Syed Azmal Hussain Wasi :
Modern advertising was introduced with the boom of mass production in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With the advent of this new term, the use of language had also gained a new identity. People came to know that they could play with language to manipulate the consumers’ thoughts and ideas.
Advertising and its use in terms of theme, language, style in this modem era is such a popular phenomenon that it indeed needs to be analysed and discussed from the point of view of a consumer (as producers are quite familiar with its ‘use’ and ‘misuse’). Before we go to the main discussion, let us have a look at what advertising is:
Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target market to purchase or to consume that particular brand (Wikipedia, 2010).
Bangladesh, however, had to wait a long time to have a strong media stream (which is the main advertising source) after it gained Independence. The major media outlets that we knew back then were BTV and Bangladesh Betar with a few newspapers namely Daily Ittefaq, Bangladesh Observer etc. For the lack of strong media out’Iets, people had much lesser scope to judge any product or service based on advertising. Some prominent products. (Tasmeri, Sharif Malamine, Tibet etc) still managed to advertise that time which, compared to the modern generation, did not have to face one tenth of the competition we have today. By the increasing demand of advertising, Bangladeshi media has grown up rapidly with the launch of private channels and newspapers. Along with the sprout of print and electronic media, many event management companies (Bitopi Advertising, Scintilla Ltd, Asiatic Marketing Communication Ltd etc) started their operations as well. With this, the demand of advertising increased to a great number.
After forty-four years of liberation, we are now familiar with ATM, Internet banking, electronic ballot, online job centers, and recently Facebook and so on. And all of these newly coined terms have come to us through a sophisticated advertising policy. However, not every product or service is accepted by the consumers. We see that people nowadays tend to opt for the products only they are convinced by. But the question is – in what way they are convinced? The answer is simple- “advertising and its strong use of language.”
What do you think is important for a successful ad? When asked this question, different groups of people (teenagers, youths and adults) have responded in different ways, but their idea did strengthen my hypothesis to a great extent.
While addressing the question, the majority of the participants said it’s ‘theme’ that makes an ad successful. Almost 36 per cent people think theme is a very important element for a successful ad. They claimed that if we do not have a strong theme as well as a good script, the ad’s success diminishes, to a great extent.
Language, side by side, appears to be another important element (32 per cent) for a successful ad. If an ad cannot convey the message it wants to tell, then it is less likely to be a successful one. Overall, theme, language and performance (in case of TV ads).
Number of radio stations, number of radio receivers, number of individuals with computers, number of individuals with Internet Access: Number of newspapers (English, Bangla, online), number of weekly/monthly magazine, determine the level of success of an ad.
Over the last years, advertising in different outlets of media in Bangladesh has boomed to a great extent.
Your eyes might not be in their right place if you have a look at the following statistics that shows tile number of existing media outlets in a small country like ours (Press Reference, n.d.)
People of this ‘Digital Bangladesh’ have been lately used to depend on what they see on TV channels, newspapers, billboards, internet, and most recently on Facebook. It has become a fashion to consume products that have highest number of ads lately. These ads, beyond any doubt, are shaping and manipulating our mentality. In this process, as I have presumed earlier, language has been taken up as a vital part of marketing.
Here is a screen shot of a popular· TV ad which shows how language can turn a TV ad to be a successful one.
This TV ad did not become popular because the subscribers loved the specific mobile operator. They rather liked the ad because the message intended to be conveyed was given by a minor girl with a cute and cuddly face. Here is what she had said to her father (through voice message) in the ad- Baba jao no, Amadar bashar moyna pakhita achhe na? Sei ajke aamar naam dhore dekechhe. Kintu ei kothata na maa kichhutei biswas korchhena … (you know Dad, the bird we have at home has addressed me by my name! But I can’t make mom believe that it has happened…)
The theme of the ad (voice message sending facility) has gained popularity hence. But the question is – would it have been a successful ad if it had appeared without the use of language? Well, it would have been like a beautiful boat without a helm, ie the audience would not have understood what the ad meant or where it wanted to direct them to. In fact, the entire message wouldn’t have been delivered.
It is important for a particular product to ‘persuade’ their customer, and in order to persuade them, the manufacturing company keeps the following elements in mind (Troup, 2004)
Persuasive Selung Copy:
This idea involves the right choice of words that put the language of an ad into motion. It is important what you say and how you say it.
Placement in Appropriate Publication: This might seem obvious, but it is often neglected. If the right people don’t see your ad, they cannot respond. Choosing the right outlet of media (electronic, print or other sources) can determine the most part of a product’s success.
Space/Price in Proportion:
A company, while promoting its product, cannot expect to sell high priced merchandise form’a small classified or one inch ad space (for print media), or a few seconds fast forwarded TV ad.
If you expect to sell directly from an ad, the size (print media), or length (electronic media) of a particular ad is important.
Now think, after seeing an ad in newspapers, billboards and on TV, what factors work for you to determine a product’s quality. Can you just understand something seeing on a billboard, which does not have a written message? No matter what other element is missing, language has to be there to tell you what it is all about.
