Sem 14.1 T6 - T10

Sem 14.1 T6 – 10.

TOPIC 6 ADVERTISING LANGUAGE

By the end of this topic, you will be able to:

1. Describe the concept of advertising text as a discourse;

2. Explain the persuasive nature of advertising;

3. Identify the types of words in the rhetorical context and the effects of their usage;

4. List the effective strategy of language usage;

5. Explain how words function through connotation, denotation, symbol and reference; and

6. Give examples of effective languange usage in advertisment.

INTRODUCTION

Advertising language is different from other prose such as news, articles or other non-fiction writings. One of the differences is the persuasive nature of advertising language. This means that persuasive techniques are used to convey the sales message. This topic concentrates on three main things, which are the discourse, advertisement credibility and rhetorical advertising language. In the first part, advertising is analysed from the discourse perspective. This means the content of the advertisement is divided into text, which is the copy that consists of the written or uttered words; and context, which refers to the elements that become the surroundings of the text such as the material, situation, intertext, function and participant. Another aspect is the credibility of advertisements. Although the things elaborated on are factors that contribute to the credibility of the texts, which are the aspects of advertising strategy, this strategy is only looked into in terms of language usage. That is why the types of words according to their Topic 6 Advertising Language

By the end of this topic, you will be able to:

1. Describe the concept of advertising text as a discourse;

2. Explain the persuasive nature of advertising;

3. Identify the types of words in the rhetorical context and the effects

of their usage;

4. List the effective strategy of language usage;

5. Explain how words function through connotation, denotation,

symbol and reference; and

6. Give examples of effective languange usage in advertisment.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Rhetorical divisions will be explained. The third subtopic is on the rhetorical language of advertising that discusses the effective language presentation in an advertisement.

SELF-CHECK 6.1

Get a colour print advertisement from a newspaper or magazine.

Based on the advertisement, think what these elements signify:

(a) Colour

(b) Visual

(c) Slogan

(d) Headline

(e) Logo

6.1 ADVERTISING AS A DISCOURSE

The writing of copy or advertisement text is known as copywriting. The text in

advertising is known as advertising copy. As advertising copy, it is also a

discourse. A discourse is the text and context interacting together in meaning and

collectively. The main focus of the discourse is on the language but in discourse

analysis, another important element is the communication context. It means who

is communicating with whom and why; in what situation; through what

medium; how communication happens and what is the relationship between

each other (Cook, 1992).

6.1.1 Discourse Analysis

Based on the definition of discourse, it is clear that a discourse has the following

elements:

Text: a linguistic or copy form that consists of written or uttered words.

Context: elements that become the surroundings of the text. Those elements are

the following:

 Material: physical material that carries the text.

 Music: audio material that accompanies the text.

 Pictures: visual elements that accompany the text…

 Paralanguage: behaviour that has a meaning which accompanies the

language such as voice quality, body movement, facial expression, choice of

typeface, et cetera.

 Situation: the characteristic and relationship between the object and the

person that appears around the text.

 Co-text: the copy before or after the existing copy.

 Intertext: the copy owned by the other discourse but related to the existing

copy that affects the interpretation of the existing copy .

 Participant: the person who becomes the source material and its receiver in

terms of intention, interpretation, knowledge, belief, personal attitude and

feeling.

 Function: the aim of the text from the view of the source and the receiver of

the material or the aim that is perceived by the two parties.

Based on the explanation above on the concept of discourse, advertisements can

be divided into the following as shown in Table 6.1:

Table 6.1: Advertising as a Discourse

Discourse Element Advertisement 1 Advertisement 2

Context Billboard 60-second advertisement spot

Sender (source) Ministry of Health Telecommunications company

Receiver Teenager Teenager and adult

Function To warn of the dangers of

smoking

To inform about the new brand

Intertext Other billboard and

advertisements in other media

Other telecommunications

advertisements in the same

media or other media

Co-text None Advertisement in previous

campaigns

Situation Road House

Paralanguage Big and colourful letters The behaviour of characters

Material Wood and board Television screen

Picture A defective human heart Animated and static

Music None Jingle

Advertising is a type of very dominant discourse in the modern world. In terms

of function, advertisements these days offer something to all the people · fun for

the audience, professional creative work for the creative team and certain

desirable positive effects for the advertiser. At the same time, advertising and

product are filled with symbolic meanings. People will read symbolic meanings

in communication whether or not they desire it or are aware of it.

In terms of material, advertisements use the different types of media: traditional, ,

non-traditional or new forms. The various forms fulfil different aims. Firstly, the

medium used can attract attention, and secondly, the choice of medium or

medium mix helps the advertiser retain the message in the memory of the

audience. The innovative medium approach can create intrinsic interest and

prestige.

The other important elements cover language, music and visual. The other

different forms are presented as discourse. The music may be instrumental,

orchestra, solo, acoustics or amplification. The pictures may be static, mobile,

cartoon, illustration or photography. The language may be uttered, sung, written

or declaimed. The choice and combination of elements have certain desirable

effects for the source and are perceived or accepted by the audience.

