Why do businesses spend so much money on commercials? Many people might ask themselves this question after viewing how many millions of dollars are spent each year solely on commercials. A 30 second Super Bowl commercial alone costs 4.5 million dollars. (Brady) For the majority of people, a commercial doesn’t make them immediately jump up and buy the product being advertised. Most people after watching a Geico commercial don’t immediately pick up the phone and call to save 15% or more on their car insurance. Companies find ways to use their commercials to spark something within the potential consumer that will stick with them and eventually lead to new customers. This is done in multiple ways. Some put the company's product in a good light through a positive message, or others create a humorous commercial that will …show more content…
appeal to the audience. Still others create an emotional response within the viewer. One company that uses marketing tactics is Kellogg’s in their frosted flakes commercials. The company has created numerous commercials in hopes of new customers. They use similar, but different marketing tactics, depending on how they are trying to connect with the consumer. Two of these commercials are of a dad and his son playing football, (Frosted Flakes TV Spot, ‘Football with Dad’) and a little league baseball team performing pregame rituals (Frosted Flakes Little League Commercial). Although these commercials are made by the same company, they create different relationships and situations to connect with the viewer. In the first commercial a relatable relationship between a father and a son develops. It begins by showing a typical father and son outside playing football together. The father is a stereotypical father figure because he is encouraging, playful, and soft in appearance. He isn’t heavily tattooed or pierced. The son looks about eight or nine with some missing front teeth. After playing football for a while, the father and son go inside their house to eat for their “halftime.” It’s obvious that the father and son love each other. To show that love, the father shares his frosted flakes with his son. This 30 second clip creates an emotional response in people. Some viewer might sigh and think of how sweet it is that they are having fun together. Some might remember a time when they spent time with their dad or with their son. The purpose of this commercial is to encourage viewers to share frosted flakes with those they love because the flakes taste great. This familiar family love, is likely to attract customers to buy the cereal. The cereal is presented on the table near a bright window with a bowl of fruit close by. The son accidentally spills some cereal, and the father playfully tells him that he doesn’t want to “fumble” any of the frosted flakes because the are so good. (Frosted Flakes TV Spot, ‘Football with Dad’) The whole time that they are eating the cereal, the two of them are beaming, clearly enjoying their meal. Viewers obviously know that this is a scripted commercial, so the actors are supposed to smile. What they don’t know is that they subconsciously relate frosted flakes to happiness. Not all at once, but eventually they might decide to try some frosted flakes to see if they are related to happiness.. A major component of commercials is the emotions it evokes in the viewers. A key way emotions are initiated is through music. The music in this first commercial starts out with a simple, soft ukulele sound. The rhythms are not complex, but it’s still lighthearted and uplifting. This combined with the modest, casual clothes of the characters, makes the viewer feel relaxed. In addition, the scenes aren’t very fast paced. Instead, it’s simple and pleasant. There is a sense of sincerity because you can feel the father’s genuine love for his son. The tender moment puts a positive light on the commercial. Whether they think they do or not, consumers remember the positivity they see and feel in this commercial. The viewers relate the relaxed, sweet feeling they feel to Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes. Similar to the first commercial, the second one develops positive relationships to encourage viewers to make eating frosted flakes a social event. It begins by showing some typical little league baseball teams performing their pregame rituals together. Some chant in a huddle, others draw black lines beneath their eyes before running out onto the baseball field. The last team shown is eating frosted flakes together and the narrator explains to the audience, that they should make eating frosted flakes one of their pregame rituals. (Frosted Flakes Little League Commercial) Here the creators of the advertisement, intend to relate to the audience through a familiar situation. Many viewers of the commercials are on their own teams and participate in their own pre-game rituals. Although this is a group/teammate relationship, both commercials create a want to eat frosted flakes with others that they enjoy being around. They later buy the product all because a connection was made in the commercial. Also, friendship is associated with the cereal, which leaves the impression that frosted flakes should be an event shared among friends and family. The presentation of the cereal in the baseball commercial is very similar to that of the first advertisement. The players are smiling while they happily eat their frosted flakes together just as the father and son happily ate together after playing football. Tony the Tiger is standing behind the perfectly placed cereal box. It is in plain view on top of the picnic table next to fruits and vegetables. Tony the Tiger is in every frosted flakes commercial. In both these commercials he even participated in the activities that were going on. He is intentionally placed here because he is a recognizable character that viewers are likely to remember, especially with his catchy slogan. The company utilizes this slogan for their good. Later when customers are in the store deciding which cereal to buy, they are likely to remember Tony the Tiger and his slogan. Then, when the see the box of cereal with the familiar tiger on it, they are more likely to buy it. The most significant difference between the two commercials is the overall emotions that the viewer feels. Unlike the first football commercial, the second baseball video is more lively and energetic, with some intensity to it. The filming of the little league commercial is fast paced and doesn’t stay on one scene for long. In addition, there are close ups of the teams slapping their hands against their legs, other teams in their huddle, and players running out onto the field. Most of the energy, liveliness, and intensity comes from the music. The music in this commercial is heavier and denser than the other one. There is louder and more frequent drumming with a definite, strong beat. The guitar creates a complex, heavy sound in contrast with the simple ukulele sound in the other commercial. Many people can relate to the exciting feelings they get while getting pumped up for an athletic game. The music helps bring those exciting feelings into the commercial. If the commercial creators had made the music faster and louder while utilizing the drums more, it would have magnified those feelings which would in turn would relate to the audience more. Despite that, the music overall does produce feelings of adrenaline whereas the football commercial music is more relaxed. The company created a connection with the viewer, and the viewer probably didn’t even realize it. The football commercial connected with the viewer too, but with sentimental feelings of love for family. Although these 30 second commercials are expensive and won’t likely bring immediate results, Kellogg’s still spends the time and money to create it.
