How to analyze an ad

So you can write a paper 1 essay or plan your IO

Further Reading http://mediaknowall.com/gcse/advertising/advertising.php?pageID=analysis

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/handouts/advertising_marketing/comm
on_ad_strats.cfm
http://media-studies.mrshollyenglish.com/print-media/analysing-advertisements
Reading Strategies: P.A.T.M.I.D helps you get started.

If it’s an ad then it is selling something: but WHAT is hlighted about the

Purpose product in this particular ad? WHY would that feature help sell the product?

Audience Young professionals? Middle class parents? Teenagers? Ask and answer: WHO the ad is aimed at - describe
them demographically and psychographically

Print ad? Banner on a webpage? Poster ad? Big billboard? Ask and answer:
Text Type WHERE/WHEN this ad might appear in order to reach its target audience

What’s the mood or atmosphere of the ad? Upbeat? Urgent? Excited? Threatening?
Mood Which colours, fonts, or other emotive devices are creating the mood or atmosphere?

WHAT is the main message of the ad?

Idea
WHICH ad-specific devices are being used?
Devices
Psychographics is the study of consumers.
Psychographics is the qualitative
methodology of studying
consumers based on
psychological characteristics and
traits such as values, desires,
goals, interests, and lifestyle
choices.

Psychographics in marketing
focus on understanding the
consumer's emotions and values,
so companies can market more
accurately

For more information read here

https://www.hotjar.com/blog/psych
ographics-in-marketing/#:~:text=P
sychographics%20is%20the
%20qualitative
%20methodology,you%20can
%20market%20more
%20accurately.
Demographics tells me
your age, economic
status, social class, job,
marital status.

Psychographics tells
me what you care about,
and what motivates you
towards or away from
something.
How do
companies use
Psychographics
?
Purpose?
Audience?
Mood?
Ideas?
Who does this ad
appeal to?
What’s the
psychographics
of the intended
audience?
Who does this ad appeal to?
What’s the psychographics of the intended
audience?
Emotional Branding uses Psychographics to create connections between brands and people.

Who is this ad for?

The girl?

The parents of girls who

want them to feel
empowered?

How does it make us feel

about the brand?
The ad states that
research shows how
important skin-to-skin
contact is for infants,
and questions what kind
of razor-smooth finish
they want to share.

While the ad is directed

at new fathers, those
without children will still
understand the
message.
Learn the Language of Advertisers: (Quiz Monday)
Lines of Appeal (separate slide) tap into human desires to be happy.When analysing an ad you
need to consider what kind of appeal is being made - does this ad tap in to your desire to be
considered successful by your peers, for instance, or is it more about making you feel as though
you will belong to a happy group if you own a certain product?

Media Language: Denotation, Connotation, slogan, logo, brand identity

Layout (position of images and text), typography, font size and colour,

Representation: Celebrities, Stereotypes, ‘a normal family’ or ‘an aspirational individual’. Gender

stereotypes are the most common. Men are shown as primarily functional, associated with heavy
machinery, business decisions, wearing executive suits and watches, being taller than women etc
etc. Women are decorative, associated with kitchen equipment and domestic financial decisions,
often shown lying down on beds and floors.
Consider these appeals as you read ads
Lines of Appeal tap into basic human motivations

Personal
Social (including popularity, status, and empathy)
Comedy and Humour
Fear (including fear of scarcity, and the ‘pain/problem+
solution’ ad)
Sexual/ Romantic
Endorsement (Celebrity or Authority)
Youth
Adventure
More detailed examples of Lines of Appeal
These tap into basic human desires: to belong, to be happy, to be loved.Often advertising creates need
- in order to sell a product that we didn't know existed, advertisers have to make us aware that we need it.
● Happy families - everyone wants to belong
● Rich, luxurious lifestyles - aspirational
● Dreams and fantasy
● Successful romance and love
● Elite people or experts
● Glamorous places
● Successful careers
● Art, culture & history
● Nature & the natural world (desire to be there AND fear of losing it)
● Beautiful women - men AND women like looking at beautiful women, so the thinking goes: men admire them, women
admire what makes the men admire them.
● Self-importance & pride
● Comedy & humour
● Childhood - can appeal to either nostalgia or to nurturing instincts
Analyze the lines of appeal being used here

This was a poster ad all over the UK and USA

during the height of Game of Thrones’
popularity.

It references that fact that the TV show used

IKEA rugs to make some of the costumes.
Pair discussion: Which lines of appeal are used here?
The Fear Appeal
As well as fear of losing the
rainforests, what other fears
might this ad tap into?
Sexual Appeal

Now overused
and considered
cliche - but it still
works, so
brands find fresh
ways to use it.
What appeals do you see?

(It’s often considered a ‘rational’ appeal.)

This advert about the Forbes Rich List highlights
the problem of wage inequality.

The use of statistics makes this another kind of

rational appeal, but the gender inversion adds
an element of surprise, which is a kind of
comedy or humour appeal.
Denotation in Ads: Ask and Answer
● What is it of? How many images are there? Is there a main image plus a pack
shot? It is a literal representation of the product or is it a metaphor?

● How is the image positioned? - ie what is the camera angle and where does this
place the reader? Is it neutral (an eye level shot) or is the subject give authority
over the audience through a low angle?

● What kind of image is it - high quality, full colour, lovingly enhance image or fuzzy
black and white shot?

● Non-Verbal Communication - what is being said without words by the body

language of the model?
Connotation in Ads: Ask and Answer
● Content Signs - what information is imparted by the mise-en-scène? the
costume and accessories of models? The setting? What do we infer from these
signs?

● Intertextuality - does this ad refer to any other media text? Is it a parody?

Through the use of music or characters does it evoke eg) a major motion
picture or a novel?

● Combinations of signs - what does the image, together with any music, or
with the anchorage provided by the caption suggest, as opposed to the image
just by itself?
 Quiz on Monday

I will ask you to identify the lines of appeal in 5 ads, and explain how they work.

I will ask you to define lines of appeal, layout, emotional branding, and
psychography
Please identify the lines
of appeal being used
here.
Try to find at least 3.
Write down WHY you
think it’s that line of
appeal.
1. Who is the audience for this ad?
a. Demographic? (age (millenial?
Gen x or y? Zoomers? Or just give
me an age range like, 50-70s),
income, urban/rural)
b. Psychographic? (Their desires,
priorities, motivations)

2. What lines of appeal do you see?