6.1.2 Persuasive Discourse

Copywriting is persuasive writing or discourse. It is very suitable with the

popular advertising definition by Bovee and Arens (1982) that combines the

definition of The American Marketing Association and the definition by Gilson-

Berkman, which is: ‘non-personal communication or information usually paid

for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by

identified sponsors through various media’. (Refer Topic 1)

The definition states that advertising is ‘usually persuasive in nature’. That is

why it is clear that advertising can be categorised as a persuasive discourse,

whether it is rational persuasion or emotive persuasion or a combination of both.

Generally, however, copywriting is a form of writing in marketing

communications that aims to convey the messages of the product, service and

idea or to convey the organizational messages for certain purposes such as

selling, display of an image and identity, change of attitude, et cetera. Actually,

this is closely related to the advertising concept itself, which is the non-personal

communication of the product, service or idea.

In product and service advertisements, the advertising copy tries to describe or

explain of a product or service advertised and persuade or convince the audience

to buy and use the product or service, or change the opinion or perception of the

audience towards the product. Copywriting is closely related to the whole

marketing and branding process of a product or service. A good advertising copy

will facilitate the marketing strategy in the effort to convince the consumer.

6.2 RHETORICAL ADVERTISING LANGUAGE

Rhetoric means using language effectively. An advertisement places great

emphasis on rhetoric because of time and space constraints. An advertisement

cannot afford to waste words because of those constraints. Imagine what you can

convey, in less than a minute, to the audiences who are not paying full attention

and there is competition from many other advertising messages. So, there is no

other way but to use as few words as possible with the greatest impact.

In rhetorical studies, there are many ways to use language effectively.

6.2.1 Emphatic Language

Emphatic means firm, strong and with self-determination. In speech, we stress an

idea through various ways such as speaking loudly, softly or slowly, separating

words with care, changing the tone of words, et cetera. We also stress our words

by using body language · pointing with fingers, moving hands, wrinkling the

face, et cetera.

As the ways mentioned above cannot be used by the writer, what needs to be

done is to translate them into the form of writing. One of the usual ways is by

utilising certain symbols, such as the punctuation mark. The emphatic sentence is

used for emphasis rhetorically.

Characteristics of the emphatic sentence:

 Emphatic sentence is the most apparent type of sentence. This does not mean

that the emphatic sentence is superior. It emphasises more compared with

other sentences, is more apparent and attracts more attention.

 The emphasis in a sentence does not cover the whole sentence, only a part of

it.

Types of emphatic sentence: Some of the methods of emphasis with examples are

presented below:

 Announcement

Example: Good news for busy housewives.

 Balance

Example: Roses are red; violets are blue.

 Fragment

Example: Pureen Baby Bath with vitamin E. Soft. Refreshing.

 Order

Example: Prevent dirt with Biowash.

 Negative-positive statement

Example: Don’ miss it; get it fast.

 Periodic sentence

Example: If you want calmness, peacefulness; and if you want a comfortable

and happy holiday, this is the most suitable place for you and your family.

 Rhetorical Question

Example: Did you know that every baby has rashes?

 Rhythm and Rhyme

Example: More functions, more perfection.

 Short sentence

Example: The Ditto Stereo is easy to install. You just need to straighten the

lever. Then, press the button. The Ditto Stereo will continue to work.

6.2.2 Figurative

Figurative language communicates via analogy. A thing is compared to another

and the comparison invites the reader to appreciate the similarity. When the

language is easy, direct and clear-cut, and when it uses words to convey

conventional meanings, the language is called literal language.

The word ÂliteralÊ originates from the Latin term litera that means letter. A literal

thing is according to letter, which follows the literal meaning. Literal meaning is

the meaning recorded in the dictionary. It is the same as the basic letters of words

that we use.

On the other hand, figurative language shows the meaning of a word or

expression that has been expanded to fill a wider or different space from the

original. The writer or speaker is able to expand it because there is a similarity or

relationship between the two things that make the context apparent. Examples of

figurative language are the following:

(a) Metaphor: Metaphor is a form of comparison. It expresses the comparison

literally and implicitly. It does not mean that the things compared possess

the same characteristics, or that they are the same things. Actually they are

not. The meaning is that one thing is used to represent the other.

(b) Simile: Like the metaphor, the simile also makes a comparison. However, in

the comparison process, it uses the words likeand as. Simile is used for

some purposes just like the metaphor. Effective use of metaphor and simile

must meet some of the following conditions:

(i) It must be fresh and original. Simile and metaphor that are clichés

cannot have strong effects.

(ii) The thing used for comparison must be suitable with the subject

presented.

(iii) It must be in accord with the background context.

(iv) It should not be used frequently, anytime or anywhere.

(c) Allusion: Allusion is a brief reference of famous people, places or events.

Sometimes, the reference is made very clear. Allusion is a form of

comparison to describe something more clearly and graphically. The use of

allusion must come with awareness so that the audience knows and is

familiar with the reference used. If the reference is uncommon, the reader

will not be able to imagine the comparison. In fact, they may feel frustrated

or angry.

The reference in an allusion can be turned into the following: Human

character, Place, Event, Speech, Expression or Passage. No matter what

reference is made and what the source is, the allusion must be suitable and

appropriate with the thing written and explains the thing as well as appears

in the range of the reader’s knowledge.

Besides the reference of human character, there are also time, place, event

and words references.

