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? ;)
