HOW TO ANALYZE AN ADVERTISEMENT Prepared by Lars Thger Christensen, University of Southern DenmarkOdense January 2004 Before you begin

analyzing an ad, its a good idea to reflect a bit on the purpose of the analysis. Is the goal to discover strengths and weaknesses in the ad in order to help the organization develop a more persuasive campaign? Or, is the purpose to deconstruct the ad, to critique it as a text? Or, do you plan to analyze the ad as an exemplar of a specific social condition? While these purposes are not necessarily mutually exclusive, each entails a specific point of departure that conditions what we can possibly see in the message. For example, while we, as academics, are often critical of the sheer amount of ads in society, this critical stance sometimes prevents us from appreciating the creativity at play in a specific ad or ad campaign. The principles outlined below are relevant in each case, although the order of principles applied may vary according to your purpose. Please note: Although answers to all the questions below are essential in order to make a complete analysis, you may not have access all the relevant information. The Sender Is the sender a business firm trying to sell you and product or a service, a public organization seeking to inform you about its policies, a politician trying to win your allegiance, or an interest group hoping to change your opinion? Other? What difference does it make? Whats the ethos (the general standing or credibility) of the sender? Is the sender speaking directly to you? Or indirectly through an endorser? And who has created the text? Is there, in other words, a difference between the sender, the author and the person (if any) who addresses us? What purpose does such difference serve in this ad? What is the ad trying to accomplish? What is, in other words, the senders problem? Although it may not appear to us as a problem, theres always some kind of communication problem behind an ad or campaign. For example, the sender may seek more awareness, more differentiation, or more legitimacy. Are you aware of any specific communication problems (or conditions) within the senders specific industry, or market, or area of activity? Is the product, service or message from the sender new or old? Where in the socalled life-cycle of the product, service or message are we, in other words? The Message What does a straight-forward reading of the ad say? What is, in other words, its denotative meaning? Which connotations has the sender intended for us to observe? What additional connotations come to your mind when reading the ad? What ideologies does the ad evoke? In other words, what images, discourses, concepts, myths, etc. of the general culture does the ad trade on, or rework, when making its appeal? What types of intertextuality (reference to other texts) and intratextuality (reference to other parts of the same text), if any, can you detect in the ad? What types of signs does the ad employ? --Iconic: A sign that has certain qualities in common with the object it stands for: for example similarity. A picture of a person, for example, has iconic qualities because it is a sign that refers to that particular person through some degree of resemblance.

--Indexical: A sign that refers to its object because it is being affected by that object in some real way. Footprints on the beach, for example, are affected by the feet of somebody walking there just as smoke is often caused by fire. The relation between an index and its object is, in other words, based on causality or physical connection. --Symbolic: A sign with only conventional associations to the object it stands for: for example, a rose is for love. What type(s) of language does the ad employ? Imperative? Suggestive? Figurative? What type(s) of message appeal is employed (for example, fear, humor, sex, pulse, comparisons, repetitions, etc.)? What types of rhetorical figures (alliteration, antithesis, pun, etc.) can you find in the ad? What do these rhetorical figures do to the message? What types of rhetorical tropes (metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, ambiguity, paradox, ellipsis, etc.) can you spot? Again, what purposes do these rhetorical tropes serve in this particular ad? Having answered the questions above you should be able to characterize the ad as either: --Simple: A product and simple product information (often hard facts) on a neutral background. --Compound: Realistic pictures of use situations with fairly straight-forward associations: for example, the demonstrations of a (new) product in use. --Complex: The background takes over and the ad is replete with connotations indicating, for example, status, luxury, sex, or power. --Sophisticated: Extension of complex ads, employing subtle associations, advanced symbolism, or sophisticated inter- or intratextuality. What creative strategy does the ad use? Distinguish between the following types: --Generic: A message that is general for a whole product category (like, for example, Drink milk, its good for you!) --Pre-emptive: A message that suggests in words or pictures, or both the sender is better that its competitors (Carlsberg: Probably the best beer in the world) --Unique selling proposition: A message emphasizing unique product features that sets it apart from its competitors (This detergent washes your clothes white at a lower temperature) --Brand image: An independent image strategy, where the image is foregrounded (for example, the campaigns from Camel or Marlboro cigarettes) --Positioning: A dependent image strategy, where the sender leans on the image(s) of another organisation (Subaru: Volvo has built a reputation for surviving accidents. Subaru has developed a reputation for avoiding them.) --Resonance: A message that appeals to central themes in the life of the receiver (like, for example, Dont you know the feeling when none of your kitchen appliances are workingThen its good that we have X (a kitchen appliance rental firm)). How does the ad connect concrete product features (so-called message elements) with more abstract values (the so-called driving force)? Is the message part of a standardized, global campaign or is it specifically adapted to a local market?