(d) Personification: Personification means giving human characteristics to

things or animals. Basically, this is a form of specific metaphor.

Personification that uses the third person pronoun to refer to non-human

things is the easiest and commonest situation. If the opposite happens,

where humans are given non-human characteristics, then the concept is

called depersonification.

(e) Hyperbole: Using words in an exaggerated way to explain something. It is

not used for literal persuasion purposes but to increase the effect or to

produce certain effects. The opposite of hyperbole is understatement, which

expresses something great by using simple or moderate language.

However, as mentioned previously, an exaggerated statement must not be

execessive to the point of breaking the promises made.

(f) Imagery: Image is created by words or expressions that are visualised by

the senses. It is classified according to the appeal of the senses. The visual

image is usually used to describe something graphically. Image is also

related to the sense of smell, taste or the sensation of movement and

balance. The sensation of movement or balance is also called kinesthetic

image. Usually, the use of this method will make the presentation more

exciting, effective and not boring because the reader is asked to imagine the

images presented either concretely or impressionistically.

6.2.3 Denotation and Connotation

The meaning of words may be divided generally into two categories. The first is

denotation or explicit meaning. The second is connotation or implicit meaning.

Those meanings can be divided into two only, which are the connotative meaning

and the denotative meaning semantically.

Reference and denotation (explicit meaning) are not difficult to handle. The

difficult ones are connotation (implicit meaning) and evaluation. They are the

meanings in the second stage that require sensitivity on the part of the writer.

Connotation is an effective way to convey emotional evaluation, for instance, in

persuasive writing such as advertising, eulogy, speech, et cetera. A good writer

will be able to master connotations to widen the dimension of arrangement and

link it to the writing. A bad writer allows unneeded connotations to weaken and

confuse the flow of language and ideas.

Example:

 Your baby needs a clean diaper all the time to prevent rashes.

 Your pampered one is clean and fresh all day with Pampers.

The words ‘baby’ and the pampered one have only one reference: a newborn

child. However, the pampered one contains the meaning of love and cuteness. It

not only refers to a newborn child but also the attitude of the writer. The word

ÂbabyÊ is a physical reference and denotation and the meaning of Âthe pampered

oneÊ is a connotation, which is a combination of the physical reference and the

attitude of the writer towards it.

The denotative and connotative use of words are sometimes called the scientific

use and poetic use. Scientific writing uses the literal and denotative meaning and

it does not hide the meaning in the second layer.

6.2.4 Symbol and Reference

A word is the symbol of experience. It represents whatever we see, taste, listen

and smell. It also represents the attitude and thinking as a result of the

experience. The word itself is not an experience. We don’t drink the word ‘water’,

ride the word ‘bicycle’, or rest with the word ‘sleep’, but we use them to

represent those experiences. That is why we say that a word is the symbol of

experience. The words referred to, which are ‘water’, ‘bicycle’, ‘sleep’, are

references. The relationship between the word and the reference is a mental

relationship. The word makes us think about the reference and it is the thinking

that gives the word meaning.

However, those symbols are not in the form of words only, but like

advertisements, there are graphic elements that become the symbols of the

meanings. The colours used, the lines made and the pictures displayed have

meanings behind them. The research of these symbols is called semiotics or

semiology. Semiotics uses the sign terminology to explain how these symbols are

produced socially and the meanings that can be related to it.

ACTIVITY 6.1

What is the connotation of the following product names? Can

these names be categorised according to groups such as male and

female groups, children and adult groups or other groups?

 Cintan Instant Noodles

 Avena Cooking Oil

 Wee Wee Baby Diaper

 Farm Best Chicken Sausage

 Mamil Milk Powder

 Beutex Facial Tissue

 Bom Bom Ice Cream

 Trojan Washing Powder

 Nuodi Wall Fan

6.3 FORMS OF LANGUAGE

The various types of languages can be seen through their usage in the social level.

These includes formal and informal languages, which are the types of languages

used in a situation, whether officially or unofficially.

6.3.1 Formal and Standard Language

Formal language is a form of language accepted and used officially. It is usually

used in writing but also frequently used orally, such as in speeches, debates, at

official functions, forums or education classes. According to some people, the

standard language is the perfect Malay language in terms of language usage,

such as the correct spelling, grammar, terminology, word usage, language

register and pronunciation.

However, if we look into the ‘standard’ concept, the standard language means

the language with standard usage. In this context, the standard language is used

in the standard colloquial language, standard formal language and standard

informal language. They are individually used by certain groups or as a standard

in certain situations.

6.3.2 Informal Language

Informal language is placed between the formal and colloquial stages. It is not

that formal and also not that colloquial. This form of language exists frequently in

speech or writing. When we speak in formal or not so formal situations, we tend

to use this form. The sentence pattern is informal but not too colloquial either

The speaker may use the words learnt but he or she will prefer idiomatic

statements more.

Colloquial: The language used in everyday conversations. In the Malay language,

ZaÊba referred to the spoken language as ‘the speaking style’ and the written

language as the ‘letter style’. Sentences in colloquial language do not strictly

observe grammar rules. Colloquial language also includes popular words and

idiomatic phrases. Colloquial language has short sentences, incomplete grammar,

more rhetorical tools and slang, and ignores words learnt, has short grammar

structure, sounds personal, et cetera.

