Demonstrable Demographics

Advertisement is basically a game that companies play, to their advantage, on their targeted customers. We, as customers, first look for ourselves in an ad whether it’s a photograph or a commercial. In the eyes of the companies it is very important to look at how people are depicted in terms of culture, ethnicity, and how stereotypes affect the implied message. Marketing strategies also consider body language, setting, appearance, and socioeconomic factor.

 

The fundamental purpose of visual commercials is to sell a service, product or to spread awareness of a topic. Tori Gligic (http://torigligic.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/1f25-blog-post-3-what-the-hail) passionately argues in her recent blog, “Don’t Drink and Drive.” That message is one that is valuable in today’s society and would get numerous comments.  Tori summed up her blog with a very effective statement that she believes the ad is about.  She states that the ad will “leave the audience thinking whether it really is worth it in the end.” Even though I fully enjoyed Tori’s blog, I didn’t find that the photograph used in the ad reflects the idea intended behind drinking and driving. I found it hard to figure out what the picture was portraying. She also states that although the character in the ad is a female, the targeted audience is not limited to females but extends to males as well. She continues saying “Although it has been proven that males can drink more and handle their alcohol better than females, it is still possible for regrets to happen to boys”. I didn’t fully agree with her adding this statement in. If the statistics show that males can drink more and control their alcohol better, it doesn’t mean they don’t get drunk or drink enough to make undesirable choices. I felt that this quote made it seem that usually it is females who make poor choices after a night of drinking and I don’t think that is the case.

 

Allison Sparham caught my attention by the way she describes Taco Bell’s commercial during last year’s Superbowl. Even though the characters used in this commercial are a group of old people, as she mentioned, the targeted audience are teenagers who are considered to be reckless. Therefore the humorous correlation between demographics is an intelligent way to attract a certain age “This ad was interpreted as comedic because of the mode of address.”  (http://allisonsparham.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/what-the-hail/) I agree that it was comedic and would catch the attention of the younger demographic.

 

Christine Merrill (http://christinemerrill2.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/what-in-the-hail), a reflection of my ideas, chose Revlon’s “Beyond Natural” advertisement. She argues how girls can be driven to constantly buy cosmetics in order to get the “natural” skin which is considered to be hopeless. It is a marketer’s strategy to use celebrities in their commercials to magnetize consumers. By using Jessica Alba in the ad, girls are hoping to have a smooth skin like Jessica’s face and will keep buying the advertised product line. I totally agree with Christine when she said “If the make-up doesn’t do what they advertise in the picture, why exactly do they advertise it that way?”

 

The only aim of marketers is to embolden the potential buyer to purchase their product either by a tremendous headline or by making an offer for what the customer wants or several other creative thoughts. By reading numerous blogs of my colleges, I found a diversity of opinions where I either agreed or disagreed.