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Advertising in Magazines   Term Paper ID:27566 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Analysis of magazine advertising. Review of specific ads with regard to their ability to capture the attention of readers, to convey a message through brevity, to create a memorable image, & to appeal to a target audience.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Analysis of magazine advertising. Review of specific ads with regard to their ability to capture the attention of readers, to convey a message through brevity, to create a memorable image, & to appeal to a target audience. Paper Introduction: The field of advertising has a long history, and it is a field that is indispensable in our modern society because it helps inform the public of the basic goods and services that are available in the marketplace. Advertising can be defined as any form of paid communication with the purpose of motivating a reader or viewer to purchase a product or service, to influence public opinion, to win political support, to sell an idea or a cause, or to act or think and perhaps influence others in the manner desired by the client. The main goal of advertising is to motivate or persuade people to buy a particular product or service, and among the media used to accomplish this are radio, television, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, billboards, posters, catalogs, and brochures. Accomplishing this task requires the ability to communicate, but this communication often takes Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. On the semiotic level, signs andsymbols in ads also produce inferences on the part of the consumer and arealso used by advertisers based on the advertisers' perception of motivatingfactors and the desire to create what Harris calls a sense of "rightness"to purchase a given product (Harris 22). Between them on the ground is a computer monitor which seems to besomething they are either setting up or pulling from the ground. The implication of the image alone is ofparents preparing for the financial future of their children. The medium to be analyzed here is the magazine, where ads tryto capture the attention of readers, convey a message in as few words aspossible, and create an image that will be remembered even as it is hopedit is appealing to the target consumer. It also suggests that there are severaldifferent ways in which you can avail yourself of this service. The oneelement in the ad that a casual reader might note in paging through themagazine is the drawing of the Jack Daniels bottle and the legend, "SmoothSippin' Tennessee Whiskey," but the rest of the ad does not offer supportto this minor element. Not all ads are effective. Theimage is murky. The man in the ad is young andcollegiate-looking, well-dressed in an Ivy League casual way. The image of the temple isof size, age, and solidity, and this translates for the company into size,experience, and permanence. Seeing several of these ads together creates acertain comic tone that would be effective, but seeing any one ad alone issuch an open appeal to snobbery that the ad loses power. That is what all of the advertisers are trying toaccomplish, but often they reach too far--as with the Bombay Sapphire ads--and become parodies of the effort rather than effective examples of it. passive structures, left-branchingsentence structures. "Sell! The tag-line for the ad is "Pour Something Priceless,"indicating that the gin is higher-priced and yet still not priced as highas it is worth. Harris notes that advertisers have a rhetorical purposedefined as the presentation and exhibition of a product or service and theexhortation and coercion of potential buyers: Moreover, advertisers want potential purchasers to consider what is advertised to the exclusion of all other similar products or services. London: University Press of America, 199 .Lowery, Tina M. Harris calls this a semiotic and strictly linguisticprocess of establishing significance based on the intentions of thecommunicator (Harris 22-23). In eachof the ads, the bottle of the product stands to one side next to a designermartini glass. Others want a card that will help them to business better. The image is striking and attracts attention. The copy is short and is made to seem to be made up ofsmaller messages by being divided into six widely-separated lines, but thetotality gives the message of the ad: With one call, the world's largest travel agency can send you away to discover someplace wonderful. He cites research to the effect that inference--orthe generation of new semantic information from old semantic information ina given context--can lead to misleading inferences on the part of readersof ads, but inference also operates to convey the information theadvertiser wants conveyed (Percy 268). Venkatesh. The young man has a typewriter and is apparentlythinking deeply as he types. Sony is known for otherelectronic products, and indeed the monitor in the sand in the photo couldas easily be a Sony television connected to a Sony VCR. Semiolinguistic Manipulation in Print Advertising." In Karen Haworth, John Deely, and Terry Prewitt, Semiotics 199 , 22-27. Accomplishingthis task requires the ability to communicate, but this communication oftentakes the