Perhaps you would have never thought that how advertisements of different brands and companies manipulate you into buying their products even when you don’t need them. They employ various types of appealing techniques to attract the attention of customers. Today, we’ll discuss what is appeal in advertising; different types of advertising appeals.
What is Appeal in Advertising?
The appeal in advertising is the convincing and persuasive power that compels people towards buying products and services. They do so by targeting the needs, wants, interests, and wishes of customers. However, the advertisement creates a hook among customers and it leads them towards persuasiveness and convincing. The purpose and design of advertisement appeals are to develop a positive image of the company’s products towards buying; they follow the views of advertisers. Businesses and companies invest a lot of resources in developing their advertisement strategies to influence the decision of customers.
Types of Advertising Appeals
Some of the main types of advertising appeals are as follows;
Humor Appeals
The right type of humor calms down the nerve of people and brings a sense of relief in order to attract the attention of people. Otherwise, the advertisement could be informative and boring. It is risky to use humor in some industries; you have to know and understand your business and audience before employing the humorous advertisement. Otherwise, it would create misunderstanding and a negative perception of your business.
Social Appeals
Society and social trends are great sources of motivation. The advertisement by IKEA referred to the famous TV series “Game of Thrones” and it showed that the cape of Jon Snow is from the affordable rug of IKEA. The advertisement campaign appealed to the interests of people and developed a connection with them by making them add it to their collection.
Personal Appeals
Gillette’s blade advertisement employed a personal approach by showing the picture of the father. It highlighted the significance of skin-to-skin of fathers with their infants. The ad also asked the question of what type of razor you’re using for the smooth finishing. It only targeted the new fathers, but other people without children could also understand it.
Fear Appeals
Fear is a natural instinctive response of our body. The advertisement could bring out the hidden fear by using strong visual imagery. Some ads focus on highlighting personal fear, and others direct the attention toward the sense of loss. For instance, one ad encouraged people to take action toward saving forests and jungles.
Sexual Appeals
Sexual ads are the most popular ads and they sell. People love to see sexy models, products, and shots because it makes them excited emotionally. Various brands employ sexual ads to sell their products and services. However, some brands like Levi Jeans and Calvin Klein employ sexiness to advertise the worth and value of their products like sexy food, dress, or others.
Romantic Appeals
The romance could evoke the deepest emotions of a person and make them visit a state of nostalgia. Romantic emotion doesn’t mean in terms of developing a relationship, rather their focus is on creating feelings of idealism and inspiration.
For instance, Lowe’s advertisement presented a romantic relationship with a state of nostalgia. It showed people the storyline of two childhood lovers and the product of the Lowe that focuses on building a house, and not just fixing it.
Endorsement Appeals
You must have seen an advertisement where celebrities, sportsmen, and public figures are endorsing the products of some particular brands. For instance, Mila Kunis doesn’t know the brewing process of Jim Beam but she is endorsing her whisky because of her beautiful taste. The association of the actress with the brand added a stamp to the whisky brand and made it an authority figure in the industry.
Youth Appeals
Aging is the main concern for many adults, and people don’t like to grow old and want to stay young as long as they can. For instance, the Snicker advertisement focuses on a character that is suffering from hunger, crankiness, and misery in old age. It not only highlights the wishful desire to live an active and happy life, but it also targets the older audience by showing them the contrast. You can feel active, young, and excited by wearing the sinkers.
Popularity Appeals
The buzz helps companies to create the desire for the product and spread brand awareness. For instance, the trailer of the funny movie Baywatch showed 0.3 Km of the marathon in slow motion and its results were hilarious. It offers companies a reason to develop promotional material like a keychain, bumper stickers, or pens.
Musical Appeals
The musical advertisement could make or break the tone, mood, and setting of the message. For instance, the music in Kohler’s TV commercials created happy energetic vibes that the play couldn’t have achieved any other way. The music creates excitement and positive energy and makes people buy things.
Adventure Appeals
The advertisement of Jeep focuses on showing the adventure of the brand’s vehicle. It makes people join the traveling club and experience something new and exciting. However, vehicle and traveling companies focus on highlighting the adventure element of their brand to increase the sale of their product by evoking their emotions.
Empathy Appeals
Some brands and welfare organizations run public service advertising campaigns to develop emotions of empathy and compassion among them. It helps them to make people endorse and care about their cause. However, empathy means feeling the problems and worries of others in the most personal way.
Potential Appeals
It is a type that focuses on discussing the sense of empowerment that could make your dreams into reality. The building blocks puzzle game of Lego focuses on making children solve problems, visualize things, and work on making things better.
Brand Appeals
Starbucks and iPhone are examples of luxury and premium brands; the people pay them extra money to become part of something big. People have the option to buy the same product at a much lower price, but they choose to pay a much higher cost for style, packaging, design, and logo.
Pain Solutions
When people are facing problems that are causing them a lot of pain and disturbance, they have got a strong motivation for its solution. In fact, some people have clearly expressed their problem that requires resolution either in their personal life or the workplace.
The advertisement of IKEA shows the desires of people for a shelf. The company focuses on fixing the problems and offering a solution rather than selling its problems.
Scarcity Appeals
Coca-Cola launched a limited-time campaign of providing people with a personalized bottle with their name printed on it along with the company’s logo. People started rushing towards the stores to look for the printed bottles with the names of their friends and loved ones. However, the scarce time offer made people visit the company’s website and find their printed name bottle and the location of the store.
Testimonial Appeals
Speaking of testimonials comprises referrals, and written, and video reviews of people about a particular product or brand. They play a significant role on social media platforms and they make people think outside the box with such advertisement campaigns.
Contrasting Appeals
It is a type that focuses on making the comparison between yours and the product of competitors, and what factors differentiate you. the contrasting advertisement creates a desire among customers by highlighting their features, style, and various other advantages.
Status Appeals
There is a reason that people choose quality leather shoes to show their status and class. It is to show people that the person using this product has got status and class. However, fashion brands, furniture stores, vehicles, smartphones, and many other brands focus on highlighting the status element to attract the attention of people.
Statistical Appeals
A very funny advertisement shows the female version of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg waiting in lines for women’s shoes. The purpose of the message is to show the pay inequality gap between men and women with the help of real statistical figures.
Conclusion: What is Appeal in Advertising? Types of Advertising Appeals
After an in-depth study of what is appeal in advertising and; the types of advertising appeals; we have realized that advertising appeal is the key element of attracting the attention of people. If you’re launching an advertisement campaign, then you should consider using the abovementioned advertising appeals in your ad.
Ahsan Ali Shaw is an accomplished Business Writer, Analyst, and Public Speaker. Other than that, he’s a fun loving person.