Slang: In spoken language, there is another style of language called slang. Slang

is used by unofficial social groups. Normally, the groups will invent words that

express certain meanings in their social circle. The word may have another

meaning if looked into literally. For example, ‘fire’, ‘roll’ and ‘piss’ have other

meanings and the understanding is limited to particular social groups or circles.

If the words are used in other places or situations, the meaning will be different.

These groups are usually young people or teenagers. They invent slang to

differentiate their group from a bigger social group. Normally, the invention of

these words is contemporary and last as long as those small groups exist. Those

words will disappear gradually. Their use at the standard level will not occur and

are regarded as a type of language pollution.

This variation of spoken language is used by Malays as colloquial language. That

is why each place or district will have its own style. The dialect in one area differs

from that of another area. Besides that, idiolect is one of the characteristics of

spoken language. Idiolect is an individual person’s particular and unique way of

using language. Some people speak with a nasal tone even though the words are

not nasal words and some t people stutter.

Demotic language: Another variation of the spoken language is demotic

language. This form of language is uttered by the Malays and other races such as

the Chinese or Indians or among the different races in this country. In this

language, there is a mix with other languages such that Za’ba called the demotic

language a hybrid language. In a conversation between the Malays and other

races who cannot speak Malay well, a style of language that combines Malay,

Chinese, Malay-Tamil and Malay-Baba languages appear. The Malays will

usually try to simplify the arrangement of sentences for the comprehension of

other races.

Dialectal language: The language used in a certain district or region by a group

of people in the society. Dialectal language is related to regionalism and it is

called dialect. So, the dialectal language or dialect is the language used in a

district or an area in a country with its own form of speech and is different from

the general pronunciation in the country.

Among the different characteristics are pronunciation, style of uttering and

different words or phrases.

Dialectal language exists in different places. Because of the differences, the

speakers will form a relationship based on the language shared without any

intention of changing it. The language originates from a particular place only.

Some of the dialects in this country include the Penang, Kedah, Perlis, Pahang,

Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Johore, Pahang, Terengganu,

Kelantan, Sarawak and Sabah dialects. In each of the states, there are individual

divisions. For example, Perak has the Parit Buntar dialect (that resembles the

Penang dialect), Kuala Kangsar dialect, et cetera.

6.3.3 Language Register

The variety of languages is seen from the aspect of register. Register regards the

language as a discourse, and in fact, it is an alternative for it. In accord with the

development of Malaysian society, the Malay language has expanded until it

touches some of new fields. Many of these fields are specific fields and Malay

language users have to invent special styles that are suitable for these fields.

That’s why we can see many language registers such as literary, non-literary, law,

science and technology, economy, journalism, et cetera.

The Malay language has gone through the modernization process to fulfil the

various needs of the tasks. Although the standard Malay has been fixed by an

established system, its use in certain academic fields and genres is still different.

The language used to talk about law affairs is different from the language used in

literature, science, history, et cetera. Besides that, the language used in magazines

and newspapers is different from the language used in academic, children and

popular books. The fixed language style in a certain field and genre is called the

register.

Register is the style or way of using a language. Nik Safiah said the language

register is a language variation that can be chosen from a group of language

variations that exists in every speaker. The things that determine the register are

the vocabulary, grammar, arrangement of phrases and arrangement of a

sentences. For example, different language registers can be seen between normal

academic writing and journalism language. The language in academic writing

uses many passive sentences, while in the news reporting language, many active

sentences are used.

6.4 ADVERTISEMENT WRITING

The body of an advertisement is the text written or uttered. Depending on the

objective of the advertisement, the text is written either long or short. An

advertisement that adopts the informational strategy usually uses many words

and has a long body. Besides that, a product in the introductory stage needs to

convey more information to the audience who do not know about the product in

terms of its characteristic, usage and speciality. Some types of advertising only

use text without visuals. Recruitment advertisements usually need more space for

the text to include information on the conditions of application, job description

and background.

ACTIVITY 6.2

Based on Figure 6.1, answer the following questions.

Figure 6.1: Sunkist advertisement

1. The advertisement above uses a form of informal language.

What is the stage of usage? Give your reason by classifying

the types of words or phrases.

2. Try to change the usage to a more formal form. Rewrite the

text in the formal form.

No matter what the form or length, advertisement text must have certain general

characteristics to ensure that it is effective. The characteristics are explained

below:

6.4.1 Accurate and Clear Writing

Accuracy is seen in our ability to choose suitable words to convey an idea. If the

language is fixed and stable, it is not difficult for us to create accuracy. However,

this is not so. As long as language is used continuously, it will change in accord

with the change of times. This means some words will become obsolete, out-of-

date and eventually no longer used. New words will appear and be used. During

their life span, some words will go through a change even though the change is

subtle. In the long term, the subtle change will become significant. Take, for

example, the word ÂbookÊ. The traditional concept of a book is printed material

but through technology advancement, we should broaden our thinking to give

the book wider space, so that it includes the electronic book. Can you think of

other terms?

To produce accurate writing, we must be sensitive to the meaning of the words

used. There are two types of meaning, which are connotative meaning and

denotative meaning, as explained earlier. Not all words have strong connotations.

