Analysis Of Advertisements: Commercials Promoting - Case Study Example

Analysis Of Advertisements: Commercials Promoting For the analysis, two commercials promoting shaving products for men and women have been chosen. More specifically, these are the ads that promote Gillette razors for man and Gillette Venus razors for women, and both of them were produced in 2015. These particular advertisements have been chosen with the aim to examine how similar products are promoted for different target audiences (males vs. females). In particular, the ads will be analyzed in regard to kinds of appeal and gender roles conveyed in them. As it has been mentioned above, it is shaving razors Gillette for men and razors Gillette Venus for women that are promoted in the advertisements under consideration. The main feature of Gillette for men revealed in the advertisement is that the razors are very sharp; it is also highlighted that shaving using Gillette is almost an art. As for Gillette Venus, the advertising focuses on various features of the product when it comes not only to its direct function but to additional ones, such as moisturizing, compact format, disks rotation etc. From the products’ main features as they are represented it the chosen ads, one can draw the conclusion about the benefits of the products. For Gillette for men, its benefits include safety, accuracy and precision of shaving and that the process itself is not time consuming; as for Gillette Venus, its main benefits are effectiveness, safety, moisturizing effect, ease of use, confidence it gives and beautility. As it follows from the adverts under analysis, Gillette’s target audience is men who belong to different age groups; but the men Gillette targets are not ordinary, they are the best, they are the men who are daring. Gillette Venus, in its turn, target women interested in consuming beauty products who seek comfort, appreciation and who are concerned about how they both look and feel. With the aim to reach their target audience, the following kinds of appeal are used in the advertisement of Gillette for men: emotional (social and personal), rational, masculine, and music appeal. The advertisement triggers such personal emotions as pride of being a man, boosts self-esteem and stimulates to act by representing the male character as independent and a bit aggressive. Masculine appeal is used in the same way. Rational appeal focuses on males’ needs, and with this idea in mind advertisers emphasize the features and characteristics of the product in a way that its use would be beneficial for a male customer. Finally, the use of music appeal helps increase the persuasiveness of the advertisement and once again highlight the benefits of the product as the soundtrack to James Bond movies is used. In the Gillette Venus advertisement, emotional (social and personal) and rational appeals are used. Personal emotional appeal focus on emotions that may drive a woman to buy the product; these emotions include safety, comfort, self-esteem and confidence that a woman may experience after she buys and, more importantly, uses the product. Social factors that are highlighted in the advertisement include aspects of recognition, approval, acceptance, which result from the way a woman looks. Rational appeal focuses on the female consumer’s need for functionality of the product. For this purpose, advertises focus on the multiple features of Gillette Venus razor mentioned above. The difference between the ways two similar products are advertised is presupposed by the difference in target audience. Depending on the gender of the audience, various strategies are used for the promotion of the product. As it follows from the advertisements, men and women enjoy different things. When marketing to women, a lot of details and emotional cues are used. In this case, it is multifunctionality of the product and its benefits that are highlighted. For men, ad is simpler but includes important design elements that enhance efficiency and improve the performance of the main function of the products, which is shaving; at the same time no attention is paid to, for instance, whether it moisturizes skin or not. Overall, in advertisements targeted strictly at males or at females, it is gender roles and gender role stereotyping that are very important. This tendency can be easily traced in the two commercials under consideration. In these ads, men and women differ in terms of several aspects. First of all, it is role: while the male character act independently, the female character is shown in term of her relationship to the society as she is looking for a perfect match to look good and, consequently, be liked by others. Also, it is credibility: women are users, and men are authorities. Finally, it is location: the female character is shown in a peaceful environment, and the male character – in hostile environment. In terms of the kinds of appeal used in the ads under consideration, Gillette for men seems to be more effective. In addition to this, this ad also has a plot: the ad is a sequence of memories united by the narration, which makes it more appealing and more engaging to watch. Also, the use of the soundtrack to James Bond movies attracts attention as it is a well-known theme and makes the ad even more memorable. Men are fond of manly things, and this is the ad that would definitely reach the audience. In fact, for me personally, the ad has no drawbacks. The main strength of the Gillette Venus ad is that it shows a woman in different guises performing different roles. Also, the ad includes a significant number of details about the product, and this is a great plus as women are detail-oriented. At the same time, this ad seems to be just plain and not quite memorable. I believe it would be better to show the female character not simply in different situations but make up and show one day of her life, the day which includes all those situations in it. References Gillette Venus, (2015). Gillette Venus & Emma Willis: Perfect Match. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmQzkNoJt2Q [Accessed 8 Oct. 2015]. Gillette, (2015). Bring out the 007 in You | Gillette and SPECTRE. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuvisHAlJzo [Accessed 8 Oct. 2015]. Read More