You Surely Need This!

1. Look at this Instagram post and answer the questions below:

What kind of post is this?

( ) it’s a post from a girl who shares how beautiful she is.
( ) it’s an advertisement to persuade customers to use beauty services.
( ) it’s a news report informing the ups and downs of cosmetics.
( ) it’s a psychology study concerning the dangers of nail biting.

Which elements in the picture helped you pick that answer? Why?

texts images colors girl’s poses device

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Advertising
A blind man was begging on Madison Avenue. In front of him was a handwritten sign – ‘I AM
BLIND’ – and a cup containing just two cents. A passing copywriter1 asked to add a few more
words. When, at the end of the day, the copywriter passed again, the cup was full. ‘What did you
write?’ the blind man asked. The copywriter had added just four words: ‘IT IS SPRING AND I AM
BLIND’.

2. What’s the difference between these sentences below?

(a) “This is a blanket” vs. “This is a 100% cotton thermal blanket”

(b) “You need a coat” vs. “You just need this warm, light and cozy coat!”
(c) “I am blind” vs. “It’s Spring and I am blind”

The story may be apocryphal, but it suggests at least one difficulty when answering the question
‘How does advertising work?’: the idea of advertising as rational argument seems inadequate here,
even though the sign states nothing but simple facts. Even the original, ‘I AM BLIND’, shows the
impossibility of separating advertising into ‘information’ and ‘persuasion’. Psychologists might
attempt to provide explanations, but perhaps we also need the language of rhetoric, or even art,
when trying to explain why the choice of just a few words might prove so motivating.

But advertising encompasses far more than a few words, as Pierre Martineau pointed out in 1957:
“Modern advertising is not just a posting of claims, a bare-bones statement of fact. It is far, far,
from being just a reliance on words and logic. It is rather a fusion of many modes of human
communications, including language. Advertising as we know it today uses layout and illustration,
both photography and art; it uses colour and music, even choreography and drama…so much more
is going on than just a sales argument with the consumer.”2

1
A copywriter is a person employed to write advertising or publicity copy.
2
Adapted from: https://adassoc.org.uk/credos/how-does-advertising-work/
 3. Can you see any differences between these two ads?3

3
The ad by Cola is fictitious: https://www.foodpolitics.com/2021/04/the-vintage-coke-parody-ad-strikes-again/
Advertising is the act of creating messages and using different psychological techniques to
persuade and motivate someone to take action, most likely to buy a product or service. Good
advertising is designed to be extremely influential, memorable, and, at times, daring. But, how does
advertising work?
Advertising has a simple principle — get people interested in a product being sold. After
arousing interest, the goal is to persuade people to purchase the product, even if they hadn’t
previously thought about buying it. Depending on the goals of your ad campaign, advertising can
work for a company in a variety of ways, and it can also be executed in various ways. Radio
commercials, billboards, branded t-shirts, and social media endorsements all count as advertising.
4. Look at the ad below and choose the correct answers:

(h) The ad above __________________________ the service.

keeps you from using wants you to use criticizes
(i) The ad tries to be _________________ .
annoying reckless convincing
(j) The sentences express ________________ to persuade the audience.
command probability obligation
5. Which elements did you spot to back up your answers?
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Follow these Practices!

There are a lot of best practices, tips, and tricks when it comes to advertising. It’s an art that’s been
perfected over the years, and with the rise of modern types of advertising channels and new media,
best practices continue to manifest. These advertising best practices are:
(i) Appeal to emotions: when a message tugs at our heartstrings, people are more likely to
be convinced.

(ii) Create positive associations: have you ever seen your favorite celebrity or Instagram
influencer posing with a product or brand and found that you wanted to be, do, or look
the same? Companies create this connection in advertising hoping that you associate
your positive feelings (a feeling of happiness, a state of achievement, an accomplishment
goal, etc.) with the product or service they’re promoting.

(iii) Establish a bandwagon effect: people want to fit in, and it’s this base human desire that
makes the bandwagon effect so effective. People don’t want to be left out. They find
value in their peers’ opinions, and they certainly don’t want to be the only ones not using
the latest and greatest product.

(iv) Focus on benefits over features: features and benefits are two very different things.
Features are the details of the product or service you’re selling, such as the
measurements of a couch or the ingredients of a protein bar. Benefits, on the other hand,
explain why a person should buy a couch or protein bar from you and how their life
would, well, benefit from such a purchase. Advertising should focus on the benefit a
product or service brings, not explain what it’s physically being sold.

(v) Leverage storytelling: not unlike our desire to fit in is our penchant for a good story.
Storytelling helps paint a bigger picture of a brand or company, not simply promote a
single product or service. Also, when stories resonate with someone, it’s far easier to
motivate him or her to take action.
When used correctly, these advertising techniques will do wonders for your brand and products4.

6. Watch this TV commercial5 and explain the reason(s) why it appeals (or doesn’t) to
you. If you will, you can take notes of the elements used.
4
Adapted from: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/advertising
5
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrZtSro-y2A
 7. Watch the TV commercial again and answer the questions below:

(a) Does the commercial appeal to the audiences’ emotions? If so, how it does so?
(b) Does the commercial create positive associations? If so, how?
(c) Does it establish a bandwagon effect? If so, which elements are used to do so?
(d) Does it focus on the benefits of the service over its features? If so, how?
(e) Does the commercial tell a story? If so, what’s the story being told?

8. This video6 below debates some practices ads make use of to persuade people to buy their
products and services, even when we don’t need them.
Watch the video and check the topics discussed in the video:

positive messages brainstorming appeal to emotions

famous people fear of missing out

6
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urny4oFBbto
9. Watch the video again and match the topics to their correct sentences:

(m) “Welcome to the club!” “People are saying, listen, they’re reaching
hundreds of millions of people with a
positive message about beauty”

(n) “The celebrity factor” “You need to speak to people on the level
of identity. You need to speak to them
on the level of emotion.”

(o) “We’re here to empower you” “Advertisements tell you not that this
product does this thing. It’s that people
like this use this product. If you wanna
be this kind of people, use this product.”

(p) “Things that make you go awww” “It’s like they’re saying everybody else
is
in the club, why aren’t you there?”

Consider this!

10. Compare the 5 practices above (in the section ‘Follow these practices!’) to these 4 ways
advertisers get us and keep us (in the video). What are the differences and similarities
between these two strategies?

Consider this too!

(v) When you buy something, do you usually pay cash, put on the credit card or take out
a line of credit? Why?
(w) Have you ever bought a product after seeing it in a commercial? Which one?
(x) Have you ever gone on a shopping spree and bought things you didn’t need? Why?

Do it yourself!

 Choose an ad (from the radio, TV, social media, billboard, etc.) and point out the
strategies being used in it. As you do so, answer these questions:
Is the ad persuasive? Yes? No? Why?

 Create an ad using as many strategies and elements as you can. As you do so, answer
these questions:
Is your ad emotionally appealing? Is it positive? Is it engaging? Does it focus
on benefits? Is there a story being told in your ad?