advertising_techniques_and_methods

8/7/2019 Advertising_Techniques_and_Methods

1/7

Advertising Techniques and Methods

Designing an ad requires a lot of work and ingenuity, but as much creativity a copywriterwould have, there still is a planning that is required to be met. It doesn't guarantee the

success, but it makes more efficient the work of ad creator. Simplified in two phases, the

planning should be the one below.

The first stage consists in determining the category of the ad, according to the

classification: national advertising, regional advertising, local advertising; advertising forretail trade, industrial advertising, and professional advertising. The second phase

consists in establishing the five basic elements of planning the strategy, which bears this

name because the changing of any of them means the changing of the advertising

campaign. These elements are:

1. The client (the sponsor) and its reputation. Since the sponsor is the one who will

benefit and the one who pays, there must be known, in advance, some information about

the company size, its financial position, whether it is or not a traditional company, itsreputation, its model of distribution and marketing and who its clients are.

2. The product or idea that represents the image of the advertising. There must be studied

the characteristics of the product, the performances exposed compared to the real one,

how different it is from other products on the market, a trait of character (beneficial

ownership) to distinguish it from other products, how attractive it is for the buyers. Anessential point is the position of the product in its life cycle, whether it is new, old, rising

or declining. After this identification, a copywriter should be able to make a list of the

most appealing features of the product, known as sale of assets. The most important assetshould be in the top of the list. The advertising will contain a maximum of three assets,

the most important asset being the dominant asset.

3. The audience or the public (customers, buyers, and final users). The information about

them can be obtained from surveys, survey-based questionnaire formal or informal

interview, but they must be real and objective. Now matter WHO, WHERE, WHEN,HOW and WHY he buys!

4. The advertising objectives. These can be:

a) Institutional; there are expected results in perspective and it's outlined the prestige of

the company, the low price, the 'efficient' value, the quality received for that price.

b) On product; there are expected seasonal or immediate results and the advertising

promotes a new product and the policy of the stable prices.

5. The way or the communication environment represents several information channels,

by which the message of the advertiser reaches the customer. The message can be

exposed in newspapers, magazines, mail (known in the Anglo-Saxon literature as "direct


2/7

mail"), "points of sale': posters, postcards, pins or radio and television/. Here are two very

important things: who will read the ad (audience magazines, newspapers, radio-TV

broadcasts) and the costs so that we are able to respect the advertising budget.

The advertising campaign

In the national ad for large enterprises, the ad plan is developed one year before. The year

is calculated from January 1, but more often it's considered the fiscal year, which begins

with the month with the highest volume of sales.

The planning of these programs starts with six months to a year before. The promotion

consists of a series of ads related to a product (service) which generally have the same

objective or central unifying idea. This can be expressed in several ways, but each ad hasa "family resemblance" with the other. This ensures maximum impact on the buyer.

Regardless of the budget, the continuity of a unified campaign makes that each campaign

to contribute to the following one. The central ideas can be categorized into four classes:

1) Verbal - a combination of words that will form the title of an ad campaign;

2) visual- photos, aesthetics, design;

3) A combination of the first two - there are applicable to those ads that are unified, adafter ad, from the verbal title and visual illustrations;

4) Thematic - which refers to the core of the ad, to the message, which in the world ofAmerican professional ad bears the name of "advertising copy" or simply "copy".

The visualization of the ad

The task of illustrating advertising belongs to the director of the department of art ofadvertising agency. The creator of advertising or the "copywriter" must create the words

used in the ad and the basic concept. Therefore he must be able to think graphically, to

express his ideas and preferences to the drawer and must do it in a clear way, using fully

the different methods in which a product can be viewed.

Many designers think visually. That does not mean that they are able to draw. The

general opinion is that there are 20 ways of viewing which cover all possible situations,and these are:

1. Illustration of a single product (the profile photo of a person);

2. The product in a frame (a person in a room full of people);

3. The product being used (the teacher writes a formula on the blackboard);


3/7

4. The illustration of a benefit resulting from the use of the product (the teacher next to

three students who look happy because of their diplomas);

5. The illustration of a disadvantage arising from the lack of usage of the product (the

teacher showing the list with the students who failed to the test);

6. Title staging is one of the strongest possible views. When it's well done, it's so efficient

that you can't say if the title or the illustrations have been created first.

7. The proof staging. (The teacher in sandals and shorts, receiving the Nobel prize for

Economics);

8. Dramatizing a detail. (The teacher confused by the volume of works prepared by

students);

9. The comparison (the product versus other similar product);

10. The contrast -the product compared with a totally different object: a picture 'before'and 'after', the advertising brand and an inferior brand.

