Critical Analysis of an Advertisement

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Critical Analysis of an Advertisement

Advertisements have existed for quite a while and surround us on a daily basis. Advertisements purpose to sell products and services whereby they try to persuade the consumers to try new products or rather switch from one brand to another (Aaker & Joachimsthaler 45). From a more analytical perspective, the advertisement has five main functions. The first function is that it introduces a new product or service to the market. When the right channels are used in presenting a new product or service, the customer’s attention is quickly drawn in such a way that they purchase the items and hence increasing in demand which later leads to marketing success (Aaker & Joachimsthaler 45). Advertisements also result in an increase in sales. It achieves this by creating interest among the customers which results in an increase in demand that later leads to more sales. The advertisement also focuses on creating awareness about a product or service to the targeted consumer market. The awareness includes the features, the cost and the use of a product whereby the customers are driven to engage in purchasing decisions. Advertising also focuses on building the image of a brand. It achieves this through repetitive ads that popularize a brand by which the perception that customers have towards a brand is manipulated. Most customers trust brands that are advertised and hence frequently purchase from them. The trust in brands in return results in an increase in demand that leads to more sales. Last but not least, it results in the projection of supply and demand (Aaker & Joachimsthaler 45). The focus of the analysis is an advertisement of the hydroxycut product. The Hydroxycut Company is among the top leading companies in the U.S. that deals with the distribution of supplements used for weight loss (Healthy Compare 1). The advertisement clearly indicates that the product targets individuals who want to lose or maintain their weight. The critical analysis of the hydroxycut advertisement focus on answering the question, how does hydroxycut convince their consumers to purchase their product?

Impact of images on customer’s perception

Images apply the aesthetic aspect when it comes to any form of advertising. It is worth noting that the technique used for advertising should bring about the targeted response from the customers. Advertisers analyze several aspects before shoving features into an advertisement. They focus on consumers’ preferences as they try to come up with a strategy that will appeal to them. Some of the things that advertisers consider to involve in ads include; humor, hype, call to action, association, games, sense and appeal, testimonials and much more. For hydroxylcut, the subject of focus is the use of images in their ad. Being a product that focuses the human body, it utilizes images of people to show the impact of the products and the duration of the expected change. For an advertisement to be successful, it has to appeal to the target audience by striking a chord with the target market (Raju et.al 22).

Most of the images are guided by texts to allow the consumer make a connection with the advert. It is worth noting that the emotional state of the consumer market should be taken into consideration in regards to how the image is perceived by the client's associates with their needs. The question to consider is the value that the contents of the picture align with the objectives of the images (Raju et.al 22). The advantage that the Hydroxylcut Company has is the use of the before and after images and texts that show the effect of the product. A good example is the before and after image by Brittany Dobrin from Tennessee who used the product in addition to exercise and experienced tremendous results. The fact that the image displays the location and the actual name of the model makes the product associate with the clients and hence having a higher demand (The Hydroxycut ad). The advertisement also contains images of people with the highlight being their success story after using the product. They individuals also appear to be contented with the product and hence creating an appeal to the customers. The advertisement also contains an image of a doctor illustrating that it is clinically certified. Such an appeal increases the confidence of the customers when thinking about purchasing the product.

The use of words and slogans in advertisement

A slogan refers to catchy text used in an advertisement to assist clients to recall a product or brand. Slogans are created by companies to be used in marketing as they have a lasting impression to the consumers. The view is that, when a customer is engaged in a purchasing dilemma, he or she selects a product whose slogan is present in mind. One basic feature of a slogan is that it should be memorable in the sense that people have an idea of the product of a company. Slogans exhibit an advertising appeal whereby they attract the interests of customers in addition to illustrating how the products may meet the needs of the customers (Raju et.al 25). The hydroxylcut advertisement contains several catchy phrases that easily appeal to the consumers. The consumers, in this case, are individuals who struggle with their body appearance and want to improve them in certain ways.

The phrase “I lost 42lbs. With hydroxylcut. It really works.” is quite catchy as it associates with the aspect of losing too much weight within a short time. The phrase immediately appeals to the consumers struggling to lose weight. The appeal used by Hydroxylcut is the corporate advertising appeal. The appeal entails using messages and logos of a product in a forceful manner. The advertisement includes the whole product and several images of models illustrating the impact of the product. As stated earlier, the advantage that the Hydroxycut Company has is the use of the before and after images and texts that show the effect of the product. A good example is the before and after image by Brittany Dobrin in addition to the success stories of the other users.  Such illustration makes the product associate with the clients and hence having a higher demand.

Hydroxycut target audience

The target audience refers to the consumer market that a company knows will purchase a product if it is adequately availed to them (Shah et al. 107). As highlighted earlier, the hydroxycut company deals with the distribution of supplements used for weight loss (Healthy Compare 1). Therefore, its target audience consists of individuals who want to lose weight or want to maintain their ideal body shapes. It also targets individuals who want to tone up in terms of muscles. The fact that it uses real people, before and after images and videos gives it the potential of reaching its target consumers. The consumers are targeted through the use of before and after images, the videos, images of people who appear to be satisfied with the product in addition to their success stories, clinical research, and a doctor’s testimonial. The target strategies focus on the desired outcome of a product by the consumer in addition to increasing client’s confidence when purchasing the product. A good example is the before and after the image of Brittany Dobrin and the associated video to demonstrate the trueness of the product. However, some people may perceive that the images have been altered and hence being skeptical about purchasing a product. However, the presence of a video and the identity and the location of the model boosts the confidence of some of the clients. With such a presentation, the demand from the target audience becomes high as confidence regarding the product is built. The same explanation applies to the testimonials whereby consumers gain confidence in a product when there is medical accreditation.