Chapter I. General memos on advertising

CHAPTER I. GENERAL MEMOS ON ADVERTISING

 

a Pre-Reading Tasks

I. Discuss the following questions in class.

1. What is advertising? Try to define the term in your own words.

2. What are the main media or channels of advertising?

3. What advertising forms do you know?

4. Who produces advertising?

5. What devices do the advertisers use to attract consumers’ attention to the product?

6. What methods of persuasion do you know?

7. What was the first advertisement and where was it used?

8. Whose images are frequently used in advertising?

 

II. Read and translate the first advertising slogans. Try to define stylistic devices on which these slogans are based.

1. “Access – your flexible friend”. (Advertising slogan for Access credit cards, 1981 onwards, in Nigel Rees Slogans (1982), p. 91)

2. “Coughs and sneezes spread diseases. Trap the germs in your handkerchief”. (1942 health slogan, in J. Darracott and B. Loftus Second World War Posters (1972), p. 19)

3. “Don't ask a man to drink and drive”. (UK road safety slogan, from 1964)

4. “Don't die of ignorance”. (Slogan used in AIDS publicity campaign, 1987: see The Times 9 and 13 Jan. 1987)

5. “The hands that do dishes can be soft as your face, with mild green Fairy Liquid”. (Advertising slogan for Procter & Gamble's washing-up liquid)

6. “If you want to get ahead, get a hat”. (Advertising slogan for the Hat Council, UK, 1965)

7. “Let your fingers do the walking”. (1960s advertisement for Bell system Telephone Directory Yellow Pages, in Harold S. Sharp Advertising Slogans of America (1984), p. 44)

8. “No manager ever got fired for buying IBM”. (IBM advertising slogan)

9. “Top people take The Times”. (Advertising slogan for The Times newspaper from Jan. 1959)

10. “Progress through technology”. (Advertising slogan for Audi cars, from 1986)

11. “Beanz meanz Heinz”. (Advertising slogan for Heinz baked beans circa 1967, in Nigel Rees Slogans (1982), p. 131)

12. “Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach”. (Slogan for Heineken lager, 1975 onwards, in Nigel Rees Slogans (1982), p. 16)

13. “Drinka Pinta Milka Day”. (Slogan for the British Milk Marketing Board, 1958)

 

III. Read the following sayings about advertising and express your opinion about them.

1. “You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements”. (Norman Douglas (1868–1952) “South Wind” (1917) ch. 6)

2. “Advertising may be described as the science of arresting human intelligence long enough to get money from it”. (Stephen Leacock (1869–1944) “Garden of Folly” (1924) “The Perfect Salesman”)

3. “Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising”. (Mark Twain (1835–1910)“A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court”)

4. “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does”. (Stuart Henderson)

5. “The trouble with America isn't that the poetry of life has turned to prose, but that it has turned to advertising copy”. (Louis Kronenberger)

 

IV. Match the brand name with its slogan.

1. LG	a. Intelligence everywhere. / Hello, Moto!
2. Panasonic	b. You always think about us.
3. Nokia	c. There’s no better way to fly.
4. Motorola	d. Ideas for life!
5. Samsung	e. Sweden. Made with mind.
6. Toyota	f. In Touch with Tomorrow.
7. Tefal	g. Can do.
8. Ritter Sport	h. Life’s good! / Digitally yours.
9. McDonalds	i. You can.
10. Toshiba	j. Touch the temptation.
11. Lufthansa	k. I’m loving it!
12. Lexus	l. Connecting people.
13. Electrolux	m. Quadratisch. Practisch. Gut.
14. Canon	n. On the earth is your personal plane in the sky.
15. Candy	o. Manage your dream.

 

Try to remember any other advertising slogans and brands of modern Russian and foreign companies.

THE SCOPE OF ADVERTISING

Generally speaking, advertising is the paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas by an identified sponsor. Marketers see advertising as part of an overall promotional strategy. Other components of the promotional mix include publicity, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion.

In ancient times the most common form of advertising was 'word of mouth'. However, commercial messages and election campaign displays were found in the ruins of Pompeii. As printing developed in the 15th and 16th century, the first steps towards modern advertising were taken. In the 17th century advertisements started to appear in weekly newspapers in England and within a century, advertising became very popular.

As the economy was expanding during the 19th century, the need for advertising grew at the same pace. In 1843 the first advertising agency was established by Volney Palmer in Philadelphia. At first the agencies were just brokers for ad space in newspapers, but in the 20th century, advertising agencies started to take over responsibility for the content as well (pic. 1.1).

Pic. 1.1. Advertisement from 1913

Some commercial advertising media include: billboards, printed flyers, radio, cinema and television ads, web banners, skywriting, bus stop benches, magazines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses, taxicab doors, musical stage shows, stickers on apples in supermarkets, the backs of event tickets, and skywriting (pic. 1.2). Any place an “identified” sponsor pays to deliver their message through a medium is advertising. Covert advertising embedded in other entertainment media is known as product placement.

The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass-market advertising format and this is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime during popular TV events.

Advertising on the World Wide Web is a recent phenomenon. Prices of Web-based advertising space are dependent on the “relevance” of the surrounding Web content. E-mail advertising is another recent phenomenon. Unsolicited E-mail advertising is known as “spam”.

