In this essay, I shall be looking at three mobile phone adverts and analyse the way in which they are written and the way the technical and visual codes are combined to create the advertisement. Over the last decade, sales of mobile phones have increased rapidly. This is because many people, mostly teenagers, see mobile phones as fashion accessories, which is mainly due to the success of the advertisements. I noticed how the mobile phone adverts have changed over the past few years. When mobile phones first went on sale many years ago, the adverts targeted the wealthy. They consisted of denotations of wealthy people using the product.
This appealed to the rich and the connotations were that all wealthy people owned mobile phones. This is not the case today. The adverts now contain texts such as, “Bangin’ is spinning top tunes on the new Nokia’s 5510 Digital Music Recorder.” They also focus on the life style and image rather then the practical benefits of a phone. It is clear that mobile phone adverts now targets the young. The first advert I will analyse is the Samsung T100, which is a new model from Samsung with a full color screen. The second is an advert for Virgin Mobile, which is encouraging people to join Virgin Mobile and the third is advertising Vodafone, encouraging people to top up their pre-pay phones.
The advert for the, “Samsung T100” consists of two images and a few lines of text. One of the images is of the mobile phone and the other of a young, good-looking man using the product. There is a big Samsung logo at the top of the page and their slogan is printed at the bottom. This is usually that case as the advertisers want people to remember it. This is because people usually remember the last thing they see on an advert, which is usually whatever is at the bottom. The text consists of phrases such as, “Colour in the palm of your hand” and “Outstanding looks.” This advert is focusing on image.
The denotation is the man using the phone and the connotation suggests that owning this phone can improve your image. The positioning of the advert was in “Vogue” magazine, which contains high fashion and celebrity profiles but more serious in nature. The contents of this magazine generally appeal to young women, who usually care a great deal about image. The advertisers took this into account and therefore published it in “Vogue.” Though this product is not only aimed at young women. Young men may also find this advert very appealing. Having a young, good-looking male model for the advert can work both ways. It can attract women who are interested in men, or men may want to look like the man in the advert so they purchase the phone in attempt to. Also, their slogan “Everyone’s invited” suggests their product is for everyone, not just one group of people.
The advert for Virgin Mobile consists of one image and a few lines of text. The image is of a man’s face and the text reads, “His name is Dwight, he’s not so bright, his socks are white, but he can last all night. Don’t stay together for the wrong reasons.” This looks as if it written by hand and is supposedly written by his girlfriend who does not really like him. Again, the logo is printed at the bottom of the advert. The denotation does not make a very big difference and I was unable to establish any connotations. This advert mainly uses text to advertise the products. The narrative of this advert is, somebody is with Dwight, and that person is staying with him for inappropriate reasons.
It then says, “Don’t stay together for the wrong reasons.” This sentence has two meanings. It is telling the person with Dwight not to stay with him for the wrong reasons, but it is also telling us, the audience, not to stay with our current networks for the wrong reasons. The advert is aiming to convince customers of other networks to join Virgin. This advert was found in “Heat” magazine, which, again, contains celebrity gossip. Usually, young women purchase this magazine and this suggests that the advert is targeting young women. Also, the fact that the writing was written by a girl and talks about boyfriends also suggests this.
The Vodafone advert consists of one large image and one small piece of text. The image is of two beautiful women sunbathing and the text reads, “Forgot to topup your phone and you can forget telling people you’re topping up your tan.” The advert is also full of many bright colours, which I believe will create an immense difference. This is because bright colours create an attraction so many people will take notice. Again, the logo is printed at the bottom of the advert. The written codes are suggesting the importance of topping up our phones. This advertising technique is very different to the one above. The previous advert uses image to attract consumers where as this advert focuses on giving us the message that topping up your phone is important.
This advert also focuses on lifestyle. The two women in the advert are on holiday on a beach. This will appeal to people with a lifestyle similar to this one. The connotation is suggesting that you must top up your phone if you go on holiday. This advert was obtained from “OK” magazine, which contains celebrity gossip. This, again, appeals to young women. I believe this advert will mainly appeal to young women.
This is because the women in the advert are setting an example for all young women. It is sending the message that if you are on holiday like the women in the advert, you must top up your phone. I think this advert is mainly targeted at young women but it may also appeal to men. This is due to the one big image. Showing two young women in bikinis will attract many men’s attention. If the men see the advert and read the text, they may also purchase the product. This is a good example of male gaze. I believe this image was added in the advert by a male in attempt to attract men.
The three adverts I analysed were very different but they were all targeting the same people, the young community. The three adverts all used different methods in attempt to sell their product. The advert for the Samsung T100 uses image in attempt to attract people. The advert for Vodafone uses written codes to suggest to us the importance of topping up our phones and the advert for Virgin Mobile used written codes in attempt to convince people to change networks. The target audiences of all these adverts were the young community as they are now the biggest consumers of these products.
In conclusion, all three mobile phone adverts are targeted at the young community as they are now the biggest consumers of these products. In my opinion, the Vodafone advert is most effective. I believe this because of many reasons. Firstly, many bright colours are used, this creates an attraction and many people will take notice. Also, the image of two women will also create a huge attraction. This image is a good example of male gaze. I believe a male added this image in the advert in attempt to attract men’s attention.
