The structure of an advertisement

Although there is a wide diversity of print advertisements on the market, most of them largely exhibit a set of resembling elements and a similar procedure since their desired goals are consistent in drawing the attention from not only all prospective consumers but also those who may originally ignore and skip the ad. After catching the consumers’ eye, the ads then continue to increase the customers’ interest and encourage them to take actions. Vestergaard and Schrøder (1985: 49) proposed that basically, a prototypical advertisement is composed of five components, which are designed to carry out five tasks. All of these will be elaborated in the following section.

2.4.2.1 Five components

There are five elements that are extensively shared by all print advertisements. An example is given in an ad for Dr. White’s sanitary towels (Vestergaard and Schrøder 1985: 51).

Figure 2.1 An ad for Dr. White’s sanitary towels (From Woman April 1977)

(Vestergaard and Schrøder 1985: 51).

The first element is headline, the most outstanding lines which are usually printed on the background of the pictures as shown with ‘I came back’. The second element is body copy, which is a text whose major function is to offer more information or activate consumers’ curiosity, interest, and desire for the commodity. The texts in the left lower quarter are all named body copy. The third element is signature line, which is ubiquitously printed with eye-attracting word types and gives the name of the product.

The signature of the ad is the boldfaced Dr. White’s following body copy. What follows the signature line is a slogan, which usually consists of one to two concise and

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memorable sentences so that the customers will keep in mind the most representative sentences standing for the product. The slogan for the ad is ‘two kinds of comfort’, which is just below the signature. The last one is illustration, pictures of the product or some drawings which are in correspondence with body copy so that the information conveyed in the body copy will be more concrete and easily-remembered. The illustration in the provided example is the picture showing a woman, a man, and a boy standing on the beach in the sunset.

2.4.2.2 Five tasks

Different from other channels of communication, advertisements are well-designed media with an ultimate aim for selling the commodity. In order to achieve this goal, advertising agents are required to overcome some obstacles which may hinder consumers from buying the products. Therefore, according to Vestergaard and Schrøder (1985: 49), a prototypical ad should be composed of five tasks (so called AIDA principle): Attract attention, arouse interest, stimulate desire, create conviction, and get action. In the following review, the first two tasks will be introduced together since only when a consumers’ attention is drawn can s/he be interested in something.

Then the third and fourth tasks will be elucidated together because once a consumer is attracted to the commodity, how to maintain their interest becomes the advertising agents’ main job. The last task is, of course, to convince consumers that it is worthwhile to take actions immediately. By following this procedure, advertising agents try their best to ensure that the addressees’ interests toward the products will be enhanced, which eventually leads them to take action of purchasing.

2.4.2.2.1 Attention and interest

The simplest way to arouse consumers’ attention and increase their motivation to

buy the commodity is to convince consumers that the product is very special. One way to fulfill this goal is by making hyperbolic claims, and some widely-used candidates are

“unique”, “improved”, or “best” (Vestergaard and Schrøder, 1985: 58). Sometimes words like “at last” are used to imply that this product is available on the market for the first time, so it is a pity not to give it a try.

(1) At last! An entirely NEW collection of beautiful underwear and lingerie.

(Cosmopolitan, April 1977)

Sometimes hyperbolic claims can be made by promising that the consumers will get free gifts or buy at a lower price.

(2) Banks don’t give students free gifts for nothing.

(Sunday Times Magazine, August 1977)

In addition to hyperbolic claims, sometimes advertising agents may appeal to another strategy to draw attention from potential consumers. That is, they may make claims which emphasize that consumers’ need will be satisfied if they use the product.

The following example is an ad which catches readers’ attention by claiming that their material needs will be satisfied after they try that product.

(3) Stop itching fast.

(Reader’s Digest, August 1977)

Also, there are some cases in which the advertising agents may raise some questions for consumers to find the answers so as to arouse their curiosity.

(4) How much do you see when you look at this painting?

(Sunday Times Magazine, August 1977)

Similar to the aforementioned example, sometimes ads are disguised as other

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genres such as quizzes or comic stripes to arouse readers’ attention, a phenomenon called “role borrowing”.

(5) How much do you know about the real cost of electric central heating?

Test your knowledge in our Heating Plus Quiz

(News of the World, September 1977)

2.4.2.2.2 Desire and conviction

After consumers’ attention is attracted, it is of great importance to stimulate their desire for owning that product and keep their interest to it. One of the most commonly observed strategies is the use of “Unique Selling Proposition” (USP), in which how the product takes advantage over other competitors are emphasized by ways such as linguistic innovations, recommendation of celebrities, or desired goals. The three ways are illustrated respectively in the following three ads.

(6) It tastes minty good.

(Reader’s Digest, August 1977)

(7) Whenever and wherever Team Lotus races, this winner of 6 World Championships and 61 Grand Prix events depends on Valvoline Racing Oil. Exclusively. You, too, can depend on Valvoline […]

(Reader’s Digest, August 1977)

(8) The wrong policies can make free farming difficult and force the sale of forest land for other purposes. The right policies can assure continuation of America’s forests- a renewable natural resource.

(Ms Magazine, May 1977)

In example (6) the word “minty” is newly-invented. Example (7) appeals to Team Lotus as one of the eminent consumers of their product. In example (8), the need to save energy and switch to other potential natural resources is emphasized.

2.4.2.2.3 Action

Even though “Buy X” is the most direct way to persuade, advertising agents should not be too direct to the consumers for fear of imposing too much pressure on them. Instead of directly using imperative sentences, sometimes declarative or interrogative sentences may also be used to give suggestions. Sentence patterns which have the same functions as imperatives are called “synonyms of imperatives” by Vestergaard and Schrøder (1985). More information and examples will be provided in 2.5.5.4.