form of manipulation of images and of language. The dark area at the left serves as the background forthe evenly spaced lines of the copy, all written in white. The glass in the January 1996 issue of Harper's is anelaborately made glass with the cup section held up by an asymmetricalglass latticework. What is this image supposed to mean? The magazines in which these ads appear appeal tothat sort of reader, magazines such as New York Magazine and the politicalmagazine George. Theimages push a number of buttons for the target audience. The ad is twopages wide. The copy is not such as to clarify the issue: "the future will become vivid spreadsheets will crumble before creativity information will marry entertainment they will have many children."The copy promotes the idea that computers will become more useful, butthere is nothing in this ad that explains anything about the Sony PC orthat says it will be more useful. Each ad has a message which is conveyedthrough language and image. Buy! Each iswearing odd glasses, and the impression is given that this is in thefuture. "Thoughts on the Importance of Psycholinguistics to the Understanding of Effective Advertising Communication." Advances in Consumer Research (1992), 268-269. Thedegree of personal relevance is thus important, for when there is littlepersonal relevance, complex syntax may decrease the motivation to processthe message. A second ad on the back of the October 1996 Scientific American has adifferent martini glass, this one created by designer Robert Lee Morris.The appeal is the same. Once you're there, you'll also discover American Express has over 1,7 travel service locations that are ready to help you in any way they can.The information in this copy is considerable--American Express is theworld's largest travel agency; it has over 1,7 locations; its officesprovide help to customers in any way possible. Is this afuture where they find the PC of the past? Every ad is designed for the medium in whichit is found. The appeal here is aflattering one--those who would read and adapt to the meaning of this adare people with imagination, people who are adventuresome, people who areready to embark on life and on adventure. The copycarries this idea further: Maybe you'd like to work out a plan with a financial advisor. According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, strongmessages can have their effectiveness decreased with syntactic complexity,while weak arguments can be increased through syntactic complexity (Lowery27 -271). The basicand recurring theme of these ads is found at the bottom of each ad--"There's More to Explore in Black." The ads thus have an appeal to thereader's sense of adventure on the one hand and intellectual pursuits onthe other. Larry Percy defines syntax as the composition or grammaticalarrangement of words. That audience is an upscale and educated one, as noted, and also arelatively young one. The target market is again an upscaleand young consumer group that would be interested in an imported alcohol,in this case a dry gin. Two women are featured, each in anoutfit reminiscent of clown motley, one red and the other blue. Lowery notes that complexity requires greaterprocessing effort, and thus she says that motivation to process the messageshould be a key determinant of the effect of complexity on persuasion. The ad is half apage, arranged vertically. Or maybe you need a better way to manage your portfolio yourself. They therefore attempt to construct an advertisement that will fully involve the attention of the potential purchaser and which will have a suasive effect (Harris 22).Harris goes on to note that in this way advertisers create a semiotic worldto persuade the consumer of the essential "rightness" of purchasing theproduct or service advertised. Lowery agrees that the verbal aspects of advertising are ofspecial interest, but she says that little empirical work has been done onthe effect of syntactic structure on the persuasiveness of advertising.She finds that there are a number of ways in which complexity can bemanipulated in the context of advertising, among them affirmativestatements vs. Following Harris,this is foregrounding, and the creator of the ad is clearly creatingsignificance by the way these words are set apart. The ad appeals to different forms of snobbery in arather blatant fashion. The final words are different in this ad, linking thetaste of the product to music: "The resonating taste whispers behind theexpected." Both ads make appropriate use of the medium, keeping the writtenportion to a minimum that is effective in the way ideas are created byforegrounding, just as the images chosen are imaginative and appealing tothe target audience.American Express--3 ads An interesting use of the medium is found in the October 1996 issue ofGeorge with three related ads for American Express, each on one of threesuccessive odd-numbered pages. In order to comprehend the meaningof the image, one has to read the opening of the copy below it: "When JackDaniel first gazed upon the pure spring water in this limestone cave, heknew he was on to something." The target market for this ad is the business reader of the magazine,though the nature of the ad does not seem appealing to that audience. An ad is effective if it does attract that target groupand