Once again going back to a few of the articles we read this semester; it appears that sounds as well as words are the most important part of the commercial. One genre of commercials that really takes the use of words into consideration is movie trailers. They have to put together the most perfect clips from the movie to catch the audience’s attention. If the trailer does a good job of piecing together sound bytes then people will remember these parts when actually watching the movie.
Another crucial part of these movie trailers is sound. The first technique they use is placing songs in the background. The songs almost always coincide with what is going on in the movie. They are either fast pace and intense, or slow melodic pieces. Another interesting aspect these commercials use is the “movie guy” voice. He has a very deep, resounding voice that seems to boom over the voices of the characters. He is there to explain the general plot of the movie.
Movie trailers are important because they are whet help people decide whether or not they want to go see the movie. It is important that the perfect mix of words and sounds are used to help entice the audience.
Where do I even begin with this commercial? If you have ever seen an annoying commercials that gets stuck in your head, this would have to be one of them. There are only seven words that are repeated over and over again throughout the whole commercial. One of the articles we read said that repetition is good because it makes sure the audience remembers the product. And as much as I hate to say it, the article is correct.
I cannot even begin to explain how annoyed I get when this commercial, but as much as I hate hearing Head On, Head On, over and over again I am still tempted to go out and buy the product. The commercial gets stuck in your head, and you can’t help but think about it all day long. The little tactics like that are what help producers sell their product to a wider range of people.
Another article we read talked about sight versus sound. It says that sound is better in most cases because it is intrusive. It is easy to see that these commercials take advantage of the sound aspect because the visuals are very plain. They are usually just a person rubbing the the Head On onto their forehead. They stand in front of a plain background, and no action takes place. The simple repetition of words is all that is needed to make you want to try the product.
One of the articles we read this semester talked about design. It talked about how it is very important for the company to have a good design language. If the company has a good design it can endure throughout the years. I tried to think of companies that have very memorable designs.
One that came to mind was Coca-Cola. In all of their commercials and advertising they always keep the same classic writing style. It is always white and placed on a red background. The Coca-Cola company has been able to keep this design since it is very eye catching. I think that the design has also been so valuable because of the style of writing. The sleek cursive writing makes it seem like a more high end product.
I found the picture of a generic brand cola. The writing is just a plain block type, nothing special. Comparing the generic brand to Coca-Cola brand, I would be more likely to choose Coca-Cola. It seems like a product that is worth more. And to the consumer, price means a better product.
These two examples show why it is very important to have a good design for your product. The more vibrant and memorable the design, the more the consumer will probably end up remembering the product.
For my ad campaign I have decided to look at the Serta sheep commercials. In the ad journal before I analyzed the first commercial from this specific ad campaign. It has the sheep talking to a guy about how he has a contract with them. He doesn’t feel he needs them anymore because he now has a Serta mattress.
Over the years the sheep have continued to battle the problem of losing people to the comfortable mattress. I think it is interesting how the same sheep have been in the commercials, yet they keep adding new customers that have turned their backs on the once beloved sleep remedy.
One good tactic of these commercials is that they are able to create new scenarios for the sheep to be involved in each time. This makes the commercials more memorable. People are also more likely to pay attention to the commercial to see what predicament the sheep have themselves in this time.
I feel that this is a good ad campaign since it has lasted so many years. The sheep have made such an impact that they now even have stuffed animal sheep with the numbers on the side. This is an example of a good commercial because they have created so many new ones while still keeping the integrity that comes with the first Serta Sheep commercials.
When trying to decide what set of commercials I wanted to analyze for my ad campaign, I tried to think of commercials that have survived over the years. One of the first ones that came to my mind was the Serta sheep commercial. There always seem to be new and different commercials involving the sheep complaining about the Serta mattress.
I think that these commercials are very interesting because they take a simple concept that almost everyone knows about and relates it to the product. One of the main ways people think of using when trying to sleep is counting sheep. By having a lot of sheep with numbers branded in their sides appear in the commercials is pretty funny. By having the sheep complain about how they are out of a job shows how good the Serta mattress works for getting a good night’s sleep.
The Serta sheep commercial has been so successful that there has been a whole string of these commercials over the years. Since everyone can relate to having problems sleeping, the sheep are a great spokesman for the mattress company.
After our discussion in class last week about the importance of sound in a commercial I couldn’t resist but to look at one of the Pepto Bismol commercials.
I think it is very interesting how such a simple little jingle can be so addicting. After seeing the commercial the song gets stuck in your head for hours and it is hard to get rid of. The purpose of having a jingle is to get the message across to the audience while doing it in a catchy way so that people remember the product. It really is true that having a song in the commercial helps you remember the product. Even if the song is annoying yo0u still can’t seem to forget it. I know if my stomach was upset I would probably think of getting Pepto Bismol because i would remember the song saying h0w Pepto Bismol cures nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea. Which other products are there out there that can fix those problems?
