Last but not least!

We thought it would make sense to do a brief overview of all the ads aimed at the Gulf and the ads aimed mainly to the West, since we’ve been doing a lot of comparing and contrasting.

Here are some of the conclusions that we came up with:

First let us talk about ads aimed at the Gulf:

The first thing everyone will say is that they are more conservative and/or are censored. Even though they are not as creative as the ads in the West, they are getting there. They still have a lot to learn about many aspects of print advertising like: what pictures to use, how to use them, text in ads, organization of the layout.. etc. Thank god they we have seen major imporvement in the past year and a half!

Ads in the west are on a totally opposite spectrum. Consumers there have seen everything so this makes the job for the advertisers harder. They have to always come up with something new and creative to attract new consumers. The ads are more raw in term of content, especially pictures. It use things like love, nudity, and politics to twist it up. They enjoy using the shock appeal, which we all love.   

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We truly hope that this blog has helped in any way possible to open your eyes to the millions of print advertisements that surround us.

Spread the word and help educate!

Feel free to send us any feedback or inquires through twitter: @printad101, or send us an email: printad101@hotmail.com

Awareness Campaigns

Let us switch it around a bit and look at something different ..

These two ads are not selling a product, they are selling a service

Or rather they are promoting an awareness campaign about road safety

But each ad focuses on a different aspect of road safety. This aspect/theme of the ad has probably been chosen according to the concern of the region.

One advertisement is aimed at the western region and follows the theme of stopping at a red light. The second advertisement is from Dubai’s own RTA and follows the theme of speeding.

You`re probably wondering how can you compare these two ads they are totally different??

You can.. we want you to look at how two different companies at different ends of the world promote the same idea but with different executions and strategies.

Analyzing and comparing is not always about look at the colors, the logo and all the small details. You have to be able to decide exactly what you have to analyze. In this case, we are analyzing and comparing the concept of the ad.

First let us look at the west based ad, they focus more on the slogan of the campaign, but they still manage to include a picture at the top.

Notice the order of the layout of the ad: the picture, the slogan, the explanation, then finally the organization information. They have designing it in this way to allow the reader to first look at the picture and read the slogan to figure out what the campaign is about and also to create curiosity so that they would continue reading the explanation. Another smart choice is placing the organization info at the bottom of the ad and not make it the center of attention. This shows the readers that this organization is taking this campaign seriously and that they haven’t created this ad to get publicity for their organization, but to raise awareness.

Now look at the UAE based ad, they have used an extremely simple layout. They have put all the focus on the knife which has been strategically placed in the middle of the ad to emphasize its importance. They have not used any real-life pictures, which you might think would be the most effective appeal for this type of campaign. Instead they have used a graphically designed knife which has the same level of effectiveness than real-life pictures. They have designed the handle of the knife to look like a car, hence the slogan of the campaign “Speeding is murder with a license. Slow down.”

Again they have used the same approach as the first advertisement, and that is to place their logo at the bottom of the ad. They have also put the slogan at the bottom in small font. As we said before these techniques are all used for the same purpose, and this is to allow the  readers to continue a thought-process of what the ad is about.

Overall, you can see that after comparing the two advertisements that they are both using the same techniques to raise awareness and make it as effective as possible.

This is the beauty of print advertising, you don’t have to duplicate someone else’s ideas to get the same response.

What Makes a GREAT Print AD?!

Here’s another video we found on YouTube that seemed very useful.

It discusses a formula to follow to develop an effective print ad.

This video is posted for educational purposes, which is exactly what we need!
DON'T MISS IT !!

Confused?

Just to refresh your memory and make sure that you're still on the same track ...

Dont get confused ...Comparing advertisements is not any different from analyzing them.

If you are able to interpret the advertisement, critique it, and compare it to another similar advertisement then you're one step ahead!

How to analyze advertisements is not something that can be learned through a book or by just reading this blog, you have to practice it, and "practice makes perfect"..

We are here as a guide to help you understand each step that goes into analyzing and then giving you examples to show you how to put together all the steps.

We also compare different advertisements that are based in the Gulf and others that are based mostly in the West because it is important for all of you to understand that the advertising strategy of a company changes according to the country they are marketing to. So this effects: the message, slogan, layout, text, and illustrations to make it more suitable for the countries culture.

