Key Elements Important in a Magazine Advertisement - Research Paper Example

Analysis of Magazine Advertisement Introduction The focus of the paper is to analyze a magazine advertisement and to present the different components that can affect the audience on the basis of the different guidelines and trends in the advertising discipline. The chosen magazine advertisement is the Kyocera Slider V5 mobile phone which appeared in the 2003 issue of the MTV SN (Spankin’ New) Magazine. The advertisement was colored and composed of 3 areas. Two of the three areas were presented as almost identical frames with the exception of two elements: the height of the male model and the mobile phone. The frames were set in a simple indoor background which was predominantly blue. Beside the two frames arranged one on top of the other was the name of the product in a vertical box bordering the whole height of page. The top of the said box the website the customer can check for additional information, SliderStyle.com was presented (Note: Due to the fact that the ad was used on 2003, the website is no longer connected to the product). In the lower part of the box, the brand name Kyocera, the model name Slider V5, and the network provider Virgin mobile were shown. The caption “do U slide?” was the main advertising line that focused on the sliding feature of the mobile phone model (Kyocera 34). The advertisement presented key elements important in a magazine advertisement such as visually appealing, targeting a specific audience, and intellectually stimulating. Analysis of the Kyocera Advertisement The study of a magazine advertisement is important to be able to determine the different reasons and principles related to the moves undertaken by manufacturers and service providers in relation to improve the sales of products. Advertising is an important form of marketing communication to be able to make the product known to the target market (Kitchen 12). The Kyocera advertisement met the different factors pertinent to printed advertisements. One factor in a printed advertisement is the presentation. The Kyocera ad was presented in a visually attractive manner with the different elements contributing to the total impact of the ad such as the colored presentation, the male and the female model and how they look, the images in the ad, the information about the product and the different representations used. Advertising is an integration of the different principles of visual presentation and marketing techniques, thus, the term “integrated marketing communications” can be considered related to the presentation of the ad (Grove, Carlson and Dorsch 37). Based on the work of Kitchen (2006), advertising is a synergy of multidisciplinary tools, procedures and principles (p.12). The visual effects in the advertisement aided in the successful presentation of the main impact. Specifically, this is the changes in the height of the male model as a corresponding representation of the compact and the slide-open form of the Kyocera Slider V5 mobile phone. This factor is the main selling point of the product which is versatility. Other factors contributed in attracting audience’s interest towards the advertisement. One is the visual presentation of the two almost identical frames. The upper frame was showing the male model as a short guy, the female model being taller and the mobile phone was in the compact form. The lower frame presented the male model as being taller than the female model, while the mobile phone was in its slide-open form. The two frames visually can be considered very similar to the game “spot-the-difference” which creates a relaxed feeling in relation to viewing the ad. The blue background added to the effect. Even the mood elucidated by the cool and relaxed male model created an impression that the product is for the audience with the same characteristics. The simplicity and the clean finish of the other frame served as the final missing element to the whole impact of the ad. Based on the study by Vanden Bergh and James (1990), “there is no such thing as one type of advertising” that the delineation of the different forms of advertisement is vague and that there is an overlapping of the tools used in the different forms of advertisement (p. 28). In the Kyocera ad, then, the integration of different forms and tools of visual arts can also be observed. These visual elements created united idea which clearly represented the product. The determination of the target audience is another factor needed to be considered in a magazine or any form of printed advertisement. There are different parameters in the determination of the target audience. In the Kyocera ad, the type of product which is a garget is one of the indicators of the target audience. People of the younger generation such as college student until the young working class are included in the common consumers of different forms of gadgets specifically the mobile phones. This age group is the main target audience of the Kyocera ad. This assumption can be supported by the visual presentation of the ad, the young male and female models. The colorful and playful clothes and items in the images such as the clock and the badminton racket also represent the attraction of the ad to the young population. The gender of the models is also an indication of the target audience. Due to the fact, that both male and female were represented, the product can be used by both genders. The image though that the male model’s height corresponds to the mobile phone can be considered as a clue that the product’s features such as versatility has more affinity and attraction to the male population. Based on the appearance and visual presentation of the ad, it was targeted to attract the young generation by tapping the popular or “pop” and hip culture. The ad had been successful in generating a behavior-oriented effect to audience done in a subtle and non-direct manner since the pictures or the visual representation made the “talking” (Grove, Carlson and Dorsch 37; Kitchen 17) The factor described as a play on visual representations with the use of less words is another that can be observed in the ad. It can be considered as an intellectual stimulant that can make the target audience think and analyze the ad. There are different effects of this kind of ad. One is narrowing down of the audience to those strongly attracted to the product. Another is creating a great attraction to those people who are visual in nature and those who are interested in intellectual stimulation. This type of advertisement is referred to as an open advertisement. In the study conducted by Ketelaar and colleagues (2008), open advertisements were defined as the type of ads that “allow multiple interpretations” which also means that it is predominantly visual and with “little or no verbal information” such as the ad understudy (p. 15). The results of the said study revealed that open advertisements attract more attention but the fact that the interpretation is dependent on the beholder or the audience, the effectiveness of the ad cannot be equated to the interest given to the