ADVERTISING

What makes an ad or a commercial effective?

What elements are included in ads in order to make a product attractive to consumers?

Watch the following TV commercials carefully paying special attention to the following aspects:

• Who are the products addressed to? (gender, age, etc.)
• Background music / jingle (if any)
• Visual impact (colours, background, movement, balance...)
• Information of the product.
• Special effects (sound, visual, etc).
• Metaphors, similes (any figures of speech)
• Motto / slogan
• Type of appeals: informational, emotional, humourous, positive, negative...

Then, discuss the effectiveness of the three ads in the class.

VOLKSWAGEN - Darth Vader

COCA COLA: Hello Happiness

HEINEKEN

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES:

A) Find a commercial you consider attractive.

• Analyse all the features and do a class presentation explaining its content, the type of appeals it uses to be catchy and the degree of effectiveness in the consumer. 

B) Create an ad. Think about the product you're advertising, the type of consumers it's directed to, the slogan, the jingle and the images you're going to include to make it appealing. You can work in small groups and use a video camera to film it.