The AA advertisement differs greatly from the Twix advertisement in terms of its graphology, which to an extent is due to the fact that the adverts have different types of produce to retail and hence, different target audiences and themes. Unlike the Twix advert, the colours used in this are not as vivid and instead of a more illustrative approach to bargaining the viewers’ endorsement, this advert, using text and statistics, begins by worrying the reader with alarming facts that could result in the loss of their car and the money that they brought it with.
The bold writing at the top of the page would be the first thing to gain the attention of a viewer along with the picture on the left, which after having bee seen may prompt a potential buyer to read the text. The first glance at an advertisement may make the difference between whether or not it is read or its content is realised by a person, and thus whether or not a sale is made.
It should follow then that the graphology of an advertisement is thought through warily, and though I think that the graphology of the AA advert is fine, I do not believe that it has achieved its aim better than the Twix advert in this case, seeing that, in my opinion, the advert for the Twix would have succeeded more in gaining the attention of its target audience than the AA advert would have. The people and setting employed in an advert, as well as the props used, may also contribute to gaining the interest of the viewer, and hence also must be considered carefully before being used in an advert.
In the AA advert only an aged woman is shown down to her shoulders to the left of the main passage of text. The woman’s expression here isn’t particularly joyful, which is explicable in that this advert isn’t trying to retail something that would give the buyer enjoyment, but rather is trying to concern the viewer with what may happen to them as individuals should they choose to ignore the advert.
I feel that this picture was put in place in order to give the viewer someone to compare to or someone that epitomises the image of the audience that this advert is targeting, and so may immediately bear relevance to the viewer being aimed at. By giving the viewer someone to balance themselves against, the advertisers are also making the advert more noticeable in that a page that uses a visual reference by which a person could immediately relate is more noticeable at a glance than a page simply full of text.
There is no particular setting for this advert, just a plain yellow background in front of which the woman is placed. The Twix advert, I feel, synchronises the use of setting and characters, with the black and white-coloured tones of norm contrasting heavily with all that is around him, to good effect. This both catches the viewer eye from the offset, and also aids in promoting the image that the advertisers are trying to sell for the product. The illustration is much more vivid than that used in the AA advertisement.
Norm is obviously the negative or dull embodiment that the advertisers are trying to contest with the personification of the Twix bars. The prop that the advertisers use by instructing the reader fold the page so that the Twix bars are complete and Norm is cut out from the frame illustrates the contrast between the two, with the image that the advertisers are emanating for the Twix bars being the opposite of anything dull or negative, which would obviously be something of a positive nature by which the viewer would covet to associate themselves.
In terms of the denotation of the adverts here, I feel that both excelled here in being appropriate and relevant in content to the aim at which was their objective. Although I found the Twix advert to be more eye-catching, I do not believe it would be fair to say that in effect it was better than the AA advert, as both adverts have different intentions to which they were created. The linguistic features of an advert, depending on the adverts’ context, may be appropriated and vary in order to help the advert appeal more to it’s target audience.
The language or text used in an advert may help in making it seem more appealing to a potential consumer, and help elevate a products sales when used relevantly and in conjunction with the rest of the advert. The AA advert uses persuasive language to influence the viewer towards buying the product being retailed, and also attempts to jolt the reader into doing so by rendering some facts and figures, which would dissuade them from simply ignoring the advert, and appreciating the help that it could attain them.
The Twix advert however contrasts to this and merely has a sentence from Norm being quoted as the main passage from which all else follows. ‘Just Aask. ‘ Is the slogan used by the car data check advert, making the AA seem like a helpful organisation and that no bother would occur to the person should they choose to enquire for further information whereas the Twix slogan ‘Twix a break from the Norm’ is revealed only when the original passage is enshortened as the page is folded in accordance with the instructions given to the viewer.
Appealing to the target audiences, which are being aimed at by each advert respectively, is ultimately the goal of both of the adverts that I chose, and indeed, all other advertisements. Overall, I think that both the AA car data check, and the Twix adverts have been well thought through by media advertisers, as I believe that they both target their intent audiences suitably well and that the techniques employed by both of them have objectively been in coordination actively with the aim of boosting product sales.
In spite of this fact, I believe that on this occasion the Twix advert targeted its audience better in terms of its content, although I found that the car data check advertisement may have been placed better in terms of its actual allocation. Whilst the Twix advert may not have been encountered by as many of its target audience, I think that proportionally it would have attained more attention from them than the car data check advert would have done due to its more appealing-to-target-audience-features.
