Introduction
Whether in print or broadcast media, the overall role of adverts remains irreplaceable in business marketing. Have you ever asked yourself why companies, manufacturers and even individuals are usually forced to advertise their products and services even when they are sure that what is being offered would outshine existing products in the market?
Obviously business people clearly understand that advertising is a tool which every business requires to help the company in establishing and maintaining the best competitive advantage in the field.
For this reason, investing in adverts can be the best idea in ensuring that whatever that is being offered gets the attention of the public. As a communication tool, adverts ought to have certain characteristics so that they do not cause a business to loose its existing and potential customers. This essay analyses two print adverts from Coca Cola Company by focusing on some of the characteristics of a print advert that make it resourceful or disastrous to any business in the world.
Role of print adverts
Like any form of advertising, print adverts play a very important role in business. Through print media like magazines and newspapers, companies and manufactures are able to communicate to their customers and prospective ones concerning existing offers, upcoming ones, some important changes like a new product being launched among others. In other words, there is a lot that could be communicated trough adverts (Noronha 1).
Based on this role, it is worth noting that adverts act as advocates to sellers, and paint the company’s profile for the public to scrutinize for the purpose of making purchase decisions. It has to be mentioned also that some companies have lost customers and even threatened with business closure because of poor print adverts which portray a negative image of the company and the product being publicized.
Why would a company invest in print media? Research indicates that an average American citizen spends half an hour daily reading newspapers, journals and magazines. This might not be shocking to most people since the United States prides on having the highest number of outlets for print media globally with a worldwide circulation network.
Although some people argue that print media has considerably overtaken all other forms of media advertising, ignoring print media would be ignoring a huge population that daily finds print media as their source of information and guide on making of important decisions in making purchases (Noronha 1).
It is important to further double emphasize that print media adverts go beyond the normal communication purpose and focuses on carrying the image of the business or company (Noronha 1). Through print media, a company is able to create cooperate image with readers of such publication.
This is essential in ensuring that the company and the product being advertised are positively viewed by members of the public. This is by far more imperative than the traditional aim of increasing of customer base and influencing them to consider their product.
Additionally, print media has the ability to affect the emotions of readers and thus an effective advert promises readers a better future. Notably, this can only be achieved when these averts are done in the most professional and effective manner encompassing proper use of color, language, layout and positioning (Noronha 1). Advertisers have the ability of to convince readers that they will fill cool and better by using a given product being communicated to them through print media.
Others may go a mile ahead to provide incentives to their customer for the sole purpose of enticing them to the business. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of such ideas is made possible through other approaches like surveys in order to understand trends among readers and possible expectations. Print media adverts therefore have to demonstrate high level of smartness in order to achieve the intended purpose.
Properties of a good print media advert
As mentioned above, print media adverts have the ability to transform a business to higher levels of performance when they are used professionally with the aim of not only winning customers but also implanting a positive business image among its customers. In understanding some of the major characteristics of effective print adverts, the following ads from Coca Cola Company are analyzed in this section.
Figure 1. Coca Cola New Zealand Campaign: “Summer as it should be”.
The advert was developed by a company in Auckland, directed by Nick Worthington, Guy Denniston as the copywriter and Emmanuel Bougneres as the art director.
Figure 2:
By comparing the two adverts, it is evident that they would have varying impact in the manner in which they influence readers of newspapers, journals and magazines in. Personally, I prefer the first advert, figure 1 as compared to the one in figure 2. The following reasons explain why the first advert would easily convince customers to buy Coca Cola products:
Attention
The advert is attractive and draws the attention in a twinkle of an eye. The presence of a model in her bikini with a bottle of coke can easily convince a customer that coke is popular even among celebrities. This is quite important by the fact that customers and other print media readers are always bombarded with countless adverts on a daily basis.
They therefore get influenced by adverts which capture their attention at first sight, in less than one second. Although the second advert communicates the same message, it is evident that its level of attractiveness is low and lacks the power to capture the attention of readers who could be Coca Cola customers or prospective buyers.
Holding interest
Besides drawing the attention of customers, it is important for print adverts to hold the interest of the reader in order to have a positive impact in him or her. With regard to this, the headline of the ad plays a pivotal role as customers analyze it within the shortest time possible.
“Summer as it should be” would easily make a person to relate the drink with a hot season thus implying the need to have a cold drink from Coca Cola Company. “It’s the real thing” does not hold the interest of customers and other readers because the statement could be applied in other cases and fit better.
Quick communication
The first advert has the ability to communicate the intended message with a lot of ease. From its headline, the reader can quickly think of a hot day during summer and the need to have a cold drink from Coca Cola. The Coca Cola bottle is also clear, meaning that confusing it for a different product would not be easy. On the other hand, the second ad communicates the same message in a more complex manner. The first ad is also memorable and creates the desire to go for the product as compared to ad 2.
Conclusion
It is evident that adverts play a major role in business and arguably remain key marketing tools. It is however important to note that effective print adverts ought to posses certain characteristics for them to be more efficient in the business world.
Work Cited
Noronha, Mariam. 3 Reasons Why Print Advertising is Still A Lethal Weapon for A Winning Marketing Campaign. Noobpreneur, 2011. Web. <https://www.noobpreneur.com/2011/04/23/3-reasons-why-print-advertising-is-still-a-lethal-weapon-for-a-winning-marketing-campaign/>.