What Makes a Good or Bad Ad.

What makes a Bad Advert:

Damon, D, 2010. Credit Answers Runs Misleading Ad, TASC Does Nothing – Big Surprise [electronic print] Available at: <http://damonday.com/1689/credit-answers-runs-misleading-ad-tasc-does-nothing-big-surprise/> [Accessed 7th November 2012]

1. It is not believable. For example: Adverts that have scenes of real-life situations where dialogue is most often setup .

2. Lack of authenticity. For example: Adverts that takes focus off of products.

3. Too draggy. Example of good attention time period: 3-5 seconds for printed ads. 30 seconds for radio or televisions.

4. Not creative enough

Laura, M, 2008. Advertisements For Medifast .[electronic print] Available at: <http://www.starling-fitness.com/archives/2008/02/26/advertisements-for-medifast/> [Accessed 7th November 2012]

4. False and misleading commercial

Teo Studios, 2008. Domestic Violence Ads. [electronic print] Available at: <http://www.adsora.com/social/domestic-violence-ads> [Accessed 7th November 2012]

5. Violence and obscene

What makes a Good Advert:

1. Following a simple formula: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action, Identification.

The link: http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/STUDENTS/Dowe/howto1.htm

For example on how it’s used: 

Aà Hey look at this!  (Attention)

Ià Let me tell you more about it now that I have your attention.  (Interest)

DàCan't you just see yourself using/doing this?  (Desire)

Aà Well, then, just do this.  (Action)

IDà And here's who makes it-- or where you can get it.  (Identification) 

(David Malickson, 2012, online)

2. The audiences “get it”. Understanding the message by the advert. (This varies depending on the culture of the society).

-Connects with the audiences.

-Association: (Eg: I can relate to that.)

-Emotion: (Eg: Have you lost touch with old friends?)

-Intrigue: (Eg: Are you ready to become a millionaire in 9 months?)

-Identifying a problem: (Eg: Tired of doing dishes?)

-Making a claim: (Eg: This product will make your skin look fair and lovely, or your money back guaranteed.

(Marketing-made-simple, 2012, online)

Caesar, C, 2011. Land Rover S1 Phone Campaign [electronic print] Available at: <http://www.paranoias.org/2011/02/land-rover-s1-phone-campaign/> [Accessed 7th November 2012]

3. Strong Visuals. For example : Use eye-catching graphics (scs.sk.ca,2012, online)

4. Effective headlines. (For printed medias) Must be attention-grabbing because it will either draw the audiences to continue reading the ad or ignore it. (EpicMarketing, 2012, online)

5. Contact Information must be clearly visible. (For printed medias or TV commercials). For example: Facebook page, email ad, phone number, etc. (Christopher Dean, 2011, online)

6. Memorable. Catchy. Relevant. (For TV commercials) (Eg: Unique, Dramatic, Crazy, Funny, Shocking etc.) (Clare Austen, 2009, online)

Aurora, G, 2010. 77 Catchy and Creative Slogans. [electronic print] Available at: <http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/77-catchy-and-creative-slogans/> [Accessed 7th November 2012]

7. Simple words. No complicated words. Short sentence and straight to the point which provide enough information but not overload the audience.Besides, the use of bright, bold colors made people stop and look at the image. Even though the advertisement may have little text on it, people would get the message that this product is new, fun, and bold. 

8. Avoid clichés. (Marketing-made-simple, 2012, online)

9. Define the product immediately. (TV commercials) People might switch channels before knowing what it is.

10. Understand your own customers. Use market research to divide them into relevant group to target them effectively.

11. Demonstrate how the consumer can take action. Make it clear how they can obtain your product, give motivation to do it quickly, stimulate short-term interest like limited offer and limited edition. (EpicMarketing, 2012, online)

12. Space. Advertisement contains some white space and does not appear cramped.

There are a variety of ways to make your advertisement stand out:

1. Look around your area and write down descriptions of advertisements you see.

2.Observe the trends, text, colors and what kind  of images are on the advertisements.
Once you start noticing trends, try to think of ways your advertisement can go against those trends and be something different. Something that will make people stop and look. Once you've made people stop and look at your advertisement, they need to be able to understand what you're selling.

3.You may have the most eye-catching image on your advertisement, but if it is completely unrelated to your product or service, then viewers won't understand what you want them to buy. So, be sure that when you are selecting your images and text for your advertisement, people will understand what you're trying to sell.

4.A well-designed advertisement will also communicate well to audiences. In order to figure out how to make your advertisement effective, you need to identify your audience.
Who are you trying to target? Teenagers? The Elderly? Business people? Parents? There are a variety of different audiences, and the more specifically you can identify the audience for your product, the better chance you have of designing an ad that will effectively influence your audience.

