Message Appeals

 

Some ads are designed to appeal to the rational, logical aspect of the consumer’s decision-making process; others appeal to feelings in an attempt to evoke some emotional reaction. Many believe that effective advertising combines the practical reasons for purchasing a product with emotional values. There are several commons types of message appeals:

• Comparative advertising refers to the practice of either directly or indirectly naming competitors in   an ad and comparing one or more specific attributes. (William L. Wilkie & Paul W. Farris, “Comparative Advertising: Problems & Potential,” Journal of Marketing 39 (1975), pp. 7-15)
• Fear appeals. Fear is an emotional response to a threat that expresses, or at least implies, some sort of danger. Ads sometimes use fear appeals to evoke this emotional response and arouse individuals to take steps to remove the threat.
• Humor appeals. Humorous ads are often the best known and best remembered of all advertising messages. Advertisers use humor for many reasons. Humorous messages attract and hold consumer’s attention. They enhance effectiveness by putting consumers in a positive mood, increasing their liking of the ad itself & their feeling toward the product or service. And humor can act as a distraction, reducing the likelihood that the receiver will counter argue against the message. ^*)

Of course there are more than three appeals using in advertising. You can see the list on my posting titled “Sex Doesn’t Sell?” under categories Articles/Hot Issue (June 8, 2007). Each of those appeals has the same purpose: grab the audience attention. Nowadays, using more than one appeal in single advertisement looks common. Many agencies just try to be creative in this information flood era. 

Source: all writing before ^*) mark cited from Belch, E George & Belch, Michael E. Introducing to Advertising & Promotion: an Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective (3^rd Ed.). Chicago: Irwin, 1995. p. 202-205, otherwise is Bhayu’s comment. 

Photo caption (from left to right): California Slim uses a comparative message to position itself against Ultra Slim-Fast. (left) Fear appeals are used to show the dangers of using drugs. (middle) Miller Lite used humorous ads in a campaign that lasted over 20 years. (right). Source: ibid

Advertising in Movie

Whenever we seen movie like Nagabonar Jadi 2, we could see there were many sponsor products appeared on.  Actually,  since movie became mass production and could be seen by anybody, many company had try to advertise their products in.  We remember how The Three Stooges who very popular in 1960 era advertised some softdrink product. 

In the modern era, we can recognizing many advertiser using movie as their media. The most selling brand for movie character is Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007. Every movie about this fiction MI-6 British secret agent loaded by advertisement always. We know 007 always using Aston Martin as his official car. But suddenly when Pierce Brosnan starring, BMW took over this ’sacred’ position.

In advertising theory, advertising in movie theaters and videos categorized as support media. They are non-traditional ways to promote products. Companies can place ads before or after the movie. Many movies run ads like this, for example from the 90’s era is Hasbro who has run ads before the movie Home Alone II. Meanwhile the using of products by actor/actress called as products placements tie-ins. Like in Nagabonar Jadi 2, we can see many products advertised within the movie.

According to Belch & Belch (1995:444-445), listed some advantages and disadvantages of movie and video advertising, including the following:

Advantages:

1. Exposure

2. Mood

3. Cost

4. Recall

5. Clutter

Disadavantages:

1. Irritation

2. Cost

Belch & Belch (1995:445-446) also mentioned the same thing about products placements in movies and TV, they are:

Advantages:

1. Exposure

2. Frequency

3. Support for other media

4. Source association

5. Cost

Disadvantages:

1. High absolute cost

2. Time of exposure

3. Limited appeal

4. Lack of Control

5. Public reaction

I will explain pointers above later. Because of it will take too long for one blog articles.

 

Bibliography: Belch, George E. and Michael A. Belch. 1995. Introduction to Advertising & Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective, 3^rd Ed. Chicago: Irwin.

The Eight Greatest Lies You’ll Ever Be Told

1. You must have Unique Selling Proposition (U.S.P.)

2. You must offer a rational benefit

3. Humour doesn’t sell
4. You must have a memorable slogan
5. You must have a logo in the Ad
6. You must show the product in the Ad
7. Every Ad in a campaign must look the same
8. Creative Ad’s don’t sell

Source: Aitchison, Jim. Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create The World’s Best Print for Brands in The 21^st Century. Singapore: Prentice Hall, 1999. p.41-76

The Promotional Mix

• Advertising: Any paid form of non-personal communication about an organization,  product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor. (cited from Ralph S. Alexander, ed.  Marketing Definitions. Chicago: American Marketing Association, 1965. p.9)

• Direct Marketing: communications by organizations directly with target customers to generate a response and/or a transaction. 

• Sales Promotion: Marketing activities that provide extra value or incentives to the sales force, distributors, or the ultimate consumer and can stimulate immediate sales. Sales promotion is generally broken into 2 major categories: consumer-oriented & trade-oriented activities.

•  Publicity: non-personal communication regarding an organization, product, service, or idea that is not directly paid for or run under identified sponsorship.

• Public Relation: the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or organization with the public interest, and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance. (cited from H. Frazier Moore & Bertrand R. Canfield. Public Relations: Principles, Case, and Problems. 7^th ed. Burr Ridge, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, 1977. p.5).

•  Personal Selling: a form of person-to-person communication in which a seller attempts to assist and/or persuade prospective buyers to purchase the company’s product or service or to act on an idea.

Source: Belch, George E. and Belch, Michael A. Introduction to Advertising & Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communication Perspective. 3^rd ed. Chicago: Richard D. Irwin, 1995. p. 11-16.