Analysis of Effectiveness of Levis 501 Advertisement - Essay Example

Analysis of effectiveness of Levi’s 501 advertisement Introduction/Background: Levi’s 501 jeans were an icon for the youth of the 60s. During the 1980s the distinctive “Laundrette” Ad featuring model Kamen proved to be a sales booster for Levis, with its rebellious image. In the 90s however, sales have been dwindling in the youth market, partly because denim became unfashionable in the 90s but mainly due to the “Jeremy Clarkson effect” or the perception that the brand is geared towards the middle aged male (Benady 2005). Levis has initiated an aggressive advertising strategy targeted at the male youth market under the age of 25. In keeping with its tradition of producing attention grabbing advertisements that are different from the pack, Levi’s new advertisement is based upon the Shakespearean play “A Midsummer night’s dream.” The play portrays a parody of love in Act 3, Scene 1 when Bottom the weaver, a plebian is saddled with the head of an ass, but the magic love potion which has been rubbed on to Titania’s eyelids makes her fall in love with the first person she sees – which happens to be Bottom. The advertisement takes place on a Los Angeles street. An ordinary, fearful male strolls down the corner and is confronted by the local toughs in a parody of Bottom’s confrontation with Quince and Snout. “What do I see?” questions Snout as he fingers Bottom’s loose Levi’s 501 jeans and Quince adds, “Thou art translated”, literally implying that Bottom has changed in some indefinable way. The impression of a positive change is further strengthened as Bottom strolls confidently away from them saying, “…..I am not afraid.” Titania’s awakening follows, only in the advertisement Titania is a waitress and the location is a café as she articulates Shakespeare’s words, “What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?”. The character of Titania is played by Armanda Sudano, Donna Summers’ daughter. She strolls out of the café , continuing the Shakespearean spiel, “I pray thee gentle mortal sing again, mine ear is much enamored of thy note….” The advertisement ends with Bottom and Titania meeting face to face and Titania saying, “I love thee.” Discussion and Analysis: Most advertisements targeted at youth have utilized symbols of rebellion such as pop music and sexually suggestive material. This advertisement is a noted diversion from the general trend in that it portrays the awakening romance – happening to an ordinary guy who manages to get the girl. Some of the notable aspects of the advertisement lie in the commutations of the words “bottom” and “ass” that are used distinctly in the advertisement, conveying the underlying message about the adornment of the bottom and the change in the ass that are particularly relevant in terms of the new design of the Levis 501 jeans that are looser and lower cut than the traditional high waisted ones that the other toughs in the advertisement are wearing, thereby highlighting the difference between the old and the new product. The older product represents the outdated jeans that are no longer fashionable among the youth while the new product that Bottom wears are different. This advertisement, unlike earlier Levis ads, is targeted at the average, common man rather than the rebellious sex symbol type of man. The association with the character of Bottom the weaver and the element of the ridiculous associated with this scene, where the weaver is going around with the head of an ass in the play, is a deliberate one. It conveys a distinct message of approval of non conformity of the Levis 501 jeans but not from the point of view of the rebel – the strong person – but from the point of view of the ordinary man, the one who’s non conforming in that he refuses to succumb to the violent toughs. In fact, he becomes as strong as they are, losing his fear because of his hipwear and managing to snag the girl at the same time. This advertisement is the result of careful market segmentation. The customer profile that has been identified for this particular brand of jeans is the average teenage male, who is subjected at school and college to the whims and caprices of the tough guys. The customer is the ordinary guy who’s learnt to live in a modern day scenario of crime and violence and lives in fear for his life as he crosses a downtown street. But the segmentation is not merely demographic, in this case it’s psychographic as well, since a certain personality type has been targeted through this advertisement, the kind of person Jung has identified as a sensing feeling one. Such a person is affected subjectively by an advertisement, he is conscious of the risks involved in his choices and is very status conscious. This is the profile of the typical teenager of today, who lives in an atmosphere of urban violence, early sexual awakening and the need to be accepted among his peers. Therefore, this advertisement is also targeted at the young male customer in terms of benefit segmentation, since it portrays the reinforcement that the protagonist receives in the advertisement. An ordinary guy receives the benefit of confronting his overbearing peers and other violent elements, emerging happy and unafraid with the added benefit of making an attractive girl tell him she loves him because of the product he’s wearing; “mine eye enthralled to thy shape”. The expectancy theory focuses on the use of language as a persuasive tool in advertising. According to this theory, when the norms pertaining to the use of language are violated, accidentally or intentionally, this could have a positive or negative impact upon the viewers. If the violation is a positive one, it can be very effective as a persuasive tool (Burgoon and Miller 199-200). In the Levis ad, the language used is distinctive, it’s the old English of Shakespeare’s time, framed in poetic verse and delivered with oomph by Armanda Sudano. Surprisingly, the archaic language does not run off viewers’ heads like water off a duck’s back. According to Kenny Wilson, brand President for Levi’s Europe, “I think we underestimate young people today. Our research shows that they understand it immediately.” (Benady 2005). The novelty of the language, coupled with its respectable association with the genius of Shakespeare, in fact functions as a positive persuasive tool. There are two learning theories that would be applicable to this particular advertisement. The Cognitive learning theory