Pic. 1.2. Skywriting

Some companies have proposed to place messages or corporate logos on the side of booster rockets and the International Space Station. Controversy exists on the effectiveness of subliminal advertising, and the pervasiveness of mass messages.

Unpaid advertising (also called word of mouth advertising), can provide good exposure at minimal cost. Such techniques as personal recommendations, spreading rumours, or achieving the aim by equating a brand with a common noun (“Hoover” = “vacuum cleaner”) require a lot of fantasy from the holder of an advertising budget.

One of the purposes of advertising is to stimulate demand for a product, service, or idea. A major way advertising may stimulate demand is to create a brand franchise for a product. A brand franchise is the ability of the brand to draw buyers (even without further advertising). One can talk about the supreme brand franchise, when the brand is used to describe the whole category of products, i.e. it is used as a generic term. One of the most successful firms to have achieved a brand franchise is Hoover, whose name was for a very long time synonymous with vacuum cleaner. In Texas it is common to hear people refer to any soft drink as a Coke, regardless of whether it is actually produced by Coca-Cola or not.

A legal risk of the brand franchise is that the name can become so widely accepted that it becomes a generic term, and loses trademark protection. Examples include “escalator”, “aspirin” and “mimeograph”.

Other objectives include short or long term increases in sales, market share, awareness, product information, and image improvement.

A number of advertising techniques used to promote commercial goods and services can be used to inform, educate and motivate the public about serious non-commercial issues, such as AIDS, energy conservation, and deforestation.

Advertising, in its non-commercial use, is a powerful educational tool capable of reaching and motivating large audiences. “Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest – it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes”, – Howard Gossage, a successful adman, said.

There have been increasing efforts to protect the public interest by regulating the content of advertising. Some examples are the ban on tobacco advertising imposed in the USA, and the total ban on advertising to children under twelve imposed by the Swedish government in 1991. In Europe and elsewhere there is an energetic debate on whether and how much advertising to children should be regulated.

a Post-Reading Tasks

THE ESSENCE OF ADVERTISING

The first advertisements were plain statements that such and such a product was sold at such and such a place at such and such a price. Nowadays the yearly expenditure on advertising in Great Britain is around £500 million, which is equivalent to more than half the sum spent on education.

Advertisements are designed to persuade and create temptation and desire. Psychologists discover that a man’s hidden desire for power leads him to buy the petrol whose publicity emphasizes its power properties. The advertising copy-writer knows that some words mean more than they seem to mean, and that he can benefit from the associations which cling to certain words. Actually, most advertisements rely on persuasive language. The phrases “a holiday chocolate” and “a sunshine drink”, although they tell very little about the products they describe, help to sell them by raising pleasant ideas in people’s mind.

The logic of an advertisement’s claims should always be examined. But not all advertisements are bad nor all advertising evil, for advertisements inform as well as persuade, stimulate trade and are said to help maintain full employment. Nevertheless claims should not be accepted without careful and critical reading.

 

a Post-Reading Tasks

THE ART OF ADVERTISING

Whether the art of advertising is a real art or not, you can judge for yourself while reading these 2 ads taken from different booklets:

New York by Helicopter Breathtaking tours of the Manhattan skyline Welcome to New York, the most fascinating city in the world. Helicopter Flight Services, Inc. offers the most unforgettable way to experience all the fabulous sights of New York from a bird’s eye view. Our climate-controlled helicopters in addition to our perfect safety records personalized service, and “NO-WAIT scheduling will provide you with the most impressive flight of you life. Choose from one of our three flights ranging from 22–54 km at $69. See the map for our convenient location at 60^th Street and the East River. Call 1-888-WE-FLY-NY for reservations and do not forget your camera.

 

A Citybank card Now and in the future Other credit cards may offer some of these features but only Citybank offers all of them. No wonder so many students graduate with a Citybank card Ø No Annual Fee Ø Special Student Rate Ø Travel and Retail Discounts Ø Citybank Photo card Ø Worldwide Acceptance Ø Emergency Cash Advances Ø 24-hour Assistance

II. Pair Work.

1. Student A writes and advertisement about one thing that he likes most.	Student B is an editor and he finds his ad rather good, corrects some mistakes and reads the model variant.
2. Student A complains about the bad quality of coffee he recently bought because of the advertising on TV.	Student Bsympathizes with Student A and remembers his own mistake when believing an ad on TV he bought a vacuum-cleaner with a lot of missing parts and could hardly get it repaired.

A Pre-Reading Discussion

Decide on your format

Is it going to be a poster, a half-page magazine ad, or a tiny box in the corner of a newspaper? Make this decision based on the target audience you're trying to reach, and the amount of money you can afford to spend. If you're talking to kids, a poster in one high school will not only cost less, it will actually reach more of your target audience than a full-page ad in the biggest paper in town.

Develop your concept

The concept is the underlying creative idea that drives your message. Even in a big ad campaign, the concept will typically remain the same from one ad to another, and from one medium to another. Only the execution of that concept will change. Typically, an ad is made up of a photograph or a drawing (the “visual”), a headline, and writing (the “copy”).

The visual

Pic. 1.8. Print advertisement

A visual will help to draw attention to your ad. Research indicates that 70% of people will only look at the visual in an ad, and only 30% will read the headline (pic. 1.8). Use photographs instead of illustrations whenever possible. People tend to trust realistic photographs more easily than unrealistic ones. But whether you choose a photograph or an illustration, the most important criteria is that image should be the most interesting one possible and at least half your ad.

