Digital Overcast

The Psychology and Effects of Advertising

Kien Lai | IBM 433 | 01/09/03 | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

The effect of advertising has had a tremendous effect on me. Advertising dating back as far as I can remember has made me loyal to brands such as Coca-Cola, Intel, Sony, and Nike to name a few. These advertisements reinforce my image of these brands and implant a repeating message of "if you select any other brand, you will be disappointed". The effect is so strong that doubt and uncertainty actually prevents me from switching brands. In other words, I will not purchase a running shoe by Reebok in fear of the shoe not "fitting" right without even trying it on first. It is either Nike or run without shoes. So the power of advertising has a great effect on me. In many ways, advertising plays a role in my everyday lifestyle and way of looking at life.

My criteria of what I think "good" advertising is primarily involve originality. To elaborate further on my definition of originality, the advertisement must include the right background music or jingle for television commercials. A perfect example of this would be the Mitsubishi commercial promoting their Eclipse with the song "Days Go By" by the band Dirty Vegas playing in the background. I can instantly relate to what is happening because music is universal. Ford, GM, and several other car manufactures would never have used this song because they are extremely conservative highlighting only car feature like safety and with an announcer listing them. All too familiar and not very original. Another commercial that comes to mind that breathes originality are the recent GAP commercials with a "love train" theme playing in the background. The reason behind the right background music or jingle is because it sets a mood and is not just a carbon copy of "conservative" advertising, hence, the criteria of originality. The background music or jingle also grabs my attention and may even stay with me if I am able to repeat the lyrics to the song.

To have an impact, the advertising message cannot be based on, with the exception of tobacco, liquor, and drug use, sympathy or fear. I immediately associate these two with cons and the company only out to make a quick buck. A good example of this would be a television commercial I saw in the past on alarm systems for the home that notifies the police when the alarm goes off. In order for the advertisement to have a positive impact, the tone must be upbeat and show the product in action. I am a visual person and if it doesn't appeal to me visually, the message is blocked and is considered to be just another ad. In turn, radio advertisements are just background noise to me until the next song plays. A commercial that immediately comes to mind is BMW's Z3 roadster television spots. The quick camera movements demonstrating the speed of the car, the roadster turning in and out of tight corners showing its superior handling, and best of all, everything appears as if it's all effortlessly done by the driver shifting from gear to gear.These ads by BMW definitely demonstrate of sense of fun and have a very upbeat theme, all of which are important to me in defining "good" advertising.

All "good" advertising has to have a great tagline. Something that brings everything together and connects the product to the company. Moreover, it has to reflect the company's philosophy. Examples of great taglines are "the ultimate driving machine" by BMW, "just do it" by Nike, "Intel Inside" by Intel, and "king of beers" by Budweiser. To me, the tagline gives the company a sense of personality and really compliments the advertisement. As a matter of fact, I usually look for the tagline in print ads before I read anything else on the page.

Speaking of print advertisements, I require only one criterion in what I believe to be "good" advertising for print ads, and that is simplicity. This includes the layout, font, use of color, and message. Print ads that I like are from Alienware, a custom computer company. They are simple and state only the facts with a brief description of their computers. It's very simple and even more effective. I don't think there is one Alienware print ad that I've not looked at that has not gotten my attention and actually read the facts along with the description of the computer. I think Alienware really does a great job of getting the message across to the reader.

Fantastic examples of pure simplicity are past and recent Apple Computer print advertisements. Usually it is a large picture of the product in the center of the page with a white background and very little text if any at all. That's it. And yet, very effective at getting the message across. It generates interest and encourages the reader to seek out more information about the product by either going directly to Apple's website or going to a local electronics store and asking for and about the product. Recent television and print advertisements by Apple were pure genius. The campaign was coined "switch" where PC users switched to Apple computers. I'm a PC user and the advertisements made even me want to switch. It is safe to say that people spend less than three seconds on an ad as they flip through the magazine or newspaper so it would not make any sense to include massive amounts of information or have more than one product for each ad. I still come across ads that are just overwhelming. Usually the first thing that comes to mind is, "what a waste of money".