In the next shot, the woman is out of the shower and into what appears to be her bedroom. The camera has focused in directly on her hair, showing the viewer the results of washing with Herbal Essences. The woman is shaking her hair from side to side, as though having her hair so light and bouncy was something she had never experienced until using Herbal Essences. The voice over says, ‘every woman should be this satisfied at least once a day’ whilst the woman is shaking her hair. This is the exact phrase used in the printed advert, and this helps to create brand identity as viewers recognise and remember the same slogans.
Using this phrase brings sexual innuendos into the TV ad as well as the magazine one. With each shake of her head, the woman says ‘Yes!’ She says yes three times in total, just as in the printed advert, this helps to create further brand identity as the connection is made between the same product adverts. Whereas in the printed ad presumptions had to be made about what the ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ related to, in the TV it is clear the woman is saying this because she likes the way her hair now looks. When the woman says her first ‘yes’ the camera is focused on her torso upwards. On the second ‘yes’, the camera shifts angle, and also focuses in so it shows the woman’s shoulders and upwards.
On the final ‘yes’ the camera is showing the woman’s face straight on, and is focused on just her face and hair. Increasing the focus like this creates the image that the more the woman looks at and shakes her hair, the more satisfied she becomes with it. This would attract consumers to buy the shampoo as they can see the results for themselves, and the woman’s reaction to the shampoo is also an incentive for people to go out and experience it for themselves. Just as there appeared to be in the printed ad, there seems to be an increase in the contrast of the hair with the woman’s face, in order for it to stand out and catch the viewer’s attention.
The advert ends with a shot of a Herbal Essences shampoo bottle and conditioner bottle standing next to each other on a towel in the right corner of the screen. The background is out of focus so that it is just the bottles, which catch the reader’s eye. Throughout the advert, quiet yet lively piano music is playing in the background. This soundtrack creates the feeling that something revolutionary is going to happen, as the music becomes louder and faster as the ad progresses. The music does not seem to have been chosen for appeal; rather it is chosen for to set the scene.
Overall, the TV ad gives the message that Herbal Essences shampoo is a life-changing shampoo, which will create immensely enjoyable experiences and beautiful hair. It does through the use of cameras focusing in on the important aspects of the ad, and a narrative, which keeps the attention of the viewers, whilst over-dramatising the power of Herbal Essences to add an element of comedy.
By taking the viewer through a storyline, and showing the woman actually using the shampoo, the TV advert seems less likely to have been staged, and makes it seem more relevant to a woman’s life by using a common scenario. The magazine advert had only a limited scope, whereas the TV advert was able to include a larger number of scenes in order to build up a bigger picture. Despite the TV ad only lasting 18 seconds, it successfully showed a full narrative that helped to make advert seem more related to reality. This is important as it again makes the reader feel the product is real in what it claims to do and this helps to strengthen its brand identity.
The TV advert reinforces the idea because the pace at which the advert moves is quick showing how quickly emotions change, and this make the viewer feel that the product is suited for their needs because it is a product that is portrayed in a real situation and at a real speed. The TV ad also attracts a larger target market, as women of any calibre could use Herbal Essences, as neither the voice-over nor the situation eliminated anyone. The TV advert was also more successful because of the way in which humour was mixed with sexual connotations and normality. The TV advert was also able to focus in on the important factors, whereas the magazine advert could only focus in on so many features.