This in hand does effect the way you have to analyze the advertisement, because you then learn how to see the advertisements from different points of views, which helps broaden your skills of deconstructing and helps you notice the smaller hidden details and intentions behind the advertisement.

Stay tuned for more! :)

Etisalat vs. Vodafone

Since we're still going along with the theme of comparing ads..

Lets look at these two ads for the iphone 3G

Again, same product but different companies...

Etisalat and Vodafone. One local company based here in the UAE, and another international company based in the UK.

You can see that both ads have a white background but they each use a different signature color that is associated with the brand. The Etisalat ad uses a touch of green color all around the border, and Vodafone uses a bit of red color on the bottom.  

Both ads have used the product's name as the title/heading which is the same since Apple have used this name internationally. But notice that they use different slogans...This is probably beacuse Apple have created several slogans for the iphone 3G and each company has chosen to use a different one.

The font is also similar because the companies are not allowed to change the font that the supplier (Apple) uses.

Etisalat placed its logo on the screen of the iphone, while Vodafone placed it at the bottom of the ad.

If you notice that Vodafone feature different screens that the iphone has in it to give the audience a sense of how the iphone looks and a preview of the applications and system, while Etisalat chose to show only one screen of Etisalat homepage in the iphone which is a way of pushing the customers to the Eitsalat service.

Another aspect to notice is that the iphone in the Etisalat ad has a picture of a desert. This sends a message to the customers that this iphone is adjusted to suit the UAE. Under the desert picture, you can see it says "Welcome to Etisalat", which symbolizes the launch of the iphone.

The Etisalat ad has strategically used two languages. They have chosen to keep the product name, slogan, and front page of the iphone solely in English and have only shown the launch announcment in Arabic. This acts as a dual purpose for the company, since it can be understood to customers of both languages they don't have to publish different kinds.

We really liked the green border around the Etisalat ad because it makes it more attractive and organized and the keeps the customers attention on the product. Whereas, in the Vodafone ad we found that the red bottom bar that contains the details of the offer attracts more of the customers attention away from the product picture.

Also, Vodafone included the promotion that comes with iphone at the bottom of the ad. This way customers know what to expect and can start their desicion-making process. However, Etisalat was only announcing to the public that iphone 3G is available. This leaves the consumers curious to find out about the different services and offers which leads them to directly contact the company or visit their webiste or service desks.

Both ads are informational/rational appeals which focuses on the consumer’s practical and functional need for the product.

Rewind: History of Print Advertising

Advertisements can be found in several forms and in several places, but one of the oldest and the most significant form is print advertising. Let us go back in time to see how it all started...

This advertising strategy started way back in 1468 during the days of William Caxton when he promoted a book that had his 1st printed advertisement.

After which in 1704, Joseph Campbell moved on to include ads in Boston Newsletter. This in fact was a great idea since people started becoming well informed regarding certain people and products.

In 1833 period, Benjamin Day got his 'New York Sun' book printed which was a combination of advertising vehicle and news.

After this, the 'Edward Book of Ladies Home Journal' created a magazine ad code during 1910. Since this period, print advertising started evolving with more attention seeking designs.

Print ads stand effective only if people view them. When people look through several publications, they get a tendency to receive new details and become more observant about the things that interest them.

This form of advertising aims to attract more and more people towards their services and products, as and when they read or scan publications. Such ads are commonly seen in magazines, newsletters and newspapers. This type of advertising requires lots of planning which is done often by a group of individuals.

When we glance through the history of print media advertising, we get these concepts:

• A group of individuals are required for creating ideas which further develops into a concept.

• Several others are involved in placing these concepts appropriately, since this factor earns them more cash.

Finally, print media advertising becomes a major part of earning revenue for any publication.

Different companies, Different execution

Here’s another pair of advertisements to compare and analyze

Two different companies

Two different parts of the world

Yet same product!! Take a look..

Hayat and Blue Waters are two companies that sell water, one is for Arab countries and the other is for the West.

You can notice in both advertisement that the brand is trying to sell a product. However, the ad that is targeting Arab countries uses a celebrity to advertise for the product. When you first see the ad you won’t understand what the ad really means, because the product is placed in the corner of the ad with the brand name under it. The celebrity took all the attention from the main message that the advertisers are trying to sell.