Why do they do this? They know that putting their product in a positive light now, will lead to cash later. Kellogg’s utilizes their persuasive techniques of emotion and relatability in two commercials about pregame rituals and a father and his son playing football together. Both commercials have something in common: they incorporate Tony the Tiger as a recognizable association with the cereal. Another similarity between the two commercials, is that they incorporate positive, relatable relationships into the commercial, but they create different relationships. One commercial develops a loving relationship between father and son which leaves a loving, sentimental feeling with the viewer. On the other hand, the second commercial develops a friendly teammate relationship leaving feelings of friendship and excitement. Despite these similarities and differences, there is one similarity that overrides them all: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes makes commercials that are going to stick in the minds of those who view
them.
People will then associate the product with the positive feeling, making it easier to persuade the person to buy.Pathos is a tactic well used in the commercial because of the upbeat music and colors along with catchy phase “Reese's puffs, Reese's puff, peanut butter chocolate flavor” on repeat it stays in people's
Sport is one of the largest mediums that corporations can utilize to get that mass message out to their customers. Many of us have different ways that “tickle” our fancy so to speak. What interests one does not necessarily interest another, but, even if one person can convince others to try a product or service a domino effect may occur. Corporations are always trying to “spice” up their advertisement. They probably do this to see if they can manipulate a consumer to try their service or product. For example, Budweiser has been running beer ads for many, many years and incorporated comedy into their commercials. They went from frogs to lizards to obnoxious acting. In my opinion, people are swayed by these tactics and tend to try a Budweiser beer more often than they had.
Humans are emotional buyers. They buy something because they feel a certain way, and then later justify the decision with logic. Budweiser's commercial is all about eliciting an emotional response. The psychology behind this marketing strategy is simple: A potential customer will view the "Puppy Love" commercial and have a positive emotional reaction to it, which will inform his or her beer-buying decisions in the future -- either subconsciously or consciously. In your own marketing initiatives, rather than trying to appeal to your target customers' logic, think about how you can appeal to their emotions.
According to Robert Scholes, author of On Reading a Video Text, commercials aired on television hold a dynamic power over human beings on a subconscious level. He believes that through the use of specific tools, commercials can hold the minds of an audience captive, and can control their abilities to think rationally. Visual fascination, one of the tools Scholes believes captures the minds of viewers, can take a simple video, and through the use of editing and special effects, turn it into a powerful scene which one simply cannot take his or her eyes from. Narrativity is yet another way Scholes feels commercials can take control of the thoughts of a person sitting in front of the television. Through the use of specific words, sounds, accompanying statements and or music, a television commercial can hold a viewer’s mind within its grasp, just long enough to confuse someone into buying a product for the wrong reason. The most significant power over the population held by television commercials is that of cultural reinforcement, as Scholes calls it. By offering a human relation throughout itself, a commercial can link with the masses as though it’s speaking to the individual viewer on an equal level. A commercial In his essay, Scholes analyzes a Budweiser commercial in an effort to prove his statements about the aforementioned tools.
Other commercials, according to Solomon, thrive on fitting in. The Chevrolet commercials have a slogan that makes one feel to be American, one must by American. Chevrolet's slogan is 'The Heartbeat of America.'; Car commercials also have targeted markets also. For a truck commercial, they will show a truck getting all dirty and going through an obstacle. This is targeted towards men because most men find these things appealing. For a luxury car commercial the mood or the commercial is nice and pleasant, the car is on a country road (representing one driving to there country home). These cars were once targeted towards upper class people, but now they are targeted towards everyone according to Solomon. A commercial strives on the ever so enduring drive for Americans to have better things and climb up the social status ladder. Marketers know this, so they place normal, average, everyday looking people in their commercials to let middle class people know that they can have the car, too.