Modern advertising was introduced with the boom of mass production in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With the advent of this new term, the use of language had also gained a new identity. People came to know that they could play with language to manipulate the consumers’ thoughts and ideas.
Advertising and its use in terms of theme, language, style in this modem era is such a popular phenomenon that it indeed needs to be analysed and discussed from the point of view of a consumer (as producers are quite familiar with its ‘use’ and ‘misuse’). Before we go to the main discussion, let us have a look at what advertising is:
Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target market to purchase or to consume that particular brand (Wikipedia, 2010).
Bangladesh, however, had to wait a long time to have a strong media stream (which is the main advertising source) after it gained Independence. The major media outlets that we knew back then were BTV and Bangladesh Betar with a few newspapers namely Daily Ittefaq, Bangladesh Observer etc. For the lack of strong media out’Iets, people had much lesser scope to judge any product or service based on advertising. Some prominent products. (Tasmeri, Sharif Malamine, Tibet etc) still managed to advertise that time which, compared to the modern generation, did not have to face one tenth of the competition we have today. By the increasing demand of advertising, Bangladeshi media has grown up rapidly with the launch of private channels and newspapers. Along with the sprout of print and electronic media, many event management companies (Bitopi Advertising, Scintilla Ltd, Asiatic Marketing Communication Ltd etc) started their operations as well. With this, the demand of advertising increased to a great number.
After forty-four years of liberation, we are now familiar with ATM, Internet banking, electronic ballot, online job centers, and recently Facebook and so on. And all of these newly coined terms have come to us through a sophisticated advertising policy. However, not every product or service is accepted by the consumers. We see that people nowadays tend to opt for the products only they are convinced by. But the question is – in what way they are convinced? The answer is simple- “advertising and its strong use of language.”
What do you think is important for a successful ad? When asked this question, different groups of people (teenagers, youths and adults) have responded in different ways, but their idea did strengthen my hypothesis to a great extent.
While addressing the question, the majority of the participants said it’s ‘theme’ that makes an ad successful. Almost 36 per cent people think theme is a very important element for a successful ad. They claimed that if we do not have a strong theme as well as a good script, the ad’s success diminishes, to a great extent.
Language, side by side, appears to be another important element (32 per cent) for a successful ad. If an ad cannot convey the message it wants to tell, then it is less likely to be a successful one. Overall, theme, language and performance (in case of TV ads).
Number of radio stations, number of radio receivers, number of individuals with computers, number of individuals with Internet Access: Number of newspapers (English, Bangla, online), number of weekly/monthly magazine, determine the level of success of an ad.
Over the last years, advertising in different outlets of media in Bangladesh has boomed to a great extent.
Your eyes might not be in their right place if you have a look at the following statistics that shows tile number of existing media outlets in a small country like ours (Press Reference, n.d.)
People of this ‘Digital Bangladesh’ have been lately used to depend on what they see on TV channels, newspapers, billboards, internet, and most recently on Facebook. It has become a fashion to consume products that have highest number of ads lately. These ads, beyond any doubt, are shaping and manipulating our mentality. In this process, as I have presumed earlier, language has been taken up as a vital part of marketing.
Here is a screen shot of a popular· TV ad which shows how language can turn a TV ad to be a successful one.
This TV ad did not become popular because the subscribers loved the specific mobile operator. They rather liked the ad because the message intended to be conveyed was given by a minor girl with a cute and cuddly face. Here is what she had said to her father (through voice message) in the ad- Baba jao no, Amadar bashar moyna pakhita achhe na? Sei ajke aamar naam dhore dekechhe. Kintu ei kothata na maa kichhutei biswas korchhena … (you know Dad, the bird we have at home has addressed me by my name! But I can’t make mom believe that it has happened…)
The theme of the ad (voice message sending facility) has gained popularity hence. But the question is – would it have been a successful ad if it had appeared without the use of language? Well, it would have been like a beautiful boat without a helm, ie the audience would not have understood what the ad meant or where it wanted to direct them to. In fact, the entire message wouldn’t have been delivered.
It is important for a particular product to ‘persuade’ their customer, and in order to persuade them, the manufacturing company keeps the following elements in mind (Troup, 2004)
Persuasive Selung Copy:
This idea involves the right choice of words that put the language of an ad into motion. It is important what you say and how you say it.
Placement in Appropriate Publication: This might seem obvious, but it is often neglected. If the right people don’t see your ad, they cannot respond. Choosing the right outlet of media (electronic, print or other sources) can determine the most part of a product’s success.
Space/Price in Proportion:
A company, while promoting its product, cannot expect to sell high priced merchandise form’a small classified or one inch ad space (for print media), or a few seconds fast forwarded TV ad.
If you expect to sell directly from an ad, the size (print media), or length (electronic media) of a particular ad is important.
Now think, after seeing an ad in newspapers, billboards and on TV, what factors work for you to determine a product’s quality. Can you just understand something seeing on a billboard, which does not have a written message? No matter what other element is missing, language has to be there to tell you what it is all about.
