Or, how to persuade people to buy stuff they don’t really want or need

Advertising Or, how to persuade people to buy stuff they don’t really want or need

Advertising Exposure • "A good advertisement must do five things and do them all. If it fails in one, it fails in all. It must make people see it, read (listen/watch) it, understand it, believe it, want it." --newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane, quoted in Jeannette Smith's The Advertising Kit, 1994

How much is advertising a part of your life? Average American sees 1,000 ads per day according to NBC special, "Sex, Buys and Advertising" • Average U.S. citizen exposed to 32,000 ads per year Mark Dery, cited in Adbusters Quarterly • Number of commercial messages seen by age 40? 1,000,000 ads, according to Neil Postman

Advertising • Where is all the advertising coming from? • List as many places as you can think of where we are exposed to advertising

Advertising and You • Answer the following questions using full sentences in your books. • What forms of advertising do you notice the most? • What kinds of advertising do you enjoy? • Have you ever felt interrupted or annoyed by advertising? Why? • Can you think of an advert that made you want to run out and buy the product? What convinced you?

Advertising • What is the purpose of advertising?

Achieving the purpose • How do they make us believe we want or even need something? They try to make the audience believe that their product will make them; • Slimmer • Happier • More comfortable • Healthier • Successful • More fashionable • More beautiful • More intelligent • In fact make them the envy of all their friends!

Advertising slogans Finally. A test you don’t have to study for! Write down the name of the company the slogan belongs to. • Maybe she’s born with it, maybe its….. • Snap, crackle, pop • Have a break. Have a ……. • Just do it • Eat fresh • VorsprungdurchTechnik

Maybe she’s born with it, maybe its…..

Snap, crackle, pop

Have a break, have a

Just do it

Eat fresh

VorsprungdurchTechnik

Features of advertisements • Ads try to persuade us to buy things. They have a range of techniques which they use to make us believe we need their product

Branding • Branding-this term originally referred to ranchers burning an identifying symbol onto a cow • Now it is names and logos and being “burned” into our memory. • In groups, draw as many brand symbols as you can. Look around the room and see how many you can find.

Celebrity Endorsement • If you believe the celebrity uses the product, you may be more likely to but it

Repetition • Research shows that the more a person hears or reads about a product the more appealing it becomes • Advertisers develop slightly different versions of the same ad, so the product name and slogan are repeated, but the variation will keep you paying attention

Offer a solution • Advertisers use “before” and “after” shots showing the effect of a new shampoo or skin cream. • They fix a problem-chewing gum for bad breath.

Imperative Language • This means to command or order. • Advertisers use it to motivate, to guide the audience, and to persuade the audience

Jargon • These words have a specific meaning in a specific context • Jargon can make a product seem technically advanced or cutting edge

Language Advertisers can use • Positive connotations • Emotive language • Hyperbole • Sensory details When ads do use words, they’re very carefully chosen

Spot the features • Infomercials. Yes people actually buy these things. That’s because they’re just so darned persuasive. • See how many features you can spot. It may be ones we have looked at or other ones you notice

Apply what you know • Each group will be given an item to advertise • The group with the best advertising and teamwork will win!

Or, how to persuade people to buy stuff they don’t really want or need