Tuesday 11 September 2012

History of TV adverts

Introduction:
In this blogpost, I am going to show the first every TV advert in the US and UK. I am going to compare them to current adverts that are available now that present similar products/services and see how the techniques and structures used have changed.

US advert:

OLD

"The first television advertisement was broadcast in the United States at 2:29 p.m. on July 1, 1941. NBC affiliate WNBT aired this 10 second spot before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies, displaying a Bulova watch over a map of the U.S., with a voice-over of the company's slogan "America runs on Bulova time!"

The Bulova commercial was the world's first legal television commercial and cost the Bulova Watch Company a whopping $9.00 USD" (1)

This advert does not contain any advertising techniques or structures (e.g. colour, music, themes, etc). To help promote the company, it presents a basic satellite image of North America and the old Bulova logo, which it a outline of a clock. There is also a voiceover which says the company slogan "America runs on Bulova time!". This slogan is a metaphor, explaining that America uses the product to help run and control things.

As the technology and graphics were not so advanced at the time, I feel this advert was still and effective advert for the time period as it informed the audience on the product, the logo, the slogan, where the company is based/established.


(1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JenAyMmZ68

NEW

"Citizen Eco-Drive, famous for solar powered watches, is launching its Christmas ad campaign during X Factor live tomorrow night (Saturday November 13).

The TV campaign, which will showcase for 6 weeks in the run-up to Christmas, features a series of 30 second adverts with key sports stars (Eli Manning) and a voiceover which announces the brand's core values as "power, precision and artistry."

The ad highlights the “unstoppable” power of Citizen Eco-Drive watches, which are fuelled by light and so never need batteries." (2)

This advert presents similar products/services to America's first TV advert, but thanks to the technology and media techniques, the quality of the advertisement has evolved immensly over the past 70 years.

The techniques that have been used within this advertisement are celebrity endorsement, special effects and CGI, backing music, colours, camera angles and shots, logo, branding, iconography, etc. All of these effects and techniques have helped advance the quality and effectiveness of the advertisement, which is to help attract and persuade the audience.

The updated Bulova advert is much more effective because as time progessed, so did technology. This made it easier to include attractive elements such as colours, graphics, motion, sound, etc to help enhance the message to the appropriate target audience.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG_SCIMsJHg&feature=relmfu

(2)http://www.time2.co.uk/blog/citizen-eco-drive-to-launch-ad-campaign-during-x-factor/


UK advert:
OLD
Advertising history was made at 9.01pm on 22 September 1955, when Britain's first television commercial squeezed on to the air. Made by AB-Pathe, it was a 70-second ad for Gibbs SR Toothpaste. (3)

Because this advert was released a few years after the first advert in America, the quality and techniques of the advertisement has evolved more, as this advert includes features such as music, narrative voice overs, statistical facts/charts, information of the products ingredients, a slogan and catchphrase, product ideology (ice, tingly fresh) and product iconography (toothbrushes, toothpaste, teeth).

The slogan that is used within  this advert for the company Gibbs is "the tingling fresh toothpaste for teeth and gums!". This is a effective slogan as it uses onomatopoeia and alliteration to help promote the company and its product.

The advert for Gibbs SR Toothpaste is effective as it includes elements usch as sound, motion, props, camera shots, etc. It portrays the message of the product better as it has more advertising techniques to help to promote the product in a more effective way.
NEW

Another difference between this new advert and Britain's first advert is that it is much more shorter (old = 1min 10 secs, new = 10 secs). This shows that adverts have reduce their advertising slot time as it is more expensive and the attention rate of the audience has reduced significantly.

This advert does not bore the consumers with facts, stories and details, it uses the advertising techniques of special effects to present facts/stats on what the product covers, and there is a overhead narration which just uses verbal advertising techniques to display empathetic reactions to the audience. the voice-over says "we take care of all these things to make sure we take care of the most important thing. You. Colgate Total, the number 1 toothpaste brand used by dentists". The slogan of the product is also very reliable as it allows the customer to think that this is the most safest and effective product, as it is used by specialists.

The updated toothpaste advert is much more effective because as time progessed, so did technology. This made it easier to include attractive elements such as colours, graphics, motion, sound, etc to help enhance the message to the appropriate target audience.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E7q6S_BH94

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