In earlier chapter, we discussed the importance of advertising creativity and focused on determining what the advertising message should communicate. The current chapter focuses on how the message will be executed. It examines various appeals and execution styles that can be used to develop the ad and tactical issues involved in the design and production of effective Advertising messages.
Advertising Appeal: The approach used to attract the attention of consumers and/or to influence their feelings toward the product, service, or cause (also described as underlying content of the advertisement)
Creative Execution Style: It is the way a particular appeal is turned into an advertising message presented to the consumer (also described as the presentation style of the content)
On a broad level, the advertising appeals – though many in number, are classified into two categories viz. Rational and Emotional Appeal
Informational/Rational Appeals :
- Focuses on the consumer’s practical, functional,or utilitarian need for the product or service
- ƒEmphasizes the features or benefits
- ƒMessages emphasize facts and logic
For Example, HUL's new Bru Exotica Coffee ad focuses on country of origin of the coffee and the characteristics of Coffee in that country
Moreover, there is a further classification of the Rational Appeal :
1) Feature Appeals : Focuses on dominant traits of the product.
For example the below ad focuses on a few key features of Mahindra's new SUV "XUV 500" which sets it distinctly apart from all the other cars.
2) Competitive Appeal : Makes comparison with other brands.
For example, the below ad makes a feature to feature comparison between the Tata Vista and Maruti Suzuki Swift. Note that, marketers often cleverly compare only those aspects where their own brand is leading, often ignoring others. However, in general, it is not a very good idea to make a direct comparison unless your own brand scores above the competition in at least a few key areas.
3) Favorable Price Appeal : Make the offered price as a dominant
Bharti-AXA Life insurance in India, as an example, stresses on the low premium for the Term insurance in the following ad which is typically seen on many websites.
These news/announcements might be due to a brand-name change or a change of logo, as shown below through the example of Hutch becoming Vodafone. Other types of news might include additional certifications obtained which introduces some newer types of usage. News appeal might also be used by products/corporate brands when they are faced with a controversial situations.
5) Product Popularity Appeal : Emphasizes the popularity of the brand
Now, lets discuss about the emotional appeals.
Emotional appeals relate to the customers’
social and/or psychological needs for purchasing a product or service. Many
consumers’ motives for their purchase decisions are emotional, and their
feelings about a brand can be more important than knowledge of its features or
attributes.
Many advertisers believe appeals to consumers’
emotions work better at selling brands that do not differ markedly from
competing brands, since rational differentiation of them is difficult. Many
feelings or needs can serve as the basis for advertising appeals designed to influence
consumers on an emotional level, as shown below -
For example, HDFC Life Insurance focuses on the emotional appeal by kindling the feelings of self-respect.
Advertisers can use emotional appeals
in many ways in their creative strategy. Kamp and Macinnis note that
commercials often rely on the concept of emotional integration, whereby they
portray the characters in the ad as experiencing an emotional benefit or
outcome from using a product or service.
Hallmark, AT&T, Kodak, and Oscar
Mayer often create commercials that evoke feelings of warmth, nostalgia, and/or
sentiment. See this MasterCard ad as an example
Another reason for using emotional
appeals is to influence consumers’ interpretations of their product usage
experience. One way of doing this is through what is known as transformational
advertising.
A transformational ad is defined as “one
which associates the experience of using (consuming) the advertised brand with
a unique set of psychological characteristics which would not typically be associated
with the brand experience to the same degree without exposure to the advertisement.”
Transformational ad has two
characteristics:
1. It must make the experience of
using the product richer, warmer, more exciting, and/or more enjoyable than
that obtained solely from an objective description of the advertised brand.
2. It must connect the experience of
the advertisement so tightly with the experience of using the brand that
consumers cannot remember the brand without recalling the experience generated
by the advertisement.
Levels of relationships with Brands :
Advertising researchers and agencies have given considerable thought to the relationship between rational and emotional motives in consumer decision making and how advertising influences both. McCann-Erickson Worldwide, in conjunction with advertising professor Michael Ray, developed a proprietary research technique known as emotional bonding. This technique evaluates how consumers feel about brands and
the nature of any emotional rapport they have with a brand compared to the ideal emotional state they associate with the product category.