ad but to the end result generated by the promotion (p.24-25). Another study related to the effect of intellectual stimulation to the audience explored the responses of the consumers to complex advertisements. Although the Kyocera ad was presented in a simple manner, the fact that it is a visual and open advertisement serves as evidence that it is a complex advertisement. Complex advertisements tap any of the 4 dimensions of complexity namely visual, technical, lexical and information. Kyocera ad can be classified as both visual and technical and nature, thus, understanding of the ad requires certain level of cognition and knowledge (Putevu et al. 9). In addition to the already discussed effects of the intellectual stimulation effect of the Kyocera advertisement then, the ad can be perceived as discriminating in terms of the level of understanding of the audience. The style used to present the ad, specifically visual and open type, can be considered as a double-edged sword, since it can either positively or negatively affect the product, by attracting more audience or deflecting audience due to the failure of visual interpretation. Based on a personal perspective, the ad was able to effectively promote the product. This was perceived through two scenarios. It can be perceived as a simple visual representation with humor due to the height of the male model and the relaxed effect of the ad, thus, making a person buy the product. Second, it can be perceived on a more complex and intellectual manner, as a product that can provide the versatility that a consumer would want in a mobile phone during that period. Regardless of the reason, the end result is positive since the product promised an improvement in terms of popularity, based on the fact that it generated a cool image belonging to the popculture. The fact that it was published in the MTV Spankin’ New magazine, also supports the said assumption. Conclusion The Kyocera advertisement can be considered effective by presenting key elements important in a magazine advertisement such as visually appeal, affinity of a specific audience, and intellectually stimulation. These were achieved through the focus on one clear factor which is versatility. In addition, the different visual elements supported the main subject, thus, effectively and positively promoting the product. Gadgets and technologically advanced items are included in the products that are easy to sell since people want to by them to start with. But the main challenge in such items is how to create an impact in the consumers who are exposed in an abyss of gadgets in the market. During the 90s, a slider phone is a newly introduced trend, thus, the main mission is to present the product in an attractive manner. It had been successfully achieved through the simple yet visually appealing and intellectually stimulating style of the ad. Works Cited Grove, Stephen J., Les Carlson and Michael J. Dorsch. “Comparing the Application of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) in Magazine Ads Across Product Type and Time.” Journal of Advertising 36.1 (Spring 2007): 37-54. Ketelaar, Paul E., Marnix S. Van Gisbergen, Jan A.M. Bosman, and Hans Beentjes. “Attention for Open and Closed Advertisements.” Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising 30.2 (Fall 2008): 15-25. Kitchen, Philip J. A Reader in Marketing Communications. Taylor & Francis, 2006. Kyocera. “Kyocera Slider V5 Mobile Phone Advertisement.” MTV SN (Spankin’ New) 2003: 34. Putevu, Sanjay, Joni Tan, and Kenneth R. Lord. “Consumer Responses to Complex Advertisements: The Moderating Role of Need for Cognition, Knowledge, and Gender.” Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising 26.1 (Spring 2004): 9-24. Vanden Bergh, Bruce G. and E. Lincoln James. “An Information Content Comparison of Magazine Ads Across a Response Continuum from Direct Response to Institutional Advertising.” Journal of Advertising 19.2 (1990): 23-29. Annotated Bibliography Grove, Stephen J., Les Carlson and Michael J. Dorsch. “Comparing the Application of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) in Magazine Ads Across Product Type and Time.” Journal of Advertising 36.1 (Spring 2007): 37-54. The article is about an influential trend in advertising in the past decades which is the concept of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). It is an analysis of the effects and utilization of IMC on different forms of ads in magazines catering to both services or produced goods. It is important in the study in the determination of the synergistic effects of the different factors in an advertisement. It is the main reference for the definition of the behavior oriented form of advertisement used in the analysis. Ketelaar, Paul E., Marnix S. Van Gisbergen, Jan A.M. Bosman, and Hans Beentjes. “Attention for Open and Closed Advertisements.” Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising 30.2 (Fall 2008): 15-25. This article is focused on the presentation of the effects of open advertisement through the comparative analysis of open and closed advertisements. It is the main reference for the definition of the open and closed types of ads which is important in the discussion of the advertisement under study. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the open advertisement are also important to the arguments made. Kitchen, Philip J. A Reader in Marketing Communications. Taylor & Francis, 2006. The Book is a collection of different articles that are focused on different information related to marketing communications trends and pertinent issues during the year of publication in the international and multidisciplinary aspect. Included in the main objectives of the paper is to present to the audience and to achieve an understanding on the tools, concepts and practices important to marketing communication. Putevu, Sanjay, Joni Tan, and Kenneth R. Lord. “Consumer Responses to Complex Advertisements: The Moderating Role of Need for Cognition, Knowledge, and Gender.” Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising 26.1 (Spring 2004): 9-24. The study is an important reference on the effects of complex advertisements on the basis of the four dimensions which include visual, technical, lexical, and information complexity. The results showed that the attraction ad understanding of a person a particular ad depends on being visual, being technical or having the knowledge on the particular field within which the product belongs. This is important to the topic since the ad is visual and technical in nature. Vanden Bergh, Bruce G. and E. Lincoln James. “An Information Content Comparison of Magazine Ads Across a Response Continuum from Direct Response to Institutional Advertising.” Journal of Advertising 19.2 (1990): 23-29. The article is an important reference to the advertising scene during the period the magazine advertisement under study had been published. It is focused on the comparative analysis of the information content of the magazine advertisements across a response continuum specifically from the direct response to the institutional form of advertising. Read More