The headline

The most important thing to remember here is that your headline must be short, dynamic and must touch the people that read it. Your headline must affect the reader emotionally, either by making them laugh, making them angry, making them curious or making them think. Here's a little tip that might help: try to find an insight or inner truth to the message that you're trying to convey, something that readers will easily be touched by. Taking the rutabagas example once again, you can write a headline like: “Stop Exploiting These Migrant Workers.” Finally, whenever possible, avoid a headline longer than fifteen words. People just don't read as much as they used to.

The copy

If you have forcible arguments, make them. If you have persuasive facts, state them. But don't overwhelm with information. Two strong arguments will make more of an impression than a dozen weaker ones. Finally, be clear, be precise, and be honest. Position your copy beneath the headline. Only about 5% of people will read your copy, whereas 30% will read your headline. By positioning your copy near your heading, you create a visual continuity which will draw more people to the information you want to convey (pic. 1.8). Use a serif font for your copy. Those little lines on the letters make the reading easier and more pleasing to the eye.

If you have lots of copy, break it up with interesting subheads, as we've done in the graphic above (pic. 1.8). This will make your ad more inviting, more organized, and easier to read. The signature is where the name of the organization belongs, along with the address and phone number. If you don't have an organization, then think of a name that will help reinforce the message you're trying to convey. Perhaps “Citizens for Fairness to Migrant Rutabagas Pickers” would work for the example we've been using.

Some mistakes to avoid

The first most common mistake is visual mess. Less is always better than more. So if you're not certain whether something is worth including, then leave it out. If your ad is chaotic, people will simply turn the page, and your message will never be read.

The second most common mistake is to have an ad that's unclear or not easily understood (haven't you ever looked at an ad and wondered what it was for?). The best way to safeguard against this is to do some rough sketches of your visual with the headline and show it around. If people aren't clear about your message, then it's probably because your message is unclear. Proofread your ad, and then give it to others to proofread, and then proofread it yet again. Typographical errors diminish your credibility and have an uncanny habit of creeping into ads when you least expect it.

 

a Post-Reading Tasks

PRINCIPAL ADVERTISING MEDIA

 

Advertising is a huge global business. Each year billions of pounds are spent in attempts to influence our decisions and to persuade us to spend more.

Think of the number of messages that are aimed at each one of us in an average day. On the high street, on public transport, in newspapers and magazines and on television we are bombarded with images and slogans designed to make us part with our cash. Because of the enormous amount of advertising there is around, the advertising industry is constantly trying to invent new ways of getting our attention (pic. 2.1).

Pic. 2.1. The global market

The advertising industry classifies each person according to earnings, education and social habits and gender. The advertising industry uses these classifications to target advertising at the relevant audience. Obviously the most expensive items are aimed at those most likely to afford them. So, advertisements can give you a good idea of the typical readership of a publication (print or online) or audience (TV or radio). The general classifications are shown in the table.

	Profiling
A	Higher managerial, administrative or professional (upper middle class)
B	Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional (middle class)
C1	Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional (lower middle class)
C2	Skilled manual workers (skilled working class)
D	Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers (working class)
E	State pensioners or widows, casual or lowest grade workers (those at the lowest levels of subsistence)

 

TV ADVERTISING

Television is the most expensive medium on which to advertise. A 30 second advertisement could cost £100,000 or more. However, television advertising is the most influential and effective method of reaching your target audience.

Commercial television companies rely on advertising to fund everything that they do. Placing advertisements in the right shows for the appropriate target audience is almost a science in itself.

As with press advertising, audiences are divided into the groups A,B,C1 and C2,D,E and then divided again by gender. The adverts are supposed to match the audience.

Pic. 2.2. Cadbury’s Coronation Street

Compare “Dawson's Creek” to “Coronation Street”. Dawson's Creek has a young audience – it is particularly popular with older teenagers (and those who think they are so). It is pointless for advertisers to try to sell washing up liquid in the breaks in Dawson's Creek – teenagers don't do the household shopping.

Coronation Street is one of the most popular shows on British television (pic. 2.2). It goes out in a prime-time slot and is consequently the most expensive programme in which to advertise. You might well find washing up liquid being sold in the breaks in Coronation Street since it has a huge female audience.

McDonald’s has two types of advertising. Corporate advertising is used to keep the brand name within the public eye. Product advertising is when McDonald’s use television to advertise their products and special promotions.

Here are the thoughts of some interviewees about advertising:

 

 

Press Advertising

 

 

PRESS ADVERTISING

Pic. 2.3. A collection of newspapers

A very large section of the advertising industry generates advertisements for use in newspapers and magazines. A daily newspaper will have many such ads in it (pic. 2.3). These are often full or half page spreads designed to grab the attention of the reader. Newspapers do not exist to sell products: they are in the business of presenting stories, but take advertisements because they pay well. A full page advertisement in a newspaper can cost thousands of pounds – and in glossy magazines this can be far more.

TELEVISION COMMERCIAL

From the earliest days of the medium, television has been used as a vehicle for advertising in some countries. Since their beginning in the late 1940s, television commercials have become the most effective, most pervasive, and most popular method of selling products of all sorts. The radio advertising industry was well-established when television made its debut in the 1940s, and in the United States television was intentionally developed as a commercial medium, based upon radio's successful format, by the first television broadcasting networks.

