advertising techniques essay

"More Than OK" poked fun at how Pepsi usually takes a back seat to Coke, especially at restaurants. And by featuring a star-studded cast that included Steve Carell, Lil Jon, and Cardi-B (who hilariously and fervently backed up Pepsi’s OKness) their boldness to call people out for undermining Pepsi’s quality got a lot of laughs and persuaded a massive audience to reconsider their own perception of the soft drink.

7. Match.com

The year 2020 was challenging for countless reasons. Online dating company Match.com channeled the collective feeling towards the year with an ad depicting Satan meeting his perfect match – 2020.

Informative Advertising

Informative advertising is a form of persuasive advertising that focuses more on the facts. The main goal of informative advertising is to educate the audience on why they need your product instead of appealing to their desires.

It highlights how your product’s features and benefits solve your customers’ problems and can even compare your product to your competitors' products. Although this type of advertising relies on facts and figures to trigger the desired action, the ad’s message is usually framed in a compelling way.

To better understand the difference between informative and persuasive advertising, check out these examples.

Informative Advertising Examples

• Miller Lite
• Siskiyou Eye Center
• Burger King

1. Miller Lite

After Bud Light took some jabs at Miller Lite for using corn syrup in their beer during their Super Bowl 53 ads , Miller Lite decided to throw a few punches back. A day later on Twitter, they revealed that their beer actually has fewer calories and carbs than Bud Light, which helped them persuade people that drinking Bud Light and Miller Lite actually have similar health benefits.

2. Siskiyou Eye Center

There’s an old folk tale that carrots can improve your eyesight, but science has actually debunked this myth . That’s why this Siskiyou Eye Center ad is such a creative informative advertisement.

While it pokes fun at this common fable, it’s still relying on the facts of carrots not being able to improve your vision and the Eye Center’s ability to provide quality treatment for your eyes to persuade people to do business with them.

Popular meditation app Calm experienced an increase in downloads by sponsoring CNN's coverage of the 2020 US Presidential Campaign. Through clever product placement in front of an audience that was experiencing stress, the app was positioned as helpful a resource ready to educate on mindfulness during a turbulent time.

In addition to creating popular body and skincare products, Dove has set out to educate its audience on the importance of body confidence, and the harmful impact fabricated social media imagery can have on the self-esteem of young people.

In the reverse selfie campaign, Dove depicts how social media users may be inclined to change their appearance for public approval. Other materials provided by Dove also share facts and statistics related to social media usage and body image.

Last year, Google released a Black History Month ad called "The Most Searched" that was equally informative and inspiring. Showing clips of famous Black figures, each clip read "most searched" to indicate each person shown and event shown was a history-maker.

Persuasive advertising vs. informative advertising: which one is better?

Persuasive advertising and informative advertising definitely focus on different aspects of persuasion, but they still aim to achieve the same goal: convincing your audience to take the desired action. So whether you pursue one advertising strategy or another, remember that if you can trigger an emotional response, regardless of the stimuli, your ad will be a success.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Marketing and Advertising — The Rhetoric of Advertising: Analyzing Persuasive Techniques and Ethics

The Rhetoric of Advertising: Analyzing Persuasive Techniques and Ethics

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The purpose of advertisements, the rhetorical triangle, language use, visual design, target audience, the ethics of advertising.

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Chapter 6: 21st-century media and issues

6.3.4 Understanding advertising literacy (research essay)

English 102, november 2020.

In today’s society it has become an everyday thing to see commercials and advertisements because of all the technological advancements that have been made throughout the past few years. Speaking from personal experience, I see some sort of advertisement that is trying to persuade me to buy something almost every single day. I think almost everyone else can also agree that they see advertisements around them as well on a daily basis. Whether it is a sponsored ad on some sort of social media, such as Instagram, or it is a billboard that you see driving on the highway, businesses are constantly trying to persuade people to buy their products. Therefore, media literacy is in everyday activities even if someone does not realize it. This goes to show how important it is for people to have knowledge and understanding of what businesses are trying to persuade people to do with these advertisements. It is crucial for people to understand how advertisers communicate with the public. A specific question that has been researched and analyzed by social scientists is how do advertisers use persuasive techniques within advertisements to communicate with the public.

Speaking from personal experience of having to make a poster that advertised a show, I can relate to the advertiser and understand what needs to be incorporated into an advertisement in order to connect with the public. In high school I was in an AP Studio Art class. One of the directors from the Cincinnati School of Rock, who was friends with my high school art teacher, was interested in my work and wanted me to design a poster for one of their upcoming performances. The design of the poster had to be 80s themed, so I had to keep in mind that for the lettering of the writing had to be some sort of 80s looking font. I decided to draw the design for the poster and then transferred it onto the computer. When doing this I drew the design on paper with colored pencils and micron pens. Then I used a scanner to scan the picture and put it on the computer, where I changed the coloring, size, and placement of the design. I then had to think about how I was going to incorporate the writing on the poster. I hadn’t realized how many aspects of the writing that had to be taken into consideration when making the poster. I had to think about what type of font to use, the size of the letters, the placement of the information that needed to be on the poster, and of course what the poster needed to say. It was a very lengthy process of trial and error.

I had not realized how much literacy was involved in art and design and making something as simple as a poster. Once the design had been finished, I had to send it into the Cincinnati School of Rock so that they could print off multiple copies to hang up for their show. Seeing the finished product made me feel so accomplished. Surprisingly, most of my time making the poster was spent figuring out little details with the writing on it. This made me realize how many advertisements in the real world had to be made by taking literacy into account. Along with this, visuals in the media have to be made by designers that had to go through a similar process to what I did. The use of literacy is much more common in everyday life than I realized.

Many advertisements in the real world use strong persuasive techniques, and without media literacy someone walking through the city might get taken advantage of by an ad’s techniques. Someone might think that they are buying something that will be useful, but in reality, they might have just bought it because they liked how it looked. This is because of the visual appeal that the advertisement had for the viewer. For example, when walking through the city, people see advertisements that were made by designers that have literacy on them that try to persuade viewers to buy their products. Unknowingly, peoples’ everyday things involved in their lives have literacy. The advertisements are communicate with the viewer to do something or buy something. Along with this speaking from personal experience, I have bought a product purely based off of the advertisement. Scrolling through Instagram I see advertisements for things such as skin products and clothing. Recently I saw an advertisement for Curology and bought it based on the advertisement. They advertised it to be this amazing product that would help get rid of acne. Because of the advertisement and its visual appeal that it had for me, it caused me to be persuaded to buy it. These types of advertisements are everywhere and use different visuals and literacy to catch consumers’ attention. The art and design of these advertisements is communicating with the public.

Personally, I do not usually think about what goes behind the scenes of making an advertisement when I see one. However, after writing about literacy and exploring how it is involved in communication between businesses and the public, I have realized that it exists in almost everything. Along with this because I can relate to the designers that have to design the advertisements with my personal experience, I can see how much that I have to think about when making them. Even with the design of commercials and what they say in them uses literacy. There are words incorporated into the visual design and the meaning they are trying to present. Most of the time there are always words within an advertisement because they have to get their point across to whoever is looking at it. Another reason why media literacy is so important is because people can have more knowledge about what an advertisement is trying to sell them. With this knowledge people will not be taken advantage of by companies that try and sell their product, even if it is not actually how it appears in the advertisement. Overall, I have realized that literacy is a big part of the world and how it functions in everyday activities.

