March 2012
The following class assignment will count as a test grade worth 100% due Friday 3/9. IF YOU DO
NOT HAVE YOUR HEAD PHONES THIS ASSIGNMENT IS HOMEWORK, REQUIRED, THEN GO TO
ASSIGNMENT 2,3 and 4,on my website TO BE DONE IN CLASS.
Instructions
Watch Superbowl 2012 commercials or other commercials, links below are for commercials.***To all
my wonderful students the links below have been tested and should work for all, if your work
station has no sound please go to assignment #2 and wait for a work station with sound to complete
assignment #1-----ENJOY!!!!
http://creativity-online.com/tv
http://tvadsview.com/
http://www.advertolog.com < --- first page is free.
Best archive I’ve seen.
www.adweek.com
http://adsoftheworld.com/
www.adforum.com
http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/
http://www.eicoff.com/our_work
Choose 2 commercials, from the sites listed above, that you like and write a review. Describe the
advertisement and the product in the commercial. Answer the following questions with at least
four complete sentences for each question. Be sure to provide detailed specific information to
support your answers. This is an individual assignment to be done in Microsoft Word or Power
Point create a cover sheet or a title slide, clearly identify the commercial and product selected,
this assignment will count as a test grade, you may use the web to supplement your understanding
of advertising concepts if needed.
1. Describe the target audience of the commercial advertisement you have chosen.
List at least 4 demographic characteristics- see below-in this document.
Explain why you think the advertiser has targeted this group.
2. Identify at least 2 specific advertising techniques-see below- in this document, that are used.
Describe how and why the specific techniques are used.
Be sure to support your answers with detailed information about the advertisement.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of the advertisement.
Do you think this advertisement is effective at gaining the attention of the target audience?
Explain why?
Do you think consumers who watch the advertisement are likely to buy this product rather than
another brand? Explain why?
Be sure to support your answers with detailed information about the advertisement.
4. Identify and evaluate the message being communicated by the advertisement.
Is the message an opinion or does it present accurate factual information?
How clearly is the message communicated? Explain.
Is the message misleading or not? How do you know?
******IDENTIFY WITHIN YOUR REPORTING DOCUMENT THE QUESTION YOU ARE
ANSWERING.
Demographics: Know your target audience
Advertisers use audience research to find out what kinds of people buy their products. This is
called a demographic profile. They use this information to create advertising that will influence
these people specifically. This specific group is called a target audience. Here are some of the
most common characteristics that are included in a demographic profile.
Sex/Age/Race
Marital Status
Level of Education
Employment Status/Industry/Occupation
Individual Employment Income
Reason Not in Labor Force
Hispanic Origin
Primary Language in Household
Language Preferred
Household Size/Income
Number of Adults in Household
Presence of Children by Age
Home Ownership/Market Value
Tenure in Current Residence
County of Residence
Zip Code
Arbitron, a leading Marketing Research company Mrs.Crusco worked for, is a company that collects
demographic information as well as information about listening patterns for the radio industry.
This list is a small part of the follow this hyperlink: Scarborough Category List. The list includes
295 major categories of consumer, media, and retail behavior for market areas throughout the
United States.
Advertising is a type of persuasive message that is designed to motivate consumers to buy a
product. The advertising industry uses specific techniques to appeal to their target audience. This
is a list of some techniques that are often used not only in advertising, but also in any persuasive
message.
Techniques of persuasion: motivating the consumer
Stacking: list of reasons why the product or service is good
Repetition: makes product or service familiar to consumer
Slogan: identifies product or service with an idea
Logo: identifies product or service with a symbol
Snob Appeal: associates product or service with a personality or lifestyle
Cause and Effect: use this product or service and your problems will disappear
Emotional Appeal: uses emotion to sell a product or service (pity, fear, patriotism, happiness,etc.)
Price Appeal: consumers will be getting something extra for less money
Testimonial: someone endorses the product
Sex Appeal: the product will enhance you sexual attractiveness.
Bandwagon: uses peer pressure to influence the consumer. If everyone else is doing it so should
you.
Confusion: gains the consumers attention by confusing them, and then retains the attention as the
consumer tries to figure out the message.
Technical Jargon: uses technical words to impress the consumer
Transfer: associates the product with words or ideas that may or may not be related to the
product. The association seeks to transfer certain qualities to the product.
Name Calling: the advertiser compares its product or service to the competition in a way that is
favorable to the advertiser.
Plain Folks: the advertiser tries to identify its product with common people just like you.
Glittering Generality: the viewer is given a general feeling about the product, but not much else.