The first commercial in the United States was broadcast on July 1, 1941, just before a Brooklyn Dodgers-Philadelphia Phillies baseball game. It was for the Bulova clock and watch company, showing a superimposed clock over a map of the United States, along with the announcer declaring, “America runs on Bulova time!” This commercial cost the Bulova company ten dollars to run.

In the earliest days of television, it was often difficult to perceive the boundary between the actual television programs and the commercials. Many of the earliest television shows were sponsored by single companies, who inserted their names and products into the shows as much as possible. Today in the 21st century, media critics claim that the boundaries between “programming” and “commercials” have been washed out to the point where the line is as obscure as it was during the beginnings of the medium.

The brief commercial “breaks” that interrupt shows are the primary reason for the existence of modern-day television networks. A typical 30-minute time block includes 23 minutes of programming and 7 minutes of commercials (though some half-hour blocks may have as much as 12 minutes of commercials). The programming is intended as a way to capture the attention of the audience, keeping the viewers glued to the television set so that they will not want to get up and change the channel; instead, they will watch the commercials while waiting for the next segment of the show. Entire industries exist that focus solely on the task of keeping the viewing audience interested enough to sit through commercials. Special ratings systems exist for stations to determine how successful their television shows are, so that they can decide what rates to charge advertisers for their commercial airtime.

Commercials take airtime away from programmes. In the 1960s a typical hour-long American show would run for 51 minutes excluding commercials. Today a similar program would only be 42 minutes long. In other words, over the course of 10 hours American viewers will see approximately an hour and a half more commercials than they did in the sixties.

The vast majority of television commercials consist of brief advertising spots, ranging in length from a few seconds to several minutes. TV commercials have been used to sell every product imaginable from household products, goods and services, to political campaigns. The effect of television commercials upon the viewing public has been so successful and so pervasive that it is considered impossible for a politician to wage a successful election campaign without airing a good television commercial.

The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass-market advertising format, and this is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime during popular TV events. The annual Super Bowl football game is known as much for its commercial advertisements as for the game itself, and the average cost of a single thirty-second TV spot during this game has reached $2 million in 2003.

Because a single television commercial can be broadcast repeatedly over the course of weeks, months, and even years, television commercial production studios often spend enormous sums of money in the production of one single thirty-second television spot. This vast expenditure has resulted in a number of high-quality commercials, which boast of the best production values, the latest special effects technology, the most popular personalities, and the best music.

Many television commercials feature catchy jingles (songs or melodies) or catch-phrases that generate lasting appeal, which may remain in the minds of television viewers long after the advertising campaign. Some of these ad jingles or catch-phrases may take on lives of their own, turning into gags that may appear in other forms of media, such as comedy movies or television variety shows, or in written media, such as magazine comics or literature. These long-lasting advertising elements may be said to have taken a place in the pop culture history.

In many European countries television commercials appear in longer, but less frequent advertising breaks than in the USA. For example, instead of 3 minutes every 8 minutes, there might be 6 or 7 minutes every half hour. Specific regulations differ widely from country to country and network to network. Most European countries had (and have) major state-funded broadcasters which carry little or no advertising.

 

a Post-Reading Tasks

VI. Discussion section.

1. Why are there no commercial breaks during news programmes?

2. Do you think it is possible not to interrupt films or programmes with TV commercials? Divide into two groups (advertisers and TV viewers) and discuss pros and cons.

3. What are the differences between print and broadcast media advertising? Which medium is more effective to your mind? Prove your point of view.

4. Do we need television commercial restrictions? Suggest some of them.

5. Have you noticed any consistent patterns or peculiarities of TV commercials?

6. In small groups discuss the future of TV commercials and try to image the plot and design of your own TV commercial. Present your ideas to the rest of the class.

 

 

A Pre-Reading Discussion

PRINTED ADVERTISING MEDIA

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

 

Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers and other periodicals. Classified advertising is usually textually based and can consist of as little as the type of item being sold, (i.e., “Clothing”) and a telephone number to call for more information (“call 555-777x”). It can also have much more detail, such as name to contact, address to contact or visit, a detailed description of the product or products (“pants and sweaters, size 10” as opposed to “clothing”, “red 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix” as opposed to “automobile”). There are generally no pictures or other graphics within the advertisement, although sometimes a logo may be used. Classified advertising is called such because it is generally grouped within the publication under headings classifying the product or service being offered (headings such as Accounting, Automobiles, Clothing, Farm Produce, For Sale, For Rent, etc.) and is grouped entirely in a distinct section of the periodical, which makes it distinct from display advertising, which often contains graphic information beyond text such as logos, photographs, location maps or other art work and which is distributed throughout a publication and can appear on the same page with, or a page adjacent to, general editorial content.

In recent years the term “classified advertising” has expanded from merely the sense of print advertisements in periodicals to include similar types of advertising on computer services, radio, and even television, particularly cable television but occasionally broadcast television as well, typically very early in the morning hours.

Like most forms of printed media, the classified ad has found its way to the Internet. Printed classified ads are typically just a few column lines in length, and they often filled with abbreviations to save space and money. Internet classified ads don’t typically use per line pricing models so they tend to be longer. They are also searchable, unlike their offline brethren. Because of their low cost structures some companies offer free online classified ads.