Some are quite neutral. For example, some words have negative or positive

connotations when they are used in a sentence. However, the same word used in

a different context does not necessarily have a negative or positive connotation.

In addition, a different word may have a positive, negative or neutral connotation

if used in the same context.

Three Important Choices: The three basic elements to achieve accuracy in

sentence usage:

(i) Diction

There are no rules in word usage, whether in formal or informal writing.

The easiest guide is that in a formal situation, use formal writing. Usually,

advertising writing uses the informal approach but that also depends on the

audience, advertising objective and product identity.

(ii) The Degree of Clarity

Clear language is needed to express our thoughts effectively. We ourselves

must first be clear about what our idea is and the selling message. When

the idea is written, can the target reader understand our message? This

question demands us to think and state the idea evidently, clearly and

apparently so that the reader will understand it. So, how do we know the

writing is evident, clear and apparent?

To look at the factors of clarity in writing, try to answer this question first:

What makes a writing unclear, obscure, ambiguous and the meaning

confusing? Imagine a clear passage and one that is confusing.

Every writing has a message to be conveyed to the reader. Every writing

has a purpose. The purpose cannot be achieved if the message is unclear.

Effective communication focuses on a clear message.

(iii) The Degree of Concreteness and Specialisation

Concrete and specialised terms usually have more accurate and clearer

images compared with abstract and general terms. Abstract terms touch on

general matter or concepts that are hard to imagine. Adjectival terms offer a

wider choice. There are many adjectival terms that can illustrate various

concrete pictures. The same applies to verbal terms that go through an

adjectival transformation. Although originally verbs, they play the role of

adjectives. That is why the degree of strength or concreteness may be

different.

The choice of words depends on the writing context. We cannot choose

based on the attractiveness of the term only. It must suit the type of essay,

the purpose and style of the essay. What is clear is that language can be

divided into concrete and abstract words.

Generally, a concrete word is a type of word that gives a clear image in the

mind of the reader. The concrete word explains something that can be felt

and detected by our senses. In other words, the concrete word can be

detected by the eye, ear, tongue, nose and hand. Whereas the abstract word,

refers to a quality or value. The abstract word cannot be detected by the

five senses. This makes the image of the abstract word unclear compared

with concrete words.

Table 6.2: Concrete and Abstract Words

Concrete Word Abstract Word

Wall

Cloud

Aeroplane

Shoe

Elbow

Button

House

Radio

Beautiful

Beauty

Relieved

Relief

Fragrant

Scent

Tastiness

Relief

It is clear that abstract and concrete terms are used to differentiate words that

refer to values, characteristics and concepts that we know intellectually and

objects that we perceive through our senses. If we claim that a product has a

trigger, button, air opening or the product is white and with edges, we are

actually using concrete words to explain what we see. Whereas if we say that a

product is fragrant or has a scent, is tasty and delicious, we are actually using

abstract words that refer to mental concepts.

Although the characteristics of a product make us think that it is fragrant, tasty

and delicious, actually it does not have a sense reference · it cannot be seen,

tasted, heard, smelled or touched.

Abstract and concrete words cannot be separated from human communications.

The word summarises an action and object that would become complicated and

long if its characteristics are listed in detail without a summary. Besides that, we

can apply the meaning and pattern to our lives. Imagine what would happen if

we do not have the word „relief or relieve‰ to describe or summarise the

characteristic of a product. You may say that the product:

(a) unclogs your nostrils,

(b) makes you feel energetic, and

(c) makes you work again like usual.

Without the word ‘relief’, you will not be able to imagine that the concept has

another similar meaning. You can only list the meaning but cannot make a

conclusion from it. It is clear that the concrete and abstract words have different

effects and functions. You only need to decide what effects you want to achieve

and what functions need to be taken to determine the type of words to be used.

This helps you to use a suitable word effectively.

6.4.2 Precise Writing

Precision is the economical aspect of writing. Advertising copy is the most

economical type of text compared with other types of texts. Slogan, which is an

important component in the advertisement, is an economical expression. The

headline and text are also presented precisely. Economy and the qualities related

to it, which are easy, simple and solid, are usually regarded as a form of good

and effective writing. Economy is illustrated through the precision of a language,

which means using accurate and solid language to convey meaning, without

long-winded sentences that weaken the meaning.

Economy in a sentence is a relationship between the number of words used and

the meaning that needs to be conveyed. Economical sentences are not necessarily

short. Long sentences may not be long-winded. A good reader will be able to

determine whether a sentence is economical.

Sometimes the explanation of a sentence is not only wasted but annoys the reader

or the reader does not want to continue reading. It causes many interruptions and

does not convey the appropriate meaning.

The principles of forming a precise sentence are:

 Choose an accurate word to convey a concept.

 Do not use long phrases or sentences if there is a short word or phrase.

 Do not use jargon, uncommon and scientific terms if there is are better or

more suitable terms.

 Do not repeat a word or concept that has the same, or almost the same,

meaning. For the reader, words are frequently wasted because they do not

expand the idea.

6.4.3 Fresh Writing

Many sentences look as if they are produced by a machine. They do not look

fresh; they are rigid, lifeless and mechanical, and the flow is neither smooth nor

exciting. Such writing is void of life, feeling and animation in .

