When used in a good way, pictures can communicate information very effectively. This is because pictures utilize visual shapes and colors and create a lasting memory in the mind of the target audience. The potential presented by the use of advertisement image as a form of marketing is huge and very applicable in the field of marketing and advertisement. This paper will endeavor to analyze the message communicated by the advertisement billboard picture. The objective of this paper will focus on how this billboard picture will most likely be perceived by the target audience. Was the billboard picture effective in communicating the intended message to the audience?
The objective of the advertisement is to lure customers especially women to buy the land rover car being advertised because it can be family car. For starters, the advertisement image contains a combination of pictures all sharing the same surroundings which are looking at the car. The top half of the image consists of an environment filled with air and an island in the background. The lower half of the image is filled with the sea as its dominating environment. At the center of the image, there is a model of a land rover vehicle which is submerged in the sea halfway. Overshadowing the land rover is a cruise ship that is white in color. Beside and partly behind the cruise ship there is an island covered partly with green vegetation. In the bottom part of the advertisement image, there is a human being swimming inside the sea and there is also a lot of fish swimming in the sea. There are also three sections of writings and a logo of the vehicle manufacturer all positioned in that order. One of the writings states 'FORGET THE CITY. I CAN REACH BEYOND!' The writing is very ideal because it communicates to the audience the fact that this model of the land rover will offer them more freedom and options, also this tells a lot about how far it can go.
However, the controlling picture in the advertisement is not very clear. This is very
unfortunate because the main objective of the advertisement is to market the land rover. "The
center of the page is the most effective 'center of attention ,' it is the point of greatest
attention" B g M (2000). All o her pictures in the advertisement should be supporting the
main picture and not diverting attention from the controlling picture. One would be forgiven if one thinks the cruise ship is the controlling image. This is because the cruise ship, the island behind it and the sea that is occupying half of the image are bigger in size than the actual
controlling image which in this case is the ford land rover image. The first impression of the
image is the same as that of a holiday destination advertisement. The visual appeal of the image is mostly that of travelling to an island in an ocean and having a good time. The intended audiences for this advertisement is women who are raising families; this is showcased by the size of the land rover in terms of capacity and the use of cool and warm colors in the advertisement, this colors are meant to auger well with the target audience.
The advertisement image communicates about moving from the ordinary way of doing things to the extra ordinary. This is evidenced by the author of the advert placing the vehicle submerged in the sea; it communicates something that most people are not conversant with. In normal circumstances, when a vehicle is submerged halfway in the sea, it stops working well. This is because the water will get into its parts and hinder the running of the engine which will then make the vehicle not to be an object that enables easier movement. The idea of moving from the ordinary is also portrayed by the words at the bottom of the advert, 'FORGET THE CITY, I CAN REACH BEYOND".
At the bottom of the image in the middle position, there are some writings about 'challenge' that vehicles used to face in the past and 'solution' which is what the vehicle being advertised will be able solve. I think this information is very important to the audience because it is solutions that they want when they are deciding whether or not to buy a vehicle. But the advertisement image has these important words placed at the bottom of the image; the bottom part of the image is usually not paid attention to by the audience; the reason behind this argument is the fact that humans are conditions to consider as less important what is at the bottom of the list. "The bottom half of a picture feels more threatened, heavier, sadder, or constrained; objects placed in the bottom half also feel more grounded”, Band M. (2000). However if well utilized, the bottom part of the image can be a good position to place the writings because if something attracts the attention of the audience when placed at this part, then it depicts the fact that it has weight and should be considered seriously.
In the advertisement, there are some few assumptions made about the way the intended audience views the world. For example in my opinion, it assumes that the audience views the world in an unconventional manner. I am referring to the fact that the vehicle is portrayed as floating in the sea. I would also say the advertisement assumes that the target audience value speed and comfort; this is seen by the author of the image making a lot of effort to depict speed using the cruise ship and comfort using the island in the background to signify this fact. The advert also makes the assumption that the target audience wants a vehicle which will take them to the next level and this is evidenced by the writings at the bottom of the advertisement, 'FORGET THE CITY, I CAN REACH BEYOND". Finally, there is also the assumption that the target customers are conscious about the environment and want a vehicle that is environmentally sensitive; this is depicted by the numerous efforts by the author of the picture in depicting the land rover surrounded by the fish and coexisting well with the marine environment.
In conclusion, I would like to state that the image could have been more effective if more attention was placed on the main picture which is the land rover; a good way to achieve this is through enlarging the picture of the land rover in the advertisement. This would ensure the land rover gets more attention in the billboard and chances of the audience getting attracted to the surrounding pictures are reduced. "....where the readers imagination makes still pictures come alive", Me Cloud et al (1994). However the colors used were ideal in that they made me feel light and comfortable and the content used was also good especially the wordings at the bottom. The advertisement therefore needs some few adjustments and fine tuning and the picture will effectively communicate the intended information to the intended audience in the right way.
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