/needs when we design advertisements.

Some of these assumptions are valid, and some are stereotypes.

Valid assumptions might be that elderly people need medical supplies, or children need affordable clothes.

Stereotypical assumptions might be that teenagers are obsessed with fashion, or that little kids don’t like to eat vegetables.

BOTH kinds of assumptions, valid or not, are still making generalizations about people.

LET’S TRY A FEW:

LET’S SEE WHAT ASSUMPTIONS AN ADVERTISING COMPANY MIGHT MAKE ABOUT THREE TARGET CONSUMERS.

LOOK AT THESE THREE PROFILES. MAKE SOME ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THESE PEOPLE, THROUGH THE EYES OF AN ADVERTISING COMPANY THAT WANTS TO TARGET THEM FOR THEIR PRODUCTS:

Assumption # 1: What do we believe each of these consumers is likely to buy (product) or need (service)?

Assumption # 2: Why does each consumer want these products? Is it a convenience, a solution, or a desire?

Assumption # 3: What words might trigger a strong response in these consumers?

Assumption # 4: What images might trigger a strong response in these consumers?

JANET EVANS – AGE 38

 Mrs. Evans is a working mother with three active kids. She does not have time to waste when it’s time to get ready in the morning.

LOOK AT THESE THREE PROFILES. MAKE SOME ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THESE PEOPLE, THROUGH THE EYES OF AN ADVERTISING COMPANY THAT WANTS TO TARGET THEM FOR THEIR PRODUCTS:

Assumption # 1: What do we believe each of these consumers is likely to buy (product) or need (service)?

Assumption # 2: Why does each consumer want these products? Is it a convenience, a solution, or a desire?

Assumption # 3: What words might trigger a strong response in these consumers?

Assumption # 4: What images might trigger a strong response in these consumers?

DENNIS LUKAS – AGE 25

Mr. Lukas is a young business graduate who’s eager to make a positive impression on his boss during work day.

LOOK AT THESE THREE PROFILES. MAKE SOME ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THESE PEOPLE, THROUGH THE EYES OF AN ADVERTISING COMPANY THAT WANTS TO TARGET THEM FOR THEIR PRODUCTS:

Assumption # 1: What do we believe each of these consumers is likely to buy (product) or need (service)?

Assumption # 2: Why does each consumer want these products? Is it a convenience, a solution, or a desire?

Assumption # 3: What words might trigger a strong response in these consumers?

Assumption # 4: What images might trigger a strong response in these consumers?

TYLER MacKINNEY – AGE 7

 Tyler is the All-American boy. He loves sports, trucks, pizza, and Disney movies. He hates the color pink and anything involving girls.

AD DESIGN TERMS

SLOGAN A short, catchy phrase that sums up the

message of the company, or…

A short, catchy phrase that inspires consumers to buy the product or service

Examples: “They're Gr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-eat!”

“Got milk?”

“Do the Dew”

JINGLE A slogan or rhyme about the product,

service, or company

Jingles are set to music – this gets the jingle stuck in your head while you listen to it, and you are more likely to remember it

Examples: "Gimme a break, gimme a break...break me off

a piece of that _____________________“

"The best part of waking up is ______________'s in your cup!“

"Da da da da da...I'm lovin' it!"

LOGO Small icon – sometimes visual,

sometimes a combination of text and a visual

Should be easily identifiable on sight – can advertise the product on its own

Examples:

SPOKESPERSON / MASCOT A spokesperson is a famous person

willing to speak on behalf of an organization or product.EXAMPLES: Michael Jordan in sneaker

commercials, any celebrities in the “Got milk?” campaign

A mascot is an invented person or character, who becomes associated with the brand.EXAMPLES: The Geico gecko, The Dell

computer guy, or the Old Spice man

DESIGN

BACKGROUND The image or images – or sometimes

the color chosen – that go behind the main advertisement logos and pictures.

These are chosen for color symbolism, or the mood they will create, or the tone they establish for the ad.

LAYOUT

COLOR SYMBOLISM

Green = Nature, rebirth, renewal

Red = Passion, danger

Yellow = Sunshine or dinginess

White = Purity or cleanliness

Pink = Girly

Blue = Sky, religion, water

Black = Edgy, cool, mysterious

FONT

This is the size and style of the text in the ad. You need your text to be clear enough to read…but it also needs to add to the overall advertising goals.

Fonts DO have an effect on the consumer!

PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA

PERFUME PERFUME Perfume

IMAGES These are the main pictures in your ad.

Generally speaking, one or more of the following should be present:

The product you’re selling, orPeople engaging in the service you’re

sellingThe target consumer group(s) you want to

reachThe logo of the company

TEXT This is the actual use of printed words

on the page. This includes your brand name, and slogan, and any other printed captions or information you want your consumers to get.

Consider the fonts for EVERY bit of text.

More importantly, analyze every slogan, all the fine print, and any other words they use – look for appeals to logic, emotion, or credibility…you can use our ethos, logos, and pathos terms for ads, too!

LAYOUT “Layout” refers to every part of the ad –

background, text, font, colors, images, textures, words, logo/icons, etc.

When you decide what will be in the front and what will be in the back – or what is larger than something else – or whether your items appear on the left, right, top, bottom, or center of the page…you’re making decisions about layout.

WHAT ARE SOME CREATIVE

DESIGNS FOR ADS?

1. MAKE IT LOOK “COOL” Find ways to increase the “cool” factor

of your product…

2. TURN PRODUCT INTO A SYMBOL

Look at how these ads blend products with common symbols:

3. TURN PRODUCT INTO A MESSAGE If it doesn’t look like a common symbol,

you can still use your product to convey the message you want people to receive from it.

4. MAKE COMPETITORS LOOK BAD Take some time to compare your

product with that of another competing brand. Make sure yours looks better, and people can see that yours is superior.

5. USE FAMOUS IMAGES/ICONS IN NEW WAYS

Take places, objects, characters, or people and use them in surprising new ways.

EVALUATING LOGO DESIGN

WHAT ARE SOME SNEAKY

“TRICKS” IN ADVERTISING?

ADVERTISEMENT TRICKS

1. Using fine print/fast talk

2. Playing to our “fears”

3. Using popular themes

4. Overexposure of the product

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h13bmhSNOOU (season of Audi)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvw9N-P7mKU (Goodnight)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OIEFo2axGE (Geico $)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pBM6qhMnsw (Geico Elmer Fudd)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U (Dove evolution)

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7bJ0/jeep-celebration-event-discovering (Jeep celebration / discovery)