Some writers think that if they are attracted to something, the reader will feel the

same. That seldom happens. The more the writer tells, the more bored the reader

becomes. The writer needs to write what he/she sees, feels, hears and thinks, but

not tell all that to the reader.

6.4.4 Readable Writing

All the characteristics mentioned above contribute to readability. A readable

sentence is a sentence that has the following characteristics from the view of the

target reader:

 easy to read

 fluent to read, and

 interesting to read

An accurate, economical, fresh and clear sentence is easy to read or readable. The

reader will enjoy reading it because he/she will understand and feel exciting

reading it.

6.4.5 Lisguistic Accuracy

Language is a medium of writing. Mastering a language is the prerequisite of

effective writing. Language accuracy refers to the correct usage in terms of its

rules.

 Spelling: name of a person, organization, place and words that have spelling

variations.

 Grammar: covers the aspect of forming a grammatical sentence.

 Punctuation: the use of punctuation effectively and accurately.

 Consistency: mechanical consistency that covers capitalisation, spelling, word

usage, symbols and signs.

6.4.6 Linkage

Something that is linked portrays beauty, affection and connection. A linked

essay is an arranged and orderly essay with the ideas connected and linked to

each other.

 The fixing of a main idea.

 The focus of the idea is maintained through the control of the subject and its

focus.

 A smooth flow of the sentence without idea gaps among the sentences.

 Transaction markers in the form of conjunctions: though, after, although,

until, since, because, as, while.

 References in the form of repetition of important words and pronouns.

 Transaction markers according to points (one, two, three and so on to stress

the important points).

 Sequence markers such as first, after that, finally.

Abstract Word

Bombastic Word

Cliche

Colloquialism

Concrete Word

General Word

Jargon

Popular Word

Specific Word

ACTIVITY 6.3

Read the advertisement copy below and answer the following

questions.

STM COMMUTER ASSURANCE OF COMFORT QUICK TO DESTINATION.

The STM Commuter is clearly the most accurate choice to fulfil your travel

needs to reach your destination. It brings you to the destination quickly,

comfortably and safely. Now, with the strategic network of stations, the STM

Commuter makes your journey safer and more efficient.

SAVE TIME SAVE ENERGY AND SAVE MONEY ONLY WITH US IN STM COMMUTER.

Free!

Single Journey

Please cut this coupon to enable you

to go to any destinations connected by the STM COMMUTER.

Show this coupon to the nearest STM COMMUTER ticket counter.

Question:

1. How clear is the text? Give your reasons.

2. How precise is it? Give your reasons.

3. Do you think the text is fresh? Explain by giving some reasons.

SELF ASSESSMENT 1

1. List both the concrete and abstract words used in an advertisement that you recognise.

2. List both the general and specific words that are used in an advertisement that you recognise.

3. What is ambiguous meaning? Give some examples.

4. List five concrete words and five abstract words.

5. List the types of emphatic sentences.

SELF ASSESSMENT2

1. Do a discourse or discourse analysis division on the advertising campaign

‘Tak Nak’. Present your division in a table.

2. Give examples of sentences that use the following strategy. Your example

can be based on advertising copy or non-advertising copy.

 Announcement Sentence

 Balance

 Fragment

3. What is literal language and figurative language? Give examples.

4. Explain what is explicit meaning and implicit meaning. What is the explicit

meaning and implicit meaning of these sentences?

 The letter from my father that I couldn’t find for 20 years.

 Nivea appreciates the facial skin of a young man.

5. In your opinion, what is fresh writing? How do you create freshness in

writing?

Baldwin, Huntley (1982). Creating Eeffective TV Ccommercials. Chicago: Crain

Books.

Cook, Guy. (1992). The Ddiscourse of Aadvertising. London and New York:

Routledge.

Duncan, Tom (2005). Principles of Aadvertising and IMC. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Norins, Hanley (1980). The Complete Copywriter. Malabar Florida: Robert E.

Krieger Publishing Company.

Olins, W. (1990). The Ccorporate Ppersonality. London: The Design Council.

Pickton, D. & Broderick, A. (2005). Integrated Mmarketing Ccommunication.

London: Prentice Hall.

TOPIK 7 Elements of Advertising Copy

By the end of this topic, you will be able to:

1. Define the concept of slogan and the characteristics that develop it;

2. Discuss the concept of corporate identity and the ideas related to it;

3. Identify the elements of print media advertisements; and

4. Explain the elements of electronic media.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

7.1 CORPORATE IMAGE

All organizations want to be perceived in a positive light in the minds of the

audiences. The public’s perceptions, views and opinions of an organization are

important in determining the life and death of the company. An organization can

get positive responses via a positive image. Any elements that taint the image

will be avoided. Marketing communications campaigns are needed to create a

positive image.

Corporate identity: Corporate identity is the external image that an organization

wants to project. A company’s identity is made known through the way it is

projected and how it conducts its activities. It is clear that corporate identity is

the basic introduction for an organization. The personality of an organization is

also expressed through its corporate identity. The corporate identity creates the

corporate image, which is the audience’s perception of the organization based on

that identity.

So, the corporate identity is the means by which the corporate personality is

projected, disseminated and conveyed. This identity is displayed through

external signs. Berstein said the corporate identity is the ‘clothes and

mannerisms of the organization. Everything the organization does transmits a

message’. The external signs or ‘clothes’ must be consistent so that they will not

cause ambiguity and confusion.

