In this essay I am going to discuss the many different forms of advertising we are bombarded with every day. The dictionary definition of advertisement is: “public announcement to sell goods or publicise an event”. (Taken from WHSmith Mini English Dictionary). Companies use advertising as the sole way of getting their product to be sold. This can be done using many advertising techniques, these techniques are what I aim to discuss to the best of my ability. Comparative: uses other products to show how good the advertised product is.
An example of this is Orange comparing itself to BTCelnet. They compare their package to the more expensive package for mobile phones from BTCelnet. The effect that this way of advertising has on the viewer is that they will see the advertisement and think “well that Orange package is a lot cheaper than the one from BTCelnet, so I will go with that package because the other one is a lot more expensive”. Also if the viewers were already with BTCelnet, they would probably change services provider.
Celebrity endorsement: uses celebrities to influence the buyer. An example of this is Loriel using models and famous actors or footballers to promote their product of shampoo. This type of advert shows that if you use this product you will be as good as, or look as good as the person who is advertising the product. The effect of this has on the viewer is that they think, “Well if I buy that product (e.g. Nike Trainers) I will be as good at football or running as Thiery Henry or Maurice Green. Both of who are very fast and exceptionally good at their sport. On the other hand if the product being advertised is a beauty product then the viewer is most probably see a beautiful super model or actor such as Sarah Michelle Geller using the make-up (e.g. Mabeline). The people will think that if they use the product they will look a lot better than they do now.
Value for money: long lasting, durable. If a product is long lasting and durable then people will want to pay the money required to acquire an object even if that amount of money is fairly high. The reason for this is that people would rather have something that is going to last them a long time than something that will only last them a week and then they will need to purchase a new one. If someone spent three hundred on a dish washer from a well known retailer which they knew was going to last them over ten years I’m sure most people would rather have that dishwasher than go to a dodgy corner shop dealer and get a dishwasher for fifty pounds which will probably only last around eight months and doesn’t have any guarantee if it breaks down. The consumer is bound to want the “value for money” than the “get what you pay for product. Especially, if the consumer has any sense at all.
Price: can be high or low. The price of a product is very important to many consumers or potential buyers. The consumer is going to want to pay a good price for a good product. For example you are not going to want to pay an extortionate price such as five pounds for a Snickers bar, nor would you expect to pay five hundred pounds for a Lamborghini Diablo (unless there was something seriously wrong with it). The dictionary definition of price is as follows: “Noun. Amount of money for which a thing is bought or sold; unpleasant thing that must be endured to get something desirable. Verb. Fix or ask the price of.” It is important for the price to reflect the quality, exclusivity or worth of an object or the consumer or customer will not feel obliged to purchase the object unless they have more money than sense.
