TELEVISION ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES

UNIT 30: Media Studies

By Ryan Maunder

FORM

One of the main elements of an advertisements structure is it’s FORM.

The form of an advert is typically defined by the purpose of the advert and the message that is trying to convey to its audience.

Whilst the form is not entirely determined by the purpose of the advert itself, the content is a major factor in deciding what form the advert should be to convey the message most effectively to have the desired affect on the audience whether it is to persuade them into buying a product or to shock them with a health warning from a government informercial.

FORM - ANIMATION

The term animation is a broad definition and can be anything from stop-start animation with clay figures to complex CGI (Computer Generated Imagery).

CGI is most commonly used in commercials selling products or services, as it allows the marketers to create scenarios that would be impossible to construct in real life, by using computers to create the images instead. This allows them to create eye catching visuals that attract the attention of the viewer and help persuade them into buying the product.

Animation is most commonly used in advertisements aimed at children as the easy to identify visuals and bright colours draws younger people to the advertisement due to its similarity to cartoon programs and the animation in those.

The Milky Way – Red Car/Blue Car advert is a perfect example of how animation is used in advertisement to create visuals that would be unachievable in real life. Examples of this are:• The Red Car opening up and

swallowing items• The Red Car drastically growing

in size• The Blue Car seemingly floating

down from mid-air• Jumping over the canyonThe effect of this form in this advert is a fun to watch advert for all ages whilst also informing the customer about the product and convincing

them to buy it.

FORM: DOCUMENTARY

Most commonly used by charities and by government organisations for infomercials, Documentary form advertising is relatively low-budget and doesn’t take much creativity to create due to its simplistic style.

Features of Documentary form advertising are the speaker or narrator addressing the audience directly acknowledging their presence which makes it non-fiction and thus factual giving it the feel of a documentary.

It is most popular with charities because they want to state facts and information to the viewer as it is the story behind their cause that usually gets people to donate to the foundation. By using a documentary style they can grab the viewers attention without exaggerating anything and just simply telling a non-fictional story- typically that of an underprivileged individual or someone who is suffering to make the viewer sympathise and want to donate to their cause.

Dogs Trust are fantastic examples of a documentary form advert. They are very simple and don’t need much creativity, using close-ups on the ill and under-privileged dogs to provoke feelings of guilt and sadness in the viewer. This is effective particularly for charities because most of their causes stem from traumatic events or destructive conditions such as diseases or natural disasters. This particular is a good example due to its use of:• Close-Ups• Narrator directly addressing viewer• Non-Fictional

FORM: MINI FICTION:

A Mini Fiction is an advertising form used most commonly for commercial advertising. It centres around a very short narrative typically not much longer than a minute with the reveal of the product at the end of the advert.

The effectiveness of Mini Fictions is centred around their use of cinematography and mis-en-scene to make it seem like a television show or film rather than an advert which will catch the consumers attention more as opposed to just shoving the product or service the advert is trying to sell in their face.

The use of techniques within a Mini Fiction creates a air of suspense when the product is not revealed initially which adds on to the effect of drawing the consumer in as they try to guess what the advert is for, typically Mini Fictions will not give away any massive clues to the product until the reveal.

This advertisement by Lynx is a fantastic example of your typical Mini Fiction commercial. It contains all the elements needed to define a Mini Fiction such as:• Film like cinematography with

numerous camera angles• Elaborate mis-en-scene • A narrative with a sense of suspense• Shot in 16:9 ratioYou can see in the advert an air of suspense created in the narrative with elements of mis-en-scene we as an audience associate with war such as a briefcase missile controller, military figures, tanks and more. However the end of the advert results in the reveal of actions of love which then sets up the revelation of the product appropriately titled ‘Lynx Peace’.

FORM: TALKING HEAD

A form of advertising in which a ‘customer’ who has used the product before talks directly to the audience telling them how good the product is and how it has had a positive impact on their lives.

Its most commonly used in household products (such as washing powder, dishwashing liquid) or cosmetic products (toothpaste, makeup, hair removal etc.)

It uses very little creativity and uses the persuasion of the person on the screen to sell the product. It often features recommendations from ‘professionals’ in the field of use e.g. a dentist for toothpaste or a dishwasher repair man for dishwashing tablets, and often incorporate a comparison to rival products to highlight how their product is better.

This Cillit Bang advert is fantastic example of Talking Head form. It meets the criteria of a typical Talking Head commercial:• Customer saying how it has had a

positive effect for them• Comparison to other products• Showing the product in use to highlight

how good it isThere is very little creativity in the advert and it focuses entirely on the product and has no narrative and only uses mid-shots to show the narrators and close-ups to highlight the products affect.

FORM: SERIES

Series advertising is a similar style to the Mini Fiction form however the message of the advert is known before the end as the continuing narrative from advert to advert allows the consumer to identify the product without even seeing it just by knowing the story.