Because of the vast ever-changing world, businesses in the economy are constantly trying to make a profit and connect with the public by using commercials. There have been multiple studies that have been researched on how people are affected by commercials. Along with this it is important for people to understand the techniques that are used in commercials. One of them is targeting youth. Because of the fact that kids are still so innocent, and they have not developed critical thinking skills, yet it is easier for advertisers to persuade younger kids. They lack the knowledge to think for themselves and form their own opinions because of constant outside sources, trying to get them to think a certain way. A media literate person is able to recognize the purpose of the commercial that is being shown and the message that is addressed.

They are also able to tell what specific group the ad is trying to target and how the values in the advertisement are able to influence the viewer. Recognizing that children see many commercials on television in a day is important when understanding how they are also influenced by these advertisements that they see on a daily basis. Because advertisements are played so often children are shown to be able to recognize brand names and logos. This is what advertisers want to happen. This idea is shown through certain studies done on children to demonstrate their attitudes and thinking skills to have to do with commercials. For example, in a specific research study, that is discussed in the article “Teaching Media Literacy Skills About Commercials: A Comparative Analysis of Media Literacy Instruction,”, written by Christina Love, eighth grade kids’ attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge about commercials were studied (Love,3). Those who were taught media-related terms and did the activities that helped them be aware of certain things within media literacy were in the end able to recognize when commercials use selling techniques, target their specific audience, and use social values along with stereotypes (Love,4). Along with this as kids start to gain knowledge of advertising literacy, they are able to pick up on the techniques used by advertisers such as emotional appeal which causes them to have a connection with the advertisement (Love 13). Along with these adolescents lack interpretations of commercials, unlike adults. One of them being “conceptual advertising literacy,” which is how someone’s knowledge develops throughout their life due to the more experiences that they have (Hoek, Rozendaal, van Schie & Moniek 3). Adults have had many more experiences than a younger child has just because they are older and have had more opportunities in their life. Overall, children lack critical thinking skills to acknowledge how an advertisement is affecting them and the way that they feel or think about a certain thing.

Another technique used by advertisers that aim at younger kids is the overplaying of their commercials. With repetition of showing a certain product or advertisement, kids specifically are able to remember that commercial later on in their life due to long term memory and the constant exposure to it at such a young age.  Because advertisements are played so often children are shown to be able to recognize brand names and logos. This is what advertisers want to happen. Their goal is to overplay these advertisements repeatedly so that they can be easily memorized by the viewers (Love 15). Their hope of overplaying these advertisements is so that they can later remember them in their adult lives. All commercials are constructed very carefully and are played repeatedly so that they can be easily remembered and are able to target a specific audience (Love 16). Advertisers keep this technique in mind and is very common in the advertising industry. Along with this there are other ways that advertisers connect with the public that people should be aware of and have the knowledge about advertising literacy.

Another part of commercials that advertisers incorporate into the advertisements is indirect advertising. This is very common within targeting the teen population and even the young adult population. These types of advertisement aren’t as direct as a normal commercial may be. One of them being using video creators or other social media influencers, that young kids look up to and admire, to promote a product. Because of the large use of social media in today’s society, younger teens are often persuaded to follow these influencers. They are often seen as being “trendsetters” because of how popular they are (Sophia van Dam & Eva A. van Reijmersdal 1). These video influencers are sponsored by certain businesses to show off their brand and promote it. They are indirectly targeting teens to buy their product.

Today’s adolescents think that because this highly respected and valued person that they don’t even know is promoting a certain product that means that they should follow them and get that product. A lot of stores do this to promote their clotheslines. Viewers often perceive the influencers that they watch as their friends and develop an attachment to them (Sophia van Dam & Eva A. van Reijmersdal 3). The article “Insights in Adolescents’ Advertising Literacy, Perceptions and Responses Regarding Sponsored Influencer Veidos and Disclosures” discusses how in order to “empower adolescents and help them understand the persuasive nature of sponsored influencers videos” it is crucial for them to have an understanding of advertising literacy within the videos (Sophia van Dam & Eva A. van Reijmersdal 2). In the study that is discussed in the article the participants were shown a video of a popular influencer that was sponsored by Doritos to promote their brand (Sophia van Dam & Eva A. van Reijmersdal 6). After the video the participants’ attitudes and moral judgments were observed (Sophia van Dam & Eva A. van Reijmersdal 8). Overall, they found that with advertising literacy teens are able to form their own opinion on a brand rather than just following and automatically agreeing with a certain social media influencer that they look up to and admire.

With the indirect advertising this can play a huge mental role in teens. Because they constantly see video influencers showing off the newest trends, they feel obligated to buy or do what they are doing as well because it’s the “cool” thing to do. This is how advertisers take advantage of teens and younger adults because of the standards and obligations that society sets and affects how people feel and think about who they want to be like. Personally, I find myself doing this as well. Scrolling through Tik Tok I constantly see videos of people who are showing off a product that works well for them. I have bought a skin care product for my acne because it worked well for a random girl that I saw on Tik Tok. Along with this I have found myself buying clothes because I have seen other people wear the same thing in a video before and I thought it looked cute. As ridiculous as it sounds, social media and advertisements constantly control people’s lives and what they do with their lives. Not only are there indirect advertisements on social media, but there are many examples of direct as well. Speaking from personal experience scrolling through social media there will periodically be a sponsored advertisement that pops up on the page and is presenting a sale to the viewer trying to get them to buy a certain product. Overall, indirect and direct advertising is very prevalent in today’s society and people are exposed to it almost every day.

Going off of the idea that advertisers use persuasive techniques within advertisements to communicate to the public, it is not only relevant to the average person’s everyday life but also is relevant to big businesses and business owners. Along with this are the people that actually make the advertisements. They too must have an understanding of advertising literacy so that they know how to connect with the people that they are trying to sell their product to. Along with this, with advertising literacy they will be able to use the advertising techniques that are necessary within their advertisements. People who are actually making the advertisements need to have the knowledge and advertising literacy in order to best understand how to connect to their viewers or the people that they are trying to persuade (O’donohoe 9). There is a lot that goes into making an advertisement. From the words and phrases actually used that are addressing a meaning to the actual design of the advertisement that creates an emotional appeal to the viewer (Lapierre 6). Therefore, it is very important for not only the public eye to have an understanding of advertising literacy but also the people working for the businesses that are making advertisements.

Not only does advertising literacy affect those who are making advertisements and those who are viewing the advertisement, but it also impacts educators. People need to be taught about advertising literacy for life in the real world and the way to do this is for it to be taught in schools by educators. This goes to show that educators need to have advertising literacy in order to inform others about it (King 3). Speaking specifically of educators that this mostly impacts are librarians. Throughout the article, “Popular Sources, Advertising, and Information Literacy: What Librarians Need to Know”, the author talks about “native advertising” and how it is a pretty new form of advertising that has sponsors, fund articles and periodicals that then causes them to have control over the editorial process (King 7). It goes on to talk about how in the past this used to be unethical to allow advertisers to dictate the content of journalism (King 10). Overall, the essay talks about how important it is to understand how advertising impacts editorials that people use. This goes to show and explain why it is not only important for librarians and educators to teach students about advertising literacy for the real world but also for what they read in school as well.

Expanding more on the idea that advertising literacy affects children’s consumer behavior in the study discussed in the article, “Advertising Literacy and Executive Function: Testing Their Influence on Children’s Consumer Behavior”, the study is done in order to show how children’s consumer behavior is impacted by advertisements (Lapierre 3). They found that it is directly associated with consumer behavior (Lapierre 11). Along with this their advertising literacy was shown to have a negative relationship with the parents’ purchase requests (Lapierre 12). This evidence goes to show and explains how children’s consumer behavior is greatly impacted by advertisements. With advertising literacy, advertisements may not negatively impact children as much if they have the knowledge and are aware of what the advertisers are trying to get them to do. This way they can use their own critical thinking skills and form their own views and opinions in a smart and knowledgeable way.