In class we listened to short pieces of songs or sounds. It is amazing how everyone came up with basically the same answer for where the sounds came from. If everyone is able to identify these sounds it is easy to see why commercials have songs. Even if you only hear the commercial you might be able to recognize the song and remember what product it is that is being advertised.
This commercial caught my eye the first time I saw it. Who can resist a cute little boy who talks with a lisp. The commercial starts out by asking the little boy what he thinks about having the carpets in their house cleaned. He says it is Beautiful, and he just keeps repeating the word. The little kid is so cute that you almost forget what he is saying is so beautiful until the end when they sing the Stanley Steamer jingle.
One of the articles we read last week by Williams was called “A Bright Red Bow Tie”. It talked about how the author met this man at a conference and he automatically liked him because the man spent all of his time introducing the young guest that was with him, and he didn’t even introduce himself. The man turned out to be the owner of a small appliance store who was famous for making his own ads. All of his ads looked like kids had drawn them, but since he was the only one who made ads like this they became very popular.
After I read this I remembered this commercial because of the little boy. Most carpet cleaning commercials focus mostly on showing how much difference it makes after having your carpets cleaned, or have an adult talk about how much they like the clean carpet. By having a little kid talk about how beautiful he thinks the carpet is, the audience may be more inclined to want to use the product. If a child recognizes the difference and really likes it then it must be amazing.
By focusing more on the young boy than showing how clean the carpets are, Stanley Steamer has done a good job of selling their service to many people.
When looking for an ad to use this week I was trying to find something that involved celebrities. I’ve noticed that almost every single ProActiv commercial has a celebrity endorsing the product. These celebrities range from Lindsay Lohan to to Puff Daddy. All of these celebrities say how ProActiv has done wonders for their skin. Since they are always in the limelight they need something that keeps there skin clear and spot free.
One thing that Ogilvy talks about is the importance of celebrity endorsement. He discusses how people see the celebrities and recognize their presence in everyday life. If a person knows that celebrities use a product they may be more likely to want to use the product themselves. The ProActiv commercials do a good job of this because they not only show the celebrity but they also show a before picture with the face covered in acne. This gives the audience a better sense of how ProActiv works.
One other thing that Ogilvy discusses is how it is important to use people of the same sex to attract the audience. It is seen that people enjoy seeing people of the same sex because they feel like they can identify with the person in the commercial. ProActiv uses both men and women in their commercials, which attracts everyone to the use of the product.
By using very famous celebrities of both sex, ProActiv has created a large client base. By following the simple guidelines that Ogilvy set out the advertiser can create the best commercials possible.
The reading that we had this week focused on print advertisements and how to make them the most effective. One of the more important things it mentioned is how the headline plays a significant part in attracting the reader to the product. The headline has to catch the readers attention as well as describe the product that is being sold. It is important that the name of the product be mentioned in the headline because some readers do not read the body of the ad, and if the name is not easily visible then the reader may never know what product is being advertised.
One thing that advertisements for alcohol do that differ from the way Ogilvy says they should be done is the use of models. Ogilvy says that people are more attracted to people of same sex when looking at a commercial. I feel that alcohol ads, such as the Bacardi ones, uses the body for sexual reasons to attain the attention of the opposite sex. I mean who would be more enticed by the picture of the very valuptuous women, a guy or a girl?
One final thing that was discussed in the reading for this week is how long ads sell. Depending on the product the advertisement needs to be short or long. In the case of alcohol it is better to have less words. When people look at the ad they just want to see seductive, beautiful people enjoying their drinks. No one wants to read about the cost of the alcohol or read a description of the taste. All they want is to see that other people enjoy the product and so can they.
So I found this commercial on Youtube and here is the little description that they give before you can click to watch the commercial. “An escalator can never break. It can only become stairs. You would never see an “Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order” sign, just “Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience.”
This has to be one of the funniest commercials I have ever seen. I was searching for one of the State Farm ‘Now What” commercials and this one came up. I literally burst out laughing about ten seconds into the ad. I was having a hard time deciding what I wanted to base my analysis on this week, but once I found this commercial it came to me.
One of the things that Ogilvy talks about is naming your product. It is important for the commercial to somewhat represent the product you are trying to sell. It is also important for there to be some suspense in the commercial so that the audience is drawn in berfore they learn what the product is.
This commercial is a great example of a delay in naming the product. I was completely unaware of what was being sold until the last ten seconds of the commercial. Even though I had to wait a long time before I found out the commercial was for a heart health product, the commercial was so intense that I was drawn in and really wanted to continue watching until the end to find out what it was for.
Finding a good way to name your product is definitely important for every commercial. The advertiser needs to make sure that the audience can clearly identify the product while still becoming interested in the ad. This commercial is a great example of naming the product, and it is also hilarious.