11. Cartoons;

12. Commercial mascots;

13. Maps and diagrams - very useful in advertising and technical trade. When used asadvertisements for consumer (public), they reduce the 'technical' appearance;

14. X-rays, a section of the product. They are never real, but they can be very realistic;

15. Symbolism - the illustration of an object that has acquired significance beyond the

literary - a shoe, a laurel wreath with two hearts together, a heart pierced by an arrow,etc..;

16. Abstract illustration - used for advertising ideas or advertising services;

17. A series of small photos, a video device - camera.;

18. An emotional illustration- the teacher surrounded by students; the product in aromantic environment;

19. The illustration of the product in its packaging - it's very important because this way,the product will be recognized in the store, from the shelf, instantly;

20. The illustration of ingredients or raw materials of a product.


4/7

The choice of a certain advertising technique is influenced by the product, by the way in

which were created the advertising to the product by the proceeds. Certainly, the

visualization depends on who will watch to those advertising.

The slogan

A slogan is a sentence or part of a sentence designed to help the reader or listener to

retain the message.

Characteristics:

- To be short;

- To be easily understood;

- Easily recognizable;

To the creation of a slogan can be applied many figures of speech for poetry or literature.

The slogan may have rhythm, rhyme, or parallelism. The slogan functions are:

a) To describe the use of a product;

b) To suggest the very special advantage of the product;

c) To suggest the benefits resulted from the frequent use of the product;

d) To highlight the quality of the product;

E) To join a family of products;

F) To "sell" the company as an institution;

g) To prevent the substitution and to protect the patent rights.

The ad platform

It is part of the presentation made before launching the advertising campaign and it mustbe approved by the client. It contains the "ad duties": what is allowed and what is

prohibited by the customer, what must be necessarily included in the ad and what can be

omitted. It is an affirmation of certain general concepts and a review of small details thatmay prove as important as the large ones.

Among the general concepts is (1) the ad, (2) the selected target audience, (3) the centralidea of advertising, (4) sale strengths.


5/7

The details include specifications required by law, how it will be used the name of the

company, the correct address and small but important convention that must become part

of the final ad.

TV advertising

The characteristic features of television as an environment suitable for advertising are:

- Television is first of all a visual environment and it must be considered as it is from thebeginning;

- No other environment involves the consumer as fully as television, and this implication

makes the television the most powerful ad tool.

Basic principles to be considered are:

1. The picture of the company (popular, luxury)

2. Television channels that run ads;

3. The TV programs that precede and follow the ads;

4. The audience;

5. The product (benefic proprieties);

6. The company goal.

A television ad is written like a screenplay. The line appears in the printed page. At rightis the audio section that includes: announcements, messages, sound effects (the latter are

written in capital letters and will not be read). In the left box is the video all written in

block capitals. After reviewing and approving the script, the ad creator and the illustratorwill collaborate in achieving an explicit ad in the form of double panels at the top, like a

small TV screen, containing a scene of the ad.

These panels, called "storyboard", allow the agency to explain to the client the ad

appearance in a way that facilitates the perception on the scenes sequences. There are

extremely useful for studio film, because even if it will not be respected as such, it willshow clearly the idea behind the video advertisement.

TV ads generally take 30 or 60 seconds (only very large companies allow their ads to lastmore than a minute), therefore an effective advertisement should be limited to a single

message. Although the video and audio should be connected one to another, the words

should rather interpret the film and not to follow step by step the action presented on the


6/7

screen. The video part should send at least half of the message meaning. It is preferred a

dynamic image instead of a static one.

Radio advertising

The radio is a personal environment, as different members of the same family listen todifferent channels. It is a more selective environment, where the selection of the channel

shows accurately an age group, a family member, an income, an educational level and

others.

Geographically, the radio is even more selective. A customer can sponsor a program, can

participate to a program or can buy an ad. There are various points of minimum and

maximum audience, which translates into the cost required for transmitting the ad.

The ads can be presented live or taped and each has its advantages and disadvantages.

The first type of ad has vitality and charm, especially if the person who reads it is a well

known personality. The message can be adapted to current events; the taped message canbe realized better: there aren't possible human errors, but it's invariable and inflexible.

The best solution is a combination between those two, the body of the ad being taped andthe introduction and the end-live.

It is important to draw the listener's attention with a moment before launching the most

important message. That's why the ads start with sound effects or with a musicalintroduction from a well known song.

Advertising on other environments

1. Direct mail. The functions of the mail messages are:

a) To get orders;

b) To inform the effective and potential buyers about the new products, information,special offers;

c) To inform the merchants about the new plans distribution and promotion of the

company;

d) To offer pre-sales and post-sales services to the customers.

The mail is particularly effective when it addresses to some trade areas that are not very

well known. Its effectiveness depends on the lists that are used. In a shop it is used an

ordinary customer list, the list of buyers on credit, or those who have taken the name aftera purchase made with credit card or invoice.

The flexibility of the environment is reflected by the variety of existing lists: by

profession, by income, by membership of a club, by propriety (cars, houses, banks).


7/7

2. Advertising outdoors. Advertising to the sales point.

These advertising include:

1. Posters - lithographing sheets pasted on various media and generally lit at night;

2. Outdoor Painting - directly on a metal plate, illuminated at night;

3. Lighted ads, with smoke, steam or anything that draws attention.

advertising_techniques_and_methods

Documents