Media studies - Television advertising techniques

Techniques

hidden message - information that is not immediately noticeable, and that must be discovered or uncovered and interpreted before it can be known. This is used in adverts to convey a message which the company wants to convey to the viewer or to further promote their product.

An example of hidden messaging in advertisement is the KFC 99p snacker advert in which the actors reinforce the low cost of the snack which is essentially a dollar. An image is then shown of the burger with an inserted dollar note in the salad. This use of hidden messaging is effective as the dollar camouflages itself with the salad and therefore would not initially be recognisable and instead be unconsciously registered into the viewers mind.

Overt message - This is the opposite to hidden messaging. instead of keeping the message disclosed the message is open and observable. Overt messages are used in adverts to help sell the product.

An example of Overt messaging in advertisement is the 0ral B 3d white toothpaste advert which features musician Shakira. The overt message in this advert is simply that brushing your teeth with Oral B gives you white teeth and a white smile. This is presented as a good thing because then you will have a smile which matches shakira's.

Emotional response

Adverts tend to aim for an emotional response from an audience to make them feel a specific emotion such as sadness or a charitable feeling. They do this because our emotional relatibility or reaction to something can encourage or discourage us to buy or commit to a product. We usually buy products based of an emotional response that 

- Solve a problem ( skin problem such as blemishes or oily skin )
- Stop something happening that we fear ( ageing or a natural disaster perhaps )
- Plays upon our guilt or compassion ( a charity revolving around a poor country or country struck with disaster ) 

Solving a problem - These adverts present a product which appears to solve our problems and therefore has a strong relatibility to our everyday life or current situation. These are commonly adverts for cleaning or skin products such as this advert for 

This Proactiv advert draws on the target audiences emotion of stress and grief of having bad skin and provides them with a solution ( their product ) which will solve this problem. This then draws a different emotional response from their audience as they will now be happy rather than sad that they've found a solution to this problem and it can be fixed. 

Celebrity endorsement - a form of advertising that uses famous personalities or celebrities who have obtained a high degree of recognition, trust and respect from the people. Products endorsed will commonly use the celebrities names or images to promote the product .

This advert made by T mobile uses celebrity endorsement to promote their product. The celebrity used here is Kim Kardashian , famous TV personality and media socialite. T mobile chose this particular celebrity as their whole brand is based of communication and media. Kim kardashian is a well known personality in the media on all platforms, even having her own app. She is also good for communicating to the audience as immediately viewers will recognise her and feel compelled to listen to her. This specific advert is also appealing as it pokes fun at itself such as the tag ' Famous Person ' .

Repetition - This is when an advert uses a song,slogan or brand name and repeats it throughout the advert. This reinforces all of these things into the viewers head and leaves them familiarised with the song,slogan and/or brand name

The repetition of the brand name ' HEAD ON ' is almost an act of ad nauseam as the name is repeated in each sentence said by the narrator. This is a good example of repetition as the advert has a limited amount of words used in the narration therefore the words ' HEAD ON ' will be reinforced into the viewers head. 

Shock tactic - This is when an advert uses violent or extreme imagery to shock their audience into believing or doing something. These adverts intend to use the emotion of shock to manipulate someones decisions or thoughts on something

The NHS Smoke free advert  uses shock tactic to scare the audience in to considering the negative effects of smoking. The aim of this shock tactic is to stop people smoking which is the main focus of their brand.

Sex - Advertisers commonly use the popular phrase " sex sells " as an advertising stunt. These advertisers have recognised that human sexual attraction and impulse will attract viewers to their advert. These emotions being addressed in the advert will make the viewer feel more connected to it and perhaps manipulated into thinking if they buy this they will become an hyper sexual being or attract the opposite sex more.

Peta uses sex and caters to women and there aim to become more sexy by using angles which depict the woman's bodies in a crude manner and shots which suggest sexual activity. Peta is an establishment which aims to promote vegetable eating and convert meat eaters. Peta uses sex to promote their brand as it will shock the audience and manipulate them into paying attention to ' the vegetarian lifestyle ' when they are simply watching because of the sexual themes. This use of sex also makes the advert more memorable as it is an unconventional way to advertise being vegetarian. 

Intertextuality - This is where an advert makes reference to a media outlet outside of its advertising such as a film or tv. The advert will commonly feature a character from the film or tv show and incorporate them into the advert

Snickers have used intertextuality in their advert promoting their chocolate bar. The reference is to the TV show and film franchise of Mr Bean as Bean himself is featured as the main character in the advert. This link to an popular british character in british television is successful as Bean is recognisable across almost all age groups and when someone eats or thinks of a snicker bar they will remember the adverts Bean was in.

Voice over - A form of addressing the audience directly to promote the recognition and memorability of the advert. Celebrities voices are often used as they are most recognisable and therefore will capture the viewers attention more.

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch voice narrates the Jaguar car manufacturer adverts. Benedict is chosen as the narrator as his voice is not only recognisable but able to articulate and pronounce the script clearly. Benedict commonly depicts rich and/or high class characters in his films which can link to the expensive but high quality and class cars Jaguar makes. Benedict is used to directly address the audience on the features of the car and the advantages of buying it.

Special language

This is language that suits the product advertised. Commonly positive language would be used within the advert to promote the positive message,image or outcome of buying the product.

Adverts which for example promote a charitable cause however may use more emotive language to appeal to the audiences compassion.

Direct address

This type of advert uses an advertiser or character in the advert to speak directly to the audience facing and communicating with the camera which represents us as the audience. These people will commonly ask themselves questions also which will be answered later. This makes us feel more relatibility to this person as we will also ask the same questions.

Gladstone brooks use direct address in their adverts to communicate with the audience and break the fourth wall. This allows them to directly explain their payment plan and how it will benefit interested viewers. This is a successful use of direct address as the audience feel involved and feel as if their questions are being answered. This form of advertising also suggests to its viewer that in the future customer service will be this efficient and helpful.

Stereotypes

Sterotypes are used in adverts as an depiction of a minority or particular group of people. Stereotypes are typically used to present characters due to time restrictions and the lack of an ability to explain the characters. Using stereotypes makes it easier to represent this category of people wether it be racially or gender wise.

This advert for a Mercedes car uses the stereotype of the ' dumb blonde ' . In the advert this attractive blonde character enters a library and orders fast food, after being told by a less attractive and brunette lady this is a library. she then whispers the order again as a an extended joke as a library is a place you have to be silent. This although being offensive to blonde haired women does get the slogan and message of the brand across which is that brains comes before beauty.

Music

Some tv adverts use music and artists to advertise their products. This also raises the artists profile and can increase sales and popularity of the artists and song used.

This advert uses the song ' You dont own me ' by Grace a new artist and G eazy an artist current and raising in popularity. This use of the song in the advert led to it charting in the UK top 5 the next week and therefore made both artists voices more recognisable.Also the song recieved more radio play and promoted the song and artists as it was featured on major tv channels. The song also makes the audience focus on the advert more as its a song they havnt heard before or after its popularity have heard and wish to to see the advert its featured in. This then associates the song with the brand advertised