You can see that it is difficult for an individual to receive the intended message. The background  of the ad sends mixed messages for the audience, which makes it confusing and hard to understand. The layout and the design of the ad doesn’t support the product been advertised. It is hard to notice what is the goal or the purpose of the ad.

In the second ad, Blue Water send a direct message for the audience which is to advertise for their product and sell it. The way they placed the logo of the brand  and the picture of the water bottles grabs the audience attention because they are positioned in a place at the subject’s eye level.

Even the lighting and the design of the ad attracts the audience attention because the colors represents water and nature. It makes an individual thirsty when he or she first sees the ad. The motto “ join the blue crew” and the way the font is used matches the theme of the ad.

Both ad uses emotional appeals to relates the consumer’s social and psychological needs for purchasing the product. But not all the ad were successful in delivering the intended message to their target audience. I think the Arab based ad could have used more creativity and effort to push their product to be more noticable. I don't think that they always need a celebrity to promote a product, because thats when advertisers tend to make the mistake of focusing on the celebrity rather than the actual product.

Why print ads?

Why did we choose print ads??? If you're following us on twitter @printad101, you can tell how much we favor print ads.

Although marketers have gravitated towards more online advertising in the past couple of years, print advertising still remains as the most effective!! This is good news because now you can be sure that print is still going to be around for quite a while.

Lets look at the main benefits of print advertising...

1. Specific target audience: helps enhance sales figures and there is no wastage of resources as ads get to reach the target audience
2. Royal readerships: in the print media industry, readership is mostly longstanding and loyal.
3. Special ad positioning: advertisers can request special and positioning which will bring greater visibility to the brand. This is also commercially more effective as potential buyers would notice it
4. Credibility: Magazines create a large number of loyal readers who feel safe in its very credible environment, unlike online advertising
5. Long life span: compared to websites or national newspapers, magazines enjoy the longest life span
6. High Reach Prospective: magazines containing print advertisements get passed from family to friends to customers and so on
7. Glossy Ads: these are usually trend setting and eye catching and the best thing is that everybody loves to look again at glossy ads

...Still thirsty?

Other than passing on the basics of analyzing print advertisements, one of our main goals for this blog is to compare ads based in the Gulf with ads from other parts of the world.

You may notice that advertisers change their advertisement based on the region, but they do not change the product. Let us look into some examples ...

Pepsi uses different advertisements for its target audience

The colors  red, blue, and white symbolized Pepsi and represents the brand image. The layout, logo and of the ads are the same, yet the visual appearance or the model used is different depending on the region  that is been targeted.

Both ad targets football fans and players, however, the geographic location is different. One is targeted for Arab countries, and the other is targeted for West countries.

It seems that Pepsi paid more on the ad of David Bekham than it did for the ad in Arabic, because Bekham is an icon of football that is known globally, and the ad could also be used to target audience globally from all regions. However, the one in Arabic uses icons from Egypt football players that might be known only in the Arab region.

Pay attention to detail!!! Notice that the Arab based one has a group of football players, since most Arabs countries are known as collectivists. The Western based one focuses only on Beckham, even though you can see bodies in the background, they are not important..and this is to support individualism.

Another point to notice is the location of the logo.. First look at the Arab based one, the logo is placed behind the group of football players, but it is still noticable. Now look at the Western based one, which has the a large sized logo beside Beckham.

Also, the Arab based ad is a temporary ad because it can only be used during the African Football Cup 2006 in Egypt, which is the overall theme. The Western based ad doesnt follow a specific theme and it is not binded by a certain period of time.

Pepsi has different ads to be advertised for different segments, and these two ads are targeting football players and fans as mentioned previously. 

Pepsi doesn’t need to sell its product, so the purpose of the ad is to or what is called as an advertising appeal is to remind the audience about the brand and its image.



The same concept is applied for Coca Cola  as it did for Pepsi, yet different audience is been targeted.

Coca Cola used an Arab singer as a model, and in the other ad it used two Indian actors to represent it.

The Arab ad targets the Arab region, while the other ad targets Indians mostly. There is no specific demographic segmentation used for the ad, but the geographic location was segmented. For each area or region, the models changes based on the location so that the audience in that location will recognize the brand and relate to it.

The colors red, white and yellow represents the brand image

Pay attention to detail!! Notice that the Arab based ad uses the standard logo in a medium size, whereas the Indian based ad uses a different logo which is black and a smaller size and mentions a website.

Another difference is the background. The Arab based ad uses the Coca Cola colors, whereas the Indian based ad uses plain white.

Also, the actors in the Indian based ad are dressed casually and seen happy and smiling unlike in the Arab based ad where the singer is shown wearing an evening gown with a sparkling microphone and a serious face expression. 

The purpose of both ads is to remind the audience about the product as Pepsi was doing

Thirsty?

Instead of using one simple print advertisement to show you how to use the 4 steps to analyze….We decided that we should give a brief, overall analysis on the changes in one company’s print advertisements over the years.

The company we chose is Coca-cola!

Why did we chose Coca-cola? Not only because they’re known for their print advertisements, but more importantly because people remember them!!!

This link has all the Coca-cola ad pictures from oldest to latest http://www.dirjournal.com/internet-journal/the-visual-tour-into-coca-cola-print-advertising/

 The link shows the company’s print advertisement from the early 1890 all the way to 2002…

Looking through the ads, there are a few obvious things that you can notice:

• They used illustrated ads that look like vintage paintings from 1890 to 1929
• They upgraded in 1950 to still photos for their ads
• At the beginning they used slogans along with at least a 3 line description explaining the advertisement
• Most of the advertisements feature more than one person, which is a symbol of hospitality, friendship, sharing, companionship ..etc.
• The people in the ads are always smiling to show that their happiness comes from Coca-cola, which also connects friends
• The ads get simpler, more colorful, and less crowded with the years
• The time period that the ad is published in determines the slogan along with the theme (ex: during Christmas time)
• All the advertisements show even the slightest hint of red color, which is the company’s main color. Even though the logo is usually placed in the bottom corner or located somewhere on the actual ad, the advertiser did this to create a memorable brand image
• 1993 they associated their drink to a polar bear. You can tell that this wasn’t appealing since they were very quick to turn around the concept
• From 2002, they began linking the Coca-cola drink to colors, as a way to describe the Coke side of life
• During the 1990’s, Coca-cola used the same strategy that they started out with, and that was to use illustrations, but they updated it by using animations instead
• The advertisers want people to associate the drink with happiness, and feeling good..

From this we want you to learn that analyzing or deconstructing an advertisement doesnt always mean to uncover the hidden details or meanings. Analyzing is more than that..

The most important parts of an advertisement is to figure out the idea, target, and intention!

Here we go: Step 4

Step 4: Examine the consequences

- Overall  is the ad memorable, persuasive, informative or believable?

- Consequences ( how would individual respond emotionally to the message)

- Will the advertiser accomplish his goal ?

- Customer response about the ad ( what do you think their response will be)

- Restate the thesis ( reason of the ad, is it effective or not, why or why not)

The final step is by far the easiest... It acts as a conclusion to help you gather your final thoughts and observations of the advertisement

Here we go: Step 3

Step 3: Determine the target audience

- Target audience for the ad ( be specific by defining the target audience it terms of:

1. Demographics (age, gender, family size, family life cycle, occupation, education, income race, generation , religion, and nationality)
2. Psychographics ( social class, lifestyle, personality)
3. Geographic location (nations, regions, states, countries, or cities)
4. Behavioral factors ( product usage, knowledge, attitude or responses to a product)

- The benefit the ad promised for the target audience

- Appeal ( emotional or logical appeal used to persuade the consumer)

- Positioning strategy used

- What brand image is being communicated

- Elements used to make the message or the ad memorable

- Creativity or content-driven?

This step requires you to look deeply at what the advertisement is really communicating..

Here we go: Step 2

Step 2: Analyze the ad based on what you think is the advertiser's goal behind the ad

Reminder ! the intention of the ad is always to sell a product!!!

- Product .. include details on the ad’s placement:

- What is being sold?, is the product appealing to you? Why or why not?

- Is there any emotions that the ad is trying to relate with the product presented? Was it successful or not? Why?

- What type of media( newspaper, magazine..etc), Media vehicle ( name of publication where it appeared)

- Timing ( when it ran)

- Present your evaluation of the ad’s effectiveness ( thesis)

- State the reasons that influenced your evaluation of the ad

- The objective of the ad.  think about the ad’s communication goals, what the advertiser’s goal  behind the message)

This step puts you into the shoes of the advertisers.. To get the maximum analysis from this, you have to think like an advertiser!!