The Receiver What model or implied receiver can you spot in the ad? The model receiver is the image of the receiver as envisioned by the sender when crafting the adin other words, not the actual receiver. You can distinguish between the following types: --The rational model receiver: When the receiver is appealed to through the use of rational information, (pseudo)scientific argument, or by highlighting functional characteristics.

--The conditioned model receiver: When the receiver is communicated to using simple hierarchy-of-effects principles, or appealed to by simply reiterating the same message. --The integrated model receiver: When the receiver is appealed to by focusing on the opinion of significant others (like, for example, Buy this before your neighbor does!) --The emotional model receiver: When the receiver is communicated to through the use of a-rational or non-rational appeals (like, for example, Why wait till tomorrow; get it now! or the use of subtle imagery and complex symbolism). --The active model receiver: When the receiver is appealed to as person whos actively constructing his or her own life out of available means (or fragments)a postmodern consumer, for example, who picks and chooses freely across categories. Who do you imagine is actually seeing the ad? Reading it? Involved in it? And affected by it? Explain. Distinguish between external and internal receivers. What group of external receivers to you imagine is mostly affected by the ad? Why? And internallywho among the organizations own employees, is most involved in this ad?

Assessment or Evaluation Is it a good ad? Why? What do you like most about it? Why? What do you dislike the most? Why? Do you think it works? Why? Or Why not? How could the ad be improved? Could the sender have conveyed the same message using other strategies, other persuasive means? If so, explain. Even if you dont believe that this particular ad works or persuades you, is there anything in the ad that still affects you or persuades you indirectly? Does the ad have effects on you perhaps not intended by its creators?

8.1% (1) of American households have a television, while 99% of people in America can read (2). This means that being able to read barely beats out having a television in your home. Most of us were taught to read when we were very young, but did we ever learn how to watch television? We watch our television shows, and many of us get annoyed when a commercial interrupts our program. But what if we stopped to consider for a moment, that maybe we have it all wrong. Maybe the television show is an interruption to the commercial? This is because the main way for a television station to make money is to sell commercial time. We're exposed to these commercial everyday, but we rarely realize their true impact on us. They can influence us to buy things we don't need, to vote a way we might not normally vote, and to desire a lifestyle that we wouldn't necessarily agree with. This is why analyzing television commercials is so important. Below are some things to consider to help us better understand the messages in television commercials. Since commercials are more complex than many other types of media (including the addition of motion mixed with sound), there are more things to consider. 1. What is the product or service being sold? Can you easily figure out what the product is? 2. What is the general mood or feeling of the commercial? Since we know the product or service being sold, what methods are the advertisers using to make us interested? How do they portray the product or service in a positive light. 3. How does the soundtrack play a role in your interpretation of the commercial? Is the music cheery, dreary, suspenseful, whimsical, fun, or exciting? Does the music affect our perception of the mood? Is there a voice-over of someone telling us something? What is the voice over trying to tell us? Does the person speaking coincide with the overall mood of the commercial? Would our perception of the voice change if the voice was of

a different gender or race? 4. How do the actors playing the characters affect your interpretation of the commercial?Would your interpretation change if the characters were of a different race or gender? What if the characters dressed differently or spoke differently? How would that change your perception of the character? 5. How does the commercial try to get your attention? Does it use flashy graphics with fast music? Does it alter the way we see the world, either through the use of special effects or through the story line? 6. Who is this commercial aimed towards? Is it you or someone like you? How do you know? Why do you think the advertiser created this commercial the way they did? Would it have been as effective if it was just black and white text on the screen? Why or why not?