A personal ad is an item or notice traditionally in the newspaper, similar to a classified ad but personal in nature. With its rise in popularity, the World Wide Web has also become a common medium for personals. Personals are generally meant to find romance or friendship, and usually include a basic description of the person, and their interests. Due to newspaper prices being based on characters or lines of text, a jargon of abbreviations and acronyms is used in personals.

 

a Post-Reading Tasks

I. Find English equivalents to the following Russian words and word combinations in the text. Make up your own sentences with them.

Реклама, ранжированная по области применения; изобразительная реклама; редакционный материал; печатная реклама; эфирное телевещание; модели ценообразования; частные рекламные объявления; газетная заметка.

 

VI. Answer the questions.

1. What media can classified advertising be realized through?

2. Why is classified advertising called so?

3. What information contains in classified advertising?

4. When does broadcast television transmit classified advertising?

5. Can you give a free online classified ad?

6. What is the difference between classified advertising and display advertising/ classified advertising and personal advertising?

7. What are personals meant for?

8. What is the main feature of personals?

 

READING” ADVERTISEMENTS

Advertisers want to reach kids, for they know

little consumers are a viable business in the U.S.

Jean Kilbourne

Ads create quick cumulative and unconscious

effects on people. Most people don’t even realize

that they buy into an ad’s message.

Jean Kilbourne

 

a Reading

Follow-up Activities

OUTDOOR ADVERTISING MEDIA

BILLBOARD

The history of billboards began in 1795 when lithography was invented, making real posters possible. Early billboards were basically large posters on the sides of buildings. As roads and highways multiplied, the billboard business florished. Billboards largely replaced advertisements painted directly onto the sides of buildings or designed into roofs.

A billboard or hoarding is a large outdoor signboard found in places with high traffic such as cities, roads, motorways and highways. Traditional billboards are usually large wooden signs with the display painted or printed on a vinyl sheet and glued onto the board. Billboards show large advertisements, typically large, witty slogans splashed with distinctive color pictures, aimed at passing pedestrians and drivers.

Some modern billboards use a technique called tri-faced (also known as rotating or multi-message billboards). These billboards show three separate adverts in rotation using a mechanical system. They are made up of a series of triangular prisms arranged so that they can be rotated to present three separate flat display surfaces (pic. 2.8). As the panels rotate and pause three unique signs can be displayed in the same space. These signs are thought to be more effective as the motion draws attention to the messages displayed.

Pic. 2.8. Times Square electronic billboards

New billboards are entirely digitized and use projection, allowing animations and completely rotating advertisements. Even holographic billboards are in use in some places. Interaction is a new theme in electronic billboards, with Britain at the forefront. At night the huge advertising billboards are lit up – advertising English brands like McDonalds, Samsung, Fosters and Coca-Cola in Piccadilly Circus (pic. 2.9). The Coca-Cola billboard responds to the weather and responds with an animated wave when passersby wave at it. London movie theatres are experimenting with billboards which contain an embedded computer chip which can interact with the web browser found in many cell phones to provide more information on the subject of the advertisement. In the spring of 2004 in Times Square in New York City, a Yahoo Autos displayed an electronic billboard which allowed one to call a phone number with a cell phone and play a two-person racing game where the cars appeared on the billboard.

Pic. 2.9. Piccadilly Circus

Billboard advertisements are designed to catch a person's attention and create a memorable impression very quickly, leaving the reader thinking about the advertisement after they have driven past it. They have to be readable in a very short time because they are usually read while being passed at high speeds. There are usually only a few words, in large font, and a humorous or arresting image in brilliant color. Some billboard designs spill outside the actual space given to them by the billboard, with parts of figures hanging off the billboard edges.

Alongside highways are some of the most noticeable and prominent places billboards are situated, since passing drivers typically have little to occupy their attention so the impact of the billboard is greater. Billboards are often drivers' primary way of finding out where food and fuel are available when driving on unfamiliar highways. Somewhere between 5,000 and 15,000 billboards are erected each year on United States highways.

An interesting billboard campaign, unique to highways, was suggested by Burma-Shave which introduced a roadside sequence of signs telling a joke or rhyme. Advertisements of canned shaving cream were placed along highways (pic. 2.10). Each advertisement had 4- or 5-part messages stretched across multiple signs, keeping the reader hooked by the promise of a punchline at the end, e.g. Be a noble – Not a knave – Caesar uses – Burma Shave; Shaving brush, – Was like old Rover. – When he died, – He died all over. – Burma Shave; Don't lose – your head – to gain a minute – you need your head – your brains are in it – Burma-Shave.

Pic. 2.10. Burma-Shave board

These sort of multi-sign advertisements are no longer common. One recent example, advertising for the NCAA, depicts a basketball player aiming a shot on one billboard; on the next one, 82 meters away, is the basket.

Many cities have high densities of billboards, especially in places where there is a lot of pedestrian traffic. Because of the lack of space in cities, these billboards are painted or hung on the sides of buildings. Billboards on the sides of buildings create different stylistic opportunities, with artwork that incorporates features of the building into the design e.g. using windows as eyes.

Many environmental groups have complained that billboards on highways cause too much clearing of trees and intrude on the surrounding landscape, with billboards' bright colors, lights and large fonts making it hard to focus on anything else. Other groups believe that billboards spoil the city’s architecture. By 2000 rooftops in Athens had grown so thick with billboards that it was getting very difficult to see its fabled architecture. In preparation for the 2004 Summer Olympics, the city demolished the majority of rooftop billboards to beautify the city for the tourists, overcoming resistance from advertisers and building owners.

