ADVERTISING
LESSON 1. HOW COMPANIES ADVERTISE
Advertising is a message that tries to sell something. Companies advertise everything from cars to candy.
Advertising is also used to change peoples ideas. For
example, an ad could try to
make voters choose a certain candidate for president. Ads appear almost everywhere you look. You find them on the
radio and on TV, in magazines, shop windows, on T-shirts, inside elevators, on school buses etc. Advertising does two
main jobs: it tells people about something, like a product or a service and it also works to make people want to buy the
product or service.
Thus, advertising is the promotion of a companys products and services carried out primarily to drive sales
of the products and services but also to build a brand identity and communicate changes or new products /services to
the customers.
There are several reasons for advertising, some of which are as follows:
increasing the sales of the product/service;
creating and maintaining a brand identity or brand image;
communicating a change in the existing product line;
introduction of a new product or service;
increasing the value of the brand or the company.
There are four rules which serve as a sound guide when planning advertising. They should be examined before
any form of advertising is prepared.
1. Aim: What is the primary purpose of the advertisement? Is it to inform, sell, or improve the firm's image?
2. Target: Who is the target? From which sector of the public are you trying to achieve response (for example,
the investor, the pensioner, the career mother, the teenager)?
3. Media: Bearing the aim and target in mind, which of the media available is the most suitable (brochures,
press, television, radio etc.)?
4. Competitors: How are your competitors approaching their advertising needs? Are they successful? Can you
improve on their approach and beat them in competition?
Once an advertisement has been planned and created it is important to test its effectiveness before publication
or broadcasting. An ad should satisfy all the following well-tried principles (AIDA principles):
Although large companies could easily set up their own advertising departments, most companies hire
special advertising firms advertising agencies that specialize in making ads. These are likely to have more
resources, and are more knowledgeable about all aspects of advertising and advertising media than a single company.
The first step in making ads is to learn about the product and understand who uses it. Then people in the
advertising agency (or advertising department) develop ideas and themes. They prepare photos or images if an ad is to
appear in newspapers or magazines as well as jingles and slogans if it appears on radio or TV. Thus, they create
advertisements and develop a media plan specifying which media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, cinema,
posters, mail etc.) will be used and in which proportions. When the ad is ready it goes to the media organization where
it is run.
Advertising Techniques
1
Ads do their jobs in many different ways. Many printed ads have headlines or boldly printed words that make
people stop and read them. The headline may promise something that the reader wants, like a good price.
Other headlines may carry the announcement of a new product.
Some ads use slogans that are used over and over again. They are easy to remember and often use a
catchy phrase. Sometimes slogans are not related to the product.
In many ads a famous person talks about a product and tells why they use it. This person may be an actor, a
model or a well-known athlete. Or they may just be an average user of a product.
Ads also compare a product with another one of the same type. The ad points out why a product is better.
Some ads feature cartoon or product characters. They may appear in an ad over a long time. The characters
become well known and people identify them with a product.
Repetition is one of the most basic techniques used in the advertising business. Advertisers broadcast their
commercials several times a day for days or weeks to get the message across. When people see an ad more often they
may be more likely to accept the message and want the product.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
VOCABULARY
to drive sales
brand identity
reason for sth.
sound
target
jingle
headline
bold
(in bold type)
catchy
throwaway society
to broadcast
obesity
trailer
copywriter
word-of-mouth
advertising
logo
slogan
a commercial
to stimulate sales
brand image, brand individuality
cause of/for sth.
effective, reliable
a short phrase, usually with music, that is easy to
remember, used for advertising sth. on the radio or TV
the title of a newspaper/magazine story that is printed
in large letters
printed using darker or thicker letters than others
if a tune or phrase is catchy it attracts your attention
and is easy to remember
disposable society
to send out messages or programmes to be received
by radios or televisions
a condition in which someone is too fat in a way that
is dangerous for their health
an advertisement for a film or TV programme that
shows a short part of that film or programme
someone whose job is to write the words for
advertisements
advertising that consists of comments that people
make to each other in an informal way
a symbol that represents a company, used for example
in its advertisements or on its products
a short phrase that is easy to remember and is used to
advertise sth.
an advertisement on radio or TV
EXERCISES
1.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
Use the words from the above table to complete the following sentences.
Children are very often the main .. of advertisers.
Advertising agencies should make sure that the ads created by them are financially .. .
Advertising is carried out primarily to .. of the products and services but also to build a
.
. is important for every business, as each happy customer can provide you with
dozens of new ones.
There are several .. for advertising.
A .. usually works as part of a creative team.
.. are meant to represent companies brands or corporate identities and foster their immediate
customer recognition.
A .. is a short tune used in advertising and other commercial uses.
Many printed ads have .. or words printed in .. type that make people stop and read
them.
The company unveiled its new advertising .. this week. Its really a .. phrase that
will be remembered by everybody!
Their new .. will be .. on all national radio and TV channels.
Fast food and snack companies show ads, which lead to .. and diabetes.
On our site you can watch the latest movie .. for current and upcoming releases.
3
exaggerated
exposed
influenced
products
Children nowadays are ___________ to more and more adverts on television. Many people believe that this
represents a problem because young people are easily ___________ by television ___________ . One danger this
presents is that children will actually believe in the ___________ claims frequently made in advertisements. This is
particularly serious in the case of adverts for ___________ such as junk food that are actively unhealthy.
Regulation of advertising
restrictions
promote
regulation
services
time
There is little doubt that there should be some ___________ of advertising, but it is unclear who should be
responsible for this and how the regulations should apply. On the one hand, in the free market, companies should be
allowed to ___________ their products and ___________ as they see fit. On the other hand, however, there surely
should be some instances to set ___________ on advertising. For example, tobacco and alcohol companies should not
be allowed to buy advertising ___________ on television and radio.
