Donald Gunn was a creative director for advertising agency Leo Burnett. He determined a long time ago that there are but 12 kinds of advertisements, in which all adverts will fit, often in two or three. where they fit depends on the audiences, the product and the purpose of advertising e.g. boost sales, or launch a new product. it is important to know what these are before an advert can be developed.
the 12 categories are:
- The demo
- The problem
- Symbolize the problem
- Symbolize the benefit
- Comparison
- Exemplary story
- Benefit causes story
- Testimonial
- Ongoing character or celebrity
- Associated user imagery
- Unique personality property
- Parody or borrowed format
1.
this is a visual demonstration of the product, often used to show off a USP ( unique selling point) or for products who are pitching themselves at the top of the market and claiming to be better than others. this type of advert can be used to highlight the competitive advantage of the product, however it can be fairly uninteresting and rarely creates a long lasting brand image. an example includes the Bounty ads, n which Brenda and Audrey demonstrate Bountys amazing durability.
2.
This ad shows a problem or a circumstance that needs fixing, then introduces the product as a remedy, these adverts are often highly relatable, and so viewers can connect with them well. However, it is a standard way of advertising, and is once again fairly uninteresting. examples are medicines, weight loss plans. The
3.
This type of advert is much like number 2, except uses symbols or analogies to show the problem or tricky situation. Used for more sensitive or serious problems to put a lighter spin on it. an example is
the reebok belly advert, that uses a giant belly to show the characters problem of a beer belly, and how reebok trainers might help tackle it.
5.
the fourth type is a comparison, which highlights the competitive advantage of a product, and how and why it is superior. It can be much like number 2, except that it also shows the disadvantages of the competitors, to establish itself as number one. A good example is the Pampers advert, in which pampers shows the amazing absorbency compared to non brand nappies.
6.
the exemplary story, this ad shows a situation or narrative in which the product is needed and necessary, showing to the audience that it has a real purpose. In the short standard 30 second space, however, a good narrative can be fairly difficult. an example is the VW safe happens advert, that shows the benefits of the safety features of the VW car, through the story of four friends being hit by a car after watching a movie. It is extremely relateable, and also fairly shocking, so creates some interest with an audience.
7.
Benefit causes a story, this is one of the more complicated styles, that are less frequent and can be done badly, making them less popular. it is almost a story backwards, in which the benefit of a product is showing what a difference it has made or what the effect is, before they explain that it was due to the product. a vague example is the Lynx chocolate advert, where women are flocking to the man because he smells so good, due to the benefit of lynx, there is little to no story before the use of the product, and a story afterwards, triggered by the product.
8.
testimonial, this is a tell it as it is kind of advert, this can be either one kind friend or neighbour telling
another about an amazing product, such as in the Perle De Lait advert, where one woman is asked by her friends what her secret to looking so good is, or it could be someone respected or professional used to gain the audiences trust, such as the sensodyne adverts that use real doctors and real people to show the effectiveness of the product. It is a common type of advert as people are more likely to trust it, however they are not very exciting, and dont appeal to younger audiences.
9.
This is a very popular advert style as it incorporates and builds a strong brand identity in the eyes of its consumers. it is the use of a celebrity or character to present or appear in the advert, and they are recurring, so when they are spotted on tv, the viewer is immediately aware of the product they are associated with. well known examples are the energiser bunny, the BT couple, the Compare The Market meerkats, the Confused.com character, Frosty the tiger, the Petit Filous girl, Harold from Halifax. They are very popular as they create a lot of interest in the brand, and its products, and raise awareness, but dont necessarily highlight the products advantages, take the meerkats for example, whilst they are loved by some, and have been successful, they dont advertise the benefits of Compare the Market as a product.
10.
associated user imagery, this type of advert includes people they want you to associate with the product, so beauty products will have very pretty perfect looking women in, depending on the market, the adverts include funny, good looking people, that the audience would want to be like, so they can associate the product, with being like the people on the advert. good examples are perfume ads, particularly the recent Old Spice ad which is a funny take on this style, where the man in the ad is addressing women saying their other half's would be as amazing as him, if they were to use old spice.
11.
perticularly successful for technology that has an older market interested in the features of the product primarily. Good examples are the Iphone and Ipad ads, in which the unique features of the products are shown in use, close up, they are simple but very effective. Another example is the Dyson ball vacuum, which shows the amazing flexibility of the design, which is totally unique and patented.
12.
the last format is the parody advert, this is one of the most difficult ones to master, as it can be seen as lazy and old hat, and can be tricky to keep from being cheesy or tacky. however, if done well, audiences can connect with it well.
- however not all adverts fit into these categories, some are so popular or amazing because they break the rules and push the boundaries, because they are not one of these 12 advertising formats seen so often on TV. the really successful ads are often those that really surprise the audience. An example I am thinking of is the cadbury gorilla ad, which doesnt fit any rules, it is out of the box, but was extremely popular. I am glad i used this as a starting point to my research as i watched a multitude of adverts of different styles with different formats, and have found which i have interacted with most. I would like to look at the most popular types late, perhaps do a survey to see what kind of advert the population particularly enjoy, firstly though i will need to develop a strong idea of who my target audience is, because these categories success are extremely dependant on the audiences they are for.
