Analysing Advertising
WHO the ad is aimed at - describe them demographically and psychographically
WHAT is being advertising and WHAT is specifically highlighted about the product (the benefits) in this ad?
WHY this helps sell a product
WHERE/WHEN this ad might appear in order to reach its target audience
Appeals
Then you need to decide what techniques are being used to communicate with the audience. According to Gillian Dyer (Advertising as Communication Routledge 1988) advertisers use, among other techniques, the following lines of appeal. They use images of or references to these things to tap into our desires - and fears:
Happy families - everyone wants to belong
Rich, luxurious lifestyles - aspirational
Dreams and fantasy
Successful romance and love
Elite people or experts
Glamorous places
Successful careers
Art, culture & history
Nature & the natural world
Beautiful women - men AND women like looking at beautiful women, so the thinking goes: men admire them, women admire what makes the men admire them.
Self-importance & pride
Comedy & humour
Childhood - can appeal to either nostalgia or to nurturing instincts
These lines of appeal are effective because they deal with our social needs.
When analysing an ad you need to consider what kind of appeal is being made - does this ad tap in to your desire to be considered successful by your peers, for instance, or is it more about making you feel as though you will belong to a happy group if you own a certain product? Often advertising creates need - in order to sell a product that we did not know existed, advertisers have to make us aware that we need it.
Language of Advertising
The purpose of advertising language is to persuade. In his influential book, Confessions of An Advertising Man (Atheneum, 1988) David Ogilvy lists the most persuasive words in advertising as
suddenlynow
quick / miracle
magic
offer
easy
Advertising makes use of a direct mode of address (the most commonly used word in advertising is 'YOU') and short, active words.
When analysing an ad you have to identify the key persuasive words and consider their effect on an audience. Be critical: are the advertisers taking a tried and tested approach or are they being original? Does the approach work?
Images in Advertising
Denotation
What is it of? How many images are there? Is there a main image plus a pack shot? It is a literal representation of the product or is it a metaphor?
How is the image positioned - ie what is the camera angle and where does this place the reader? Is it neutral (an eye level shot) or is the subject give authority over the audience through a low angle?
What kind of image is it - high quality, full colour, lovingly enhance image or fuzzy black and white shot? If a TVC, is it shot on tape or film?
Non-Verbal Communication - what is being said without words by the body language of the model?
Connotation
Content Signs - what information is imparted by the mise-en-scène? the costume and accessories of models? The setting? What do we infer from these signs?
Intertextuality - does this ad refer to any other media text? Is it a parody? Through the use of music or characters does it evoke eg) a major motion picture or a novel
Combinations of signs - what does the image, together with any music, or with the anchorage provided by the caption suggest, as opposed to the image just by itself?
Stereotypes
Definition and Goals of Visual/Rhetorical Analysis
Definition
A visual document communicates primarily through images or the interaction of image and text. Just as writers choose their words and organize their thoughts based on any number of rhetorical considerations, the author of such visual documents thinks no differently. Whether assembling an advertisement, laying out a pamphlet, taking a photograph, or marking up a website, designers take great care to ensure that their productions are visually appealing and rhetorically effective.
Goal
The goal of any rhetorical analysis is to demonstrate your understanding of how the piece communicates its messages and meanings. One way of looking at this process is that you are breaking the piece down into parts.
Sometimes you will encounter an interplay of words and images, which may complicate the number of rhetorical devices in play. Additionally, many of us are not so accustomed to giving visual documents the same kind of rigorous attention.
We now live in such a visually-dominated culture, that it is possible you have already internalized many of the techniques involved with visual communication.
That said, writing a rhetorical analysis is often a process of merely finding the language to communicate this knowledge. Other times you may find that looking at a document from a rhetorical design perspective will allow you to view it in new and interesting ways.
Like you would in a book report or poetry analysis, you are offering your “reading” of the visual document and should seek to be clear, concise, and informative. Do not only give a re-telling of what the images look like (this would be the equivalent of stopping at plot summary if you were analyzing a novel). Offer your examples, explain the rhetorical strategies at work, and keep your focus on how the document communicates visually.
