Monday 30 November 2009

GENERIC CONVENTIONS OF ADVERTISEMENTS


This particular advertisement for The Guardian includes the following conventions:


- Bright colours
- Retro/minimalistic layout
- Quotes
- Reference to The Guardian's website
- Large font
- Repetition
- Clear and coherent Standard English


I will explain the possible reasons for the conventions identified. The use of bright colours immediately attracts the reader, however there is a mixture of colours suggesting that the newspaper is not a gender specific newspaper (for example there are greys evident in the newspaper as well as pinks and greens). The use of bright colours may also appeal to the younger generation, and thus, captivate a wider audience. The reasons for doing this may be because the newspaper aims to attract readers outside of their niche market, but also to inform others about certain aspects of national news. The advertisement uses a retro sort of layout, as it is minimalistic, yet colourful; this may be used plainly to attract the attention of the buyer. A quote is added to the right hand side of the advertisement into a paragraph; a smaller font than the rest of the text. There is no indication as to where this quote is from, however, the reference to website underneath the quote suggests that an editor from the guardian newspaper may have written this. The use of repetition of the words "fact" and "opinion" plainly illustrate the newspaper's own conventions; the newspaper includes solid facts and opinions based entirely on national news - this is field specific lexis. Overall, I believe that this specific advertisement is very effective, as the use of colour attracts the reader attention, but also tells the audience a little about what the newspaper includes.

Here is an example of another advertisment for The Guardian newspaper:

There is a clear house style in all of The Guardian's advertisements; the same colours and techniques are used, including large font and use of quotes. The purpsose of this may be to not only attract the buyer, but to also help them identify which newspaper this advertisement is marketing. The retro design is again incorporated into this advertisement, and may have been influence from an artist of some period. The Guardian therefore, may be introducing some sort of art form nationally, as well as getting the audience to notice the newspaper itself.



Here is an advertisment for The Times. This particular advertisement includes the following conventions:


- Large title
- Grey/black midtones
- White font to contrast against dark background
- Image to support text
- Quotes from newspaper

In comparison to the advertisment of The Guardian, The Times takes a very different approach when marketing its newspaper. This specific advertisement is emotional, targeting the sensitive and caring characteristic in the buyer. For example, the image shown in this specific advertisement is of a shark trapped in a netting who has died from malnutrition. The buyer can easily establish what is going on in the picture, and thus, become interested in the emotional plea. The quote in white font beside of the shark image talks about what is happening in the picture, and what is yet to happen if we run out of seafood. The quote uses heartfelt techniques and uses imperatives such as "be part of the times" in order to urge the buyer to purchase the newspaper and get involved with what is happening. This advertisement is also successful as it focuses on the devastating reality of the world, but also uses a completely different technique to other newspapers such as The Guardian who use font and nothing else. The use of blacks and dark blues also add to the atmosphere of the overall advertisement. In my opinion, the use of an image such as this may attract the reader even more as there is concrete evidence to suggest that Sharks are endangered due to the continuous decrease in seafood.


This Daily Telegraph advertisement is very unconventional in comparison to the three previously analysed. For example, the advertisment fails to use large font to attract the buyer, and the minority of text makes the advertisement hard to understand overall. The background colour is also very neutral (making it non gender specific), and help to give the advertisement a serious feel.

The key generic conventions of an advertisement of a newspaper are as follows:

- Neutral colours
- One or no images
- Simple layout
- Minority of text
- Title of newspaper
- Large font for title
- Field specific lexis such as "opinions", "facts" and "news"

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