Media plays a very important role in society, especially in the form of encouraging certain behaviour through advertising. Using a wide range of persuasive techniques, brand images are constructed and maintained in a way that makes the audience very familiar with them, which are exemplified in the three campaigns under analysis. Within this Essay, the reader will notice how each of the mobile adverts under analysis – Trium, Bt Cellnet and Sony have used a range of persuasive techniques to promote the product. The Trium advert is representing a story of friendship, and how important it is to keep in touch.
It is in black and white, which suggests memories from the past. The denotations of the advert are a girl whispering in someone’s ear and a tiny picture of the phone in the corner. The connotations of the advert are youth, innocence, childhood and communications. The advert isn’t typical of most adverts because it’s trying to sell the phone through the ideas of childhood, and keeping in contact with old friends by using the Trium mobile. The information words it has used to promote the phone are: WAP, email, games, music, and the words that persuade the reader: handy, little, pleasure and interactive.
The Sony advert represents a story of peace and relaxation. The denotations of the advert are a young woman sitting there with her eyes closed, and clear water being poured down her back. She is holding the Sony mobile, and wearing little clothing, which has represented a male gaze. The connotations of this advert are sex, exotic, peace and tranquillity. The words they have used to persuade you are: heavy with features, many, simplest, swiftest, travels, light. The BT Cellnet adverts consist of two separate adverts, which have the same initiative.
The first one shows a lady (main feature), standing at a bus stop in the rain, amoung two young men. Her shirt has gone see-through, and her bra is visible. The connotations include the lady’s embarrassment, which you can clearly see by her body language. The men in the picture are amused. The other BT Cellnet advert has a man who has just come out of the toilets, and he is staring at his trousers because he has noticed a wet patch, which makes it look like he has wet himself. It is in cartoon form, unlike the other adverts, which is appropriate as it uses cartoon style toilet humour.
The connotations are embarrassment, and an “accident”. There isn’t much writing with these two BT Cellnet adverts, just the strapline at the bottom which reads “Life contains enough embarrassments without your mobile being one”. It is written in a clear, bold font so people take notice easily. The visual and written codes have been expressed differently within each advert. Each advert gives you information about the phone, pictures and persuasive language. Each advert puts across a different message. The Trium advert has used communication as its main idea.
It is suggesting that you will loose contact with friends and that each memory of your past will fade, without talking about it. The Sony advert has used its uses/capabilities as the main idea. You can do different things with the phone to make it suit your needs and make it personalized and unique to you. It is trying to say that this is the phone for you, as you can make it suited to you. The BT Cellnet adverts have used image and identity as their main idea. It’s telling you that having a stylish BT Cellnet mobile will be one less embarrassment off your mind, and that having a good looking phone will make you look a better person.
The Trium advert would be suited in a women’s magazine, for women that are middle aged and are getting on with their life’s and children. The Sony advert would be best suited in a men’s magazine. The BT Cellnet advert with the Lady would be best suited in a men’s magazine, the other one with the male would be best suited in a teenage magazine or a magazine for young women. Each advert has been targeted towards different audiences, and for different reasons. Trium has directed their advert towards 20-30yr old women who need to keep in touch with their friends and family as they start getting on with their life.
Sony has directed their advert towards men and women in their 20’s and 30’s who like to make their items more their own and personalized in order to enhance their image. The Bt Cellnet adverts have cleverly been directed towards both men and women in a way that makes them laugh and think at the same time. From teens to young adults, and of whom like stylish objects, teenagers specifically who want to be seen as “trendy” The representation is also different in each advert as they have used different ways to promote the product, like BT has used embarrassment where as Trium and Sony have used Communication.
The Trium advert has used a girl and boy, which are both at a young age, which suggest that childhood may be in the past but you need to stay in contact with your friends and family and keep those memories alive. It represents childhood friendships as something glorious. The Sony advert has more of a male appeal and would make them think that with the phone you can get a better girlfriend and stay in contact with her by using the phone. Women might not take interest in the advert, as the women in the advert is represented as a sexual object which is more men’s taste.
Brand images are developed and maintained through adverts, including the ones I have just analysed. By going through each advert I have seen how they appealed and targeted it to different audiences by using different written and visual codes. After analysing each advert I conclude that the BT Cellnet advert is the most effective in my opinion, as it has humour, which attracted me to like it. As I am part of the targeted audience, I can say that the advert set out to do what it’s supposed to do and its worked well.