Billboards have long been accused of being distracting to drivers and causing accidents. Signs with bright colors and eye-grabbing pictures, electronic and animated signs may cause drivers to look away from the road during a crucial moment. Studies have also shown that billboards at junctions and on long stretches of highway are especially dangerous for road safety.

Pic. 2.11. Wall Drug board

Most highway signs exist to advertise local restaurants and shops in the miles to come, and are crucial to drawing business in small towns that no one would stop at otherwise. One example is Wall Drug, which in 1931 put up billboards advertising “free ice water” and the town of Wall, South Dakota (pic. 2.11). Those billboards were bringing in 20,000 customers per day. Some signs advertising the establishment could be seen for hundreds of miles throughout South Dakota and the neighboring states, with slogans such as “only 827 miles (1 331 km) to Wall Drug, with FREE ice water.”

Billboards are also used to advertise national or global brands, particularly in densely populated urban areas. The top three companies advertising on billboards in 2003 in America were McDonald's, Anheuser-Busch and Miller. A large number of wireless phone companies, movie companies, cars manufacturers and banks are high on the list as well.

Billboards are also a major place of cigarette advertising. This is particularly true in countries where tobacco advertisements are not allowed in other media. For example in the U.S. tobacco advertising was banned on radio and television in 1971, leaving billboards and magazines as some of the last places tobacco could be advertised.

There exist different ways of fighting against billboards. One of them is called billboard liberation. Culture jammers, who oppose the commercialism or the corporation that sponsors the billboard, modify billboards in ways that completely change the meaning of the sign, often in a humorous way. In 1999 in one American town all cigarette billboards were replaced with anti-smoking messages. In a parody of the Marlboro Man, some billboards depicted cowboys riding on ranches with slogans like “Bob, I miss my lung.”

Not all billboards are used for advertising products and services – non-profit organisations and government agencies use them to communicate with the public. In 1999 an anonymous person created the God Speaks billboard campaign in Florida “to get people thinking about God”, with witty statements signed by God. “Don't make me come down there”, “We need to talk” and “Keep using my name in vain, I'll make rush hour longer” were parts of the campaign, which continues on billboards across the country to this day.

 

a Post-Reading Tasks

X. Discussion Section.

1. Do you know any billboards which have an interesting advertising style?

2. Estimate the effectiveness of Burma-Shave billboard campaign. Do you think it was a success? Why/ Why not? Would such billboards attract your attention?

3. Why are multi-sign advertisements no longer common?

4. Do you think that billboards spoil nature, surrounding landscape and the city’s architecture? Do you personally support the demolition of billboards in general and in our city in particular? What are your arguments?

5. Why are billboards at junctions and on long stretches of highway especially dangerous for road safety?

6. What role do highway billboards play in drawing business in small towns?

7. How do you think why tobacco advertising is banned on radio and television and allowed in magazines and on billboards?

8. What other methods similar to those mentioned in the text can you suggest to fight against billboards?

9. Do you know any laws which regulate billboard advertising?

10. What is your attitude to the God Speaks billboard campaign?

 

POSTER

A poster is any large piece of paper which hangs from a wall or other such surface. They are a frequent tool of advertisers, propagandists, protestors and other groups trying to communicate a message (pic. 2.12).

Purely text posters have a long history: they advertised the plays of Shakespeare and made citizens aware of government proclamations for centuries.

Pic. 2.12. 1942 US government war poster

The great revolution in posters was the development of colour lithography which allowed the cheap printing of posters illustrated in vibrant colours. The concept was first developed in France but by the 1890s had spread throughout Europe. A number of noted artists created poster art in this period, foremost amongst them Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Jules Chéret.

Many posters have had great artistic merit and have become extremely collectable. These include the posters advertising World's Fairs and Colonial Exhibitions. During the First and Second World Wars, recruiting posters became extremely common, and many of them have persisted in the national consciousness, such as the “Uncle Sam Wants You” posters from the United States, or the “Loose Lips Sink Ships” posters that warned of foreign spies.

Pic. 2.13. Captain EO movie poster

Other times of great noise also produced great posters. The 1960s saw the rise of pop art and protest movements throughout the West; both made great use of posters. Perhaps the most acclaimed posters were those produced by French students during “les évenments” [events] of May 1968.

The movie industry quickly discovered that vibrantly coloured posters were an easy way to sell their pictures (pic. 2.13). The collection of movie posters has become a major hobby.

 

a Post-Reading Tasks

V. Creative focus.

In small groups create your own posters for one of the following industries:

a) movie industry;

b) automobile industry;

c) travel industry;

d) fashion industry;

e) food industry;

f) gambling industry;

g) computer industry.

 

 

a Pre-Reading Tasks

1. Remember any interesting recent adverts.

2. Brainstorm advertising vocabulary – students throw out words connected to advertising and one student build up a map of the lexical set on the board: billboard, marketing agency, corporate logo, brand/product message, advertising medium.

3. Say where adverts are usually found – billboards, TV, radio, magazines – and then ask the students to think of any unusual places one might put an advert. Split into pairs for this.

 

a Reading Tasks

1. Work out in 20 seconds what the text is about. Have a pair work comparison.

2. More detailed reading – a comprehension task, designed by the students – write 6 questions of your own and exchange them for others to answer.

