My Advertisement

    My chosen advertisement is dedicated to selling you "Sheex" bedding. The ad is extremely sleek and simple looking; 75% of the magazine page is black, with the rest of it dedicated to a beautiful woman laying within the sheets, and some lines of text describing the "preferred bedding of professional athletes and celebrities. This advertisement came from a Cosmopolitan magazine, borrowed from my lovely girlfriend. The target audience of this magazine is women, say from 18-35, with some younger teenagers in there. There also tends to be "boyfriend" pages and stuff for guys, so I feel safe in saying they hope that men read, or at least glance over, the magazine with their women. Obviously the design, and advertisement as a whole, is geared towards this audience. They sexiness of the ad, the Democracy of Goods appeal, and other factors make it apparent that it was carefully designed for this audience.
    The target audience definitely wants the highest quality sheets for their sexual conquests, and to catch a great night's sleep after a tough day's work. The association between this brand and athletes and celebrities screams to this audience that they need it, because of course they want to live the quality of life these superstars lead. As most advertisements are, this ad is carefully crafted to speak to a particular audience. The 18-35 year old women and men that read Cosmopolitan undoubtedly ache for the perfect bedspread for the eventful, and uneventful, nights that they will spend in their bed.

Elements of an Effective Layout

    Separate from the Democracy of Goods analytical tool, this analytical tool focuses on the technicalities of an advertisement when analyzing it. The analytical tool focuses on the "art" of the advertisement, breaking it down to different elements to judge its effectiveness : balance, proportion, movement, clarity, utility and emphasis. Summed up, it says that judging these different elements individually, then as a whole, will tell you how effective an ad is. This is different from the Democracy of Goods analytical tool, whereas that appeal focused on the method of "wooing" the customer by portraying a product in a certain light. The elements of an effective layout presents a tool that allows you to break an advertisement down into different aspects, analyze them on an individual basis, then decide if all of the elements work together well and effective create an attention-grabbing advertisement.
    After taking an art class and mass media class the previous school year, they help me put these elements into context. However, a couple of these elements are closely related and can be difficult to completley distinguish without a little more research or reading. One of the most important elements must be unity; without every element working together to create one unified advertisement, the advertisement will completley lose effectiveness. It would seem scattered and not flow well, so any consumer would lose interest. The least important element could potentially be proportion. While reading, it just seemed to be something that as a consumer, I wouldn't pay much attention to. However, now that I've read these, I will not be able to look at advertisements without analyzing their elements and affectiveness. How fun.

Democracy of Goods

    The analytical tool discussed is the idea of advertisers portraying a product in a certain light, that the prestigious and socially distinguished use it, and that its a commodity that the average person can afford, too. A clever way of advertising, an advertisement using this method makes luxury seem within everyone's grasp for an affordable price. This method is maximized today; it reminds me of the "bandwagon method" in advertising; everyone is using this or drinking this, so you should too! Except, the democracy of goods is almost like an upgrade on that method. Not just anyone is using it, the wealthy and classy citizens are. And why would I not want to be like them in any way I could, right?
    I haven't chosen an ad to analyze yet (always falling behind in the beginning) but I'm sure it will be an applicable analytical tool. Considering todays economy, people want to feel like they are living the high life in any way possible, so praying upon that mindset and associating products with upperclass will do just the trick.

Advertising

The cell phone advertisement I came across was simplistic and effective. The effectiveness comes through the fact that it only takes a couple of seconds, if that, to understand what the ad is saying. The magazine advertisement is split into half: One side titled "Chaos" shows someones arm full of written notes and things to do all over, with a busy city in the background. The other side is titled "Order", and simply shows a Palm Centro against a plain white background. It is humorous while showcasing the phone in an excellent way. The ad wants me to think this phone will organize my life; considering I have previously owned a Palm Centro, I might've already done what this ad wants me to.
  There wasn't any noticeable factor that I disliked in the ad. It is a simple advertisement that clearly states why you should by the product, and effectively does so.