Elements of Analysis
The Rhetorical Situation
Introduction
A rhetorical situation occurs when an author, an audience, and a context come together and a persuasive message is communicated through some medium. Therefore, your rhetorical analysis essay will consistently link its points to these elements as they pertain to the document under question.
Audience
The audience is the group of people who may or may not be persuaded by the document. Visual productions often have the potential to reach wider audiences. Unlike literature or poetry, visual documents are often more ingrained in our daily lives and encountered instead of sought.
A website might potentially have an audience of anyone with internet access; however, based on the site, there are audiences more likely to end up there than others. A pamphlet or flyer may also technically have an audience of anyone who finds it; however, their physical placements may provide clues for who the designer would most like to see them. This is often called a “target audience.” Identifying and proving the target audience may become a significant portion of your rhetorical analysis.
It’s best to think of audience analysis as seeking and speculating about the variables in people that would make them read the same images in different ways. These variables may include but are not limited to: region, race, age, ethnicity, gender, income, or religion. We are accustomed to thinking these variables affect how people read text, but they also affect how people interpret visuals.
Here are some tips and questions for thinking about the audience of visual documents (they are also tips you can use when composing your own).
Different audiences have different taste for certain visual styles. For example, the quick cuts and extreme angles of many programs on MTV are often associated with the tastes and tolerance of a younger audience.
People have drastically different reading speeds. In slide shows or videos with text, look for accommodations made for these differences.
Whether by using controversial or disturbing imagery, sometimes documents purposefully seek to alienate or offend certain audience groups while peeking the curiosity of others. Do you see evidence of this and why?
Does the document ask for or require any background familiarity with its subject matter or is it referencing a popular, visual style that certain audiences are more likely to recognize?
Purpose
Visual productions have almost limitless purposes and goals. Although all parts of the rhetorical situation are linked, purpose and audience tend to be most carefully intertwined. The purpose is what someone is trying to persuade the audience to feel, think, or do. Therefore, a well produced document will take into account the expectations and personalities of its target audience. Below are four categories of purposes and example questions to get you thinking about the rhetorical use of visuals. Note: a document may cross over into multiple categories.
Informational: documents that seek to impart information or educate the audience
Examples: Brochures, Pamphlets, PowerPoint presentations
How does the layout of the information aid readability and understanding?
How do images clarify or enhance textual information? (Try imagining the same document without the visuals and ask how effective it would be).
What mood or feelings do the visuals add to the information? How does that mood aid the effectiveness of the information?
Inspirational: documents that primarily inspire emotion or feeling often without clearly predetermined goals or purposes
Examples: Photography, Paintings, Graffiti
What emotions are invoked by the document? How?
Can you use color symbolism to explain how the artist created a mood or feeling?
Has the image been framed or cropped in such a way to heighten a mood or feeling? Why?
Motivational: documents that spur direct action, attendance, or participation
Examples: Advertisements, Flyers, Proposals
How do images make the product look appealing or valuable?
How do images help create excitement or anticipation in the audience?
Is there text paired with the images that give the image added associations of value?
Functional: documents that aid in accomplishing tasks
Examples: Instruction Sets, Forms, Applications, Maps
How do pictures or illustrations clarify textual directions?
How does layout aim to make the form easy to use and eliminate mistakes?
Has size (of text or the document itself) been considered as a way to make the document user friendly and accessible?
Context
Context refers to the circumstances of the environment where a piece of communication takes place. Sometimes the author has a measure of control over this context, like within the confines of a presentation (where, of course, there will still be some factors beyond control). Other times,a document is specifically made for an audience to encounter on their own terms.
Below are some questions to get you thinking about the possibilities and pitfalls when analyzing the context of a visual document.
In a presentation setting with many people, has the document considered the size and layout of the room so that all participants have a chance of experiencing the document equally?
Does the document use any techniques to draw attention to itself in a potentially busy or competitive environment?
Linking is how websites get noticed and recognized. The sites that link to a web page or internet document can provide a context. Do the character of those links suggest anything about the document you are analyzing?