Comparing Two Different Ads - Literature review Example

Comparing Two Different Ads Student Name Institution Course Date of Submission Comparing Two Different Ads Introduction In our daily life, we unexpectedly come across many types of advertisements. Advertisements have influenced every aspect of our daily thoughts, conversations, dealings, and to some extent manipulate our behavior as consumers and customers of various products and services. Advertisements have crept into everything from buying a simple snack to career building to education. Nowadays, it seems nothing can be achieved in absence of advertisements. They are the ones that help us to decide on which snack to eat, which pen to write with, what brand to wear, what soap to use, among other things. Today, a lot of money is being spent in preparing one or two minutes of an advertisement. The main purpose of advertising is to inform everyone that you got something exciting to offer[AyC10]. It can be anything from promoting an existing service, a new product, a political campaign, an upcoming entertainment or officially launching a new business[Fam13]. This promotion can take many forms such as handbills, billboards, commercials or print ads. Advertising assists in raising one’s target demographics awareness of matters that people may not be familiar with as well as educating the world on the benefits related to your service or product. For instance, the health care industry may promote health well-being of the public by advertising the benefits of using a certain product. Therefore, advertising is important to the society because it educates them concerning many issues. There are a number of social issues that advertising helps to address such as family planning education, smoking, girl child abuse, liquor consumption, and child labor[Lew10]. In a way, advertising helps people to adopt new ways of life and give up old bad habits, and this enhances the standard of living in our societies. Advertising also plays a greater role in developing a brand image, whether at the product, retail or corporate level. A brand’s functional capabilities are communicated to the consumers through advertising by attaching the brand to symbolic values and meanings that have a crucial relevance to the consumer[Fam13]. The purpose of this paper is to compare two unrelated advertisements. The two adverts to be compared are 1) Singapore Airlines 2013 ad campaign titled ‘The Lengths We Go To’ and 2) Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) advertisement flyer. Discussion The Singapore Airlines ad is a commercial advert aimed at showcasing the airline’s commitment in handling its customer the best way possible. This ad is aimed at branding the airline in a global view in order to beat its competitors. This ad highlights the extent that the airline undergoes to make their clients feel special, regardless of the class[MMG13]. It has cut across digital, print and television platforms in a number of countries. The ad has focused on a ‘well-recognized Singapore Girl’ who acts as the protagonist in the ad ‘The Lengths We Go To’ that involves three features. The three features were filmed in different locations around the globe including Venice in Italy, Glasgow in Scotland, and Fujian in China[MMG13]. The first feature in the ad is titled ‘Understanding Your Needs’, and was filmed at a tea house and tea plantation in Fujian, China. The aim of this feature was to spotlight how the airline tailors quality products to satisfy its customers’ needs, by sourcing Jasmine tea[MMG13]. The second feature is titled ‘Creating Around You’, and was filmed at Andrew and Muirhead & Son tannery in Glasgow, Scotland. The aim of the second feature was to showcase how the airline delivers the comforts of home with innovative services and products. It shows the source of the leather used in the business class seats[MMG13]. The third commercial feature is titled ‘Bringing You The World’, and was filmed in Venice, Italy. The aim of this feature was to highlight the airline’s commitment in in-flight entertainment. It has featured the Venice Film Festival, and demonstrates the scope of the airline’s films in several languages[MMG13]. The second ad by the SPCA is an awareness campaign concerning animal abuse. The main purpose of the ad is to discourage people from abusing animals as well as encouraging people to report any case of animal abuse to the relevant authorities[SPC13]. The ad contains images of abused animals that were obtained from unsolved animal abuse cases in the SPCA files. According to SPCA, none of the criminals who did those cruel acts to the animals have been prosecuted reason being that the informants were unable or unwilling to be witness, despite the fact that they know exactly what happened[SPC13]. That is why the ad is encouraging everyone to assist in bringing justice to the defenseless animals. The ad has also stated that SPCA will reward anyone willing to testify against the abuser with money amounting up to $1,000[SPC13]. The only similarity in the two ads is that they are promoting well-being. Both campaigns are promoting a better life of different subjects. The ad by the Singapore Airlines is promoting a better life of its customers by prioritizing their preferences in development of their new products. The ad highlights the service excellence of the airline in making its customers feel comfortable in all means[Kau13]. The ad by SPCA is promoting a better life of the defenseless animals in the hands of cruel criminals. It is encouraging people not to abuse animals because they also feel pain just like human beings[Fea]. It also encourages people to report any case of animal abuse to the relevant authorities. Therefore, the two ads are promoting well-being, but in a different approach and for different subjects. There are many differences between the two ads and one of them being that the ad by Singapore Airlines is a commercial one while that of the SPCA is not. Singapore Airlines is promoting its services in order to attract more customers in its business because there is stiff competition in the airline industry. SPCA is a non-profit organization, thus its ad was not aimed at any monetary gain[SPC13]. It aim was only to promote the well-being of animals by preventing cruelty to them. This difference could also explain their differences in ad budget. Singapore