4. Look at what some people have said when discussing their ad campaigns. Match the underlined words of
phrases with their synonyms from the box.
a) change perceptions
e) rebrand
4
b) generate a buzz
1) White Noises portable music players arent popular because theyre the cheapest or even the most
technologically advanced products out there. Rather, theyre popular because, quite simply, people love them.
The new ad campaign should attract people based on how they feel.
2) We want to get people talking about our product.
3) Choritos are currently thought of as a high-fat snack. We need to reinvent our product as healthy and convenient.
4) The ads should transform peoples ideas about Germany.
5) The advertisements should make a logical argument. Viewers should buy our toothpaste because its scientifically
proven to be the best in the industry.
6) Our minivans already dominate the market, and theyre still in the growth stage of their life cycle. So the ads
should simply emphasize what people already think: that theyre both safe and fun to drive.
5.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
6.
Advertising tells people about products and _____________ and tries to make them buy a
_____________ . Ads do their jobs in many different ways. _____________ are words in big
letters that try to get the _____________ of the readers.
Some ads use slogans or _____________ phrases that are easy to _____________ .
Advertising agencies often get a famous person, like an actor or _____________ , to talk about a
product. _____________ characters are often connected to a certain product and become
_____________ with it.
One of the most important techniques of advertising is _____________ . Ads are
_____________ many times a week for weeks or months. When people see them they might
want the product.
Advertising is often done by _____________ firms. First they try to get information about
buying _____________ of their _____________ ; who buys a certain product and why. The age,
sex and social _____________ of a _____________ are also important.
The people in the _____________ department _____________ ideas and themes. They
prepare images, photos and text and _____________ where the ad should _____________ .
appear
athlete
attention
broadcast
cartoon
catchy
consumer
creative
customers
decide
develop
famous
habits
headlines
product
remember
repetition
services
special
5
status
7.
Advertising is essential for business, especially for launching new consumer products.
A large reduction of advertising would decrease sales.
Advertising often persuades people to buy things they do not need or want.
Advertising raises prices.
Advertising does not present a true picture of products.
Advertising has a bad influence on children.
Sometimes advertisers pay a lot of money to get their ads on TV during special programmes, like the Olympic Games.
In general, the cost of television advertising depends on the duration of the advertisement, the time of broadcast and,
of course, the popularity of the television channel on which the advertisement is going to be broadcast.
Infomercials are another form of television advertising. They have become very popular in the last few years.
They are normal TV shows that focus on sales of certain products. They describe, display, and often demonstrate
products and their features, and commonly have testimonials from consumers and industry professionals. Details on
how to buy the product (e.g. telephone numbers) are repeated many times during the programme. There are two types
of infomercials: long form infomercials have a time length of 30 minutes and short form infomercials are 30 seconds
to 2 minutes long.
The radio might have lost its charm owing to the new age media however it remains to be the choice of smallscale advertisers. An advantage of the radio is that people listen to it while doing other things. In some cases radios are
on the whole day.
Internet advertising is becoming more and more important. Especially young people spend less time
watching TV and more time on the Internet. The Internet has the advantage of being available to people around the
world at all times. Online advertising consists of small ads, text ads, video ads, banners and pop-ups, and reciprocal
linking to other websites. Businesses also have their own websites as an advertising tool. Sometimes ads are
sent via email. Because a lot of unwanted emails (spam) are sent throughout the world, many people dont like this.
EXERCISES
1. Place the following tools and techniques of advertising media in the correct part of the table.
cinema and television adverts; the backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts; taxicab doors; newspapers;
subway platforms and trains; bus stop benches; billboards; web pop-ups; shopping cart handles; printed flyers; web
banners; human billboards; magazines; sides of buses; Yellow Pages; radio adverts; posters; town criers
print advertising
outdoor advertising
broadcast advertising
of their papers.
shop windows.
that rent them to advertisers.
a candidate for president.
can advertise the product best.
only to a certain group of people.
many times a day.
very quickly.
in a TV show or series.
over and over again.
billboards
inundated
logos
neon
placement
sponsor
spots
In the modern world, we are ___________ with advertising in many different forms. There are, of course, the
obvious examples such as television commercials, radio ___________ , ___________ by the roadside and the
___________ signs that light up the cities at night. In addition to these, however, there are other less evident ways in
which companies attempt to promote their products. For example, when you sit down to watch a football match, you
will see the ___________ and slogans of companies that ___________ the shirts or even nowadays the stadium.
Product ___________ works in much the same way in the cinema. You think you are sitting down to watch a film, but
advertising ___________ will make sure that their clients' latest products are on display too.
How advertising works
endorse
glamorous
memorable
witty
Advertising works in many different ways, but it is safe to say that most successful advertisements are in some
way ___________ . Unless we can remember what the advert was about it, it failed. Likewise, many adverts try to
make the product or service seem ___________: this may be achieved by getting a star from the world of
entertainment to ___________ the product. The idea is that if Brad Pitt says that he uses this shaving gel, then men all
around the world will follow suit. Finally, there is the category of the ___________ or humorous advert a clever
advert can make the product itself seem "intelligent", even when it is no more than a washing-up liquid.
8
LISTENING. Joys of Germany is an organization in charge of promoting tourism in Germany. One of their
staff is in London to meet Red Arrow, an advertising agency.
A. Listen and find out why they want to advertise.
o
o
o
o
appeal (2)
campaign
create
looking
outside
perspective