One of the main ways the commercial does this, was in the last scene when the daughter is packing for college and the box of the origamis fell on the floor. Viewers were touched by the fact that the daughter had kept all the origamis her father had made her. This implies to viewers that happy moments and memories are shared with their gum. The commercial shows the connection the father and daughter have, which relates to the viewer’s attachment with their family members as well. Extra does a good job of creating emotions to the viewers throughout the commercial with happy and sad stages through the daughter 's coming of
Advertisements are one of many things that Americans cannot get away from. Every American sees an average of 3,000 advertisements a day; whether it’s on the television, radio, while surfing the internet, or while driving around town. Advertisements try to get consumers to buy their products by getting their attention. Most advertisements don’t have anything to do with the product itself. Every company has a different way of getting the public’s attention, but every advertisement has the same goal - to sell the product. Every advertisement tries to appeal to the audience by using ethos, pathos, and logos, while also focusing on who their audience is and the purpose of the ad. An example of this is a Charmin commercial where there is a bear who gets excited when he gets to use the toilet paper because it is so soft.
In this generation businesses use commercial to persuade different types of audiences to buy their product or to persuade them to help a certain caused. If you analyze commercial you can see how certain things play a major role in the success of a commercial. The ad I decide to analyze as an example is the commercial snickers used during the Super Bowl in 2010;”Betty White”-Snickers. This commercials starts off with guys playing a game of football with an elderly women know as Betty White. As Betty White tries to play football she is tackled to the ground. Her teammates refer to her as Mike when they come up to her to ask why she has been “playing like Betty White all day”. This helps inform the audience that Betty White is not actually playing but instead represent another teammate. As the guys keep arguing Mikes girlfriend calls her over and tells her to eat a snicker. Betty White takes the first bite and then suddenly a man appears in her place ready to finish the game. At the end of the commercial the statement "You're not you when you're hungry" is shown followed by the Snickers bar logo. What this commercial is trying to show is that hunger changes a person, and satisfying this hunger can change you back to your normal self. They use different types
The commercial emphasizes an altruistic parent-child relationship throughout. It shows all of the incredible ways a father sees his daughter grow through her first years of life and the impact she has on him. Using this relationship coupled with the nostalgia-inducing music played throughout the commercial provides the audience with a feeling of saudade that shapes the advertisement.
Every company that has a product to sell wants to have their advertisements grab the attention of the potential buyer. Companies today are competing at high levels to come up with the advertisements that will be flashy and aggressive so consumers will become interested in their product. However, a commercial or an ad might not get the initial point across or cause many viewers to be confused when they see them. Sometimes, what the company is trying to do might offend people. Ethical lines may be walked upon so that the strong points can be presented to the consumer.
Invoking feelings and bits of emotions like advertisement do, causes viewers to feel more connected to whatever is being advertised or presented. The use of feelings and emotions in a persuasive manor is referred to as using the pathos persuasive technique and is one of the most popular techniques used in our culture today. The feelings created from an ad like this could range from anger, to jealousy, sorrow, and even fear. This specific ad is oriented towards the specific emotions of determination and fearlessness that a quality competitor should have. Its displays the message to not ever give up and push on because the failures that even the greats of the sport have had motivated them to be better and become who they are today. The use of pathos helps Gatorade make it sound like anyone can succeed if they use their product by determining the viewers and providing that little bit of a push. This is meant to light that fire of emotion inside someone to do their best. Gatorade has been able to do the same thing with each of their commercials and that feeling you get when you watch commercials like that is due to the pathos persuasive
television commercials were the variables use as focus on the first hypothesis of this study and
Advertising is one of the world’s oldest industries and most effective industries. Advertising shows consumers what they want by using clever deception and nifty tricks. These ploys leave everyday people running to the store to pick up the latest and trendiest products. Advertisements work in part because marketers spend millions (possibly beyond millions) of dollars researching the population to find a clientele. This research helps find a target audience, aka demographic. This allows marketers to create an advertisement that caters to its demographic and sells their product. A company who embodies effective advertisements is Nike. Many people have the Nike logo and slogan engrained in their head. Nike is a company that
Television commercials are television programming produced by any organisation to provide message in the market about their product or services. It is one of the most popular methods to attract customer and provide them information about their products or services.
Commercials works through the human emotions and vanity and it appeals toward the psychologically domain turning into a temptation for weak mind people. For instance, if a person is at home watching T.V., very comfortable and suddenly, a commercial promoting any kind of food and drink comes up, that person will be hungry and thirsty in a couple of minutes. The advertising influenced his mind, provoking an involuntary reaction to do what the commercial induced him to do.