Advertisment Analysis

Advert One



After analysing the Christmas Coca-Cola advert it is clear to see that specific sterotypical themes run throughout the majority of christmas adverts. In almost every clip a reference to Santa Claus or snow to give strong reference to childhood themes and traditions. The character represented is often shown as friendly and kind, shown as a large jolly figure. In this specific clip a polar bear is used as it resembles purity and snow. The constant theme of christmas is ran throughout with traditional black and red coca-cola colours alongside specifically selected music to relate to views and ideas all encouraging viewers to be misled into believing that bears and penquins do actually drink coca-cola and that it is a traditonal christmas beverage.

Advert Two



In this specific advert based on the combination of christmas and thanksgiving a turkey is shown purchasing a box of chocolates from Thornton's and using them as 'a perfect gift' to win back appreciation of the farmers, and to prevent him being killed. Although it is not the theme of christmas the anti-climax of the short story reflects 'the meaning of christmas'. With the entire cast coming together in harmony to enjoy christmas with thorntons.

Advert Three



Advert Four



This advert features numeous old styles of sale psychology with use of bright colours and happy festive music.

Evaluation so far.....

After reviewing critical research gathered from both consumer surveys, questionnaires and internet based resources. I have came to a partial conclusion of the advertising agencies messages broadcast over the christmas period, and the affects it has on peoples budgets and limitations.

In recent years christmas has gradually became a 'Hallmark Holiday' powered by the advertising industries, as they subliminally encourage children to ask for the latest forms of fun and entertainment at any cost. Gifts ranging from the illustrious Playstation 3 with its excessive price tag to pets and toys. Overall the market is being over-ran by celebrity endorsements which cause audiences to feel social desirability to be more like the celebrities by purchasing the products that they supposedly use themselves. Budgets are constantly increasing from year to year with companys paying millions to have endorsements, these companies span across Nike, M&S, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. Certain companies to keep to traditonal ideas using father Christmas to portray their products. Coca-Cola is the main culprit using the saints image to appeal and sell soft drinks to children. An example of celebrity encouragment can be seen in the 2007 christmas advertisment broadcast by the Tesco company, which shows the Spice Girls shopping after gifts supposedly for one another in a Tesco store. The video discussion below shows the opinion of Jonothan Gabay on endoresments.



Watching TV right now is a bit like being the most attractive person in a pub at the end of Saturday night. All the high-street retailers are bounding around desperately trying to impress, flashing their cash and showing off their cool mates as they bid to get you in bed, in a strictly financial sense.
M&S has hired Antonio Banderas to smoulder, Bogart-style, alongside the usual crowd of Twiggy, Erin O'Connor and Lizzie Jagger. Tesco has recruited the Spice Girls, while Boots has opted for unknowns but seems to have recruited thousands of them in a Cecil B DeMille version of the office party. Indeed, it's pretty much like the golden age of Hollywood every time there's a commercial break, with Sainsbury, Woolworths, Next, Argos and Asda joining the unseemly jostle for space.


So enthusiastic are these campaigns that you can almost smell the desperation. The bottom line is, well, the bottom line. And it's not looking good. The summer was as dismal for the high street as it was for us - rain kept the pavements empty and the credit crunch made shoppers cautious. Accountancy firm Ernst & Young predicts that retailers will dominate the list of companies issuing profit warnings come yuletide.
This final month and a half of the year is the big chains' last chance - the period when they usually make up to 20% of their cash. Why else would John Lewis take to the small screen for only the second time in its entire history? The result - shadows and piles of gifts set to Morning Serenade from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet - is exactly the kind of awkward, arty attempt to join the fray that you'd expect from the patron saint of middle-class consumerism. We may have to advertise this year, the campaign is muttering, but we're certainly not going to go with all that nasty, noisy Woolworths stuff.

All of which means, according to Marketing magazine, a cool half a billion pounds spent on advertising before you add in Antonio's fee. So now it's over to us. Just remember that everything comes down in price on December 26

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2211106,00.html

Spice Girls Join Tesco

It seems Victoria Beckham is not too posh to shop at Tesco.
The supermarket chain has recruited the LA-based style queen and her Spice Girls band mates to front a series of Christmas advertisements this festive season. In the one-minute commercial, featured on Telegraph TV, YouTube and due to hit television screens soon, Posh Spice prances into Tesco in search of the perfect gift for her fellow band members but is shocked to discover Baby, Scary, Ginger and Sporty also in the supermarket aisles in search of a cut-price Christmas.
The girls spend their time trying to hide from each other - behind books, Christmas trees and toys - while picking up bargains along the way. With their money-spinning reunion tour about to kick off, it seems Christmas has come early for the Spice Girls. They each reportedly earned a cool £1 million from Tesco for the commercial. Unfortunately for Tesco, however, Victoria Beckham is on the record as saying her favourite shop is Marks & Spencer. Just before the Beckhams moved to LA, she said: "You can get most things out there but what I will miss is M&S. I missed it when I first moved to Madrid and it is the first shop I go to when I'm back."
Tesco is the latest store chain to cash in on reformed 1990s pop groups. In September, Marks & Spencer unveiled boy band Take That as the new faces of its menswear ranges.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-1290218,00.html

M&S BAG BANDERAS

Big high-street retailers will signal a big push for Christmas sales next week with the launch of TV advertising campaigns.