5. The key is to think of the general traits of your specific audience and try to reflect those traits in your advertisement. What do they value? What do they fear? What motivates them?
 The advertisement also needs to be legible.
-Viewers shouldn't have to work to get what you're trying to say.
-The advertisement needs balance. One side shouldn't feel heavier than the other.
-The advertisement should also make good use of contrast, repetition, color, and pattern. When these design elements are implemented well into an advertisement, the result is a fabulous ad that will appeal aesthetically to viewers.

References:

1. Ortwin-oberhauser.com ,2010. The Pepsi Shaolin Monk boy Commercial Video | Ortwin Oberhauser. [online] Available at: <http://www.ortwin-oberhauser.com/the-pepsi-shaolin-monk-boy-commercial-video/> [Accessed: 27th October 2012].
2. Scribd.com (1940) Antithesis. [online] Available at: <http://www.scribd.com/doc/44923390/Antithesis> [Accessed: 27th Oct 2012].
3. Disinfo.com (2011) Consumerism | Disinformation - Part 2. [online] Available at: <http://www.disinfo.com/tag/consumerism/page/2/> [Accessed: 27th Oct 2012].
4. Gianfagnamarketing.com (2012) What Makes Bad Advertising So Bad? It’s Not Believable | Smart Marketing Strategy. [online] Available at: <http://www.gianfagnamarketing.com/blog/2011/01/27/what-makes-bad-advertising-so-bad-it%E2%80%99s-not-believable/> [Accessed: 27th Oct 2012].
5. Iml.jou.ufl.edu (n.d.) Tips for making advertisement better. [online] Available at: <http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/STUDENTS/Dowe/howto1.htm> [Accessed: 27th Oct 2012].
6. Marketingepic.com (2012) What Makes a Good Ad?. [online] Available at: <http://marketingepic.com/blog/what-makes-good-ad> [Accessed: 27th Oct 2012].
7. Agamaadvertising.com (2012) What Makes a Good Ad? - Agama Advertising - A Full Service Advertising Agency in Victoria, Texas. [online] Available at: <http://www.agamaadvertising.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=140> [Accessed: 28th Oct 2012].
8. Scs.sk.ca (n.d.) What makes a good advertisement. [online] Available at: <http://www.scs.sk.ca/rbi/Bundgaard/White%20Board/Creative%20Writing/What%20makes%20a%20good%20advertisement.htm> [Accessed: 28th Oct 2012].
9. Marketing-made-simple.com (n.d.) Designing a good advert. [online] Available at: <http://www.marketing-made-simple.com/articles/advert-design.htm#.UJF4x8XMiNI >[Accessed: 28th Oct 2012].
10. Lim, H. (2011) 70 Creative Advertisements That Make You Look Twice. [online] Available at: <http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/70-creative-advertisements-that-makes-you-look-twice/ >[Accessed: 28th Oct 2012].
11. Duncan, A. (n.d.) 10 Essentials to an Effective TV Commercial. [online] Available at: <http://advertising.about.com/od/televisionandradio/a/commercialmusts.htm> [Accessed: 28th Oct 2012].
12. Helium.com (2009) What makes a good commercial on TV - by Clare Austen - Helium. [online] Available at: <http://www.helium.com/items/1330175-what-makes-a-good-commercial-on-tv >[Accessed: 28th Oct 2012].
13. Ehow.com (2001) What Makes a Successful TV Commercial? | eHow.com. [online] Available at: <http://www.ehow.com/way_5120793_successful-tv-commercial.html> [Accessed: 28th Oct 2012].
14. Dean, C. (2011) Christopher Dean A2 Media Studies: What Makes a Good TV Advertisement?. [online] Available at: <http://cda2mediastudies.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post_1794.html> [Accessed: 28th Oct 2012].
15. Answers, 2012. What makes a bad ad?[online] Available at: <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_makes_a_bad_ad> [Accessed 31st October 2012]
16. SmartMarketingStrategy, 2011. What makes Bad Advertisement So Bad? It's Not Believable.[online] Available at: <http://www.gianfagnamarketing.com/blog/2011/01/27/what-makes-bad-advertising-so-bad-it%E2%80%99s-not-believable/> [Accessed 31st October 2012]
17. Answers, 2012. What makes a good commercial.[online] Available at: <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_makes_a_good_commercial> [Accessed 31st October 2012]
18. Marketing Made Simple, 2012. How to design effective an effective advert. [online]Available at: <http://www.marketing-made-simple.com/articles/advert-design.htm#.UJE_qG_A_eZ> [Accessed 31st October 2012]
19. What Makes a good advertisement?[online] Available at: <http://www.scs.sk.ca/rbi/Bundgaard/White%20Board/Creative%20Writing/What%20makes%20a%20good%20advertisement.htm> [Accessed 31st October 2012]
20. Ad Savvy,2012. 5 Elements of a Great Advertisement. [online]Available at: <http://www.adsavvy.org/5-elements-of-a-great-advertisement/> [Accessed 31st October 2012]

 by Voon Ann, Nicole Yong and Ruth