As a closing remark, we should note that in many advertising situations, the decision facing the creative specialist is not whether to choose an emotional or a rational appeal but, rather, determining how to combine the two approaches.
There are also other types of Appeal :
Not every ad fits neatly into the
categories of rational or emotional appeals. For example, ads for some brands
can be classified as reminder advertising, which has the objective of
building brand awareness and/or keeping the brand name in front of consumers. Products
and services that have a seasonal pattern to their consumption also use
reminder advertising, particularly around the appropriate period. For example,
marketers of candy products often increase their media budgets and run reminder
advertising around Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and Easter.
Advertisers introducing a new
product often use teaser advertising, which is designed to build curiosity,
interest, and/or excitement about a product or brand by talking about it but
not actually showing it. Teasers, or mystery ads as they are sometimes called,
are also used by marketers to draw attention to upcoming advertising campaigns
and generate interest and publicity for them.
Advertising Execution -
An advertising message can be presented or executed in numerous ways:
• Straight sell or factual message
• Animation
• Scientific/technical evidence
• Personality symbol
• Demonstration
• Fantasy
• Comparison
• Dramatization
• Testimonial
• Humor
• Slice of life
• Combinations
Straight Sell -
One of the most basic types of creative executions is the straight sell or factual message. This type of
ad relies on a straightforward presentation of information concerning the product or service. This execution is often used with informational/rational appeals, where the focus of the message is the product or service and its specific attributes and/or benefits.
Straight-sell executions are commonly used in print ads. A picture of the product or service occupies part of the ad, and the factual copy takes up the rest of the space.
Scientific/Technical Evidence :
In a variation of the straight sell, scientific or technical evidence is presented in the ad. Advertisers often cite technical information, results of scientific or laboratory studies, or endorsements by scientific bodies or agencies to support their advertising claims. For example, Colgate toothpaste brand highlights the endorsement from the Indian Dental Association.
Demonstration :
Demonstration advertising is designed to illustrate the key advantages of the product/service by showing it in actual use or in some staged situation. Demonstration executions can be very effective in convincing consumers of a product’s utility or quality and of the benefits of owning or using the brand. TV is particularly well suited for demonstration executions, since the benefits or advantages of the product can be shown right on the screen.
Comparison :
Brand comparisons can also be the basis for the advertising execution. The comparison execution approach is increasingly popular among advertisers, since it offers a direct way of communicating a brand’s particular
advantage over its competitors.
Testimonial :
Many advertisers prefer to have their messages presented by way of a testimonial, where a person praises the product or service on the basis of his or her personal experience with it. This approach can be very effective when the person delivering the testimonial is someone with whom the target audience can identify or who has an interesting story to tell.
A related execution technique is the endorsement, where a well-known or respected individual such as a celebrity or expert in the product or service area speaks on behalf of the company or the brand. When endorsers promote a company or its products or services, the message is not necessarily based on their personal experiences.
Slice of Life :
A widely used advertising format, particularly for packaged-goods products, is the slice-of-life execution, which is generally based on a problem/solution approach. This type of ad portrays a problem or conflict
that consumers might face in their daily lives. The ad then shows how the advertiser’s product or service can resolve the problem. However, these ads often come across as contrived, silly, phony, or even offensive to consumers.
Animation :
An advertising execution approach that has become popular in recent years is animation.
Personality Symbol :
Another type of advertising execution involves developing a central character or personality symbol that can deliver the advertising message and with which the product or service can be identified.
Fantasy :
An execution technique that is popular for emotional types of appeals such as image advertising is fantasy. Fantasy executions are particularly well suited for television, as the commercial can become a 30-second escape for the viewer into another lifestyle. The product or service becomes a central part of the situation created by the advertiser. Cosmetics ads often use fantasy appeals to create images and symbols that become associated with the brand.
Dramatization :
Dramatization is somewhat akin to slice-of-life execution in that it often relies on the problem/solution approach, but it uses more excitement and suspense in telling the story. The purpose of using drama is to draw the viewer into the action it portrays.
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