Claims in
ads are predictable.
c1. Product-centered ads stress the merits of the products.
c2. Audience-centered ads stress the wants and desires of the audience.
Claims in
ads are predictable.
Listed on the pages (below) are the predictable
claims of product-centered ads and the words are appropriate to certain
categories and products.
For example, if an ad is going to make a claim about a car, it's not going to
use words such as "tasty" or "delicious"; but, it will use
words in such categories as speed, economy, reliability, and safety.
"That's obvious," you say. Yes. You know this. With any topic,
there's an "appropriate thesaurus" or a "limited universe"
of words and images. But, most people know this only vaguely and randomly.
The more aware you are, the more systematically you can anticipate and identify these predictable categories and words, the better analyst you will become.
But, most commonly, product-centered advertising is usually puffery, that is, the kind of "sellers talk" which uses superlatives, vague generalities, and one-sided praise. Laws usually allow such puffery because reasonable buyers should expect it from sellers.
In fact, three claims (Quality, Quantity, Beauty) are so common that they are almost generic claims applied to all products and services. When people talk about "glittering generalities" or of puffery, they usually are talking about this cluster of claims. Other common claims and common phrasings of ads are very predictable.
12 general categories (below)
of product-centered claims cover nearly everything which can be claimed
about the intrinsic merits of a product. Browse
these pages. Try to guess 5 or 10 words and images which might be
commonly used in each category. Compare your list with
mine.
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During the 1950s, the emphasis in advertising shifted focus away from the product to gave more attention to the needs and wants of the target audience.
The benefits promised to the buyers were often the intangibles
-- of prestige or popularity or sex appeal -- associated
with the product.
Such psychic benefits resided not in the product, but in the attitudes and emotional
feelings, in the dreams and fantasies, of the audience.
Such emotional appeals in persuasion may not be rational
or logical, but they are very effective.
Our needs for certitude, or approval
from outside sources, (Religion,
Science,"Best People," "Most People," "Average People")
Our needs for space
or territory (Neighborhood, Nation, Nature)
Our needs for belonging
(Intimacy, Family, Groups)
Our "growth" needs (Esteem, Play, Generosity, Curiosity, Creativity, Success)
24 general categories here cover many human needs, wants, desires -- the "good things" which ads try to associate with their products. Browse these pages. Try to guess 5 or 10 words and images which might be commonly used in each category. Compare your list with mine.
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Change. Different people,
at different times in their lives (young or old), and in different situations
(sick or healthy), will have different mixes and priorities.
For example, advertising researchers (using different terms, which I highlight
here) writing about the needs of children, say:
"There is no verified list of the needs that are most important to children. Routine observations, however, indicate that play would be at the top of any such list. What needs follow in importance is guessable, but various research indicates that sentience (the need for sensory expression), affiliation (the need for cooperative relationships with others), and achievement (the need to accomplish something difficult, including becoming adult-like) are the next most important needs for most kids. It appears, also, that kids have a strong need for variety (new experiences), and often fuse this need with the others. Based on what was said earlier, we might hypothesize that there is a need for kids to be kids, whatever we might call it, but it has not been isolated and identified by motivation researchers." -- James McNeal, Kids as Customers, p.190.
Other ad writers try to specify just what "kidness" is, or what kids think is fun, or the special needs of kids. For example. Gene Del Vecchio (adapting Maslow's famous list of human needs) in Creating Ever-Cool: A Marketing Guide to a Kid's Heart, p. 25, writes:
"In many ways, the timeless needs that children strive to satisfy are not all that different from those of adults. Some are innate; some are acquired. Children must satisfy physiological demands such as the need for food and shelter. They strive to achieve safety and security. Children seek the social needs of love, belonging, acceptance, appreciation, and friendship. They attempt to fulfill their ego, which demands self-respect and pride. Given a child's tender years, such needs are intense, especially since children depend so much on others to fulfill them. So children strive to be independent, capable, and in control. They need to learn, aspire, and achieve. They need to dream many dreams."