24×7 cross media competition advertising monitoring platform W r i t i n g

Nowadays you will easily be a target of advertisement bombardment. Look around; pay a little bit attention to some of them. You then notice the advertisements you see are not of equal quality. In this assignment, you need to select two advertisements you recently get exposed to, critically examine them, and write up a report. There are no restrictions placed upon the format of the advertisements. In other words, they could be in any forms, for instance, television commercials, print ads, outdoor ads (e.g., MTR stations, bus body, etc), online ads, and interactive promotions, etc. Ideally, the two advertisements you selected should be comparable: a) they are promoting same or similar products/services, and b) one should serve as a good example and the other less successful example. Based on the theories we have mentioned in class, ruminate over the two ads of your choice, and point out their weaknesses and shining-points. You are encouraged to use Admango database for this assignment. Admango is a 24×7 Cross Media Competition Advertising Monitoring platform in Hong Kong.

What to do? –Workflow specifications

1. Identify the advertisement you want to analyze. As noted earlier, it could be in any form. Nevertheless, the advertisement you choose should not be too outdated.

2. If you pick a television commercial, then try to catch a few frames of the commercial. If the ad is from online, save the graphic file or printscreen the website.

3. Now that you have the raw material to work with, think back about the theories/cases/strategies you have learned from the first half of this course, and come up with a fine analysis of the two ads.

4. Write up a report of 3-4 pages in the form of an essay (double spaced, excluding attached pictures).

5. Upload your essay to Canvas (via Turnitin).

Write up a report of 3-4 pages in the form of an essay (double spaced, excluding attached pictures).

Listed below are some of the questions you could think about. You could use them as a guide map. You do not need to answer all of them. But they could stimulate your thoughts and help you formulate your own critiques toward the advertisements.

Descriptive information:

What is the product/service? What are the features of the product/service? What are the benefits to be communicated? What’s the unique selling point, if any? What is the brand image to be constructed, if any? Who is the potential target audience? What’s the media format? Where is the commercial placed (if outdoors, specify the location. If tvc, specify channels and time slots.)? What visual elements and techniques are used?

Subjective assessment:

Do you like/dislike the ad? Are you persuaded by the ad? Chance given, are you willing to try out the product/service? What is your first feeling toward the ad? Is there anything attractive in the commercial? Is there anything repulsive? And per your answers to all previous questions, why? Why do you feel so?

Analytic critique:

Is there any attention catcher in the ad? What kind of appeal is used in the ad? What’s the creative strategy adopted in the ad? What are the values conveyed in the ad? Do the values match with the local culture? Does the content of the ad communicate the identity of the brand, or they are inconsistent? Is there any unnecessary message in the ad? How about the copy? Is the copy clear enough? Are the visual elements consistent with the value system of the brand? What would you do to improve the ad?

What to pay attention to?

1. This is not a group project. Although you could seek help and advice from your classmates/friends, complete the case study on your own.

2. The list of questions I provided is for the purpose of thought-stimulating. Your report should not be written in a Q & A style. Instead, it should be a well-organized and smooth-running essay.