Common Advertising Techniques• HUMOUR• SHOCK• EMOTION• DEMONSTRATION• COMPARATIVE• CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT• ENIGMA ADVERTISING

Humour

HUMOURPRO• Memorable. Entertaining the audience can hold

their attention. Some of the most popular adverts are the funny ones, making the audience relaxed and happy.

• CON• Sometimes the consumer does not pay enough

attention to the product being advertised, or they just don’t get the joke.

Shock

SHOCK

• PRO

• Useful in changing behaviour so mainly used in public service adverts, insurance ads etc.

• CON

• Can be too extreme and alienate the audience – AIDS adverts

Emotion

EMOTION

• PRO• By appealing to the emotions and desires of the

audience they feel affection towards the brand. Examples – Andrex – the aaah factor, envy with the National Lottery Adverts, nostalgia with Hovis, romance with Impulse or even sexual desire with perfume adverts.

• CON• It has to be the right emotion and should clearly

represent the brand positioning or it doesn’t work.

Demonstration

DEMONSTRATION

• PRO

• Showing how a product works or how it has beaten a competitor – eg before and after stain removal, dandruff ads, car ads etc.

• CON

• People are becoming ever more cynical about advertising – do they believe weight loss adverts for example?

Comparison

COMPARATIVE• PRO• Used when two or more products are competing for the

same market – Whiskas – 8 out of 10 owners, who expressed a preference, said their cats preferred Whiskas, BMW beating Audi for awards.

• CON• Advertisers have to be careful they don’t look like they

have nothing positive to say about their own brand.• Legal problems - using a popular “rival brand” which

can make it meaningless, or unpopular.

Celebrity Endorsement

CELEBRITY PRESENTERS

• PRO• Testimonials (Cheryl Cole/Wayne Rooney)

or voice overs by celebrities adds value and quality to the product.

• CON• People know the celebrity has been paid to

appear, more likely to be cynical. What if they don’t like the celebrity involved?

Enigma

ENIGMA ADVERTISING• PRO• Used to get around industry guidelines which

govern the advertising of sensitive products – eg. alcohol– Guinness or products that are promoting sophistication to target a more sophisticated audience who think for longer about the brand as they try to figure out the puzzle. Also these ads flatter the audience into thinking they are clever for solving the puzzle and this goodwill is then associated with the product.

• CON• Frustration for the audience if they do not “get” the

message. They may ignore the advert all together.