The first key aspect we will cover is categories.

This looks at the form of the ad (what type it is), the purpose of the ad (what it is for) and sometimes the genre of the ad (e.g. insurance ads, petfood ads, perfume ads.)

When you are asked to identify the form of an ad, the options are almost limitless, but could include:

• A PRESS ad – newspaper or magazine display ad, classified ad…

• A BILLBOARD ad – advertising hoardings beside busy roads, posters, ads in bus/train stations…

• A MOVING IMAGE ad - television ads, movie trailers, YouTube ads, infomercials…

• An AUDIO ad – a radio ad, a podcast ad, a Spotify ad…

• An ONLINE ad – search engine ads, banner ads, email marketing/spam…

• PRODUCT PLACEMENT – the use of products in film and TV (e.g. a main character drinks a Coke or wears Nike shoes)

The form we’re going to look at in this unit is press advertising.

Newspaper or Magazine Display Ads are large, colourful ads, probably expensive, found in almost all newspapers and magazines – these are a huge part of the newspaper’s revenue (how they make their money!)

They may be relatively small (a quarter or half page) or huge (a double page spread, or even an advertising feature spread over several pages).

Often they feature famous stars, whose association with the brand makes it more attractive to the potential audience.

Let’s consider newspaper and magazine ads. What do you think are the benefits of a newspaper or magazine ad, compared to:

• A billboard ad?• A television ad?• An online ad?• A radio ad

Think about who will see it, how long they can spend looking at it, the size of the ad etc.

Now, what do you think the possible disadvantages of a newspaper/magazine ad might be compared to the other types?

A newspaper or magazine ad has several advantages over other forms of advertising:• Readers can take their time considering

the ad, unlike a TV ad which is time limited, or a billboard which they will just pass by.

• They can be placed to appeal to certain audiences (e.g. young women readers of Heat, middle aged liberal readers of The Guardian, 15-30 male readers of Zoo, pet-loving readers of Dogs Monthly magazine).

• Can be placed on certain days or times of the year to tie in with events in the wider world – can be precisely timed.

• Can effectively and creatively use colour, layout and images to create an impact on the reader.

So what about the purpose of a press ad? What is it for? What are the creators trying to do?

You could say, for most ads, the purpose is to sell stuff – that is, to make money! However, we can put it in a slightly more ‘official’ sounding way.

For most ads, there are TWO clear purposes:

1)To persuade

2)To inform

Let’s look at each of these purposes:

1) To PERSUADE – the company who is selling the product wants to persuade you to buy the product! They will use a variety of methods to make the product look like something you can’t live without, and persuade you that you MUST have it.

2) To INFORM – the company is informing you of the existence of the product. It is giving you information about the product. It is hoping that, once you are informed about what this product has to offer, that you will be PERSUADED to buy it!

We should look in a bit more detail at how an ad might persuade us to buy a product. This integrates with some of our other key aspects, such as:

• language (cultural and technical codes used to make the product seem appealing)

• representations (how certain lifestyles are represented in a positive way).

• audience (how a product is made to seem desirable to certain groups of people, such as a particular gender, social class or age group).

So, for example:

A certain colour may appeal to the intended audience (e.g. red could appeal to those looking for romance, sky blue to sporty types, purple to those looking for luxury).

The décor of a room may contain expensive looking items which appeal to a wealthy audience.

A glamorous young film star may be depicted wearing designer clothes, with well-groomed hair and impeccable makeup, to make the reader desire to be like her.

A sports car could be shown driving at speed through an impossibly expensive French Riviera resort, to make the reader aspire to that lifestyle.

We’re going to look at an ad for a dog food product –

Write down the following discussion points to consider when looking at the ad:

1.What is the ad INFORMING you of – what do you know after looking at this ad that you didn’t know before?

2.Imagine you have an overweight dog. How could this ad PERSUADE you to buy this product.

3.Imagine you are a dog hating cat owner. What effect would this ad have on you? How do you think the Pedigree food company would feel about this?

CLICK HERE for the ad.

Newspaper or Magazine Display Ads

Working in pairs, your teacher will give you a newspaper or magazine to look through. You are going to identify an ad that you think is particularly effective.

Make notes or mindmap around the following headings:

• How is this ad informing you? What have you learned from it?

• How is this ad trying to persuade you that you must buy this product?

Genre

Just like films can fall into different genres, such as horror, romance, sci-fi and so on, and music can fall into genres such as rock, pop, R&B etc., advertising can fall into different genres depending on what is being advertised. Some ‘classic’ advertising genres include:

• Car ads • Perfume ads • Sweet ads• Film ads• Insurance comparison site ads

Can you think of any examples of these? What makes them stick out in your mind?

Genre

Let’s look at some examples of these. Here are some sweet ads.

MaltesersYorkieCreme EggNatural Confectionary Company

• Who is each ad being aimed at?• How is this audience being persuaded to buy the product?

• Who wouldn’t find this product appealing (if the ad is anything to go by)?

So, how do we write about the categories of a print ad?

Your teacher will project/hand out an exemplar answer on this ad for Chupa Chups lollipops.

Once you have read it through and discussed it, your teacher will project/hand out a suggested structure for a categories answer. You will be shown an ad – following the structure on the sheet, try your own analysis. You can use the Chupa-chups example to help you.

Suggested Ads:Whiskas KittenMcDonalds Cheeseburger with BaconHeinz Fiery Ketchup