Advertising Series #2: The Image - Catchiness - Presenting Your Products

Image in advertising is not created, it is constructed carefully. If you have five hours to prepare for an ad, four hours are used to select right images. Robert Pliske, art vice president of Benson and Bowles, said :"In the end, ads just hold all images like television. The bigger, the clearer, the better. And only some small words occurs at the bottom." Here are some advices that I personally pick from the book:

1. John Caples noted that there some effective ways to present your products and I would like to use Snicker chocolate bar to illustrate some ad "traps" that he made:

  a) Ad Trap #1: The Image of The Products:

We have the package image of the snickers bar right? Ask your self: How do you feel? Feel almost nothing for me. This image doesn't tell a good story, a taste, or any emotion of the chocolate bar. It is not there

 b) Ad Trap #2: The Image of the Product When It Is Being Used or Consumed

How do you feel now? Feel something tasty right. The brow color and the texture of chocolate and caramel can make you somehow feel the taste right? If not, may be you need a Snicker in front of you right now ?:D

  c) Ad Trap #3: The Image of The Product When People Are Actually Using or Consuming it

Why do we need a lady here eating the Snicker bar? Because it is related to us. She is a human and if she can eat it, we can eat it. We are tending to look at people's faces to recognize their feelings about themselves and objects they hold. We intend subconsciously to copy their feelings and emotions. Psychologically, we relate their emotions to the products. However, ad is exaggeration and the image of people and products can be pushed into higher level by placing in funny, violent context; therefore, people will be more likely to turn their heads around to see the ad. Here are two examples:

Funny Context

Violent + Threatening => Look at his chained fist! Nobody eat Snickers like that :D

or

Sexiness

   d) Ad Trap #4: The Image of Displaying Benefits When Using Products

Eating a snicker bar can fill up your stomach, make you happy, and quirky like two guys above. Will you buy one? And take a deeper look at how the image of the snicker bar bellow are carefully constructed? It has the layer of chocolate outside, the nut looks so full inside, and the caramel are beautifully spread evenly.

Concise + Emotional + Quirky + Simple => Create the SNICKERS ad above. 

It is a wrap. But WAIT!

Do you guys recognize another ad "trap" that I try to use in this blog? That is the SIZE of the image. Are you more likely look at the bigger pictures?

Bonus: Time Square is a breathing magazines where you see how ADVERTISING, CAPITALISM, AND CONSUMERISM are blended into each other. Take a look: