Lesson 18º

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Style

Before creating an advertising message, it is necessary to make a few basic decisions, like defining the tone and style of the campaign. Therefore, we have to decide the style and environment of the advert. The tone should reflect the personality of the product.

Adverts can be made using a variety of different styles:

We can make a very serious advert with a very formal tone. Some insurance companies and banks create adverts with a serious tone.

Another option is to make an easy going advert by incorporating simple songs or phrases that can then become popular or funny/humoristic elements. A few years ago Santander Bank created a succesful advert when it moved away from the very serious and formal publicity usually associated to banks and made an advert in which people sang and danced.

Other adverts can be very realistic and incorporate a great variety of imaginative elements. Some perfume adverts are tremendously imaginative and they present a fantastical world.

The campaign can have a very modern style or opt for a classic setting. Some products like certain drinks have the same adverts for years and emphasize their homemade tradition and traditional manufacturing procedures. Other products like to look modern and advanced and the style and atmosphere of their adverts reflect this

It is essential to clearly set the style of the advert. Often, we can identify the brand simply by the colours, typography, logo,etc. Think about how similar Coca-Cola adverts are. Many companies maintain the same style for years and often without reading the brand name we can recognize the company it is advertising.

Over the years, maintaining the same style in the different press areas makes communication easier and increases the efficiency of the publicity. We can obtain better results with a lower budget if we maintain certain visual codes in our communication.

Once we have decided on the message and the style we need to think about the composition of the advert or copy. For example, in adverts for the press we usually use text and images. What we have to do is elaborate the headline, make the text bigger and add a photo. Later you will have to organize or place these elements into the space you have.

One typical mistake is trying to be too creative and therefore generating an advert which is difficult to understand or read. If the advert does not communicate its message in the small amouont of time then it does not fulfill its function. We have to bear in mind that the readers or spectators are usually lazy and don't try and unravel complicated or difficult to understand adverts. Many examples of adverts which do not increase sales are visually very complicated and adverts which do not give reasons to buy the product.

The best adverts are usually those that are easy to read and easy to understand. Some adverts which have generated more sales are simple and visually clear.