Following up with this, another way children specifically can be greatly impacted on is through food advertisements. These types of advertisements can affect children’s health and what they eat on a daily basis. This can positively affect children, or it can affect them negatively depending on if the advertisement is promoting something healthy or unhealthy(Buttriss 4). This brings up the idea of banning the promotion of foods on children because of how most of the time it negatively impacts them and their health. Throughout the article, “Promotion of Foods to Children – to Ban or Not to Ban?”, it discusses the promotion of food presented to children and how it is characterized by many different types of viewpoints and opinions(Buttriss 5). One side believes that advertising to children should be banned or regulated because of its encouragement towards poor eating habits(Buttriss 3). Whereas on the other hand there are those that believe that companies can self-regulate their advertisements(Buttriss 3). Both sides relate to advertising literacy and either way having a knowledge of advertising literacy is important and applicable in both situations. Therefore, this goes to show how advertising literacy is an important concept that people need to be able to understand even if people have differing opinions on certain issues and topics that advertising literacy has to do with.

Throughout all of the research presented they seem to come to the conclusion that advertising literacy needs to be taught and understood by people because they are constantly surrounded by it in everyday situations. It is crucial for people to be informed and have an understanding of advertising literacy. Specifically, adolescents need to have an understanding of it because they are affected by the different techniques that advertisers use in their commercials in order to persuade them. Along with the research discussed, advertising literacy also relates to Gee’s “What is Literacy”. Gee talks about “discourses” and “identity kits”. These relate to advertising literacy because teens are their own “discourse” and are expected to act and think a certain way (Gee 14). Their “identity kit” impacts how they are supposed to dress within their “discourse” (Gee 14). Advertisements can take advantage of this by persuading them to buy their “cool” or “trendy” product. Gee also talks about “Secondary Discourses” (Gee 15). When teens are taught more about advertising literacy, they are acquiring the skill of how to recognize what the advertisement is trying to get them to do. Along with this within the “secondary discourse” they are able to see who the advertisers are trying to target with the techniques they use within their commercial or indirect advertisement. Therefore, it is important for not only the average everyday person to have advertising and media literacy in todays’ society, but also younger children because they are exposed to everyday advertisements that can affect the way they act and think.

The research overall goes to show that the techniques used by advertisers greatly impact the viewers. Whether it has to do with what it looks like to what the commercial is actually saying, commercials are constantly affecting humans mentally and trying to persuade them. Because this topic is relevant to almost everyone’s lives it is something that needs to be understood and taught to people in order to help them think critically for themselves. Personally, I don’t usually think about what goes behind the scenes of making an advertisement when I see one. However, after writing about literacy and exploring how it is involved in communication between businesses and the public, I have realized that it exists in almost everything. Along with this because I can relate to the designers that have to design the advertisements with my personal experience, I can see how much that I have to think about when making them. Even with the design of commercials and what they say in them uses literacy. There are words incorporated into the visual design and the meaning they are trying to present. Most of the time there are always words within an advertisement because they have to get their point across to whoever is looking at it. Another reason why advertising literacy is so important is because people can have more knowledge about what an advertisement is trying to sell them. With this knowledge people won’t be taken advantage of by companies that try and sell their product, even if it isn’t actually how it appears in the advertisement. Overall, I have realized that literacy is a big part of the world and how it functions in everyday activities.

An, Soontae, et al. “Children’s Advertising Literacy for Advergames: Perception of the Game as Advertising.”  Journal of Advertising , vol. 43, no. 1, 2014, pp. 63–72., doi:10.1080/00913367.2013.795123.

Buttriss, Judy, et al. “Promotion of Foods to Children – to Ban or Not to Ban?”  Nutrition Bulletin , vol. 28, no. 1, 2003, pp. 43–46., doi:10.1046/j.1467-3010.2003.00293.x.

Dam, Sophia Van, and Eva Van Reijmersdal. “Insights in Adolescents’ Advertising Literacy, Perceptions and Responses Regarding Sponsored Influencer Videos and Disclosures.”  Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace , vol. 13, no. 2, 2019, doi:10.5817/cp2019-2.

Hoek, Rhianne W., et al. “Development and Testing of the Advertising Literacy Activation Task: An Indirect Measurement Instrument for Children Aged 7-13 Years Old, Media Psychology.”  Media Psychology , doi:10.1080/15213269.2020.1817090.

King, Rachel P. “Popular Sources, Advertising, and Information Literacy: What Librarians Need to Know.”  The Reference Librarian , vol. 57, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1–12., doi:10.1080/02763877.2015.1077772.

Lapierre, Matthew A. “Advertising Literacy and Executive Function: Testing Their Influence on Children’s Consumer Behavior.”  Media Psychology , vol. 22, no. 1, 2017, pp. 39–59., doi:10.1080/15213269.2017.1345638.

Love, Christa.  Teaching Media Literacy Skills about Commercials: a Comparative Analysis of Media Literacy Instruction . Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque Et Archives Canada, 2009.

O’donohoe, Stephanie, and Caroline Tynan. “Beyond Sophistication: Dimensions of Advertising Literacy.”  International Journal of Advertising , vol. 17, no. 4, 1998, pp. 467–482., doi:10.1080/02650487.1998.11104733.

Rozendaal, Esther, et al. “Reconsidering Advertising Literacy as a Defense Against Advertising Effects.”  Media Psychology , vol. 14, no. 4, 2011, pp. 333–354., doi:10.1080/15213269.2011.620540.

Zamel, Vivian.  Negotiating Academic Literacies: Teaching and Learning across Languages and Cultures . Routledge, 2017.

Understanding Literacy in Our Lives by Molly is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Starting an Essay on Advertising

Table of Contents

To start off, whenever you are writing an essay on a particular topic, the first thing is to strive to make your audience get a picture of what you are talking about. The best way to do so is by first defining your topic or explaining what it is that you aim to achieve or how the reader will benefit. As far as advertising goes, we are going to look at some of the angles an advertising essay can be approached from.

Essay on Advertising : Sample Approaches

The first way to approach advertising essays can be through looking at how advertisements are brought to life from conception to implementation. This means looking at the different players in the industry and what they do. How they impact advertising and their ways of doing business. This alone can be approached from many different angles depending on the resources one has as a writer and how far they are willing to go to find out the finer details. This is where as an advertising essay writer ; one can cover various media used to roll out advertising campaigns. Whether it is television, the internet, outdoor advertising, print, audio or audio-visual media the list is endless.

Advertising Organization

Figure 2 advertising medium

While writing this sort of essay, it is also important to look at how the whole organizations of the industry including the key figures that make advertisements come to life. This includes companies and advertising agencies that create the adverts.

Advertisements are a huge part of our everyday lives; everywhere we go we see different types of ads which appeal to different target audiences differently. Advertising techniques have changed along the way, and this also influences the way companies/business sell to their customers, with the internet or online advertisements, we have seen more online business or e-commerce which has, in turn, forced businesses to do doorstep deliveries. This mostly is common in food and fashion industries.

A Look at Writing Essay on Advertising Ethics

Ethics can be defined as the moral principles that govern a person or group’s behavior. Code of ethics is used by companies, professional organizations and individuals, it contains some rules and principle which help them in making decisions between right and wrong.

