THE LANGUAGE OF ADVERTISING

1. THE LANGUAGE OF ADVERTISING 14 NOVEMBER 2011

2. Let’s start from some definitions… Advertising is defined as a system of persuasive techniques useful to promote selling Or Advertising is the place where persuasive strategies are used to reach two purposes: the first is short time and it is linked to the immediate purchase of the product (or service) and the second is long time and it is linked to the creation of an attitude to buying that product (fidelity).

3. cattedra di inglese Advertising is… • … something that you want to sell or promote. • … is a message designed to promote or sell a product, a service, or an idea. Advertising reaches people through several types of mass communication. In everyday life, people come into contact with many different kinds of advertising. • Advertising texts in print media can be defined as multimodal static texts because they put together, written words, images, different fonts, creative layouts, coloursetc.. When such multimodal texts contain also moving images, a soundtrack etc.. (e.g. TV commercials) they are called multimodal dynamic texts. • In dynamic texts music, noises, gestures, facial expressions, spoken words replace written words. • In dynamic advertising non verbal language has a special importance. VERY IMPORTANT: the language of advertising is ‘specialised’ because it follows precise rules.

4. Clow, K.E., Baack, D. (2007), Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communications Hierarchy of effects model It clarifies the objectives of an advertising campaign and for each individual advertisement. The model suggests that there are six steps a consumer or a business buyer moves through when making a purchase. The steps are: • Awareness • Knowledge • Liking • Preference • Conviction • Purchase

5. Advertising textsTypes of media • Print media • Newspapers • Magazines • Billboards • Dynamic media • Television • Radio • Cinema • New Media • Internet

6. Semiotics is very important here. Sign Signifier Signified

7. Importance of images/icons/logos

8. A logo is the symbol or the special lettering of a brand.

9. Even when there’s a different lettering or ‘parody’ of a logo, you recognize it

13. Jakobson’s functions applied to advertising Emotive (sender) Conative (how the sender influences the behaviour of the receiver, ways of addressing, vocatives/imperatives…) Poetic (message, connotations, metaphors) Referential (context/information on the product) Metalingual (code, verbal, non verbal, visual?) Phatic (channel, tv, radio, the internet?)

14. These are some famous slogans. Can you see any language structure/pattern/device which make them easy to remember? • Global capability, personal accountability • Nokia, connecting people • Swatch, the others just watch • Click. Enter. Return • If you’re not getting More you’re getting less • Just do it! • It keeps going and going and going • Don’t live a little, live a Lotto!

15. Get N or get out (nintendo) • Once you pop you can’t stop • Impossibleisnothing • Itgivesyouwiiings… • A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play • I think therefore IBM • Britain’s best business bank • Don’t dream it, drive it • Fila: fashionable, functional, formidable • Tic Tac, surely the best tactic The message, although simple, may contain some form of mnemonic pattern provided by phonological equivalences such as alliteration, rhyme, onomatopoeia, or striking repetition, or very short words (usually imperative verbs), or deviantgraphology.

16. The basic function of ads is to SELL something. So the products must be DESIRABLE to the potential purchaser. As an example and as we all know, sex sells, and it is hardly surprising that sex is included in ads to sell everything from cars to aftershave lotions. Here are some examples:

17. SAFE SEX Pleasureseekers take note. The Volvo C70 wasrecentlyvotedoneof the world’s sexiestcars. And itcomeswith WHIPS as standard. (Calm down, itstandsforWhiplashProtection System). 2) YOU TOO COULD HAVE A BODY JUST LIKE THIS…THE CURVY BODY WE’LL BE USING TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THE NEW ALMERA WON’T BE SITTING PROVOCATIVELY ON THE CAR. IT IS THE CAR! 3) VOLUPTUOUS IS BACK Think ‘idealweightdistribution’ ‘curves in all the right places’ And the vitalstatistics? 3.0 litre V6 240 bhp www.jaguar.com

18. Now, consider the following names of products: Allure, Envy, Romance, Desire, Joy, Egoiste, Oui, Hot, Indecent. What are they? All names of perfumes

19. The genrewhichmakesuseofwordplays and doublemeanings more thananyothersis advertising TV commercial for Bolle sunglasses: Scene with a beautiful couple embracing on a tropical beach. Girl: Do you have protection? Boy: I do! (pulls out and wears a pair of sunglasses)

20. Restricted range of vocabulary • Advertising language uses words from a restricted sub-set of English - common words, often with some emotional/connotational value. In ads the pronouns "you" and "he/him" are frequent. In other advertising domains, we can find some interesting contrasts in the use of pronouns. • Verbs are used in a very peculiar way. At times they disappear to condense sentences. • Informal style is often used.

21. Playing with words by means of: • Metaphors • Similes • Idioms • Metonyms • Puns • Inventions

22. Other grammatical features: • Widespread use of personal pronouns and possessives (you, your etc.) in order to engender a sense of shared knowledge and close relationship. Is your hair thinner than it was a year ago? • Extensive use of adjectives to describe products, often comparatives and superlatives. • Extensive use of imperatives to create a contact with the reader.

23. BUT, Incomplete sentence structures (elliptical): • non-finites: A BETTER DEAL (than what?) • disjunctive grammar: Tomorrow in the daily telegraph. A-z science • verbless clauses: The taste of real coffee. Rich. Smooth. Mellow.

24. What is an analysis?? “Analysis” isthe intellectual process by which we closely examine the world around us. We’d hardly survive inour complex environment without the power to analyze situations, problems, theories, arguments,political candidates, and so on. The ability to analyze something is an intellectual skill that can beapplied in any field of study, be it mechanical engineering, literary criticism, or environmentalactivism.

25. IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT A GOOD AD ANALYSIS YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER ALL THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS: Written/oral text, images, use of color and/or background shapes, sounds. When you place all of these componentstogether, what is the message of the ad that goes beyond “information about the product”? Inwhat ways does this message seem completely disconnected from the actual product? Whatunconscious conclusions does the ad seem to encourage? Can yousee the maintechnique or theme? Is there humour? Seduction? Beauty? Does it appeal to yourgeneration? Can you see the target audience? Doesituse misleading or debased language? Is there a connection between images and products? Are there stereotypes? The purpose of your analysis is to “really see” the ad in a way you might not have if youhadn’t been looking extremely closely, breaking it down to its component parts—the way ituses language, the kinds of images it employs, the way in which the language and the imagesinteract with one another, and the way in which the general layout of the ad reinforces itsmessage.

26. Taken from: www.mediaknowall.com/gcse/advertising/analysisnotes.html Advertising tends to follow a basic format - a slogan or a striking image catches our attention, the body of the ad contains more factual information about the product , and a packshotor logo reinforces the brand identity. The combination of these elements, even though we may only look at them for the average time of 1.5 seconds, leaves us with an impression of the values that are attached to that brand, and a sense of who the target audience for the product is (male? female? pensioner? teenager?).

27. When first analysing an ad you need to decide • WHO the ad is aimed at; • WHAT is being advertised and WHAT is specifically highlighted about the product (benefits/stregths); • WHY this helps sell a product ; • WHERE/WHEN this ad might appear in order to reach its target audience

28. Appeals Then you need to decide what techniques are being used to communicate with the audience. According to Gillian Dyer (Advertising as Communication Routledge 1988) advertisers use, among other techniques, the following lines of appeal. • Happy families; • Rich, luxurious lifestyles ; • Dreams and fantasy ; • Successful romance and love ; • Elite people or experts ; • Glamorous places ; • Successful careers; • Art, culture & history ; • Nature & the natural world; • 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 and pride ; • Humour ; • Childhood

29. Sex Sells…why? Does the word SEX get your attention? OK! Why does it get your attention? Sex has multiple meanings. When we define sexuality, we can look at it from a biological, emotional/physical or spiritual points of view, but also from the point of view of ‘power’.

30. What message(s) do you receive from the following? Watch these images. Are the images consistent with the products promoted? Is there anything annoying to you? Choose one and comment on its characteristics/theme/effectiveness Write a short commentary

36. GENDER STEREOTYPES Men are shown as primarily functional, associated with heavy machinery, business decisions, wearing executive suits and watches, being taller than women etc . Women are decorative, associated with kitchen equipment and domestic financial decisions, often shown lying down on beds and floors.

37. Female representations: Domestic Sex objects Beauty

38. The domestic role for females in advertising is one that hurts society more than we think. Women are shown as the only ones who are able to manage the house, as well as children

39. Women as ‘sex objects’ are very common in ads. They are usually passive, subservient to men, and sometimes barely clothed.

40. Women are often used in ads for products to improve their bodies. In these ads, women are told either in words or in the pictures that their lives will be better if they do this one thing to improve themselves. Unfortunately, in the advertisement industry, there is always something different that you can improve

41. Some examples of sentences with those kinds of images: "How to Get Your Man to Really Listen“ “25 Ways to Make Your Marriage Hot Again“ "5 Ways to Keep Your Husband Faithful" "Ways to Make Your Life Easier, Happier, and Better“ "What Men Want Most“ By changing the way she looks, a woman can fix everything from her marriage, to her self-esteem, to ways of living the life she has always wanted

42. Male representations Men have many more categories!!! The most used being: Hero Outdoors man Urban Man Family Man Breadwinner Male as an object

43. The hero is a man who excels in sports, business, politics, military field etc.

44. The outdoors man is seen in nature or the outdoors. Very often, he has control over the wild nature

45. The urban man enjoys luxury. He is enjoying himself by being out and not stuck at home or in the office.

46. The family man

47. The breadwinner image usually shows the man as controlling either a child or a woman. He often is in the background of the other characters, as though he was protecting them or watching them.

48. Just as females are often depicted with their bodies, recently men have also been subjected to being put on display. The Erotic Male is the stereotype for the ideal man.

49. Commercials Who are the following? Terry Gilliam, Ridley Scott, Jonathan Glazer, Michael Mann, David Fincher, Guy Ritchie. Terry Gilliam (The Secret Tournament) • La leggenda del re pescatore (The Fisher King)1991 • L'esercito delle 12 scimmie (Twelve Monkeys)1995 • Paura e delirio a Las Vegas (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas)1998 • I fratelli Grimm e l'incantevole strega (The Brothers Grimm)2005 • Parnassus - L'uomo che voleva ingannare il diavolo (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus)2009

50. Ridley Scott Apple commercial 1984 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8 • Alien (1979) • Blade Runner (1982) • Legend (1985) • Black Rain - Pioggia sporca (Black Rain) (1989) • Thelma & Louise (1991) • Soldato Jane (G.I. Jane) (1997) • Il gladiatore (Gladiator) (2000) • Hannibal (2001) • Il genio della truffa (Matchstick Men) (2003) • Le crociate (Kingdom of Heaven) (2005) • Un'ottima annata (A Good Year) (2006) • American Gangster (2007) • Robin Hood (2010)