Advertising is all around us and is integral to everyday life. It is one of the largest sectors in the media ndsutry, adverts being presented in a wide range of media such as television, film, radio ,magazines, posters, billboards, the press and the internet. Of all of these, television advertising probably has the highest profile, some television advertisements being so effective and memorable that they become classics and part of the cultuural background for a whole generation of viewers. Television is used to market almost every product one can imagine from everyday consumables, like washing powder, to extravagant sports car, whilst some advertisements promote a service such as insurance, banking or vehicle breakdown cover.
Television advertising has become more and more sophisticated, utilising the very lattest digital production techniques. Content and style can be simple or complex, using traditional narrative structures or less obvious surrealist imagery, and messages can be overt or understated.
I have created this blog to show my understanding of the structures and techniques used in television advertisements.
I have covered structures related to form, style and the codes and conventions used in adverts.
I have also discussed with examples the different techniques that advertisers use to promote a product.
Friday 3 February 2012
Structures of Advertisements
The structures of television advertisements relate to its form, style and the codes and conventions used by media producers. Over the next series of blog posts I will discuss each of these in detail with examples.
Form - Animation
Animation is used quite often in adverts today, it is done in many different ways between hand-drawn and computer generated. It is basically adverts where things are done by animation because it shows the product in a way which couldn't be normally. It can be changed with time as well so it can run for long periods. You can also use animation over normal actors to do stuff that can't be done without animation.
This is an example of an animated advert, Coco Pops adverts have been around for a long time which show how well they work with age. Also this advert shows at one point, animation used with reality. This advert is aimed at children and because animation in general works better with children, this advert works well too.
This is an example of an animated advert, Coco Pops adverts have been around for a long time which show how well they work with age. Also this advert shows at one point, animation used with reality. This advert is aimed at children and because animation in general works better with children, this advert works well too.
Form - Documentary
A documentary is an advert filmed in documentary style with mainly factual information about the product in order to make the viewers more likely to believe the advantages of the product and believe what they're told. It may show the product being used, usually by a person from the age group which the product is aimed at. It is often presented by someone who is an expert from the area of the advertisement.
This advert isn't really advertising a product but it's advertising a company (British Heart Foundation) and showing people how to do hands only CPR. The person in the advert is Vinnie Jones who a lot of people will know from films like Snatch and they will know as being very tough so it's more believable what he shows you and he'll make it seem very important to know how to do it. He is obviously a CPR expert because he does it in the video as well so it will make him more believable.
This advert isn't really advertising a product but it's advertising a company (British Heart Foundation) and showing people how to do hands only CPR. The person in the advert is Vinnie Jones who a lot of people will know from films like Snatch and they will know as being very tough so it's more believable what he shows you and he'll make it seem very important to know how to do it. He is obviously a CPR expert because he does it in the video as well so it will make him more believable.
Form - Narrative Structure
Narrative structure is basically the story within an advert and the course it takes. Every TV show or film has a narrative structure and it's not different with adverts. The main structure used is a linear structure which just beginning, middle and end but some programs/films/adverts can use different structures. The beginning is where the characters within the story are all normal and the story is at a balance, the middle is where something happens, usually a problem for the characters to overcome in order to restore the balance. The end is the restoration where the problem has been solved or the object has been removed and the characters are back to normal. Narrative structures are used in adverts so there is a point to the advert and it makes sense in order to keep viewers watching and attract more viewers to the product being advertised.
The narrative structure of this Volkswagen advert is a linear structure. The beginning shows us an average child dressed up as a Darth Vader, the middle is the child trying to use the force on objects in his house and it isn't working for him. The end shows the child try to use the force to start his Dad's car and his Dad uses the remote to start it to make the child think he's done it. It is aimed at mainly older people because they are the ones who would drive that type of car and they would remember Darth Vader from the Star Wars films which were popular when the target audience were younger.
The narrative structure of this Volkswagen advert is a linear structure. The beginning shows us an average child dressed up as a Darth Vader, the middle is the child trying to use the force on objects in his house and it isn't working for him. The end shows the child try to use the force to start his Dad's car and his Dad uses the remote to start it to make the child think he's done it. It is aimed at mainly older people because they are the ones who would drive that type of car and they would remember Darth Vader from the Star Wars films which were popular when the target audience were younger.
Form - Stand Alone/Series
A stand alone advert is when an advert is made with a lot of time and effort without any other plans for more adverts to follow it, it may be a more powerful advert because there is only one of them and it would be on air for longer as well because there are no more adverts planned. A series is an ongoing advert where every few months or weeks they will release another advert for the same product but following on from the previous one. These wouldn't be as powerful because they wouldn't put as much money into one because there will be ones following it. Also they will be on air for shorter periods of time because they will want the next advert on soon enough.
This an example of a stand alone advert because a lot of money, time and effort went into and it is more powerful than adverts from series. It is a longer advert and uses its length to keep people watching because they want to know what it's about.
This is an example of a series of adverts. There have been many Compare the Market adverts all using the meerkat as the stand out part of the advert and we meet more characters as the adverts progress. You can see that each advert hasn't had that much time and effort go into but as the adverts progress they become more and more powerful and memorable as well because of the meerkat.
This an example of a stand alone advert because a lot of money, time and effort went into and it is more powerful than adverts from series. It is a longer advert and uses its length to keep people watching because they want to know what it's about.
This is an example of a series of adverts. There have been many Compare the Market adverts all using the meerkat as the stand out part of the advert and we meet more characters as the adverts progress. You can see that each advert hasn't had that much time and effort go into but as the adverts progress they become more and more powerful and memorable as well because of the meerkat.
Form - Talking Heads
Talking heads is a way of using the people in the advert as average everyday people so the audience can relate to them because they are in the same position. It is usually a person struggling to decide on a product or whether to buy a product or not and it puts the people in the advert at the same level as that person and the advert makes the product appear worth buying. Because the people in the advert are in the same position as the viewers, it is more likely to persuade the viewers to buy the product because it is more believable.
http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA11985
This Asda extra special advert is an example of a talking heads advert, the main character in the advert is a normal everyday person like the majority of the viewers and is describing what the beef is like to us on his level so that it's more believable and will persuade more people to buy it. It is aimed mainly at adults because they're the ones who would do the food shopping and buy things like the product that is being advertised, also the character is an adult so it puts you on their level. It's mainly males because beef is something that males eat more than women and the character is a male.
http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA11985
This Asda extra special advert is an example of a talking heads advert, the main character in the advert is a normal everyday person like the majority of the viewers and is describing what the beef is like to us on his level so that it's more believable and will persuade more people to buy it. It is aimed mainly at adults because they're the ones who would do the food shopping and buy things like the product that is being advertised, also the character is an adult so it puts you on their level. It's mainly males because beef is something that males eat more than women and the character is a male.
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