Corporate identity focuses on four areas, which are product, environment,

communication and behaviour. Corporate identity is also closely related to

marketing, advertising, public relations and human resource development. One

of the important aspects of corporate identity is graphic communications done

through the use of branding elements, trademark, company logo, company

stamp, product packaging, product label, et cetera.

Corporate Personality: Corporate personality is the mix of attitudes,

characteristics and enthusiasm displayed by an organization. The meaning is the

same as for individual personality which can be seen intellectually and

behaviourally. Corporate personality is something that lasts and is formed over a

long process. However, the personality transformation can take place easily

through collaboration, absorption, acquisition or changing processes at the

higher management level. According to Olins (1990), the corporate personality is

‘the soul, the persona, the spirit, the culture or the organization manifested in

some way’. According to Pickton & Broderick (2005), the corporate personality is

the ‘raw material’ of corporate identity.

Branding and brand: Branding explains the values generated in the minds of the

consumer as a result of its campaigns or marketing communications activities. As

a marketing tool, branding not only places the name or symbol of a product so

that the company can be recognised, it also covers all kinds of displays and

activities to differentiate a product and company and to create economical value

for the customer and the organization.

The brand is the name, term, symbol, logo, design or any characteristics that can

differentiate the product produced by a company from that of another company.

The brand consists of a word or term that names a product, service or a range of

products. The logo, which is different from the brand, is an element of the brand

and is usually not a word or something like the brand but is created in the form

of a symbol and picture.                 

A positive corporate image is clearly important for an organization. Every

company will work hard to create such an image in the eyes of the audience. This

is done through the activities of corporate communications as well as actions and

organizational behaviour. In reality, an organization has different images because

each targeted group has different objectives and interests. For example, the target

groups that consist of the local community, investors, employees, suppliers and

customers may have different perceptions because of different transactions.

However, the essence of the image must be consistent and the difference that

appears is just for image emphasis, and is not an important characteristic of the

image.

7.2 ADVERTISING SLOGAN

One of the functions of a slogan is to build the image of an organization and

convey the sales messages effectively. Slogan is an important creative idea in

marketing communications.

7.2.1 Slogan Concept

Slogan is a recognition tool that consists of smart phrases and expressions that

function as a form of recognition for the brand, organisational image, campaign

theme or marketing communication image. The word ‘slogan’ is known

differently in various countries.

In the United Kingdom, slogan is also called ‘endlines’ or ‘straplines’. In USA, it

is also known as ‘tags’, ‘tag lines’, ‘taglines’ or ‘theme lines’. Besides that, slogan

is related to the term ‘slogan’s’, which is the slogan that exists through the logo. It

usually becomes the trade mark that is known variously as TM Trade Marks (UK),

TM Trademarks (USA), SM Service Marks (USA), ® Registered Trade Marks (UK)

and ® Registered Trademarks (USA).

In his book, Creative Advertising, Charles L. Whittier said slogan:

⁄should be a statement of such merit about a product or service that is worthy

of continuous repetition in advertising, is worthwhile for the public to remember,

and is phrased in such a way that the public is likely to remember it.

Based on this description, the slogan has the following characteristics:

 It is a statement on the speciality of the product or service.

 It is worth repeating.

 It is important for the audience to remember it.

 It is easy to remember.

As a statement that highlights the speciality of the product, it needs to be

repeated so that it is stuck in the mind and brings back memory and

reminiscence. A slogan placed at the end of an advertisement is a farewell

statement that follows the company logo and should leave a lasting impression.

7.2.2 Slogan Writing

If we look at interesting slogans, they demonstrate many characteristics. Some of

them are brief, easily expressed, easy to understand, neat, compact, et cetera. Try

to think of titles of books, songs or films that illustrate those characteristics. As in

slogans, the titles of those creative masterpieces are also marketing

communication expressions that intend to sell ideas, attract attention and create

interest.

According to Timothy R. V. Foster in ADSlogans Unlimited

(www.adslogans.co.uk), a slogan must have the following characteristics (Figure

7.1):

Figure 7.1: Characteristics of slogan

Figure 7.2: Characteristics to be avoided

Based on Foster’s list, the following is an explanation of the important

characteristics of slogan.

Easy to remember: Memorability is related to the ability to remember phrases

easily. This mainly depends on the brand legacy and how many times it is used

over a long period of time. However, if it is a new slogan, what are the ways to

make it easy to remember? One way is to turn it into a great idea, which is the

most important message in the advertisement. The more phrases that illustrate or

highlight the main idea, the easier it will be remembered. Besides that, ideally, it

must be easy and interesting to be expressed just like the following:

 Finger licking good

 Singer at home worldwide

 Beanz meanz Heinz

 Where’s the beef?

 Don’t dream it. Drive it.

Besides that, the usual way used to make a slogan easy to remember is through

the use of provocative and relevant expressions with illustrations or stories,

newly coined words, puns, jingles and rhythmical words.