Airlines can spend lot money in advertising provided the ad will bring monetary benefits to the business. On the other hand, SPCA can spend the least possible to inform the public about the importance of taking care of the animals. The estimate budget that was used on the Singapore Airlines is $5M[Kau13], while that of SPCA could be roughly $50 or less. The Singapore Airlines ad was filmed, while the SPCA ad is a print media. A filmed ad can be presented in many digital platforms such as podcasts, You Tube films, microsites, among others. It can also be presented in Television and print platforms. Photo essays and videos from the filmed ad can also be presented in different forms and different platforms such as newsletters, magazines, etc. The SPCA ad is print format; therefore, its presentation is limited to few platforms. Despite that fact that it can be presented in websites and other digital platforms, it is not flexible like a film[AyC10]. It is an ad flyer and its best presentation could be a leaflet so that it can reach as many people as possible. There is no need to present the ad flyer in many forms as the organization is not aimed at making any profit. Another difference between the two ads is that the Singapore Airlines ad is used to enhance the brand image of the airline, while the SPCA ad is not creating any brand image to the organization. Singapore Airlines ad also plays a number of roles such as branding the Singapore nation and promoting Singapore as a good place to visit. Marketing and promoting places is very crucial in the global market[Fan10], and thus, Singapore Airlines will stop at nothing to promote their place of operation. Their ad is symbolizing an enviable life style of the Singapore Girl who is gentle and caring. Singapore Airlines has stereotyped Singapore girl national characteristics in order to capture international markets. They have used an iconic Singapore girl to describe an extremely complex society and culture of the Singaporeans. Using such an ad to promote a place or brand a nation can create negative influences because it always uses exceedingly desirable, positive imagery or rhetoric, ignoring environmental and social issues[Lew10]. It can also create a feedback loop that may impact the manner in which citizens make decisions concerning development as well as the way they perceive themselves. Such ads also make a mistake of representing the nation as a commodity rather than a community[Fam13]. The target demographics of the two ads are also different. The Singapore Airlines ad is targeting the global market and thus it is targeting everyone in the world who uses airline services. On the other hand, SPCA Singapore ad is only targeting the Singapore nationals. SPCA Singapore is a non-profit organization and does not have to compete with other SPCAs organizations in other regions. SPCA ad is non-commercial and limited to Singapore population only, while the Singapore Airlines ad is commercial and targets a bigger population or more than 120 countries. The persuasive techniques used by the Singapore Airlines ad include gentleness and caring of the girls, and innovation of products and services[MMG13], while those used by SPCA ad include rewarding and imaging[SPC13]. The campaign budget and campaign effectiveness are not directly related because an ad budget often depend on many things. For instance, new products require huge ad budget than existing products in order to build awareness and compel customers to try it out. Existing products normally require small ad budgets as a ratio to sales. Market share of a given product or service also determine the amount of advertising required[Dav131]. To build the market share or to take share from existing competitors needs huge advertising spending than just managing a prevailing market share. Thus, brands with low-share market require more advertising spending as a percentage of sales. Products that are in markets with high advertising clutter and many competitors may also need to be advertised in a huge way to create an impact. Products that resemble one another also require heavy advertising to differentiate them. A number of business enterprises usually look for the best inexpensive ways of advertising because they do not have lot of money to spend on advertising[AyC10]. Although many ads require millions of money to execute, there are a number of ways to advertise your products and services that do not involve huge amount of money. Conclusion Advertisements have influenced every aspect of our daily thoughts, conversations, dealings, and to some extent manipulate our behavior as consumers and customers of various products and services. The Singapore Airlines ad and the SPCA ad had different roles to play. This could be the reason why they had minimal similarities and many differences. The only similarity in the two ads is that they are promoting well-being. There are many differences between the two ads and one of them being that the ad by Singapore Airlines is a commercial one while that of the SPCA is not. That could be the reason that the Singapore Airlines ad has spent a huge budget of $5M, while that of SPCA could be roughly $50 or less. The Singapore Airlines ad was filmed, while the SPCA ad is a print media. This means that the Singapore ad can be presented in many digital platforms such as podcasts, You Tube films, while SPCA ad is limited to few platforms. Another difference between the two ads is that the Singapore Airlines ad is used to enhance the brand image of the airline through branding the nation and place promotion, while the SPCA ad is not creating any brand image to the organization. The Singapore Airlines ad is targeting the global market and thus it is targeting everyone in the world who uses airline services. On the other hand, SPCA Singapore ad is only targeting the Singapore nationals. The campaign budget and campaign effectiveness are not directly related because an ad budget often depend on many things such as product’s lifecycle stage, market share, competition, and product resemblances. References List AyC10: , (Ay, et al., 2010), Fam13: , (Fam, et al., 2013), Lew10: , (Lewis & Martin, 2010), MMG13: , (M&M Global, 2013), SPC13: , (SPCA Singapore, 2013), Kau13: , (Kaur, 2013), Fea: , (Fearn-Banks, n.d.), AyC10: , (Ay, et al., 2010; Ante, 2011), Fan10: , (Fan, 2010), Dav131: , (Davis, 2013), Read More