HOW ADVERTISERS PERSUADE: UNDERSTANDING 4 TYPES OF COMMERCIALS

True or false? A typical 30- second television commercial has no more than 65 words. 

Copywriters….what they do  identifying a specific audience, and then creating a persuasive message to motivate that audience to take some action—  four basic persuasive tactics to help their words do just that: testimonial,  slice-of-life,  lifestyle, and  demonstration.

PERSUASIVE TACTIC #1: TESTIMONIAL  WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT MILK?  It’s white  came in cartons  healthy  WHAT DON’T WE KNOW ABOUT MILK?  WHY milk is healthy  Teens and people in their 20s and 30s thought drinking milk is" dull."

GOAL:  convince the target audience that drinking milk was "cool."  Photographs of celebrities wearing milk mustaches that carried this tag line :  MILK! WHAT A SURPRISE!  one year of milk mustaches in magazines, newspapers, and billboards-- consumption began rising for the first time since 1969!

TESTIMONIAL  Testimonials feature an authority who recommends a product or service.  Can be professional, a celebrity sports star; or even an ordinary person who vouches for the product's value.  the accompanying copy, (written message) must unite with that authority's personality.

Let’s try a testimonial commercial Read the commercial copy from your handout Brainstorm …. Who could it be? Professional: Celebrity: Sports star: Ordinary person from NP: (someone whose family owns a farm, maybe??)

second, underlying message called a SUBTEXT  suggested through the use of the symbols- -images, music, and/or special effects-  Most copywriters will agree that the subtext, not the written message, is the real persuader.

SLICE OF LIFE . Slice-of-life ads tell a story, complete with characters, a setting, and a conflict.  Mini-dramas  Milk commercial taken to a new level  people usually don't pay attention to milk until they run out of it.  People prefer drinking milk rather than other beverages when eating chocolate chip cookies.

Remember the elderly lady and the cats?  MwSzJQJs&feature=related MwSzJQJs&feature=related

LIFESTYLE  concept for selling khakis? Short musical performances featuring young men and women wearing khakis while skateboarding, break dancing, and jitterbugging.  Lifestyle does NOT focus on the product  No celebrity  Does not tell a story  FOCUSES ON IMAGE THAT WILL APPEAL TO TARGET AUDIENCE

LIFESTYLE  the image is attractive people having fun. The persuasive power of the ad lies in the depiction of the desired image.  one year… sales soared 28 percent

DEMONSTRATION  Any ideas???  Demonstration ads focus on the product, showing how it works  Products?  How can print ads use demonstration?  What is the subtext?  OUR PRODUCT WORKS

True/false…words alone do not sell a product?  True again.  The first step is identifying and learning about the target audience.  The second step is developing a concept that the target audience will understand and appreciate.  The third step is deciding which persuasive tactic --testimonial, slice-of-life, lifestyle, or demonstration--will best communicate the concept to the audience and motivate them to buy, and buy again, and buy some more.

Class work grade  Let’s see how you do!  JOBhBU&feature=related JOBhBU&feature=related  =m4gJCavdE-Y =m4gJCavdE-Y  xE91T6g&feature=relmfu xE91T6g&feature=relmfu  zPx8zTc&feature=related zPx8zTc&feature=related

Can you guess?  GuRIXsA&feature=fvsr GuRIXsA&feature=fvsr  Presentation grade:  Create a commercial handout  Film/ present

REVIEW OF 4 TACTICS  Testimonial feature an authority who recommends a product or service.  Slice-of-life ads tell a story, complete with characters, a setting, and a conflict.  Lifestyle focuses on an image that will appeal to a target audience.  Demonstration ads focus on the product, showing how it works