Here we go: Step 1

Step 1: Make observations about the ad and its technique

Below we have mentioned all the points that you have to focus on to complete step 1 of deconstructing the advertisement...

- Begin with a statement that helps the reader to understand your approach to analyzing the ad.

- Make observation about the ad and the appeal of the type of product being advertised and the adjectives that describes the ad

- Provide an objective description of the ad ( visual appearance, and the message itself )

- What gender is represented in the ad? What do they look like? ( if any)

- Their facial expression

- Camera angle ( level of the camera: is it above, eye-level, or below the subject) ( close to the subject or far)

- Lighting ( is it natural or artificial)? Why?

- Are there any parts that are highlighted in the ad while others are not? Why do you think the purpose behind it?

- Layout and design (Colors used, check contrast and brightness)

- Text (what kind font, is more than one type of font used, how big is the text, what color is it, one or more colors used) and what does the text say?

- Headline ( does it attract attention)

- Body copy ( length, emphasis)

- Slogan ( relates to the company image or not)

- Company logo ( familiarity and corporate image)

To make it even easier...Think of it in this way, the first step is like your initial apprasial

Easy as 1..2..3..

Here are 4 easy steps to deconstructing an advertisement:

Step 1: Make observations about the ad and its technique

Step 2: Analyze the ad based on what you think is the advertiser's goal behind the ad

Step 3: Determine the target audience

Step 4: Examine the consequences

This is a great way for beginners to start analyzing advertisements! Think about how combining these steps will help make a difference to understanding advertisements.

Still confused?? Wait for more detailed posts explaining each step..

The many faces of print advertising

We found a very useful video on youtube, which surprisingly was also made by a student for a project. It goes through the different types of print advertising and also shows some interesting examples.

Remember, there is a difference between appeals and types!!!

Appeals: determines what the advertising message will communicate
Types: the ways of presenting advertising messages (advertising execution)

Advertising Appeals

Another point to remember when analyzing an ad is to decide what technique is being used to communicate the message to the audience.

Advertising appeals is the term used to describe the approach which determines what the advertising message will communicate to influence the audience’s response and feelings towards the product or service.

Some of the basic appeals are:

- Happy families

- Luxurious lifestyles

- Dreams

- Love

- Successful careers

- Glamorous places

- Nature

- Art and culture

- Self-importance

- Humor

- Childhood

From reading the list of appeals you can straight away see that advertisers pinpoint our social needs to make it more effective.  Advertisers use these appeals to also create need!!! They have to make us aware that we need it in order to sell the product.

In other words, this is also known as BRAINWASHING!!

Basic Steps

We look at an advertisement for the average time of 1.5 seconds!!! These few seconds leaves us with a lasting impression of the brand image.

The basic steps to analyzing your first print advertisement, is to decide:

-          WHO the ad is aimed at

-          WHAT is being advertised

-          WHEN/ WHERE this ad might appear

-          WHY this helps sell the products

Answering these simple 5 questions will be the beginning to unveiling the hidden aspects of ads

Breaking it down

To learn how to analyze print advertisements, you first have to understand its components...

Even though most print advertisements look different, they all follow a basic format believe it or not! A print advertisement is usually broken down into the following 5 parts:

1. Headlines: the words in the leading position of the advertisement

Types of headlines:

· Direct headlines: straightforward and informative

· Indirect headlines: provoke curiosity (ex: using questions)

2.  Subheads: secondary headlines that appear in smaller type size

3. Body copy: the main text portion of a print ad that focuses on the factual information

4. Visual elements: illustrations, photos, brand logo…etc, to identify  and create a strong, memorable brand identity

5.  Layout: the physical arrangement of the various parts of the ad

It all starts with a simple blog ...

Welcome to our online guide to everything to do with 'Print Advertisements'! This is a simplified A to Z guide on how to analyze and compare different types of print advertisements. This blog  is not only created to educate minor students, but also to raise awareness. We are constantly bombared with advertisements and we are constantly sucked into buying products without having any answers to explain our actions.

You're probably wondering why you should continue following this blog...

Well, learning how to analyze advertisements is a power tool that we all need to make better choices in our lives, understand the hidden intentions behind them, and take control of our decisions! And it all starts here with a simple blog ...

You can also follow us on @printads101 for any updates.