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Adver tisements

A type of persuasive text you come across every day is advertising text. On an ordinary day, the average person comes across about 5,000 ads! We have become so used to them that we don’t even notice how many we see in a day. Advertising texts come in different formats – radio advertisements, television advertisements, print ads and digital ads. Each of these ways of advertising includes persuasive techniques and language to convince people to buy or do something. Below is a table showing the basic elements of advertising.

Elements of advertising Definition

Target audience

This is the group of people you are targeting, to encourage them to buy whatever you are selling. This could be a very specific group of people, such as girls between the ages of 15 and 20, or a very broad group of people, such as all adults. The audience you are selling to will influence everything you put into your ad, including the colours, images and language you use. Colour Different colours are used in advertising to try to create a specific impression or atmosphere, or to generate a particular emotional response in an audience. For example, if you were selling an environmentally friendly product, you might use the colours green and brown to connect your product with the natural world. Copy These are the words found on advertisements. Ads are a way of persuading people to buy something, so using as much persuasive language as possible in the copy will help sell your product. Slogan A slogan is a short memorable catchphrase used to identify a product or company. Memorable slogans include: Just Do It (Nike) I’m Lovin’ It (McDonald’s) Logo A logo is a picture or symbol used to identify a product or company. Some company logos are so well known that an audience will immediately recognise them, such as the Nike swoosh and the adidas three stripes. Images These are the video images, pictures, drawings or photos used to promote a product or idea.©The Educational Company of Ireland

A TV advertisement is a way of advertising a product or business on the television. TV ads vary in length and can range from fifteen seconds long to over one minute. They use the elements of film-making to create a short, memorable visual to persuade the target audience to buy something.

Features of a TV ad include:

A visual message, usually just fifteen to thirty seconds long, aimed clearly at its target audience Film-making techniques to grab the audience’s attention A mixture of sound effects, dialogue, voice-over and music

COMMUNICATING: GROUP DISCUSSION

There are some TV ads that have been so successful that they have not only helped sell a product but also become really popular in their own right. ACT IVITY Watch the following four TV book (see pages 137–138): ads and complete the table in your activity Eir edco.ie/f556 Esat Digifone edco.ie/tys3 Vodafone edco.ie/9zj4 Cadbury edco.ie/rgxf 1 Which was your favourite TV ad and why? 2 Did you think any of the ads were too short or too long? 3 Which TV ad do you think was the most effective in selling its product? 4 Can you think of any other TV ad you have seen that you thought was effective? Describe the ad and why you thought it worked so well. Radio adver tisements A radio ad is a way of advertising a product or business on the radio. Radio ads are usually between twenty and thirty seconds long. They allow a business to deliver a short, powerful message to its potential customers. As they’re on the radio, your audience obviously can’t see any images, so it is up to the person making the ad to paint a picture in the listener’s mind.

Features of a radio ad include:

A strong opening hook A clear repeated message, usually twenty to thirty seconds long, aimed at the target audience A mixture of sound effects, dialogue, voice-over and music

A special offer or deal to encourage customers©The Educational Company of Ireland