requires the ability to comprehend messages and associate them intelligently. The Instrumental Conditioning theory is based upon the theory of reinforcement, where a consumer is more likely to purchase a product that he perceives as providing a positive reinforcement. This particular advertisement requires not only knowledge of the Shakespearean play and the associated characters, but also the ability to comprehend the unusual language used, which is quite uncharacteristic for a modern day Los Angeles waitress (Benady 2005). The Cognitive response Model is useful in monitoring the response to various forms of persuasive communication, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of an advertising campaign (Wright, 53-62). This model assumes that when people are exposed to a message, the degree of impact that it makes will be determined by psychological processes that generate either acceptance or counter argument. The fact that the more credible the source, the more persuasive the message may be a significant factor in this advertisement, especially in the U.K. markets, since the source utilized in the advertisement is no less than the Bard of Avon. In further analyzing the cognitive theory, response behavior to an advertisement may be classified into three distinct aspects (a) cognitive component (b) affective component and (c) conative or motivational component (Ash and Wee 372). The cognitive aspect pertains to factors such as the believability of the advertisement and the ability of the consumers to comprehend and recall it. The affective component on the other hand is purely subjective, based upon how consumers feel about the product that is being advertised and the related feelings that are aroused. The conative aspect pertains to the motivational factors that propel a consumer in favor of or against a particular product, depending upon whether they see the achievement of a positive or negative goal. In this case, the goal is positive – the girl and the model used is the every day common man, hence this factor is likely to increase buyer conviction about buying the product due to its positive associations.(Ash and Wee 372). Conclusions: There are two things that make this advertisement stand out. It is different from the normal range of advertisements for similar products and is therefore likely to snag the attention of the viewer in terms of its comparison with other products. The distinctive features are (a) the use of unusual poetic old English (b) the model of the ordinary man. The sensual element that is so characteristic of all Levis ads has by no means disappeared from this one, albeit it is a Shakespearean romantic scene. However, the ad is more relevant to the present day scenario, where the general tendency of youth is not to rebel but rather to adopt a more rational and sensible frame of thought, post hippie era. Modern day teenagers live in an atmosphere of crime and violence where the media bombards them with graphic and lewd images. This advertisement is a refreshing change since the sexuality is an underlying feature rather than being blatantly and overtly on display. What makes it even more different is the element of the ludicrous that is associated with the original play and the underlying, satirical subtext to the sweet, romantic message – the beautiful girl falling in love with “Bottom” who’s wearing an “ass” head. The advertisement is likely to appeal to anyone with a finely tuned sense of the ridiculous, its inherent humor is likely to tickle a viewer’s funny bone. With the plethora of violent, gory images abounding everywhere, this advertisement stands out as humorous and positive with the ordinary guy getting the girl in the end. Humor is a potent allure in an advertisement, associated with laughing and pleasant feelings which are helpful in ensuring sales of the product in question. Just watching modern day American characters mouthing old English dialogues is in itself funny and attractive for the viewer to watch. Recommendations: The advertisement needs to capitalize on its latent humor, which is its strongest selling point. It would have been even more effective if the scene had begun earlier, when Bottom first enters, wearing an ass head and the others run away, to which Bottom says, “Why do they run away? This is a knavery of them to make me afread.” The advertisement could have been reworked to show Bottom entering the scene set in the old Laundromat used in the “Laundrette” advertisement. He is clad in boxer shorts, wearing an ass head and with a tail poking out behind him. Titania is in the Laundromat and she takes one look at Bottom and faints in horror. The toughs in the laundromat hurriedly exit. Bottom questions why they run away, as he goes to the dryer and pulls out his Levis jeans and puts them on. Poof! The ass head disappears and a normal male is visible and a nice close up on Bottom’s bottom shows that the tail has disappeared. Pop eyed, Quince and Snout eye him through the glass windows of the Laundromat and enter, with Quince saying “Bottom, thou art changed! What do I see on thee?” Snout adds, “Thou art translated!” Heavenly music plays as the Laundromat brightens. That brings Titania out of her faint; “What angel wakes me from my stony bed?” Bottom twirls for her and close up shots from a low angle could highlight the “ass” that he is/was. Titania says, “Mine eye is enthralled to thy shape, on the first view to say, to swear, I love thee!” Bottom grins rakishly and says, “Methinks mistress, you should have little reason to protest, thou shalt remain with me, whether thou wilt or no. And into love’s sweet arbor, we shall go!” The ad ends with the Levi’s Logo, as Titania rises. References: Ash, Stephen B and Wee, Chow-Hou. (1982). “Comparative advertising: A review with implication for future research” Advances in Consumer research, 10. 372. Benady, Alex. (2005). “Shakespeare’s bottom pinched by Levi admen” The Telegraph, January 24, 2005.[Online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/24/nlevi24.xml& sSheet=/news/2005/01/24/ixnewstop.html; accessed 11/4/2005 Burgoon, Michael and Miller, Michael D. (1985). “An expectancy interpretation of language and persuasion.” In “Recent advances in language, communication and social psychology” eds. H.Giles and R.N. Clair. London” Laurence Erlbaum Associates; 199-299 Wright, Peter L. (1973) “The Cognitive processes mediating acceptance of advertising” Journal of Marketing Research, 19. 53-62. Read More