Unit 1: Components of a print advertisement

Analyze an advertisement In our opinion, there are drawbacks to thinking too hard about the interpretation of an advertisement, or too hard about what kind of sense the advertisement makes. We refer to them as drawbacks, for they may obscure the most simple features of the advertisement, the very features that we are trying to uncover here: simply, how is the advertisement put together? And why is each element the way it is? Not all advertisements make perfect sense. Not all of them promote or imply acceptance of social values that everyone would agree are what we should hope for, in an enlightened and civilized society. Some advertisements appear to degrade our images of ourselves, our language, and appear to move the emphasis of interaction in our society to (even more) consumerism. There may even be a dark, seamy, or seedy side to advertising. This is hardly surprising, as our society is indeed a consumer society, and it is highly capitalistic in the simplest sense ("If someone will buy it, someone will produce it."). There is no doubt that advertising promotes a consumer culture, and helps create and perpetuate the ideology that creates the apparent need for the products it markets. For our purposes here, none of this matters. Our task is to analyze advertisements, and to see if we can understand how they do what they do. We will leave the task of how we interpret our findings in the larger social, moral and cultural contexts for another occasion. It is often said that advertising is irrational, and, again, that may well be true. But this is where the crossover between information and persuasion becomes important; an advertisement does not have to be factually informative (but it cannot be factually misleading). For example, what is the factual information presented in 15dunhill (on the right)? There appears to be very little information present, but it is nevertheless possible that the advertisement is quite effective in promoting the fragrance.

15. dunhill

In a discussion of what kind of benefit an advertisement might offer to a consumer, Jim Aitchison (1999) provides the following quote from Gary Goldsmith of Lowe & Partners, New York. It sums up perfectly what it is that one should look for in an advertisement. The question posed is "Is advertising more powerful if it offers a rational benefit?" Here is Goldsmith's answer:

"I don't think you need to offer a rational benefit. I think you need to offer a benefit that a rational person can understand." Aitchison (1999, 49) The section on the practice of BBDO in Unit 14 suggests a similar strategy. Our approach to advertising is that it is presented as rational communcation, even if not all aspects of it seem rational (see the next section, on processing). Our emphasis will not be so much "Does this advertisement make sense?", but "If you are presented with this advertisement, what sense of it do you make?".

[Link] Business L'Oreal's success story in India

L'Oreal's success story in India

September 26, 2005 07:05 IST Share this Ask Users Write a Comment Print this article

When L'Oreal's Professional Products Division entered India [ Images ] in 1997, there wasn't a
sniff of structure in the hairdressing industry. Organised education was absent, training considered redundant and hairdressers content with dubious domestic brands and prohibitively expensive foreign ones. L'Oreal had the vision to realise all that would change and invested heavily in hairdressing education and training. Today, the hair care industry is pegged at Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion), growing in double digits, and L'Oreal Professional Products -- Professionnel and Kerastase -- are market leaders. L'Oreal Professional Products prides itself on a product they believe is technologically unmatched. "3.5 per cent of our sales are pumped back into research & development; the best technology goes back into the trade," says Vismay Sharma, director, L'Oreal Professional Products Division. Their headstart also ensured broad distribution.

"We skim the top 100 cities in India and have the largest salon base in the country, of which 20 per cent is exclusive to us, contributing to 40 per cent of our revenue." Says Sharma, "Our biggest cost is the education of our trade. We have over 40 trainers; it's an entire machine that needs constant oiling." But competitors are eating into the same strategy. Both Schwarzkopf, at the number two position in the industry, and Wella have launched technical training centres. Schwarzkopf even launched a byinvitation-only hairdressers club and flew 150 members to Goa [ Images ] for an inaugural meeting. Shekhar Sethu, general manager, Schwarzkopf, is honest about a return on investment, "We do demand an increased commitment to turnover in return, whereby they become exclusive, high volume buyers." Wella, which entered India in 2001, is aiming to be in 5,000 salons by June 2006. Professionnel in its turn has just announced Colour trophy, a nationwide quest to find the most creative hairdressers in the country and just this month sponsored two hair shows besides their annual showcasing of global fashions in hairdressing and colour. Wooing potential affiliates into the network? "Not at all," says Sharma, a little unconvincingly. "It is more a platform to unleash creativity than a commercial venture. Sure the participants will use L'Oreal products, but how many tubes of colour can they use? We just want to be instrumental in creating new trends." But even shows are not exclusive L'Oreal property. Both Schwarzkopf and Wella also showcase their interpretations of annual trends. And in a revision of distribution strategy, Schwarzkopf has just begun retailing their hair colour range to power growth. Sharma reacts, "L'Oreal Professional Products began by selling through Parisienne salons. That's at the heart of our business; we will not dilute it by retailing for home use." Okay, so the L'Oreal brand is strong, well established within target markets, and Sharma claims sales are up in India, although figures don't come by easily in the discussion. Well, this was the time, then, to become more proactive than ever before; to begin the task of figuring out just what it was going to take to sustain their competitive advantage and ensure that they stay at the cutting edge of their field. And so, in February this year, L'Oreal announced the arrival of Matrix (their number one brand in the US), an affordable range of hair products to add to their existing offering. Explains Sharma, "We needed to offer Indian hairdressers the option of using a professional brand at this price point." The value proposition is similar. Both brands offer all the support hairdressers need, from education, complete in-salon marketing, and salon promotions. Matrix, however will thrive on depth of distribution, with a training centre in every city it retails in. "Matrix is young and hip. It's the best technology at that price," says Aseem Kaushik, business manager, Matrix. "I predict Matrix will be the biggest brand in India in five years or less, and it will bring in 8-10 times the revenue Professionnel does; division sales will be up by 65 per cent. The two brands will have to fight neck and neck," laughs Sharma.