Lately, there has been major controversy in the ethics of advertising. A good example is a Calvin Klein undergarment advertisement that appeared in Times Square. On a billboard was a photo of two children in underwear, standing on a sofa, smiling and playful. The advertisement was criticized as sexual and promoting pedophilia.

Some advertisements are very creative and fun; however, with the competitive nature of the industry, they are continuously becoming unethical in comparison to the advertisements in the 50’s. For example:

• Television consumers today are exposed to many ads which interrupt attention to their most favorite programs.
• Advertisements wrongly target vulnerable populations with a poor diet such as fast foods the likes of KFC or McDonald’s, hence lifestyle diseases such as obesity or diabetes at a very young age.
• Some ads brainwash children who attend to them reducing the children into nagging and pestering towards parents in relation to advertised products.
• Using obscene materials and content has been a great ethical disaster in advertising. Obscenity such as sex appeals has been used to attract viewership a practice that is not ideal for an ethical society.

An ethical ad is the one which does not lie, does not make any fake or false claims and is in the limit of decency. Nowadays advertisers only focus on their sales; they just want to attract customers and increase their sales. They present their ads in such a way that people start thinking that this is the best product as compared to others however most products are found to be fake, false and misleading customers.

Nevertheless, the positive side of advertisements cannot be ignored. Of course, advertising increases awareness about services and products of organizations without which the profitability and sale of these products would be difficult. In other words, demand is a product of advertising since it educates potential consumers about new market offers.

As you can see, there are a lot of angles one can approach an essay on advertising as has been highlighted above. My hope is that this has been an eye opener on the essay possibilities in this industry.

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How to Write an Advertisement: A Complete Guide for Students and Teachers

As with persuasive texts in general, advertisements can take many forms – from billboards and radio jingles to movie trailers and pop-ups on your computer.

In this guide, we’ll work towards writing a standard magazine-format advertisement known as the print ad. Print ads are text-heavy enough to provide something meaty for our students to get their teeth into. Though advertisers are increasingly overlooking print ads in favor of more trackable and often cheaper digital forms of advertising, the same strategies and techniques can apply to both.

Likewise, strategies such as emotive language and other persuasive devices are essential when writing ads. Much of the writing advice that follows applies to the other persuasive texts , which can also be found on our site. Be sure to check it out, also.

Let’s explore the structure and persuasive elements that make an advertisement successful. These elements combine to make us think and act favourably about a service or product. So let’s get into it and learn how to write an advertisement.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON ADVERTISING FOR TEACHERS & STUDENTS

Teach your students essential  MEDIA LITERACY SKILLS  with this  COMPLETE UNIT  on  ADVERTISING.  It’s packed with  ENGAGING, INFORMATIVE & FUN  activities to teach students the persuasive techniques to  READ ADVERTS  and the skills to  WRITE ADVERTS.

This  COMPLETE UNIT OF WORK  will take your students from zero to hero over  FIVE STRATEGIC LESSONS  covered.

PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES TUTORIAL VIDEO (2:20)

STRUCTURE AND FEATURES OF ADVERTISEMENTS (PERSUASIVE ELEMENTS)

For students to create their own advertisements and successfully employ the various persuasive techniques, they’ll first need to develop a clear understanding of an advertisement’s underlying structure. We’ll explore the primary structural elements and features of advertisements, though the order of how these appear varies from advert to advert. Here, we’ll take a look at the following persuasive text elements.

• Call to Action

THE BRAND NAME AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

The brand name of the product or service frequently comes at the top of the advertisement – though not always. One of the first tasks for students when writing their own advertisement is to decide on a name for their product or service.

Please encourage students to select a name that reflects the product, service, or values they wish to present to their audience.

Brand names have evolved from being wordy and aspirational to very short and snappy since the inception of the internet, so they can be found easily on a search engine.

BRAND NAME CONSIDERATIONS

• What are the names of similar already existing products or services?
• Does the name look and sound good?
• Is the name short, punchy, and memorable?
• Does it evoke a feeling or an idea?
• Is it distinctive and original?

THE AUDIENCE AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

An advertisement’s target audience may not always be immediately apparent and often needs to be inferred through language and imagery choices made by the writer.

However, who the target audience does need to be decided before writing as it will inform subsequent choices on the use of language (e.g. pronouns, tone, etc.) and imagery.

There are several ways to help students determine their target audience. A good starting place is for them to consider creating a target persona, a fictional character who represents the type of person their product or service is aimed at.

• Education level
• Marital status
• Likes/Dislikes
• Who they trust
• What they read/watch

An effective print advertisement presents a product or service in an appealing manner. It quickly conveys essential information about that product or service. It will include a clear and specific offer and also provide the information required for the reader to act on that offer.

Once we have the brand name sorted and the audience defined, it’s time to look at the critical structural elements to consider when writing an ad. It’s important to note that not every element will be used in every ad, but the following model serves well for writing most print advertisements.

THE HEADLINE AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

The ad headline should provide a short, snappy preview of what the reader will find in the copy. A good headline grabs the potential customer’s attention and makes them want to read the rest of the ad. There are several tried and tested means of writing a good headline. Here are 3 of the most effective:

The Problem/Solution Headline – This headline details a problem a potential customer may be facing and offers the solution in the form of the product or service. For example: Tired? Sluggish? Overweight? Excero Bike Gets You Where You Need to Go, Fast!

The Testimonial Headline – This headline uses a quote from a customer’s positive review to help sell the product or service. The testimonial allows the potential customer to see some ‘proof’ upfront before buying. “With the Excero Bike, I lost 15lbs in 15 days. I’m now thinner, fitter, and much, much happier!”

The Question Headline – This headline asks a question that the target customer will be seeking an answer to, for example, “Are you paying too much for your x?” Are You Paying Too Much for Your Gym Membership?

THE LOGO AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

Logos are visual representations of a brand and are used to help promote a range of products and services under a single umbrella and also to allow for quick identification by the reader. They are more of a design element than a writing one.

THE SLOGAN AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

A slogan is a phrase or a short sentence used to represent or sell a particular brand. Usually, they’re designed to be short and snappy to help make them more memorable for readers. Slogans often use alliteration, rhyme, puns, or other figurative language techniques to make their message more memorable.

THE OFFER AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

A good print ad makes readers an offer. This is usually in the form of a benefit the potential customer will gain or a motivating reason for finding out more about the product or service.

The Offer acts as a ‘hook’ that maintains the reader’s focus and draws them into the body of the ad. It can take the form of a time-limited discount or a 2-for-1 offer, etc. This Week Only – 25% Off!

Offers can also form part of the Call to Action at the end of the ad – more details on this soon.

THE BODY COPY AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

Good body text (or body copy) in an ad is well-organized and quickly gets to the point. Readers want to get the necessary information with minimum effort. For the writer, this requires skill, patience, and much editing. There are several different types of body copy that students need to consider when writing their ads. Let’s take a look at 5 of these:

Factual – Factual copy gives the reader just enough factual information about the product or service to persuade them that it’s worth buying.

Humor – Using humor is a tried-and-tested means of making an ad memorable. To use it successfully, students will need to have an excellent understanding of their target audience.

Narrative – This copy tells a story as a way to draw the customer in. Many people are resistant to direct selling. Narrative copy uses the power of storytelling to build a connection with the customer to ‘soft sell’ to them.