ineffective if it does not. The ad createswhat is apparently thought to be a "cool" image, but it is not an imagethat makes much sense.Bombay Sapphire--2 ads The ads for Bombay Sapphire are part of a series, and this is what iswrong with any one taken by itself. The image is of a running mancarrying a cello. That is, the reader will turn the pagethree times and find an American Express ad, each reinforcing the messageof the previous ad, each using a different image and different copy, andthe three taken together reflecting different aspects of the AmericanExpress Company and its services. He is running down a wooden pier, and the pier extendsdiagonally across the two pages, leading to a calm sea on which issuperimposed a musical score. The repeated "do more" becomes the underlying message relateddirectly to American Express services. The message conveyed by theforegrounded words is suggestive of adventure and exploration, preciselywhat would appeal to travelers: "find more/do more." These words are setapart by being in a deliberately fuzzy type and by being all lower-caseletters. The words complement the image, showing thatthe company is one that will be there when you need it, that is largeenough to be trusted, that will persist over time, and that provides thecustomer with all services needed. The glass is designed by Ginny Ruffner, a well-known designer. The image used at the center of this ad is striking and soattracts the reader's attention, but the message is not clear at all. A certain adventurous spirit is appealed tohere as well with the primary heading: "It's Not Trespassing When YouCross Your Own Boundaries"--with the words "Trespassing" and "Boundaries"being foregrounded. "Symbolic Communication Among Consumers in Self-Consumption and Gift Giving: A Semiotic Approach." Advances in Consumer Research (1992), 147-149.Percy, Larry. At the bottom of the ad, anadditional line extends this idea further and links it directly to thetaste of the product being sold--"The intriguing taste slowly unfolds itsmysteries." "Intriguing" and "mysteries" are carefully chosen to have thesame appeal as the key word "imagination," and the image itself is onewhich bolsters the words. These are the foregrounded message in each case bolstering theimage and the meaning of the copy. Two classical pedestals stand side by side, one higher than the other. The copy is lengthy, and without a strong image to attractthe reader, there is little reason for anyone to stop and read it. This image is of the sort of life one can lead when one has a creditcard: Some people want to extend payment over time. "The Relation Between Syntactic Complexity and Advertising Persuasiveness." Advances in Consumer Research (1992), 27 -273.Pandya, Amil and A. In the upperleft region of the photo two words appear, and in the lower right cornertwo more. Tina M. The image is confusing,however, and seems designed for a certain shock value more than to convey auseful image to attract the consumer. The main goal of advertising is to motivate orpersuade people to buy a particular product or service, and among the mediaused to accomplish this are radio, television, newspapers, magazines,direct mail, billboards, posters, catalogs, and brochures. The advertiser generally links some form ofvisual material with ample linguistic material, with the latter beingmanipulated over and above the more commonly expected rhetorical uses oflanguage. The field of advertising has a long history, and it is a field that isindispensable in our modern society because it helps inform the public ofthe basic goods and services that are available in the marketplace.Advertising can be defined as any form of paid communication with thepurpose of motivating a reader or viewer to purchase a product or service,to influence public opinion, to win political support, to sell an idea or acause, or to act or think and perhaps influence others in the mannerdesired by the client. Alan C. Each bottle is speaking and saying the same thing--"Hey, hello down there." The image seems to mean that the rounded redbottle of cognac is superior to the taller green bottle of champagne whichis in turn superior to whatever might be below, but this is neither clearnor a particularly strong image or selling point. The first ad addresses those who travel, thesecond those using financial services, and the third those using credit orcharge cards. The young man in this ad, for instance, is seated on a mound ina hilly area, and the ad in this way links different interests in a naturalway, the interests being a certain outdoor adventurousness and theintellectual life. The image for the second ad is of a father holding his baby, and thead is for Financial Services. This manipulation is a type of foregrounding, a linguisticprocess in which some elements--words, phrases, sentences, stressings,intonations--are given prominence or made more significant by the creatorof the print ad. A huge tree provides the darkmass to the left. What is presumed to be one of his typedpages is soaring above in the shape of a paper airplane--this adventuresomeyoung man's thoughts thus literally soar. This is a particular lack given the factthat Sony is not known for making computers. Every ad has aspecific market it has targeted, meaning a specific consumer group itwishes