It is most commonly used with a humorous twist, and incorporates creativity and lots of cinematography. It brings back the same characters from episode to episode allowing the consumer to identify the characters immediately and know what product is being sold.

These series of adverts by Cravendale in which cat’s become increasingly advanced and intelligent so that they can steal milk from humans is a great example of a Series form of advertising. It incorporates important techniques such as:• Narrative• Use of multiple camera angles to make it

feel like a film and not an advert• Features the product and a recurring

themeIt was very successful and was voted best advert series of 2011 due to its humorous story and success at boosting the brands sales.

FORM: STAND ALONE

The most common form of advertising are Stand Alone adverts. They are very rarely longer than a minute and often feature no complicated narrative or extremely creative elements but just simply try to attract the attention of the consumer and persuade them to buy the product. There are no definitive elements to make a Stand Alone advert as it can incorporate features of the other forms of advert excl. the Mini Series as that would no longer make it a Stand Alone.

The videos to the right are simple examples of Stand Alone commercials.

STYLE

Style is somewhat similar to Form however instead of looking at how the advert is presented, it looks more closely at what route the advertising body wants the commercial to go down to convey their desired message most effectively.

Style is more focused on the micro-elements of the advertising rather than macro-elements, essentially it is looking more closely at specific techniques used within the advert to target specific audiences more effectively.

This could be through Shock, Humour, Emotions etc.

STYLE: NOSTALGIC

Nostalgic advertising is a style which can be only used by well established brands with a relatively long history. This is because to provoke feelings of nostalgia the consumer needs to be able to recall the memories of the product from times long ago.

It is most commonly used by well established brands and often incorporates some of the brands old adverts or elements of them to create the sense of nostalgia. This may be through the use of making the footage look more vintage and old fashioned, or by setting the advert in a significant point in history such as the end of a war or an anniversary.

Typically nostalgic adverts are used for products or services aimed at adults and senior citizens as they are the ones with the lifespan to recall the significant events that the nostalgic advert is most likely referencing too, it is un-affective on younger children as they simply don’t have the life span to recall many significant events with memory of the emotion they were feeling at the time.

This Hovis advert titled ‘Through the Years’ is a perfect example of a nostalgia advert. It’s use of mis-en-scene particularly captures the periods of time it is referencing to including the First World War, V-Day, the Mining Strikes and other significant points in history through the characters’ wardrobes and the setting. Good examples of nostalgia in this are:• Soldier’s uniform to represent WW1• Police Riot Gear to represent Miners

Strike• Wrecked houses to represent the

Germans bombing during WW2This is aimed particularly at older generations due to the period of time since these events but can also be a window to the past for younger viewers.

STYLE: HUMOROUS

Humour is a style of advertising that is very broad and appeals to a wide range of audiences. Typically the sense of humour will be aimed at the audience that the product is made for. For example if the advertisement was made for a child it would contain childish humour that appeals more to the children as opposed to adults or older generations so that they can attract the products intended consumer.

Humour is a very difficult style to achieve as if the joke is unfunny or is taken offensively it could be a marketing disaster. Many adverts have been recalled in the past due to ill-mannered jokes or just simply unfunny ones that didn’t attract anyone to the product. An example of this is the 2009 Skittles advert where a man who touches anything turns to Skittles, and in the advert he picks up a child who turns to Skittles. Many people found this sick and complained against the company.

• The Mr T Snickers commercials are very good examples of the style Humour being put into very effective use in an advertisement. The advert itself is aimed primarily at adult men, and its use football, Mr T (a very masculine figure) and references to the A-Team makes it very good at catching its target audiences attention.

• The sense of humour within the advert is also good, making fun of a man acting like a baby something blokes in real life do to each other.

• When humour is used in advertisements, if done well it can be a massive success and even get the advert itself to gain a cult following.

STYLE: SURREAL

Surreal adverts are a style of advertisement that are over the top and/or bizarre to get the attention of the consumer. Typically the advertisement will have no relation whatsoever to the product.

Surreal advertisements use their bizarre nature to gain media attention and typically get people talking about the advert due to its absurdity and then news of the advert spreads through word of mouth. Surreal advertisements sometimes are not for a specific product but just for an entire brand, as the word of mouth spread of surreal advertisements is very good for getting your brand more widely known.

Surreal advertisements like humorous ones however are high risk as if the advert isn’t surreal enough or is weird in a disgusting way that people don’t want to share then the likelihood is that the advertisement will fail and be a massive loss to the firm.

• ‘Belly’s Gonna Get Ya’ is a very good example of a Surreal style advert. The bizarre-ness of the visuals in which a huge belly is chasing a man has some minor relevance to the brand but the way to choose to advertise it is so bizarre that it almost draws attention away from what they are trying to sell and to the advert itself.