Testimonial – While testimonial content usually comes from a customer, it can also come from experts, celebrities, or any kind of spokesperson. The testimonial is based on what the customer or spokesperson liked about the product or service. Testimonials are often woven into the humanity of the ad. This copy appeals to emotions. Rather than boasting directly of the benefits of the product or service, this type of ad evokes the senses and appeals to emotions.

The body copy might include details of available products or services, special offers, or specific information the advertiser wants potential customers to know. Subheadings and bullet points can help organize the text and make information easier to find. Texts should be short and easy to read. Walls of text can be off-putting; if the language is too complex, it may turn off potential customers.

THE CALL TO ACTION AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

The Call to Action or CTA frequently comes at the end of the advertisement. It’s usually made up of a few sentences that invite the reader to take a specific action. This action might take the form of buying the product, sharing contact information, or, in the case of an online ad, clicking on a link to find out more about the product or service.

Call to action Contexts:

• An electronics company encouraging readers to buy their new computer
• A helpline requesting readers to call a number
• A political party urging readers to vote for them in an upcoming election
• A travel agent appealing to readers to book
• A travel agent appealing to readers to book their next holiday through them

There are many ways to write a CTA but some effective strategies that are commonly used include:

• Start with strong action words urging the reader to take action, e.g. Join, Discover, Order, Subscribe, Buy , etc.
• Let the reader know precisely what you want them to do.
• Ensure the necessary contact details are included, e.g. address, email, website address, phone numbers, etc.
• Motivate the reader to take action through the use of promotional offers, e.g. Get 50% off or Book your free consultation today!
• Provide a reason to take action by communicating the benefits, e.g. Losing weight, Saving money, Performing better, etc.
• Use numbers to appeal to the reader, e.g. Save 20% on your next video, Now with 33% extra free! etc.
• Make your audience an offer they can’t refuse, e.g. Book Your School Marketing and Promotion Analysis today – No Strings Attached.
• Create a sense of urgency by limiting a special offer in some way, e.g. 25% off for the first 100 customers, Free T-shirt if booked today, Buy 2 get 1 free this month only , etc.

PERSUASIVE DEVICES

The use of persuasive devices is an essential aspect of writing an advertisement. Our students must clearly understand the following strategies to confidently produce an advertisement that works.

ALLITERATION IN ADVERTISING

This is a literary device that involves the repetition of the initial letter or sound of consecutive words or words near each other. It’s more commonly associated with poetry than nonfiction text types; however, it is also a popular technique used in advertising. Alliteration can help make brand names more memorable. Examples abound, e.g. PayPal, Coca-Cola, Range Rover, and Krispy Kreme, to name but a few.

It’s not just in company names that you’ll find alliteration at work, though. We can also see alliteration alive in slogans such as:

The best four by four by far – Land Rover

Made to make your mouth water – Opal Fruits

Greyhound going great – Greyhound

Don’t dream it. Drive It. – Jaguar

EMOTIVE LANGUAGE

Using emotive language involves deliberately choosing words to provoke an emotional response in the reader. Different ways exist to express the same idea.

We can choose to put a positive, neutral, or negative spin on the same event through the words we select. For example:

Positive: She triumphed gloriously against stiff competition in the spelling bee.

Neutral: She won the spelling bee.

Negative: She received first prize in the poorly attended minor-league spelling bee.

Asking questions can help to engage the reader and persuade them to come to the desired conclusion by themselves. This is the ad equivalent of the ‘show, don’t tell’ mantra employed by fiction writers.

As with all the techniques and strategies, this technique must be used with care. It can have the opposite of the desired effect, such as building resistance in the reader, if used carelessly. Students should avoid making hyperbolic suggestions with their rhetorical questions. For example, the question “Want to lose 50lbs in 2 weeks?” implies a highly exaggerated claim that most intelligent readers will not believe. In this instance, the rhetorical question detracts from the ad’s effectiveness rather than enhances it.

The most important thing for students to remember when using this technique is that they should only ask rhetorical questions in their ads when they can predict with a reasonable degree of certainty what the answer will be in the reader’s mind. Nine times out of ten, that answer should be a simple yes. Questions should be straightforward, as should the answers they generate.

Advertisers know that we usually need to see or hear things several times before we’ll remember them. Also, the reader is more likely to believe something true the more frequently they hear it. For these reasons, advertisements rely heavily on repetition to drive their message home.

In advertising, the repetition of certain keywords or phrases is used to emphasize a specific idea or emotion. When used well, it can increase the overall effectiveness of an ad. However, students should be careful not to bore the reader. Repetition should always be used strategically.

Repetition doesn’t just involve the repeating of words. It can also include repeating colors and images.

Here are some examples of repetition at work.

ADVERTISING WRITING TIPS FOR STUDENTS

• Carefully Consider the recount TYPE and AUDIENCE before writing.
• Keep the title simple, e.g. My First Day at High School
• Organize the text using paragraphs, e.g. a new paragraph for each section. Use the first orientation paragraph to set the scene by introducing characters, setting, and context.
• Write the recount in chronological order – the order in which things happened and keep it in the past tense – relating events that have already happened.
• Choose the correct perspective from which to write the recount, e.g. personal recounts will be told from a first-person perspective (e.g. I, me, etc.). Factual recounts are most often told from the third-person perspective (e.g. she, he, they, etc.).
• Use time connectives to help organize the text and link the different sections of the recount together.
• Avoid repetitive use of language like then x, then y, and then z.”
• Aim to draw the reader into the action by using descriptive and figurative language
• Focus on the most critical/exciting parts.
• Use plenty of detail but ensure it is relevant to the purpose of the recount.

PERSUASIVE VOCABULARY

Vocabulary can elicit an emotional response beyond the literal meaning of the words used. When students understand this, they understand a powerful tool of persuasion.

PERSUASIVE ADVERTISING STRATEGIES

The Pain Solution: Persuades by highlighting a problem and suggesting a solution.

The Bandwagon: Persuades to do, think, or buy something because it is popular or because “everyone” is doing it.

The Testimonial: Persuades by using a previous customer or famous person to endorse a product or idea.

The Logical Appeal: Persuades by using reason, usually in the form of a claim backed by supporting evidence.

The Emotional Appeal: Persuades using words that appeal to emotions instead of logic or reason.

The Youth Appeal: Persuades by suggesting you’ll feel younger and more energetic using this product or service.

The Romantic Appeal: Persuades the reader by invoking the powerful and inspiring feelings of love.

The Empathy Appeal: Persuades the reader by encouraging them to identify with the plight of another.

The Testimonial: Persuades the reader by using a previous customer or famous person to endorse a product or idea

THE ROLE OF IMAGES IN AN ADVERTISEMENT

It’s a competitive world out there! Advertisements must catch and hold attention in an overwhelmingly noisy world, and images are a powerful means of doing this. Photos, pictures, diagrams, logos, color schemes – the visual look of an ad is as important as the text and, in some cases, more important!

Interesting images capture interest. They can intrigue the reader and encourage them to read the text they accompany.

Images also help the reader visualize the product or service offered. Advertising space can be expensive, and, as the old adage has it, a picture tells a thousand words. Images help advertisers make the most of their advertising real estate.

Students should carefully choose (or create) images to accompany their text. They should ensure that images are relevant and appropriate for their selling audience. They should look natural and genuine rather than posed.

Students can create their own images using their cell phones or graphic designer apps such as Canva .

This is our complete guide on writing an advertisement for students, and be sure to browse all our persuasive articles whilst you are here. Finally, we also have a complete unit of work on advertising for students and teachers that can be found here.

