Magazine ADVERTISEMENTS

MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS

Companies which advertise products or services pursue certain objectives which might vary according to their industries or marketing strategies. The key of all advertisements is attracting directly the right buyers, or consumers as well as increase sales and profits. It is not enough to advertise just to achieve objectives though companies should also deliver what they promise. Therefore advertising is about selling through the strongest persuasive means.

We will analyze some magazine advertisements in order comprehend its underlying meanings.

Advertisement N° 1:  PANTENE PRO – V

This advertisement presents a new product of a very well known brand PANTENE in Argentina. The product is an ampoule with the capacity of hair repairing in only three minutes. There is a close up photograph of a famous actress, Marcela Kloosterboer, who promotes and shows the amazing effects of the ampoules. The advertisement transmits a strong sense of glamour. The combination of different golden colours contribute to distinguish clearly the brand from others.

The actress is smartly dressed and her hair looks bright and bloomy. This famous figure represents the brand maximizing advertising effectiveness. Many companies use celebrities to invest their products assuming they have very little negative impact on consumers; famous´ images intensely influence their views. However nowadays there are many consumers who are likely to be influenced by someone in their social network. Thus the use of one or the other depends on each company.

The message of this advertisement is transmitted through the glamorous image of the actress which captures the attention of the receiver emphasizing the possible amazing benefits obtained by using the product. The use of bright and golden colours reassures how sophisticated the brand is.

Pantene brand, Procter and Gamble company, target market is based on several strategies market research conducted globally. It is a whole challenge to them to advertise in local markets, country to country. Once they indentified the central strategic product benefit that would be meaningful around the world, P and G determine the best way to express this in local markets. The company directs its products to female consumers, between the age of eighteen to thirty five, who believe the ideal standard of hair is “healthy”, considered their hair “damaged”, believed that shine is signaled “health”; and belonged to a mid – high economic level. In most advertisements they persuade consumers by appealing to celebrities´ images as testimonies of their promises as well as giving the brand a stronger image. While local differences are necessary, the format brand is held virtually everywhere.  

Pantene products are nowadays one of the first brands in hair care market. The strategic marketing efforts proved to be highly successfully around the world. However there is certain information that is not available for consumers in their ads.  Procter and Gamble have against boycotts by several animal rights organizations for its continued testing of new ingredients on animals. The company did indeed use cats and dogs for testing drugs in laboratory experiments. The company also uses micro plastics (polyethylene microbeads) in some of their products. These particles are not retained by wastewater treatment so they end up in the ocean. While micro plastics are not a health hazard to consumers, they are a threat to marine environment.

The Swiss company has got about 127000 employees around the world and the number still increases. Most of them are from Indonesia and Malaysia who export palm oil to the company. Palm oil is a type of vegetable oil which has a very high content of saturated fat. It derives from the palm fruit, grown on the African oil palm tree. Oil palms originated in West Africa, but can flourish whenever heat and rainfall are abundant. Thus today all palm oil is produced in and exported from Indonesia and Malaysia, but not using sustainable measures. Thousands of kilometers of rainforest is slashed and burned in order to make way for oil palm plantations. Many orangutans and other animals are killed in the process for the production of baked foods, body products, cleaning agents and cosmetics. In fact thirty years ago our society did not need palm oil, it was almost non existence. There are many alternatives to palm oil, unfortunately none as cheap and efficient that is why companies do not switch.    

We cannot deny that Pantene products deliver what they promise in their advertisements though production negative aspects do not reach consumers´ awareness. We do not know whether this information might obstruct sales and profits of this global company; at least now… we know.