 

ADVERTISING MEDIA GADGETS

HUMAN BILLBOARDS

 

Advertising is a great theme. We are all bombarded with ads all day long & when an interesting one comes along we take notice.

The Guardian published an article recently on their web site about an advertising company that is offering money to students to put logos on their foreheads. Here's the text:

 

IV. Discussion section.

1. Imagine that you are an advertiser who wants to give an ad for the following products on T-shirt screens:

· soap or washing powder;

· sport equipment;

· new medical drug;

· toy, play game or rattle box;

· Swiss watch;

· new model of a mobile phone;

· new scent of perfume for men/ women;

· new movie;

· food product (tea, chewing gum, etc.);

· make-up.

Where would you likely find your targeted audience for these products? Explain your reasons, i.e. define the potential customers for this or that product and places where these customers gather.

2. What ads would you forbid to show on T-shirt TV? Why?

How do they look like?

ADVERTISING WEB BANNER

 

Pic. 3.1. To click… or not to click… That is the question

 

A web banner or banner ad is a form of advertising on the World Wide Web. This form of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a web page. It is intended to attract traffic to a website by linking them to the web site of the advertiser. The advertisement is constructed from an image (GIF, JPEG), JavaScript program or multimedia object, often employing animation or sound to maximize presence (pic. 3.1). Banners can be either wide and short, or tall and narrow. These images are usually placed on web pages that have interesting content, such as a newspaper article or an opinion poll.

The web banner is displayed when a web page that references the banner is loaded into a web browser. This event is known as an “impression”. When the viewer clicks on the banner, the viewer is directed to the website advertised in the banner. This event is known as a “click through”. In many cases, banners are delivered by a central ad server. A central ad server is a computer server that stores advertisements and delivers them to web site visitors. These servers centrally store the ads so that advertisers can track the distribution of their online advertisements across the web. The central ad server was first developed and introduced by FocaLink Media Services in 1995 for controlling online advertising or banner ads.

Pic. 3.2. Microsoft Agent Theatre

 

 

Many banner ads work on a click-through payback system. When the advertiser scans their logfiles and detects that a web user has visited the advertiser's site from the content site by clicking on the banner ad, the advertiser sends the content provider some small amount of money (usually around five to ten US cents). This payback system is often how the content provider is able to pay for the internet access to supply the content in the first place (pic. 3.2).

Web banners function the same way as traditional advertisements are intended to function: notifying consumers of the product or service and presenting reasons why the consumer should choose the product in question, although web banners differ in that the results for advertisement campaigns may be monitored real-time and may be targeted to the viewer's interests.

Many web surfers regard these advertisements as highly annoying because they distract from a web page's actual content or waste bandwidth (pic. 3.3). Newer web browsers often include options to disable pop-ups or block images from selected websites. Another way of avoiding banners is to use a proxy server that blocks them.

Pic. 3.3. Typical web banner

 

 

a Post-Reading Tasks

IV. Answer the questions.

1. What is web banner?

2. What is the difference between web banner and traditional advertisements?

3. What does a typical web banner consist of?

4. Where are banner ads usually placed on?

5. Where is the viewer directed to when he clicks on the banner?

6. What is the difference between two events known as an “impression” and a “click through”?

7. What is a central ad server? How does it help advertisers?

8. How does a click-through payback system work?

9. How can pop-ups be disabled?

 

POP-UP AD

 

Pop-up ads are a form of online advertising on the World Wide Web intended to increase web traffic. It works when certain web sites open a new web browser window to display advertisements (pic. 3.4). The pop-up window containing an advertisement is usually generated by JavaScript, but can be generated by other means as well. A less intrusive variation on the pop-up window is the pop-under advertisement. This opens a new browser window, but in the background, so as not to interrupt the user's page-view.

Pic. 3.4. Dozens of pop-ups cover a desktop

For early advertising-supported web sites, banner ads were sufficient revenue generators, but in the wake of the dot com crash, prices paid for banner advertising clickthroughs decreased and many vendors began to investigate more effective advertising methods. Pop-up ads by their nature are difficult to ignore or overlook, and are claimed to be more effective than static banner ads. Pop-ups have a much higher click rate than web banner ads do.

Most users regard pop-ups as a nuisance. In 2004, all major web browsers allowed the user to block pop-ups almost completely. Many users, however, remain unaware of this ability. Advertisers continually seek ways to circumvent such restrictions. Pop-up ads can also be spawned as a separate process (that is to say, apart from the browser) on the user's local computer. This is typically because of a spyware invasion, or because the user has voluntarily (or involuntarily) installed adware.

Adult entertainment web sites are among the most common users of pop-up ads. Some particularly vicious types of pop-up ads appear to have been specifically designed to “hijack” a user's Internet session. These forms of pop-ups sometimes spawn multiple windows, and as each window is closed by the user it activates code that spawns another window. This is sometimes referred to by users as a “Java trap”, “spam cascade” or “Pop-up Hell”. Usually the only way to stop this is to close the browser. Another variation of pop-up, commonly called “mousetrapping”, fills an entire screen with an ad or Web page and removes any menu bars or other on-screen icons by which the user can close the window. Often access to other open windows and Web pages is denied and the only way for PC users to close these ad windows is via the control-alt-delete command. Another variant, a “static image ad”, is a pop-up ad that stays in a fixed position of a window of an ad-supported program. This kind of ad doesn't distract the computer's concentration of a program window like a traditional pop-up ad does.