PERSUASIVE DEVICES TUTORIAL VIDEO

OTHER ARTICLES RELATED TO HOW TO WRITE AN ADVERTISEMENT

How to Write Perfect Persuasive Essays in 5 Simple Steps

Top 5 Persuasive Writing Techniques for Students

5 Top Persuasive Writing Lesson Plans for Students and Teachers

23 Persuasive writing Topics for High School students

Teaching Fact and Opinion

Essay On Advertisement

500 words essay on advertisement.

We all are living in the age of advertisements. When you step out, just take a quick look around and you will lay eyes upon at least one advertisement in whichever form. In today’s modern world of trade and business, advertisement plays an essential role. All traders, big and small, make use of it to advertise their goods and services. Through essay on advertisement, we will go through the advantages and ways of advertisements.

The Various Ways Of Advertisement

Advertisements help people become aware of any product or service through the use of commercial methods. This kind of publicity helps to endorse a specific interest of a person for product sale.

As the world is becoming more competitive now, everyone wants to be ahead in the competition. Thus, the advertisement also comes under the same category. Advertising is done in a lot of ways.

There is an employment column which lists down job vacancies that is beneficial for unemployed candidates. Similarly, matrimonial advertisement help people find a bride or groom for marriageable prospects.

Further, advertising also happens to find lost people, shops, plots, good and more. Through this, people get to know about a nearby shop is on sale or the availability of a new tutor or coaching centre.

Nowadays, advertisements have evolved from newspapers to the internet. Earlier there were advertisements in movie theatres, magazines, building walls. But now, we have the television and internet which advertises goods and services.

As a large section of society spends a lot of time on the internet, people are targeting their ads towards it. A single ad posting on the internet reaches to millions of people within a matter of few seconds. Thus, advertising in any form is effective.

Benefits of Advertisements

As advertisements are everywhere, for some magazines and newspapers, it is their main source of income generation. It not only benefit the producer but also the consumer. It is because producers get sales and consumer gets the right product.

Moreover, the models who act in the advertisements also earn a handsome amount of money . When we look at technology, we learn that advertising is critical for establishing contact between seller and buyer.

This medium helps the customers to learn about the existence and use of such goods which are ready to avail in the market. Moreover, advertisement manages to reach the nooks and corners of the world to target their potential customers.

Therefore, it benefits a lot of people. Through advertising, people also become aware of the price difference and quality in the market. This allows them to make good choices and not fall to scams.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of Essay On Advertisement

All in all, advertisements are very useful but they can also be damaging. Thus, it is upon us to use them with sense and ensure they are entertaining and educative. None of us can escape advertisements as we are already at this age. But, what we can do is use our intelligence for weeding out the bad ones and benefitting from the right ones.

FAQ on Essay On Advertisement

Question 1: What is the importance of advertisement in our life?

Answer 1: Advertising is the best way to communicate with customers. It helps informs the customers about the brands available in the market and the variety of products which can be useful to them.

Question 2: What are the advantages of advertising?

Answer 2: The advantages of advertising are that firstly, it introduces a new product in the market. Thus, it helps in expanding the market. As a result, sales also increase. Consumers become aware of and receive better quality products.

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We live in a world of visual stimulation. In the car, on the metro, or strolling through town, we absorb the invitations to look, buy, do, react, often unconsciously. Because we are so accustomed to the barrage of media stimulation that blankets billboards or floats across our screens, we often take for granted our media savvy. Part of becoming more media literate is the ability to identify the techniques used by advertisers...

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Sample essay on advertising techniques.

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Advertising is a very common means of getting customers to see your brand, message and product. However, we all know that advertising is intentionally deceptive in the sense that it tries to prey on your weaknesses as a human being. Read the following sample essay on advertising techniques and find out why. If you need some additional help, check out our essay help section to find out more about how to structure and write essays.

Advertising: Modern Day Propaganda

In our day to day lives, we are constantly barraged by marketing and advertising in many forms. These advertisements employ a variety of schemes in order to capture our attention and hopefully spend our money on the product or service. According to Ann McClintock in Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising , we are victimized and seduced on a daily basis to buy products without much actual logical thinking involved. McCormick listed name calling, glittering generalities, transfer, testimonial, plain folks and bandwagon as the six major ways in which we are deceived on a daily basis. In browsing through a September, 2010 issue of Forbes Magazine, there are three specific instances where the tactics of testimonial, transfer and plain folks are used.

Forbes Ad for Credit Suisse

The first ad I found was by a financial services company named Credit Suisse that boasted the support of Roger Federer, the famous tennis player, in a classic testimonial tactic. In a whole page ad, the picture of Federer proudly crossing his burly arms and looking into the distance is elegantly portrayed on half the page. Although Federer’s picture is in black and white, a red line across the bottom contains some words in support of Federer. The largest font text reads, “48,000 employees, 96,600 fingers crossed, one Credit Suisse with Roger Federer all the way.” The bottom also reads some extremely flattering words about both Credit Suisse and Federer; “Determination, dedication and a will to succeed. The Attributes on which Credit Suisse are built have served Roger Federer equally over his remarkable career…” Clearly, there is a very strong association between this company and Federer, as they portray him as almost a fellow team member.

This ad successfully employs the testimonial tactic. As McClintock argued, “the testimonial capitalizes on the admiration people have for a celebrity to make the product shine more brightly” (McClintock). As we all know, Federer is a very good tennis player who has gained notoriety for his accomplishments. However, Federer is clearly not employed by Credit Suisse for the purpose of offering financial services. Moreover, anything relating to financial services is not even found on the advertisement. Without ever hearing of the brand beforehand, one would be confused as to what they did or sold in the first place. Thus, this ad completely rests on the popularity of Federer and the proclaimed relationship that he has with the company. Furthermore, the tactic of glittering generalities is also used because in analogy to Federer’s accomplishments, Credit Suisse claims that they have the same determination, dedication and will to succeed. These terms are all relatively vague and tell you little about why you should use the company in comparison to its competitors. All you know from the ad is that Federer endorses it and that he has similar successful traits as the company does. Click here to read an analysis of Budweiser's Superbowl ad in 2014.

Albert Einstein Ad

Another ad that successfully utilizes the transfer tactic is an ad for meaning based technologies via Autonomy that portrays Albert Einstein on over half the page. Most of the photo is covered with the face of the famous physicist who accomplished marvelous discoveries in his time. In the bold text below reads, “genius is just a word until someone gives it meaning.” The ad then carefully describes the value of meaning: “Meaning brings words to life. They become a shared idea, a request or an instruction. They become intellectual property and inside information. And companies rise and fall as a result.” The advertisement also vaguely describes what the company actually does, “Autonomy, the leader in meaning based technologies.” It is worthy to note that the company uses the themes of intelligence, genius and the value of making wise decisions with the information we have. This is precisely why the picture of Einstein was included as part of their modern marketing strategy .

By using Einstein’s picture, Autonomy engages the reader to associate his accomplishments with their product. In associating their meaning based technology with Einstein, it cannot even be interpreted as an endorsement. Since Einstein is dead and cannot possibly have any involvement with the product at this time, the real value of using him has to come from the admiration that people have for him. Indeed, since Einstein is a household name that people associate with genius, mathematician and intelligence, the company is trying to have the same image as well. Moreover, as McClintock remarked, “the advertisers hope that they prestige attached to the symbol will carry over to the product” (McClintock). The primary hope is that readers will associate the accomplishments of Einstein with the company in a similar fashion. 