• Having said this the marketing itself as a massive success as not long after the advert Reebok’s sales increased due to people searching up their brand after watching the iconic advert.

STYLE: SHOCKING/DRAMATIC

The use of Shocking and Dramatic styles in commercials is a bold advertising move, which if done effectively is better than most other styles at really grabbing the attention of the audience.

Shocking the audience imprints the image or message of the advert into their head typically in an unpleasant manner. Shocking the audience is most effective when the shock is an unpleasant one and because of this firms trying to sell a good very rarely use it as it associates their product with a bad feeling for the consumer.

Instead it is a style most commonly used for health messages or government warnings such as safely crossing the road, or anti-smoking adverts as the shocking images make the viewer associate the negative feeling they got from the advert with the smoking, unsafe behaviour etc.

This commercial from Ireland, representing the dangers of speeding is very hard hitting as it starts off as a seemingly nice advert with a young couple in love. However in seconds the boy is killed and the girl is dead and everything is ruined because of speeding drivers. The sudden shock to the system and the raw, gruesome footage shocks the audience and leaves a lasting image in their head for them to think about. The advert is very effective in its purpose of making the audience associate speeding with the horrible shock of the advert and thus making them think twice about doing it in the future.

STYLE: PARODY

Parody style advertisements use the success of other well established media to make humour of and turn into their own success for their own brand.

Typically the Parody will make fun of the original piece or alternate it into a comedic one making Parody style very similar to the Humorous style of advertising. It is relatively easy to make a Parody of something pre-existing as the base for the idea is already laid out, all you have to add on is a humorous twist.

118 118 are known for their adverts in which they regularly make parodies from already successful forms of media. One of their most popular was their parody of Ghostbusters in which they changed the song lyrics to call their company.

Because Ghostbusters is already a massive brand in itself by using this as the base for their parody 118 118 already had a good foundation to find new customers from and entertain audiences with their adverts resulting in more publicity through word of mouth.

STYLE: TECHNICAL ELEMENTS

The technical elements affect the presentation of the commercial, which makes them a style in themselves. The technical elements can be anything from the positioning of the camera to movement of the camera, lighting, mis-en-scene, editing, soundtrack etc.

The choice of the technical elements to go in the advert can make it more successful at delivering the message they want if it is done correctly. For example if you were to use a dramatic shot for a Parody or Humorous advert you probably wouldn’t put out your message as well as if you used a dramatic shot for a Shocking advert which is much more suited for the task.

Mis-en-scene is also easy to identify with the large belly in the reebok advert it is very bizarre mis-en-scene and fits will with the surreal-ness of the advert, however if it was put into a nostalgic advert it would make no sense at all and probably confuse the audience resulting in them to lose concentration on the matter.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS:

Advertisements are used today to promote and sell a product/service to the audience. Advertisements have strong messages to the audience, this being serious, funny or something which relates to them. Advertisements are used everywhere to make people aware of what is on the market and this is shown through TV adverts, Billboards, posters etc. TV adverts are the most popular and are most popular during the evening as this is when majority of people are free to watch TV after work.

The codes and conventions of TV advertising are:

Iconography

Editing

Lighting

Sound

Music

Computer Graphics

Special Effects (SFX)

SPECIAL EFFECTS AND COMPUTER GRAPHICS

Special Effects is defined as the tricking of/or illusion given to the eye used in film, television, theatre, video game or simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in the story or virtual world. It is often abbreviated to SFX.

In advertisement SFX are most commonly visual illusions used when the shot would not be possible to capture without the use of computer editing with SFX software. It can make illusions of something that is not possible and because of this it catches the audiences attention very well.

Good examples of this are the Evian Baby’s (dancing baby’s on roller blades), Cravendale Cats with Thumbs, or the Skittles Man (everything he touches turns to Skittles). Without the use of SFX these visuals would not be possible and because of this it plays a very important part in advertisements.

TECHNIQUES: SUBLIMINAL MESSAGING

Hidden Messaging is the technique of leaving a subliminal message in your advert that not every member of the audience will necessarily pick up on. The most common reason for subliminal messaging is that the firm is trying to use foul play to sell you something that you might not necessarily need, or lie about their product in order to convince you to buy it.

A firm often accused of subliminal messaging is Coca-Cola who in many of their adverts particularly their well known Christmas ones use hidden messages to make it seem as though drinking Coca-Cola will improve your life when it is common knowledge Coke is very damaging for your health even in small quantities. Because of this subliminal messaging is very closely monitored and if an advertisement is found to be convicted of subliminal messaging they may receive a punishment.

• This advert by Coca-Cola is one accused of using subliminal messaging. The supposed subliminal messages are the suggestion that in 60 years their recipe has not changed at all and that drinking Coca-Cola is part of a healthy diet to live a long productive life which is a false statement. It was never found guilty of subliminal messaging but it still has its critics.

