Print advertisements are perfect life specimens of the Linear Model of Communication in action. The sender, being the company or organisation campaigning the advertisements; the receiver, being the people who are drawn to it some way or another. Its potential to draw the attention of the target audience relies on intelligent incoporation of the 3 persuasion appeals (according to Aristotle in Rhetoric) and plays on the perception of the target audience based on the 4 Idols (distortions) mentioned in the "Analysis of Perceptual Bias" by Francis Bacon.
Above is a rather 'Dare-ing' print advertisement I stumbeld upon on the internet. It's an advertisement by "DARE Coffee" in Australia. Let's cut to the chase and take it apart to appreciate its perfect blend of communication concepts (ice-blended topped with whipped cream).
No advertisement is made without the audience in mind. The response of the audience is of utmost priority when an advertisement is initially drafted. Every advertisement is designed to trigger reactions in the audience that leads to the purpose of the advertisement being met. Let's base our analysis on the assumption that the desired audience belongs to the working class. These are people who works overtime and are on a constant quest for the next caffeine boost. A copy of the day's papers are also stereotypically assumed to be the staple mind food on their breakfast tables. Pardon my Idols of the Cave.
All you Starbucks fans out there shouldn't have any qualms recalling the very recent closure of 61 Starbucks outlets. DARE coffee took this oppotunity (kairos) to lash out at their competitor, Starbucks, claiming responsibility for its lull: "It's not hard to feel a little bit responsible."
Adding a dash of ethos, a newspaper headline in clipped and pasted in the advertisement. This creates a sense of authenticity in the minds of the very people who trusts the newspaper. By placing the newspaper cutting at the top of the advertisement, ethos or credibility is established between the sender and the receipient of the message early into the communication process.
The blatant use of this particular newspaper headline displays an act of rebellion against the more reputable Starbucks, which relates to their brand -DARE. This arouses the audience's interest (pathos).
The Idols of the Tribe comes in handy for the sender when human nature kicks in and the audience adheres to their strong tendency to discern. In this case, they see DARE Coffee to be the dominant brand of the 2. "If I love Starbucks Coffee and DARE Coffee is better, then I'll love it more." This is the logical (logos) reaction that resonates in the audience's mind and this is triggered by the Idols of the Tribe, like a chain reaction.
These concepts form a clever concoction of an advertisement that convinces people to buy their product from various angles. It seized a golden opportunity (kairos), faithfully employs the 3 persuasion appeals of Rhetoric and turned the 4 Idols in their favour.
That said, it's probably time for me to grab my bottle of DARE Coffee. Dare you? ;)
7 comments:
now that's what i call a cheeky ad. i wonder if we see such ingenuity here in Singapore, with all the 'kiasee-ism' in our blood.
ever thought about why the ad chose to show only the header of the newspaper article, instead of the whole article? i wouldn't be suprised if this was planned to only show you what you want to see, 61 stores being shut down. what if you go on to read in the article that this was not caused by bad business, but instead other factors?
ads, in my opinion, are forms of non-verbal lying.
"Let's cut to the chase and take it apart to appreciate its perfect blend of communication concepts (ice-blended topped with whipped cream)." hahhas,thats funny.
i like your ad!and i think that while advertisements inadvertenly affects a consumer's choice, ulitmately, the consumer would definitely be able to make a well-informed decision based on his or her personal experience or someone else's experience.
the transactional (ie face to face) model of communication has a lot more influence as compared to a linear model. yup.
(l: janice
A pretty good article, I must confess. I'm convinced that the designers of this print advertisement really put a lot of thought into their work. Some comments though, bear with me!
In your article, you mentioned that this advertisement was mainly targeted at the working-class adults, who work overtime and are always on the quest for the next caffeine boost. Such people are usually discerning and can tell facts from fiction. As a previous user has commented, such print advertisements are usually lies covered up pretty well. Working class adults would be able to differentiate from a proper advertisement, as compared to this type that plainly is building on the popularity of Starbucks, and such advertisements don't make such a lasting impression as compared to original ones that advertise their own brand themselves, i.e. Nike products.
However, I don't deny that the advertisement is very, very catchy, both visually and implied meaning! I would see it as it being more of a talking point amongst teenagers and young adults (the cool thing), and no doubt it would boost sales to a great extent too :)
Please, feel free to critic what I have said, these are but my opinions!
woah, i must say DARE coffee is so DARE-ING (daring)!!
nice way to apply the principles we learnt in communication. i'd never thought that advertisements alone could involve so many of the concepts.
but i must to agree with zed, the header is to mislead the audience without providing supporting evidence.
anyway,good job!
Ben! This ad is totally hilarious. Lucky you for finding it. I like the way that DARE coffee quoted the newspaper ad for Starbucks, who everyone knows is taking the world over with its caffeine. So little words yet they really make an impact to readers, with alittle bit of humour. Cheers on your entry. :)
A great way to advertise instead! It rrly draws the attention of people. I guess these ads will create a long lasting impression on people's mind. It is unique and different from typical ads.
Good job! =)
i think the advertisment that you bring out is really cool as in they are not just putting the whole passage about what they want to sell instead just a headline,
it really capture audience's attention with the headline especially audiences like what you mention the working adults (i think they really need it)haha!
the contrast and the colour of the ad makes the product pop out and give a great impression to the audience(especially people who are tired to read the ad's message)
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