The Blue Collar Worker

The final ad the used the plain folks tactic was a Siemens ad that depicted gentleman in a manufacturing facility working. Portrayed in three quarters of the ad is an older gentleman with a grizzly gray beard and protective glasses working on something. While we cannot see what he is specifically doing, we can tell by his clothes and posture that he is a blue collar worker. In a caption below reads, “What can a century-old factory teach us about the future?” Below that is a bold statement that summarizes what Siemens does for factories, “Siemens technologies breathe new life into old factories- and help ensure America’s best manufacturing days are still ahead.” Finally, the advertisement also claims that while Siemens has done a lot for American industry, it is ready to do more. Noteworthy is the theme of American manufacturing, which is being overtaken by outsourcing in China . Another theme is the portrayal of a blue collar worker.

In portraying a blue collar worker on the front, this advertisement appeals to plain folks. The individual is diligently working on a project with his bare hands. This appeals to plain folks because it glorifies the value of American manufacturing. In an age where labor jobs are leaving the country very quickly, this ad effectively empathizes and supports the need for efficient American manufacturing jobs. By portraying a blue collar worker and reciting quotes about how they have helped this industry, Siemens also sends the message that they are not only an integral aspect of its success, but that they are also there to support the industry during tough economic times. Siemens is emphasizing that they have the same values as the average labor worker. They want to epitomize themselves as the solution to ensure that “America’s best manufacturing days are still ahead.” This encourages the reader to perceive Siemens as ‘the good guy’ who supports America (despite not including a woman in the ad and clearly using gender stereotypes ). While the advertisement doesn’t clearly outline how or why Siemens helps bring life to these factories, it merely claims that it does on the basis of association to plain folks with similar values and goals.

As we have seen, marketing tactics such as transfer, testimonial and plain folks are commonly used in modern advertisements. In associating Credit Suisse with tennis player Federer, the ad made it seem as though that Federer was a fellow team member and a definite supporter of the financial services company. Because nothing was listed about the actual company and its services, we have to presume that the advertisements effectiveness stems solely from the association with Roger Federer. Another example of the transfer tactic was the Autonomy meaning based technology ad depicting Einstein. This one page ad utilized Einstein’s credibility and value as a genius physicist to carry over onto their own product. Finally, the Siemens plain folks ad was tailored to project the notion that the company supports blue collared American industries that are being challenged by a tough economy. Siemens’ ad also utilizes the association to the average Joe by glorifying the role of American industry workers, thus epitomizing similar values. 

Works Cited

McClintock, Anne. “Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising.” Oct 28, 2009. Print. 

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• Advertising

13 Most Common Advertising Techniques Used by the Advertisers

Today every company needs to advertise its product to inform the customers about the product, increase the sales, acquire market value, and gain reputation and name in the industry.

Every business spends lot of money for advertising their products but the money spent will lead to success only when the best techniques of advertising are used for the product. So here are some very common and most used techniques used by the advertisers to get desired results .

Emotional Appeal

This technique of advertising is done with help of two factors - needs of consumers and fear factor.

Most common appeals under need are:

Most common appeals under fear are:

Promotional Advertising

This technique involves giving away samples of the product for free to the consumers. The items are offered in the trade fairs, promotional events, and ad campaigns in order to gain the attention of the customers.

Bandwagon Advertising

This type of technique involves convincing the customers to join the group of people who have bought this product and be on the winning side. For e.g. recent Pantene shampoo ad which says “15crores women trusted Pantene, and you?”

Facts and Statistics

Here, advertisers use numbers, proofs, and real examples to show how good their product works. For e.g. “Lizol floor cleaner cleans 99.99% germs” or “Colgate is recommended by 70% of the dentists of the world” or Eno - just 6 seconds.

Unfinished Ads

The advertisers here just play with words by saying that their product works better but don’t answer how much more than the competitor. For e.g. Lays - no one can eat just one or Horlicks - more nutrition daily. The ads don’t say who can eat more or how much more nutrition.

Weasel Words

In this technique, the advertisers don’t say that they are the best from the rest, but don’t also deny. E.g. Sunsilk Hairfall Solution - reduces hairfall. The ad doesn’t say stops hairfall.

Endorsements

The advertisers use celebrities to advertise their products. The celebrities or star endorse the product by telling their own experiences with the product. Recently a diamond jewellery ad had superstar Amitabh Bacchan and his wife Jaya advertising the product. The ad showed how he impressed his wife by making a smart choice of buying this brand. Again, Sachin tendulkar, a cricket star, endorsed for a shoe brand.

Complementing the Customers

Here, the advertisers used punch lines which complement the consumers who buy their products. E.g. Revlon says “Because you are worth it.”

Ideal Family and Ideal Kids

The advertisers using this technique show that the families or kids using their product are a happy go lucky family. The ad always has a neat and well furnished home, well mannered kids and the family is a simple and sweet kind of family.

E.g. a dettol soap ad shows everyone in the family using that soap and so is always protected from germs. They show a florescent color line covering whole body of each family member when compared to other people who don’t use this soap.

Patriotic Advertisements

These ads show how one can support their country while he uses their product or service.

For e. g some products together formed a union and claimed in their ad that if you buy any one of these products, you are going to help a child to go to school. One more cellular company ad had a celebrity showing that if the customers use this company’s sim card, then they can help control population of the country.

Questioning the Customers

The advertisers using this technique ask questions to the consumers to get response for their products.

E.g. Amway advertisement keeps on asking questions like who has so many farms completely organic in nature, who gives the strength to climb up the stairs at the age of 70, who makes the kids grow in a proper and nutritious ways, is there anyone who is listening to these entire questions. And then at last the answer comes - “Amway : We are Listening.”

This technique is used to bribe the customers with some thing extra if they buy the product using lines like “buy one shirt and get one free”, or “be the member for the club for two years and get 20% off on all services.”

Surrogate Advertising

This technique is generally used by the companies which cannot advertise their products directly. The advertisers use indirect advertisements to advertise their product so that the customers know about the actual product.

The biggest example of this technique is liquor ads. These ads never show anyone drinking actual liquor and in place of that they are shown drinking some mineral water, soft drink or soda.

These are the major techniques used by the advertisers to advertise their product. There are some different techniques used for online advertising such as web banner advertising in which a banner is placed on web pages, content advertising using content to advertise the product online, link advertising giving links on different sites to directly visit the product website, etc.

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• Consumer Behaviour
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• Advertising Techniques
• Models of Advertising Scheduling
• Industrial Advertising
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• Future of Advertising
• News Based Advertising: Ethical or Not!
• Ad Spending: A Primer
• The Rise of Digital Lynch Mobs and What They Mean for Businesses in Our 24/7 World

Propaganda Techniques in Advertising Essay

Propaganda and advertising have many similarities. Both rely on mass media in order to be effective and are typically utilized to control behavioral patterns of others. However, while propaganda may serve different purposes, such as promoting various political and religious goals, advertising has only one purpose in mind – to increase sales. As such, advertising could be considered a subdivision of propaganda.

For a hypothetical scenario, we could take an advertising campaign for chewing gum. Chewing gums are typically sold in convenience stores, where they are usually found next to the cashier’s stand. All chewing gums are placed together, meaning a direct competition between various brands. As it stands, the most popular brands are Dirol, Stimorol, and various types of Wrigley’s chewing gums, such as Doublemint. A new brand of chewing gum, if placed next to these giants, would not stand a chance, even if its qualities were similar or even above the norm. The majority of customers are going to buy familiar brands and avoid unusual or new gums unless something catches their attention, or the price is significantly low.

