Advertisements – Anne Cheng's Blog

You know those ads with a lot of stylish writing, something like this…

Ad taken from Beautiful & Creative Typography Print Ads blog.

These ads are called typography ads. Not only is it interesting to figure out what the heck they are saying, but I also believe that these companies are very successful in making people aware of their ad. I maybe spend around at leat 20 seconds trying to read the message, and then I go look around on the poster to see who was advertising this. The main purpose of these ads is for firms to get people to be aware of their ad. Another great thing about using typography ads is that there can also be illustrations used to enhance the main message. In the ad above, there are little heads with sad face, stick figures jumping off the “S” and train tracks. Another observation is that ads that have writing fonts similar to our daily writing style seems to capture my attention more. Maybe that is because I feel that the writing style is more consistent with what I’m used to reading (for example, when I proofread my own writing). With all these good things said about typography ads, firms should also be careful not to over-clutter or put too much small font writing into such ads – this may have a reverse affect and cause people not to want to read the ad.

Ah.. the things you do for marketing class

Last Friday when I was getting off the bus at Bridgeport Station, I was greeted by this Starbucks ad.

I quickly looked and read it as I hustled towards the escalator. Thoughts ran through my mind, “Hm, I didn’t know that Starbucks was that environmentally friendly.. Oo I can save 10 cents if I bring my mug in next time.” And then I thought, “Wow, this is exactly like what we learned in class about cognitive, affective, and behavioural components of attitude.”

So, I stopped walking, turned around, and whipped out my IPhone to take a picture of it. Mannnn, did I feel like a dork. Ah.. the things you do for marketing class.

Anyway, the Starbucks ad fulfills all 3 components of attitude:

Cognitive – It made me aware that Starbucks cares about the environment and encourages their customers to care too.
Affective – The statement “One person can save trees. Together we can save forests.” makes me feel that I can make a difference and with other people, can make an even bigger difference saving the environment.
*Note: Also very suitable to put this ad on a bicycle rack so that the eco-friendly people who ride their bikes will see it.
Behavioural – It told me to bring a reuseable mug to save 10 cents.

My attitude about Starbucks prior to seeing this ad was just neutral. I didn’t understand why some people are such loyal customers of Starbucks eventhough most coffees taste the same. But after seeing the ad, I realized that Starbucks is very successful at differentiating themselves from other coffee shops; they have VARIETY (holiday drinks, super yummy whipped cream, frappacinos) and now, they are attracting eco-friendly customers as well as customers who value variety and unique drinks.