Leading the way will be Marks & Spencer, which has signed up A-list movie star Antonio Banderas to front adverts that recreate memorable moments from classic Hollywood films.

But competing for screen space will be retailers who traditionally do not use TV advertising such as John Lewis and Next.

Many retail chiefs have forecast trade is going to be tough this Christmas and they are pouring cash into advertising to persuade shoppers to part with their cash.

Last year's M&S Christmas campaign had a James Bond theme and starred Dame Shirley Bassey. Banderas - who starred in the Mask of Zorro - will appear with M&S's usual roster of models: Twiggy, Erin O'Connor, Laura Bailey, Lizzie Jagger and Noemie Lenoir.

The adverts, which will be unveiled next week, are understood to re-enact famous scenes from movies like To Have and Have Not, where Banderas takes the Humphrey Bogart role, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

M&S's advertising, masterminded by marketing director Steve Sharp, has been credited with helping to rebuild the reputation of the retailer, which unveils half-year results next week.

Next week also sees the launch of a John Lewis advertising campaign. It is spending more than £6m to promote the 27-strong chain of department stores - three times last' year's advertising spend - and will be using TV adverts for only the second time in its history. The adverts, which use shadows and piles of gifts, are set to Morning Serenade from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet. The image will also be used for billboards and press and in cinema and online advertising.

Next recently unveiled its first national television advertising campaign for more than a decade. It is pouring £20m into advertising this year - double last year's marketing budget.

Chief executive Simon Wolfson said recently that he was "acutely aware that the full effect of recent interest rates has not yet filtered through to our customers" and despite the advertising push forecasts a dip in sales of up to 3.5%, compared to last year, over the current six months.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=491409&in_page_id=1773

Question Revised

How far, and to what extent do advertisments around the christmas period of the year affect peoples boundaries of spending?

Advertisement Research

The Retail Christmas Message

The Retail Christmas Message

By David Martin, Marc Ryan for AdRelevance, a Jupiter Media Metrix Company

The holiday rush is officially on, and the stakes are high for Internet retailers. While a sonic boom of retail advertising signals the Christmas rush, the marketing noise companies make may determine who wins and who loses in the holiday revenue game. With that in mind, it may seem surprising that online retailers have placed a huge emphasis on brand awareness campaigns to lead off the holiday season. Instead of going for the early quick sell with direct marketing ads; retailers are aiming at establishing recognition with consumers that will hopefully come when the need to purchase grows urgent.

Early in the shopping season, brand awareness strategies dominate the market, and few companies see the need to use incentive ads to set themselves apart. AdStrategy data from AdRelevance suggests that in a retail market that is getting more competitive as Christmas approaches, we may see more direct marketing ads intended to win over the last-minute shopper. Over the past five weeks the gap between brand awareness ads and direct marketing ads has drawn closer, and that gap may get tighter as the gift-buying frenzy nears the eleventh hour.

Plenty of time remains in the holiday shopping season, however, and online advertising promotions reflect this with passive branding campaigns. AdStrategy data shows that brand awareness is the dominating tactic for early holiday season retail advertisements, working to establish brand saliency and build long-term recognition.

Disneystore.com and Spencer Gifts currently place a high priority on awareness campaigns, as demonstrated in the ads above. Forty-three percent of Disney banners use brand awareness, while Spencer Gifts utilizes the strategy on 72 percent of its ads. The two companies are clearly marketing toward the Christmas buyer without imposing an undue sense of immediacy early in the shopping season. As last-minute web shoppers scramble for gifts, companies like these may employ more urgent campaigns using direct marketing strategies.

Discount retailers Half.com and Bestbuy.com, are good examples of direct marketing advertisers who use offers or incentives to pique immediate consumer interest. Half.com actually uses more direct marketing ads, at 57 percent of their total, than brand awareness. Their ads are intended to encourage consumers to visit their site and make a purchase. The total number of direct marketing ads such as these has increased steadily since the beginning of the summer, and in recent weeks that number has grown at an even faster rate.

So far, the top four retail advertisers are steering clear of direct marketing strategies. Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Ebay and Red Envelope Gifts are fueling a huge Christmas surge with awareness-based campaigns, helping to increase total retail ad spending by 35 percent over the last five weeks. Less than a third of retail advertising, however, uses direct marketing tactics.

In a cutthroat environment where a Christmas slump may mean extinction, it would be surprising to see a lack of heavy price and incentive competition as the big day nears. When consumers start scrambling for last-minute gifts, ads touting free overnight shipping and large discounts will draw the crowds. A convergence between brand awareness and direct marketing ads could be very likely as retailers push to increase site traffic and sales as shoppers find time running out. In the end, the savvy marketers who adopt strategies that win consumer interest will find a large present of revenue under the tree, those who don't may be faced with a lump of coal

http://retailindustry.about.com/library/holiday/bl_adrel1100.htm

The Plan

Research into the advertising of Coca~Cola and other soft drinks on the market owned by the same company. Using both internet and written sources, enough information should be gathered to produce a final answer to relate to my chosen question.

FINAL QUESTION

The question I decided on is based on my choices over what would be more interesting and has plenty of information. I have decided to go with the combination of questions 1 and 2 with a completed question of;

How does the advertising industry utilise the christmas period in terms of sales aimed towards children?