1. Advertising Techniques
(aka how people try to control what you think!)

2. Three Appeals Ethos: Credibility of a source
Is this source the best source to get information from?
EX: You probably would rather have your friend who has an A in English tutor you in English instead of the friend who has a D in English
Pathos: Emotions that the source tries to portray
What emotions is the source trying to get you to feel? Why?
EX: The ASPCA commercials try to make you feel sad so you donate money to the organization. Poor puppies!
Logos: The logic or reasoning that a source tries to portray
What facts, statistics, and reasoning is the source explaining to prove their point?
EX: Toothpaste commercials that say 4 out of 5 doctors recommend a particular toothpaste

3. Repetition
Repetition is defined as the act of saying or doing something repeatedly, over and over
GOAL: The aim of repetition in advertising is when a consumer wants to buy a particular product, the company doing the advertising is the first company to come to their mind
EX: If you were in charge of a Mexican restaurant chain, you would want people to think of your restaurants whenever they wanted to eat Mexican food.

4. Repetition Repetition in advertising can look like several things:
Repeating the same advertisement over and over
EX: Seeing the same ad for sponsored content before a Youtube video ten videos in a row
Place the product or brand in as many places as possible
EX: A Burger King TV commercial, an ad in a magazine, and seeing people on Jersey Shore eat Burger King food
Use ads that have similar styles but for slightly different products
EX: TV commercials that use the same actors, but in different situations

5. Repetition: Wear-in/Wear-Out
Repetition in advertising tends to go through two “phases”: wear-in and wear-out
PHASE 1 (Wear-in): When repetition is used in advertising, it tends to be effective at first. Repetition allows consumers to become familiar with a company, which helps people remember their products.
PHASE 2: (Wear-out): At a certain point, people become tired of hearing about a brand or company and may stop buying products if the repetition is too much

6. Claims
In advertising, a claim is when a company makes a statement about their product or brand
EX: 5 Hour Energy claims to provide enough nutrients to provide whoever drinks it with five hours worth of energy
Claims work by providing the consumer with one solid reason why they should buy the product or brand
Companies use certain language in their claims to manipulate consumer’s thoughts

7. Claims
Companies are, by law, not allowed to make a claim that is blatantly false or untrue, but companies still write claims that are not exactly 100% true
There are two unwritten rules of advertising claims
In advertising, the word “best” means only as good as the other companies, while the word “better” means superior than the other companies
Companies can only back up claims of superiority with true information. Example: No one gas company can claim that their gas will help cars go more four miles per gallon because all gas is roughly the same and any such claim would be false

8. Claims
To get their claims past these legal and unwritten rules, advertisers use many techniques to portray their products and brands positively
The “weasel” claim
The weasel claim is a statement named after the weasel’s eating habits – to suck an egg dry, leaving it hollow. A weasel claim uses words that sound good, but ultimately mean nothing and are hollow.
EX: “Listerine fights bad breath.” <<< The weasel word is “fights,” because that could mean it only stops bad breath a little, but we don’t know, because the claim doesn’t state that it will stop bad breath completely – only fight it.
The unfinished claim
The unfinished claim is as it sounds. It is a statement that sounds good but upon closer inspection is not completed.
EX: “You can be sure if it’s Westinghouse.” << Sure of what exactly?
“Coffee mate gives more body, more flavor” << What exactly do body and flavor mean? How did they measure this?

9. Claims
3) The “So what:

10. Association
Association in advertising is when companies use images, scenes, or aspects of their advertising designed to forge a psychological connection between their product and consumer’s thinking through the advertisement
Like product placement, this mostly works on a subconscious level and isn’t something the person watching the advertisement actively thinks about

11. Association
Examples would include almost any commercial ever…many commercials are filled with fit, attractive people who fit the conventional standards of American beauty (men and women)
EX: Bowflex commercials!

12. Association
These commercials work by attempting to the create the connection between the people in the advertisement and the consumer if the consumer uses the product/brand
EX: If you use a bowflex, you will be fit and attractive like the people using the bowflex in the commercial
This applies to online advertising as well. Sponsored Instagram posts link the celebrities that endorse the product with the product itself: Ex: Rihanna, a beautiful woman, endorses her makeup line frequently through Instagram.

13. Bandwagon
The bandwagon technique sells a product by convincing consumers that others are using it and should join the crowd

14. Bandwagon

15. Bandwagon
Bandwagon works by appealing to natural human desires to fit in. Examples can be seen on television where you see many people using a product
Can also been seen in written advertisement. Key words often include something like “EVERYONE is using…”, “AMERICA loves…” or “Don’t be the ONLY one left out…”

16. Promotions
Coupons, sweepstakes, gifts and prizes with purchases are examples of promotions all count as promotions where the consumer gets something “extra.”
The objective of promotional advertising is to create a positive “relationship” between the consumer and the brand. If the consumer purchases something the brand sells, the brand will “throw in” something extra and make the consumer feel good about their purchase.
EX:

17. Promotions
Another promotional strategy is to offer a special price for a limited time only, therefore enticing customers to spend their money before they lose out on the deal
Any advertisement where a special price is promised only for a short amount of time is also a promotion, but frequently, the deal is available for a long period of
EX: Pueblo Records and Tapes has been running a limited time only Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal on Used CD’s…a limited time deal for 6 years.

18. Audience awareness
Advertising is always performed to a target audience – a group of people that advertisers think will buy their product
Target audiences are groups of people who have similar characteristics, like/dislike similar things in life, and perform similar actions
EX: One popular target audience is the stay-at-home mom, who is thought of as a hard working mother who likes comfy-yet-chic clothes and useful household products, and enjoys providing nutritious food and a clean hour for her children most of the time but also enjoys feeling sophisticated

19. Audience awareness
Different audiences prefer to purchase different sorts of products and enjoy different entertainment
One way audience awareness is used is to identify the most effective placement for an advertisement
One obvious way is television commercials…different audiences watch different channels, so t target a particular audience, you place the advertisement (commercial) on the channel that that audience is most likely to watch
EX: An ad for a slime making kit would be most effectively placed on Nickolodeon, since year old kids enjoy making slime and also are the ones most likely to watch Nickolodeon

20. Audience awareness
Placement can also extend to other media…For example, products that target older (30 and up) people are more likely to be shown on television where older people get a lot of their entertainment. Products that target younger people (30 and below) can be shown more via online services like youtube, reddit, twitter, tumblr, where younger people are more likely to spend their enjoyment time

21. Audience awareness
Audience awareness also dictates what strategies are most effective to use in the advertisement themselves
Repetition in ads is often blatantly seen on commercials for children’s products since children are fond of repetition.
Misleading claims are everywhere. They are commonly seen on products and advertising for people are not educated about the product or are in a place to think. (infomercials).
Association is used to make connections about specific products. Associations between fitness and health would be useful in ads for exercise equipment, but not a commercial for a deep fryer.
Bandwagoning is useful for all ages, but especially so for teenagers, young adults, and children – groups of people more likely than most to want to fit into a group.
Promotions are best used when the target audience does not know the value of a product, therefore to people who are unfamiliar with the product/area of expertise