A comparison of two television adverts Essay Example

A comparison of two television adverts Essay Example A comparison of two television adverts Essay A comparison of two television adverts Essay 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 wouldnt 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 i 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 viewers 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 car park. This is a close-up shot of the car. The next scene is the original vehicle being surrounded by 10 other cars of the same model. Repetition is a good device to use for adverts as it creates a lasting memory effect in the viewers mind. The vehicles are all of bright colours e. g. red, white and blue. Bright colours are also useful as they can commonly create a positive link with the viewers perception. Once the voice-over has counted to 3, then the other vehicles start to drive off in different directions. As this happens, music is introduced into the advertisement. This is touch sensitivity by the fall. This song is happy and joyful. It has a guitar melody playing alongside with the cars movements. We see the cars doing various manoeuvres and trying to hide as the vehicles are playing hide and seek. This game between the vehicles creates a fast paced advert; another device commonly used by companies which can either create a good or bad effect depending on other various factors such as music, background colour and product. The first impression is effective because it instantly has the attention of the viewer. The catchy music plays a big role, but also with a lot of cars moving around fast and close together it is easy for viewers to remember. The cars are seen hiding in various places such as a lift, a supermarket and a rubbish skip. By using common places of public interest, the viewers can easily identify themselves with the product. The way the vehicles manoeuvre into and hide in such places, show the small size and practicality of the car to its target audience which would probably be people who are looking to buy a small, economical car. During the advert there is a good varied use of close, middle and long-distance shots. The close-ups are mainly when there is only 1 vehicle in sight. Long distance shots are used when there are a multiple number of cars. All the way through the advert there are many sound effects including the original vehicle being driven on gravel. Also, there is a vehicle jumping into a rubbish skip which is full of rubbish, causing a sound. There is also the sound of a bell in a lift when the doors open revealing the car, once again creating familiarity with the audience. This emphasizes the small size of the car to its target audience. As the original car has counted up to 100 in the game and starts to travel to find the others, another car is revealed from just behind a metal sheet off a building site. This leaves a comedic, lasting effect on the audience that helps them remember the advert after its gone. As the advert finishes off with the word Corsa and Vauxhall the logo and website address are also displayed. The advert for the Volvo 850 T-5 is 39 seconds and is very different to the first advert. It uses different devices to promote the product as it has a different target audience and because it is a different vehicle. The advert begins with a very short half second close up of a man, the viewer can instantly tell the fear on his face and in his eyes even in such a short scene. The next scene is a long distance scene of cloud and lightening going to the floor. So we already know that this is a very different advert from the Corsa advert. This has a completely different tone and mood. The viewer already sees that this advert is using a different method to promote its advert and the image created is dissimilar to the first advert. Whereas the first advert is a very happy and joyful advert with music that matches it. On the other hand this is a tense, serious advert. We see the vehicle being driven through the twister pathway and there is a lot of rubbish flying around, this shows the vehicle in an unrealistic environment. A deep south talking American man is used as the voice-over. There is also a camera shot of a woman screaming out loud whilst stuck in the tornado. Most British viewers will not be able to familiarize themselves with this particular advert as there are hardly any tornadoes in the U. K. and we dont talk with an American accent. On the other hand, the Corsa used public places of interest that many people use so it was far more of a friendlier advert in terms of association. We also see large debris such as the oil rig and the house being torn apart from the tornado. The voice-over used in the Corsa advert was only used to count random numbers up to 100; unlike the Volvo advert where the voice-over is used to describe the tornado. He explains where and what a tornado is, whilst the viewer is able to see the Volvo dodging objects around a desert like area. Manoeuvrability is very important, the man says, as the car is frantically moving out of the way of flying debris. Here, the advert is trying to create a link between the tornado and the car, which is emphasizing the cars force. The music in the background is quite sombre but builds up with a crescendo of tension as the advert progresses. Again, this creates high levels of tension which makes the viewer aware of what is going on.