In order to even the playing field, a strong advertising campaign is necessary. In order to be successful and reach out large numbers of potential customers, it has to utilize all available media outlets, such as TV, Radio, visual advertisements, and internet social media. The end goal is to solidify the brand in the subconscious mind of the buyers, in order for it to be able to compete with other brands.

One of the simplest and most widespread propaganda methods to be used in advertising is repetition. Dr. Joseph Goebbels, who is heralded as the father of modern propaganda, used to say that a lie repeated 1000 times becomes the truth. In advertiser language, that transforms into a saying that even bad advertising is still beneficial in the long run. Exposing potential customers to all manners of advertising on a regular basis would make them more familiar with the brand.

Another effective propaganda technique is the use of loaded language in order to promote claims associated with the brand. Many gums use words like “Ultra-fresh,” “Double-mint,” and “Arctic Breeze” in order to sell themselves. However, these words have been overused to the point nobody pays attention to them anymore. Our brand of chewing gum can advertise through other means. The selling point would not emphasize its taste, as by now everybody knows that most gums taste the same. Using a different set of slogans like “Comfortable, stylish wrapper,” “The gum for cool people,” and similar techniques might attract attention due to being alluring and unique at the same time.

Lastly, in order to reinforce the slogans, the advertising campaign can use associative projection techniques in order to solidify the relationship between the gum and perceived status of using it. Having successful people, movie stars, sportsmen, and other noteworthy personas advertise the gum as their brand of choice would make customers think they would also be successful if they emulate consumer habits of these people. This kind of advertising solicits an emotional response, meaning that any claims used in advertisements would be viewed as more credible.

The design of the gum package should correspond to the goals mentioned above. To stand out, the gum would have a dark mated wrapper with etched letters and stripes of contrasting color, such as blue, green, red, yellow, or orange. Such a wrapper would look more expensive and attractive compared to the majority of the brands, and resonate well with the advertising techniques chosen above.

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IvyPanda. (2020, September 15). Propaganda Techniques in Advertising. https://ivypanda.com/essays/propaganda-techniques-in-advertising/

"Propaganda Techniques in Advertising." IvyPanda , 15 Sept. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/propaganda-techniques-in-advertising/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Propaganda Techniques in Advertising'. 15 September.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Propaganda Techniques in Advertising." September 15, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/propaganda-techniques-in-advertising/.

1. IvyPanda . "Propaganda Techniques in Advertising." September 15, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/propaganda-techniques-in-advertising/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Propaganda Techniques in Advertising." September 15, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/propaganda-techniques-in-advertising/.

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• 01 May 2024

Allen J. Bard obituary: electrochemist whose techniques underpin clinical diagnostics, materials discovery and more

• Michael Rose 0 &
• Henry S. White 1

Michael Rose is the director of the Center of Electrochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Henry S. White is a Distinguished Professor in Chemistry. He received his PhD under Bard in 1983 from the University of Texas at Austin.

You have full access to this article via your institution.

Credit: The University of Texas at Austin

Allen Bard is widely regarded as the father of modern electrochemistry. During his prolific research career, including more than 60 years at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, Bard became a world-renowned innovator and researcher, pioneering diverse areas of electrochemistry and technologies that are widely used today.

Bard’s work on electrochemiluminescence — luminescence induced by a reaction involving the transfer of electrons — led to the commercialization of sensitive assays for biomarkers in clinical diagnostics. Bard also developed the first scanning electrochemical microscope, a tool that has proved invaluable for investigating materials for solar cells and batteries, as well as for probing cancer cells and tracking chemical reactions.

Born and raised in New York City, Bard studied chemistry at the City College of New York in 1955. He did his graduate studies (1955–58) at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, briefly under Nobel laureate Geoffrey Wilkinson, who specialized in organometallic compounds. Bard’s presence in Wilkinson’s laboratory when the group identified the structure of ferrocene — the most ubiquitous electrochemical standard in electrochemistry — was a harbinger of great things to come.

After Wilkinson left Harvard in 1955, Bard moved to James J. Lingane’s research group, where he completed his dissertation on the electrochemistry of tin. He also worked with chemist David Geske on early attempts to apply electrochemical methods to the study of reaction mechanisms. He was introduced to the electrochemistry of aprotic solvents (unlike water, they lack an acidic proton), in which highly reactive species can be generated that would otherwise be quenched by reactions with protons.

The new car batteries that could power the electric vehicle revolution

Bard was subsequently hired as an instructor at UT Austin by Norman Hackerman, a chemist who specialized in electrochemical measurements of corrosion . In the 1960s, Bard and others established the important role of radical ions (ions that have an extra electron) in oxidation and reduction reactions of organic compounds. His group demonstrated that these species resulted from transfers of a single electron, a concept that was not generally accepted at the time. This work led Bard’s research into the area of electrogenerated chemiluminescence — in which species generated at electrodes form excited states that emit light.

Bard was a continual pioneer and rapid adapter of new electrochemical techniques. He developed many different approaches, including the rotating ring-disk electrode, used in hydrogen generation; alternating-current impedance methods for measuring fast electron transfer; and the use of digital simulations for analysing electrochemical processes. These methods provided fundamental insights into how electrons move (as a current) across interfaces and into solution as the electric potential (voltage) is varied.

From 1979 to the end of the 1990s, Bard developed the microscopic detection of electrochemical processes using piezoelectric motors, work that ultimately resulted in the development of scanning electrochemical microscopy. This technique can image electrochemical reactions on surfaces at scales from micrometres to nanometres. In collaboration with chemist Fu-Ren ‘Frank’ Fan, Bard used this form of microscopy to conduct the first electrochemical measurement of a single redox molecule, which for analytical chemists is the ultimate achievement at the limit of detection.

How to make lithium extraction cleaner, faster and cheaper — in six steps

Bard’s interests didn’t stop there. During the global oil crises of the 1970s, he was a pioneer of solar fuels — chemical energy sources produced using sunlight and stored for later use. He adapted the physics and materials science of metal–semiconductor junctions, or Schottky barriers, and applied electrochemical methods to split water molecules to release hydrogen , for example.

In the late 1970s, Bard’s group brought its techniques to the study of proteins and other biological molecules, including for processes such as the measurement of the electrochemical reduction of disulfide bonds in insulin and bovine serum albumin. This demonstrated the viability of protein electrochemistry, and such methods have since been used to study the movement of electrons in biological systems such as photosystem II and the fungal enzyme laccase in biofuel cells.

In 1980, Bard and his former PhD student Larry Faulkner penned the seminal textbook Electrochemical Methods , which will continue to inform generations of electrochemists. The latest, 3rd edition contains contributions from one of us (H.S.W.). Bard served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Chemical Society from 1982 to 2001.

Bard was of the ‘old school’ of researchers and was dedicated to deep fundamental investigations of select topics. Nonetheless, he was always on the lookout for new ideas, asking colleagues: “What’s the new science here?” He prized innovation, thoroughness and independent thought.

His vast and lasting academic legacy includes more than 1,000 research papers and more than 30 patents. Perhaps the greatest legacy lies in the people that Bard worked with and mentored. Over his almost 65 years at UT Austin, Bard supervised some 90 PhD students and collaborated with around 200 postdoctoral associates and many visiting scientists.

In 2002, on his receipt of the Priestley Award — the highest award of the American Chemical Society — Bard told Chemical Engineering News : “Whatever I’ve done as a scientist will be there for a while, but then fade away. The big names in science quickly become unknown. But through your students you maintain a presence in future generations, and they go on and on and on.” In this regard, Bard’s work is enshrined in the chemistry community, scientific literature and history books.

Nature 629 , 285 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01278-z

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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