A Comparison of Two Television Advertisements

A Comparison of Two Television Advertisements

Television is the most important medium for advertising, and

advertising is a vital component of traditional TV business models. It

has always been difficult to assess the benefits of TV advertising as

advertisers have traditionally had only a vague idea of who may have

seen a particular advert and the actual impact on them. However, they

can try and target an audience specifically e.g. time, channel of

advert, etc. Most channels gain over 50% of their revenue from TV

advertising firms. Without TV adverts, we probably wouldn’t buy half

the products that are on show in shops. TV advertising also generates

millions of pounds for TV channels, and this keeps the channel

running. In fact, the main source of income is through advertising.

Television is also the most reached audience, more than newspapers,

the internet, the radio and even magazines. On the other hand,

television advertising is the most expensive type of advertising to

use. A 30 second clip on a national channel can cost up to £20,000. I

will compare two adverts promoting similar products, and see the

differences in advertising methods and measure the successful effects

on its target audience.

The advert for the Vauxhall Corsa is 40 seconds long, consisting of 26

scenes. The car can be seen many times during this short advert. This

instantly attracts the viewer’s attention. At one point 11 cars can be

seen at once. This advert was found on ITV at a prime-time slot where

Vauxhall believed it would attract the most number of people. The

advert starts off with one vehicle and a voice over say, “1, 2, 3”, as

the car parks into a...

... middle of paper ...

...swerving away from the oil

rig, which emphasizes the strength of this new model. We can compare

this to the Corsa advert which didn’t have any people relating to the

car, nor such a highly charged atmosphere. There are many special

effects during the advert which enhances to create Volvo’s specific

atmosphere. Similarly, the Vauxhall also had special effects but not

as extreme as the one’s used in the Volvo advert.

Overall the Corsa advert is very good as it uses numerous devices

effectively to promote the product and it is very identifiable by the

audience. The 850 T-5 advert is in unrealistic circumstances and has

an American accent through it making it difficult for the viewers to

picture themselves in that situation. For the U.K market the Vauxhall

Corsa advert is effectively better then the Volvo 850 T-5 advert.