• This advert is a good example of how simple and well hidden subliminal messaging can be even by a firm as large as Coca-Cola who would gain massive media criticism if they were found guilty of subliminal messaging.

TECHNIQUES: OVERT MESSAGING

Overt Messaging is essentially the polar opposite to subliminal messaging in that is completely out there and obvious what the message is. Most adverts contain overt messages as the general point of an advertisement is to persuade a consumer to buy your product or follow your advice etc.

Whilst overt messaging is completely legal, the message still has to be approved by the governing agency for that countries advertising and if your message is considered offensive, harmful or doesn’t meet their guidelines it will be dismissed which is why some firms and companies resort to subliminal messaging which is a lot more shady.

Essentially any advert you watch will contain an overt message of some form otherwise the advert would have no purpose to serve unless the entire advert itself was a subliminal message which is very, very unlikely.

EMOTIONAL RESPONSES:

Emotional Responses are very commonly used in advertising and the emotion being evoked will often be influenced by what the advert is trying to deliver. For example if a firm is trying to sell a good or service they will most likely associate positive feelings with it as that will make you more likely to buy the product. Another emotion used to convince consumers to buy their product is guilt and/or sadness by charities. They may show an endangered species of animal to the consumer and ask for a small donation thus playing on the consumers guilt and it is a very successful method of marketing if done effectively.

More negative emotions such as shock, fear and disgust are used by governments to promote their messages/laws, such as anti-smoking campaigns or safe driving adverts like the ones shown before in this presentation. These are very powerful emotions as people tend to remember what scares them more than what makes them happy as fear and shock are very scarring feelings for a consumer and they will then associate these feelings with the things they have been told not to do.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PRODUCT OR SERVICES

The main purpose of commercial advertising is to sell a product or service. To do this the firm will typically explain the BENEFITS of their product and the ways in which can improve the consumers lifestyle. This will usually be from existing customers reviews or awards that the product has received, and reviews from critics and the industry itself. By explaining the benefits offered of the product on offer it can potentially convince a consumer to try out the good.

Comparisons to similar/rival goods are often made by the market leaders who claim their product is better. This will be often be through on-screen comparisons in the advertisement, usually highlighting the areas in which the advertised excels and where the rival good falls short.

A Unique Selling Point (USP) is a feature of the product or service that no alternative can provide. It is a very good marketing technique as it means there are no identical rivals for their good meaning there is very little competition. A USP is most often achieved by innovations in technology or by achieving a patent from the government that allows only the people with the patent to produce said product.

The Lifestyle Appeal of the product will influence the style of advert and how it is presented. If a product is expensive andaimed at the wealthier classes, it will be advertised as more sophisticated and exclusive than a simple dishwasher cleaner for everyone to use. Because of this the advert will not appeal to lower classes or will make them want the product more because it seems elusive and extravagant and makes them want a better lifestyle, whilst people with money will feel it is necessary to have the product to show off their status.

Some advertisers can depend entirely on their Brand Identity to sell their product. Brand Identity is essentially the consumers perception of the brand and their loyalty to it and their products. A good example of a brand with a very successful brand identity is Starbucks, who are known for using Fairtrade goods giving them a positive image whilst also maintaining a very loyal consumer base because of the high quality of their goods. Because of this they very rarely advertise and when they do their adverts are simple because word of mouth and loyal customers make their business thrive.

REGULATION: ADVERTISING STANDARDS AUTHORITY

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the self-regulatory organisation of the United Kingdom’s advertising industry. The ASA is a non-statutory and because of this cannot interpret or enforce legislation. However its code of advertising practice plays a similar role to legislation in numerous instances. The ASA receives no funding from the British Government, but by a levy on the advertising industry.

The ASA defines its role as; to regulate the content of advertisements, sales promotions, and direct marketing in the UK by investigating complaints about ads, sales promotions, or direct marketing and deciding whether such advertising complies with its codes of advertising conduct.

Their code of conduct stipulates that; before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove all claims, whether direct or implied, that are capable of objective substantiation and that no marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise.

REGULATION: OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS (OFCOM)

The Office of Communications (OFCOM) is the British government approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.

OFCOM’s spectrum of powers spreads across television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens of consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material. Some of the main areas OFCOM presides over are licensing, research, codes and policies, complaints, competition and the radio spectrum from abuse.

The regulator was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002 and was given full authority in 2003 under the Communications Act 2003.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

OFCOM: - http://www.ofcom.org.uk/

ASA: - http://www.asa.org.uk/?gclid=CNPLyYiF-MECFYbKtAodzhEA_A

Youtube: - http://www.youtube.com/

ClipConverter: - http://www.ClipConverter.cc