A manufacturer makes goods to sell. In order to sell his goods, he has to make the buyers know that he has made them and they are of supreme quality unlike a similar product in the market. For this purpose, Here is where, ‘Advertisement’ comes in to picture.
From the definition and objective of advertisement, it’s obvious the advertisement should have the potential to draw the attention of the people through methods like persuasion and appeal in a logical and convincing way.
In Latin, ad verte means "to turn the mind toward.”
Who will create Advertisements.
Professionals, who work for an Advertising agency are responsible for creating an Advertisement. The procedure goes like this.
Suppose, you are a beauty soap manufacturer. You want an Ad campaign be made for your product.. The next action you take is, approach the chief of an Advertising agency. After noting down all the salient features and special features of your product, which you want it be projected prominently In the Ad, the Chief of the agency will assign the jobs associated with creating an Advertising to the respective branches and to the respective experts.
Layout
Placing the components of a design in the best possible way, that reflects the soul of the advertisement. This is assigned to ‘Layout Artist’.Layout artist must be a person who is endowed with convincing argument and an uncanny knack of ‘Display.’ These abilities ,enable the Layout artist, to project those elements in the right light where they are supposed to be projected.
It has to borne in mind that an advertisement is a conglomeration of many elements like, Headline, visual be it a photograph, or a line drawing or an elaborate painting, Copy matter, Logo or trade Mark, address etc, in a logical order and importance, which in totality present a neat picture of the product or the service without an iota of ambiguity.
Constituents of a Layout.
Copy or the Headline.
This is the text which is considered as the most important factor in an Advertisement. This is also known as ‘The Headline’ in the advertising parlances. A Copy functions as the ‘Persuading’ tool. It aims at making the prospective buyer to go through the advertisement and know completely about the product. A headline should be able to create curosity in the prospective buyer.
According to the suitability and necessity, Headlines can be created in two ways. The first type of Headline is independent and a complete phrase or a sentence. It means, it stands on its own. In contrast to it, the second type of Headline leads to a sub- copy.
That Headline which takes least time to read is considered as an ideal Headline. Generally, a Headline with four to five words is preferable. The idea is, the prospective buyer should be able to read even from a moving vehicle. Short Headlines are ideally suited for huge hoardings placed on highways.
Headlines of different hues and colurs.
A Headline in the form of a question will make the viewer to answer mentally. It’s immaterial whether the buyer is going to buy the goods or not. But it forms the first step of involvement with the product.
Straight from the heart Headlines.
Such Headlines mostly lead in to the sub – copy. Because, a ‘Straight from the heart’ Headline should be substantiated by a few more lines, to convinse the prospective buyer which are given in the sub – copy. This creates a positive feeling in the prospective buyer.
A friendly suggestion.
A next door friend’s down to earth suggestion works wonders on the prospective buyer. Neither an order nor a warning certainly makes an impact on the buyer. The results may not show up instantaneously, but the buyer makes a note of it. The target buyers should be an educated cross section of the society.
An alert.
A Headline that alerts creates a friendly relation between the organization and the buyer. Reminding about deadlines is an example for a Headline that alerts.
Visuals.
To create an impact on the prospective buyer adding a suitable visual is the best bet. A visual is an extension of Copy. That is,what the Copy stresses in the Main Headline, should be reflected in the Visual. A Copy and a Visual work in tandem. They together fortify the ‘Persuasive Value’ of the Advertisement.
A Visual can be a photograph or a line sketch or a Wash drawing or an elaborate painting. The option of the visual depends on the factor, the degree of the ‘attention’, the Copy calls for.
The factor that contributes greatly in creating a good impression on the buyers is selecting the right media.There are innumerable varieties of media to select from. Suitability factor that matches with the copy or Headline is the most important factor that the artist cannot afford to ignore.. Remember each genre has its advantages and disadvantages.
Different media:
Photographs are the much used media for today’s acvertisements. Line drawings using pencil, charcoal, pen and ink are also used according to the necessity. Advertisements that lay stress on simplicity and a bigger impact choose this media.
Wash paintings are a class by themselves. They use different values of a single colour. The combined effect of simplicity and richness leave an indelible mark on the minds of the viewers, which in turn contribute to the Product or service’s success.
Water Colors are the subtlest of all the media. Its plus point is its freshness and transparency. Another advantage is it can be combined with line drawings. Because it dries up quickly, it can meet the urgent necessities of advertising agencies.
Tempera or Gouache is the most ideal medium for Painting advertising posters like safety posters. Artists prefer Tempera or Gouache for show cards and still – life paintings. All in all, Tempera or Gouache can be used for majority of the illustrations in Advertising.
Oil paintings add to the dignity of the message conveyed by the Headline. Despite this advantage, its drawback is its slow drying nature as its medium is oil. This trait of an oil painting cannot be used when 'urgency'is the criteria
Type setting.
While setting the types, a type setter takes care to maintain the core of the Copy as well as the sanctity of the visual. In simple terms, a type setter strikes a balance between Copy, Visual and the Typography. Owing to this reason, Typography is equally given weight along with Copy or Headline and visual.
A Typographer with his knowledge can take the advertisement to the point of perfection. There are many Ads where in the Typographer alone took the advertisement to the thresholds of the buyer’s heart.
And it’s also true, there are many ads without a visual, but only the incredible work of the typographer.
What is the basis on which professionals in an advertising agency work.
As I said, every component in an advertisement mentioned above, is made basing on the advertising psychology.
Advertising psychology.
It’s of vital importance to peep in to the heart of the human in oresr to know what he wants . Knowledge of human psychology willpave the way for using a variety of techniques in the above said different features of the advertising . Advertising and Human psychology function in tandem to know what people want. To know their behaviour in certain conditions. To know what kind of goods or services they relish or hate. To design the goods and services in tune with their ambitions and aspirations, knowledge of human psychology plays a vital role.
Additionally, if the advertiser knows what a client or the prospective buyer wants, he can eliminate lot of wastage by creating advertising right campaigns that induce people to do as the advertiser wants.
It’s common knowledge that the real sales starts in the mind of the prospective buyer. So, the study of human psychology will help the advertiser to make the right kind of appeal. In the absence of right and appropriate appeal, the agency loses huge money and it in turn leads to less returns. Hence, an advertisement in order to achieve its mission has to inject different impulses in all its manifestations. These should be conspicuous in all the factors of the advertisement.
All the above said factors can be considered as, ‘Persuading factors’ which make the heads of the prospective buyers turn towards the advertisement.
If an Advertisement is considered as a human body, Layout , Copy, Visuals and Typography are its limbs. Its only when all the organs of the body function well, an Advertisement becomes sound.