Techniques in Advertising
WWF
Lesson aim: to learn how advertisers use images and
words to persuade to their point of view
Learning intentions: I will learn about the impact that
images can have in print advertising
I will learn how the words used in advertising add to the
meaning of images
I will learn about some techniques used in advertising.
Success criteria: I will contribute to my group
discussion of a given advert
I will be able to analyse an unseen advert
I will be able to explain to another pupil how this advert
persuades its audience
Discuss in your groups:
Many adverts aim to persuade you to buy products.
However, some try to persuade you to the company’s
point of view. Can you think of some examples of this
type of advert?
Where have you seen this type of advert?
Has seeing this type of advert ever changed your
thinking or behaviour?
Company knowledge:
The advert that we’re going to look at was
commissioned by WWF.
What do you know about this charity?
What type of work does it try to do?
What type of person do you think an advert by this
company would be aimed at?
What do you think is the message of the advert?
Composition:
This means how the advert has been put together on the page –
how the different parts have been positioned and organised, how
some parts are larger than others, how some are in the
foreground and some in the background.
What image do you see in the foreground of this advert?
What do you see in the background?
Where is the writing positioned?
How does the size of the writing compare to the size of the
image?
Why do you think the advertiser has chosen to compose the
advert in this way?
Image and Graphics:
We see two animals in this advert. What are they?
We see the sunlight coming through the water. Which
animal does the sunlight shine on most? Why do you think
this is?
One animal’s image looks more realistic than the other.
Why do you think this is? Look carefully at the image.
Which animal is this campaign targeting? Was this obvious
to you when you looked at this advert?
Why do you think the advertiser has chosen to include an
image of two types of animals when the advert is only
targeting one? (Think about your feelings about these
animals.)
Words and Pathos:
Pathos in advertising means an appeal to the audience’s
emotions. Next we’re going to think about how the words
add to the meaning of the image and inspire emotion in
us.
Read the sentence in the largest font. Why is it in
inverted commas? Whose voice does this represent?
This type of question is called a rhetorical question. We
are not meant to give an answer – we’re meant to think
about what’s being asked. What do you think they want us
to think about?
What emotion does the advertiser want us to feel when
we read this?
Words and Pathos:
Now read the two sentences in the smaller font. Whose
voice do they represent? Why do you think this is much
smaller than the other writing?
Next to that is WWF’s logo. Why do you think the
advertiser has chosen to make it so small? Why does the
charity’s website appear on the advert in the small font?
Do you think the advert would be as effective if the writing
was bigger?
Having thought about all these things, what do you now
think the message of the advert is? What do you think the
charity would like the advert’s audience to do now?
You should now be able to explain how the composition
of an advert and the words and images used create
pathos which can help persuade you to a particular point
of view.
To demonstrate this, you and your partner are each going
to be given another advert from the same WWF
campaign.
Individually you are going to make notes on how the
advertiser uses the above techniques in the advert you
have been given.
Then you will take turns to explain this to your partner.