my advertisement

My ad was for Disney's Baby Einstein's line of toys, books, movies, and music for infants and toddlers. I got it out of a small catalog called BeComing that offers information on products for infants and toddlers. The target audience is definitely parents of infants/toddlers and really anyone who may be purchasing gifts/items for the children. The content in the ad was also definitely influenced by the target audience in that there is quite a bit of competition in products for infants and toddlers and more effective ad's means more selling of the product. The ad is colorful and has a picture of an infant who is smiling and seems to be having fun. Parents want their children to be happy and have toys that are fun and educational. Within this ad it addresses both ideas of being fun and being educational. It also talks about how the music can be calming and help babies settle down during times of crankiness.

elements of an effective layout

The key elements addressed are balance, proportion, movement, unity, clarity/simplicity, emphasis. Cohen uses these elements as tool to analyze advertisements and their effectiveness. In looking at my advertisement, I was able to explain how the different elements applied to the ad to make it an effective ad. I feel that the most important elemetns are clarity/simplicity, balance, and proportion. In looking at different advertisements, those that stick out to me are organized and have a simple message that is easy to understand. I didn't really understand the idea of movement in relationship to advertisements. I took some economics classes in high school and learned some about how advertisements are made to be attractive so it didn't ruin it too much for me. Companies who can make successful ad's are definitely more sucessful at selling the product and being profitable.

democracy of goods

In the appeal to the democracy of goods, the author talks about what makes an ad effective and stand out to the consumer. Marchand writes about the concept of the democracy of goods and focuses on the wonders of mass production. The wonders of this mass production involves the consumer being able to enjoy the particular pleasure, benefit, or convenience of the product. He says that democracy of goods also relates to the product being equally available to all social classes. Throughout his analysis, he talks about what factors an ad must meet to be effective. This definitely applies to ads today in that ads must be attractive so that the product is competitive. The professionals who design ads for a company have to take into many different factors so that they can make the ad appealing to the consumer.

Advertising

For today's blog, I want you to talk about an ad—on TV, in a magazine, on the radio, on the internet, etc.—that you find particularly effective. What makes it effective? Did it use humor? Was the product/service showcased well? Did you end up doing what the ad wanted you to?

Similarly, what's an ad that you think is especially ineffective? What stinks about it? Did it turn you off the product altogether?

When I think of advertisements, I think about the radio ad's that I hear that have jingles that are catchy and fun to listen to. One of my most favorite jingles for a business is for Eagle Car wash in Topeka Ks. I personally know the writer of the jingle, and he has written jingles for many other commericals as well. While sitting here writing this blog post, I am singing the jingle in my head. The ad talks about the services at the car wash and about how clean you car will get. It also talks about the great customer service that is given by the staff members. I have personally taken my car to Eagle car wash to have it cleaned, and although it is on the pricey side, they do a great job.

Ad's that I find are ineffective are those on the radio that are just a person talking about a product. I am not a big fan of talk radio, so listening to talk ad's doesn't do much for me either. If there is a jingle that I can sing along to, it definitely sparks interest in the product and helps me remember what the product is.