Advertising

For my seminar the other day I produced a poster about advertising. Whilst looking into this area I became interested in why some adverts work and others don't. And how some adverts no longer promote the product they actually sell. Take Cadburys as a prime example, their adverts of late have contained a drumming gorilla and two weird looking kids with funky eyebrows! Neither commercial shows chocolate, people eating chocolate or in fact mentions the word chocolate. So how is it successful?

You tube has become very popular for viewing short funny clips which get people talking. Cadburys have adopted a very similar approach, their quirky little videos become topic of conversation. I have already pointed out that the adverts don't contain any mention of chocolate, but this doesn't seem to matter. Its the fact that these adverts are so different, so bizarre that helps promote the product. People discuss the advert, which in turn advertises Cadburys through word of mouth.

Another good example of this type of advertising is Compare the Meerkat. There are no cars shown in the commercial, instead we get a cute little meerkat in a velvet robe. But it works. If you were to look up comparative websites for car insurance I am pretty sure that would be one of the first sights you would view. This may because these types of adverts are usually rather dull, but in this case the commercial is rather funny and therefore rememberable.

I think this is a very interesting approach to marketing and I wonder if it could be used to promote a wide variety of products? For instance could it be used to tackle health issues? Put a new spin on government campaigns? Can humour engage a wider audience? Or would the important message be lost?

For the next two assignments I will be looking into advertising and hopefully find out the answers to some of these questions!