L'Oral : World Of Beautiful Brands

Brand :L'Oral Company:L'Oral Paris Brand Count: 112 L'Oreal is one of the most successful International premium brands in India. This French brand came to India in 1991 with its Ultra Doux range of Shampoo through its Agent Laboratories Garnier. In 1994 Laboratories Garnier became the 100 % subsidiary of L'Oral. In 2000 Loreal launched its range of cosmetics in to Indian market. L'Oral is a global giant in the cosmetic industry with a presence in over 120 countries. Its brand is based on the values of Innovation and developing formulations unparalleled in quality and performance. The Indian Cosmetic and skin care market is estimated to be around $300 Million. In this market the Color Cosmetic segment is around Rs 250 crore while the Skin care segment is estimated to be around Rs 400 crore. In India the brand is having its presence with three international signatures: L'Oral Paris, Maybe

lline Newyork and Garnier. While L'Oral was focusing on hair color market in the initial stages of its launch, Maybelline was in the premium color cosmetic segment ( Lipstick and nail enamel) while Garnier in the "naturals" segment. L'Oral came to India with its International range of hair colors. At that time hair colors were in the nascent stage with hair dyes dominating the market. The major player being Godrej. The consumers were thagingng lot who had startegrayingng. L'Oral changed the way Indian consumers viewed the hair color. The target consumers were not the older lot who want to blacken their grey hairs but the younger ones who want to make a fashion statement. It was a tough call and to change the Indian consumer's mindset required a good marketer with hell lot of money. L'Oral had all that. Globally this brand is endorsed by who is who in the fashion world like Claudia Schiffer. In India, the brand is endorsed by none other than Aishwarya Rai. The campaigns of L'Oral had international models and the Indian models like Isha Koppikar and the ads were positioning this brand as a premium brand. Indian premium class who used to be a globetrotter knew this brand and there was no problem in accepting the Indian version. L'Oral has garnered a market share of 38% in this segment. Garnier concentrated on the Natural Hair care market with the main USP of strong hair. The brand positioned as a Unisex brand mainly used its international campaigns in India to appeal to the Indian consumer.

Maybelline is in thcolor cosmeticic segment and is targeting the premium class of customers. This global brand is famous for its tagline "May be she is born with it. May be its Maybeline". This segment is a tough call for Loreal since the global brands and our HLL is fighting for its share. L'Oral has now introduced their skin care products in to the Indian market. They have two divisions , one catering to consumer and other to the institution ( beauty saloons). I think the strategy to concentrate on the beauty saloons with specific products is one of the smartest marketing moves. Beauticians acts as influencer in the purchasing decisions regarding skin care as well as hair care. Last week when I asked my hair care specialist ( barber) about a good hair cream, he suggested L'Oral hair cream. Another advantage is that the beauty saloons acts as a medium for showcasing the L'Oral brands which can generate interest in the consumer. The saloons also benefit by using L'Oral brands . Hence it is a win-win situation for the brand and the influencer. With its smart campaigns and careful brand building L'Oral has emerged as a winner in the Indian market which has seen lot of International brands biting the dust.