to attract. At the top is a difficult-to-understand imageof a man carrying a lantern and standing at the edge of a waterway, with acave opening framing him. This also makes the entirety morememorable, and the reader can be attracted to one or all of the servicesadvertised.INEFFECTIVE ADSJack Daniels Whiskey The ad for Jack Daniels Whiskey appears in Business Week for November14, 1994, and it is an ineffective use of the medium. The picture is in stark black-and-white, andmost of the image is a dark silhouette. The second of the ads in the October 1996 issue of George is morespectacular and appeals in part through sheer size--it covers two opposingpages and makes good use of the extra room. Signs communicate with referenceto a shared code that affords a general set of possibilities for sendingparticular messages, while symbols convey meaning metaphorically tocommunicate complicated ideas of emotions (Pandya and Venkatesh 147).EFFECTIVE ADSJohnnie Walker Black--2 ads A series of ads for Johnnie Walker Black Label whiskey are effectiveat creating an image that will appeal to a certain upscale, educatedaudience. Thead takes a flip tone, but it is unfortunately also a tone that obscures themessage. It is alsocolorful, dominated by the dark blue night sky. Each has a different type of Remy Martin bottle on it, and each bottle isleaning to the left. These three ads make good use of the magazine medium, as noted. In the first ad, the photo is of an ancient temple somewhere in theFar East, with two people--presumably American Express customers--walkingdown a tiered area leading up to the temple. This is a magazine for upscale readers with an interestin literature, the arts, and society, and the ad tries to take an approachthat will appeal to a more affluent market, one that would be interested inchampagne. This is not a good use of the magazine medium. Works CitedHarris, Alan C. Eachimage is striking and attracts attention, and the succession of images islike following a story from page to page. Each uses a striking image, simple text,and foregrounding to accomplish its task, and each places the name of thecompany in the company logo appearing in the lower right-hand corner of thepage. It seems that everybody has different needs, which is why we offer so many different cards.The foregrounded message in this case is more flip than the earlier ones:"whatever more/do more." The copy in this ad does what all of the ads tryto do--it suggests a world of possibilities that American Express canfulfill. Ads both effective and ineffective will beconsidered here to see why some work and why others do not. The message being sold is entirely a message basedon image, and the image is deliberately one of experimentation, the avant-garde, the artistic, the intellectual, and the socially superior. Is this PC taking them to thefuture? The photograph used is simply not very good and notvery informative, and if you have to read all the copy to see what ithappening, you might never do so.Remy Martin The ad for Remy Martin appears on the inside back cover of Harper'sfor October 1996. The full page isa photograph, with a dark and out-of-focus area to the left and a clearerimage to the right. Any given ad doesnot seem to be saying anything important about the product and much moreabout the glasses, and this is not what is intended. The problem is notthat the ad is in black and white rather than color, for that can beeffective in itself. The target audience is again the educated and upscale reader of themagazine, but in general the market for American Express is everyone usingvarious financial services. The foregrounded messagedoes not separate well from the ad itself--"Hey, hello down there." Thisis not a good use of the medium, which depends on a stronger image andmessage to be effective.Sony This is an ad for Sony personal computers---PC by Sony. The heading for this ad offersthe following precept: "Let Your Imagination Fly and the Journey Begins"--with "Imagination" and "Begins" highlighted with larger type and adifferent color from the other words in the sentence. In one of these ads the color scheme is a sort of golden overlayon the color photographs, and the color is both muted and appealing becauseit contrasts so with the colors of other pages in the magazines. Theforegrounded message is as follows: "prepare more/do more." The third ad has an image of excitement, night life, andpossibilities, with the background an apparent night club or restaurant, anumber of people on the sidewalk, and a young man on a motorcycle at thecurb. Still others just want plenty of rewards. negations, active vs. The ad in the September 9, 1996 issue of New YorkMagazine has a literary tinge to it. All three ads use the same essential design pattern. Whatever it is, you can join two million of our clients who come to us for just the help they need.The copy emphasizes that 2 million people use this service, a tacitendorsement of its value. CONCLUSION On the semiotic level, signs and symbols in ads also produceinferences on the part of the consumer and are also used by advertisersbased on the advertisers' perception of motivating factors and the desireto create what Harris calls a sense of "rightness" to purchase a givenproduct (Harris 22). 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