 

a Post-Reading Tasks

VII. Points for discussion.

1. What are the bad sides of online advertisement?

2. What are the good sides of online advertisement?

3. What are the differences between:

a) print and online advertising;

b) broadcast and online advertising;

c) outdoor and online advertising?

State the advantages and drawbacks of each advertising medium.

Which advertising medium is the most effective to your mind?

4. Divide into two groups – web users and online advertisers. Advertisers should speak in support of online advertising. Web users should bring their arguments against online advertising. Each group should try to convince the other in its reasons. Make your arguments sound persuasive.

 

 

A Pre-Reading Discussion

ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES

 

Companies appeal to consumers in many different ways to persuade them to buy their products. Advertisers use several recognizable techniques in order to better convince the public to buy a product. These may include:

Advertising Techniques
association	advertisers often attempt to associate their product with desirable imagery to make it seem equally desirable. The use of attractive models, picturesque landscapes and other seductive images is common. As a rule the image is not connected to the product. An advertisement set in tranquil mountains in the Alps has no connection to a chewing gum or washing powder, yet disconnected images are often used because they evoke positive feelings
avant garde	the suggestion that using this product puts the user ahead of the times e.g. a toy manufacturer inspires kids to be the first to have a new toy
bandwagon	the suggestion that everybody is using the product and that you should too in order to be part of the group, to “get on the bandwagon” e.g. a credit card company quotes the number of millions of people who use their card
facts and figures	statistics and objective factual information is used to prove the superiority of the product e.g. a car manufacturer quotes the amount of time it takes their car to get from 0 to 100 k.p.h.
glittering generalities	“weasel words” are used to suggest a positive meaning without actually really making any guarantee e.g. a famous sports personality says that a diet product might help you to lose weight the way it helped him to lose weight
hidden fears	the suggestion that this product will protect the user from some danger e.g. a laundry detergent manufacturer suggests that you will be embarrassed when strangers see “ring around the collar” of your shirts or blouses
magic ingredients	the suggestion that some almost miraculous discovery makes the product exceptionally effective e.g. a pharmaceutical manufacturer describes a special coating that makes their pain reliever less irritating to the stomach than a competitor’s
patriotism	the suggestion that purchasing this product shows your love of your country e.g. a company brags about its product being made in Canada and employing Canadian workers
plain folks	the suggestion that the product is a practical product of good value for ordinary people e.g. a cereal manufacturer shows an ordinary family sitting down to breakfast and enjoying their product
pressure	by attempting to make people choose quickly and without long consideration, some advertisers hope to make rapid sales: Buy now, before they're all gone!
repetition	some advertisers concentrate on making sure their product is widely recognized. To that end, they simply attempt to make the name remembered through repetition (at least four times)
sex appeal	other people will think that you are more attractive or desirable because you use that product. An attractive model may be used to gain your attention.
slogans	the most effective means of drawing attention to one or more aspects of a product. Typically they make claims about being the best quality, providing an important benefit or solution, or being most suitable for the potential customer: Skim milk does not come from skinny cows, Candy can do
snob appeal	the suggestion that the use of the product makes the customer part of an elite group with a luxurious and glamorous life style e.g. a coffee manufacturer shows people dressed in formal gowns and tuxedos drinking their brand at an art gallery
subliminal messages	It was feared that some advertisements would present hidden messages, for example through brief flashed messages or the soundtrack, that would have a hypnotic effect on viewers ('Must buy car. Must buy car.') The notion that techniques of hypnosis are used by advertisers is now generally discredited, though subliminal sexual messages are extremely common
transfer	words and ideas with positive connotations are used to suggest that the positive qualities should be associated with the product and the user e.g. a textile manufacturer wanting people to wear their product to stay cool during the summer shows people wearing fashions made from their cloth at a sunny seaside setting where there is a cool breeze
testimonial	a famous personality is used to promote the superior quality of the product e.g. a famous hockey player recommends a particular brand of skates; Three out of four dentists recommend... This approach often involves an appeal to authority.
wit and humour	customers are attracted to products that divert the audience by giving viewers a reason to laugh or to be entertained by clever use of visuals or language

It is important to note: During the past decade, advertising has increasingly employed the device of irony. Aware that today's media-savvy viewers are familiar with the traditional methods listed above, advertisers have turned to poking fun at those very methods. This approach is intended to tell viewers, “We know that YOU know we're trying to sell you something, so bear with us and let's have fun.” The final goal of such advertising is to convey a sense of trust and confidence with viewers, by saying, “We respect your intelligence, and you should respect us because we're not trying to fool you.” Common television examples of this approach include most beer advertising.

 

a Post-Reading Tasks

I. Discussion section.

1. Which advertising technique do you consider to be the most/ the least influential? Prove your point of view.

2. Which advertising technique will make the greatest effect on you? Why?

3. Which advertising technique is used more often by advertisers? Give examples.

4. Find as many advertising techniques as you can in the following pictures (pic. 4.1 – 4.7).

 

Pic. 4.2 G Unit

Pic. 4.1. J’adore Dior

 

 

	Pic. 4.3. L’Instant Taittinger		Pic. 4.4. Café de matin

	Pic. 4.5. Grand Parisy