Researching TV commercials

What makes a good TV advertisement?

A good TV advert should include memorable, iconic characters that they associate their brand with. For example, Digi, a mobile service provider in Malaysia, relate to the 'yellow man' as essentially, their brand revolves around the colour yellow and this is a part of their brand identity. As they continue to produce creative commercials incorporating humour and creativity, they are also indirectly emanating a form of strong identity they possess. Entitled “Digi Yellow“, and taglined “Digi’s Widest Coverage. Always with you.“, the commercials incorporated a catchy, upbeat theme song "I Will Follow You". Public response was tremendously positive. This results in Digi being ranked 100th on Forbes World’s Most Innovative Companies 2014. Basically, the importance of a short yet meaningful tagline as well as a catchy song to constantly present themselves with should also be taken into account as the main idea is to catch and hold the public's attention, drawing huge interest. On the other hand, heartwarming commercials also bring out the most impact towards the audience.

What techniques do TV adverts use to persuade their target market?

They incorporate strong, iconic characters that the specific target market are able to associate / relate with. TV adverts persuade their target market by casting a character with strong identity portraying their shared values and meanings. The public, or target market in particular, would then either relate or aspire to have that certain type of personality depicted by the main character. For example, for car brands that put image / outer appearance first, like Jaguar, the target market would most look up to the person behind the steering wheel, picturing them as someone "cool, stylish, classy" or simply put, just straight up materialistic. They want to be the driver, they want to achieve an unattainable level of "coolness".

What techniques do TV adverts use to engage their target market?

To engage with their target markets, most TV adverts would probably include / endorse celebrities on par with their specific target market. Let's take teenagers for instance, they are inspired by contemporary, modern lifestyle so celebrities in pop culture would appeal most to them such as One Direction or Taylor Swift. Celebrities have huge impact on the public in general, so they're more likely to influence the target market. We think of a certain celebrity and immediately a brand pops up to mind, and this is us indirectly associating the two together which can be a good thing, especially if the celebrity possesses an incredible amount of persona and more importantly, on top of the A-list, the best of the best.

How have TV adverts changed over the years?

Over the last decade, TV adverts have developed tremendously, some improving while others, unfortunately, compete on how annoying they can get. Adverts back then cost cheaper, as most of them simply just get to the point of their commercial without unnecessary additions. If the TV advert were to impose family values, they simply mention the tagline and probably show a clip where a character uses it, or sometimes celebrities. Brands then start to embody humour gradually, for a more memorable effect. Levi's commercials used to (and they still do) include a massive amount of good looking characters to get their name across and this, too, affects the target market incredibly. TV adverts now also incorporate various platforms of social media such as Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and Instagram, to correlate with the modern era and fit up to the standards of young adults who mostly spend their time on the internet. 

How are intertextual meanings used in TV adverts?

Advertising is typically the communication or interaction between the products and consumers. The reason is to induce the crowd into purchasing the item by means for transforming unconcerned individuals, hence advertisements must have selling power which can stir individuals' advantage or desire to obtain the items. To attain to this, adverts should have attention value that awes individuals and make them retain the item. Promoters frequently utilise intertextuality, encouraging consumers to contemplate and make relationship with their past information and stimulate their inclination of familiarity, encouraging remembrance or memorisation. This can be done so by producing a parody / spoof or simply an honest remake of a particular advert or even a memorable movie scene.