Figure 7.3: Examples of slogans that use puns

Reminds us of the brand: Ideally, slogan needs to include the name of the

product or brand. The absence of identity causes the slogan to be used and

related to any product. However, this is from the point of idealness. ‘Once

driven, forever smitten’ is an interesting slogan but it leaves out the name

Vauxhall. This may cause other products or brands to be remembered. The way a

slogan connects the expression with the product can be done through the

rhyming method, which is the rhythmical slogan with the brand.

Examples:

 City Link: City Linking, smart thinking

 Granada: Ads work harder in the new Granada

 Quavers: The flavour of a Quaver is never known to waver

 Thomas Cook: Don’t just book it, Thomas cook it

 Mars: A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play

Includes the main benefit: The opportunity to include the main benefit should

not be in the slogan. As a farewell expression, the audience needs to be provided

with words that leave an impression in their minds and those words should

focus on the main benefits besides the brand.

Examples of usage:

 Polaroid: The fun develops instantly

 Weight Watchers: Taste. Not waist

 Holiday Inn: Pleasing people the world over

 Philips: The best way to get music out of your system

 The Economist: Free enterprise with every issue

Some of the slogans that do not include the main benefit clearly:

 AT&T: It’s all part of the I Plan from AT&T (there is criticism that says this

slogan can be changed to „It’s all part of the @h’jycck from AT&T‰ because

‘I Plan’ has no meaning)

 Exxon: We’re Exxon

 Showerlux: No wonder we’re ahead

Differentiates the brand: Product differentiation creates the differences that

attract the target audiences. In the advertising campaign, nothing is more

important than telling the consumer that the product is different from other

products. This should not be done in a slogan statement.

 British Rail: Let the train take the strain

 Timex watch: Takes a Linking and keeps on ticking

 Metropolitan Home: Mode for your abode

 Tesco: The price is dropping on your weekly shopping

 Ariel Ultra: Not just nearly clean, but really clean

Instils a positive feeling about the brand: Some expressions are neutral and do

not show any values. For example, the slogans „Star Brand Lamp‰ and ‘Moon

Brand Cough Syrup’ are neutral.

However, the expressions that leave lasting impressions are words that have

some positive values.

Example:

 Cooking oil: The oil used for generations

 Furniture: The original Malay culture furniture carving

 Carpet: The Biggest Carpet Store in Malaysia

 Dispenser: Automatic softener dispenser

ă simple and easy to use

 Washing liquid: Washes more clothes

Illustrates the brand personality: Every product has its own personality and

identity. Personality is illustrated in many ways, including the slogan. According to

the definition in the dictionary, personality means ‘habitual patterns and qualities of

behaviour of any individual as expressed by physical and mental activities and

attitudes; distinctive individual qualities of a person considered collectively’.‰

Try comparing the pairs of slogans below and think which one really illustrates

the brand personality.

 Car A: Think small

 Car B: As good as it looks

 Fast Food A: Did somebody say McDonald’s?

 Fast Food B: A sandwich served with an east coast style and a midwest smile!

 Credit Card A: Don’t leave home without it. YES!

 Credit Card B: Money talks. NO!

Slogans that need to be avoided: A few things should be avoided in slogan

writing as these make the expression weak and ineffective. One, slogans that

cannot be connected to the brand. Those are open statements that may be specific

but do not refer to any specific product or brand. So, they can be used or

included in any campaign. This, of course, will not achieve the aim of the

campaign. Some slogans are the same or nearly the same and used by many

companies to market their products. This is because the expressions chosen do

not have any references.

Example:

 Our customers are given priority.

 Your satisfaction is guaranteed.

 Glorious and well-known.

 Satisfaction guaranteed.

 Only the best.

ACTIVITY 7.1

Look at the examples of A and B below. In your opinion, what are

the positive and negative characteristics of the slogans. Discuss.

7.3 ELEMENTS OF PRINT ADVERTISEMENT

In print media advertisements, the elements of presentation consist of the

heading, sub-heading, body copy, logo, et cetera. This section discusses some of

the important elements.

7.3.1 Heading and Sub-heading

The heading or headline has words, phrases or clauses in the most significant

and glaring position. This is the text that is read first. So, its position is strategic

and the size used is usually bigger than other types. The aim of the heading is to

attract attention before the reader continues to read the body text. That is why

the writing of the heading headline is regarded as critical.

The heading needs to be written effectively because an interesting headline tends

to attract the attention of the reader. What is an effective heading? Usually the

copywriter will try to choose interesting words, expressions that explain the

visual, unique orrhythmical expressions or other different methods. Besides that,

the position of the headline is usually at eye level, which is a little higher than the

actual centreof the advertisement. The headline is used by the reader to scan

through advertisement content. This is done quickly and if the headline does not

attract the reader, he or she will turn to the other pages. As with news or article

headings, the headline contains the essence of the advertisement content if it has

to be informative and descriptive. If the headline is in the form of a teaser, it may

not give information related to the content. On the contrary, it will focus on

attracting attention.

Normally the reader just scans the headline. Ideally, it should present the

sales message completely. If not, the message will probably be a piece of writing

only. The headline should also be brief. David Ogilvy said the longest headline

he had ever written contained 18 words. Studies show that many headlines have

only about eight words.

The sub-heading is an additional heading that is in smaller point size than the

headline. The subheading placed above the headline is called the ‘kicker’ and the

subheading placed directly below is called the ‘deck’. Just like the headline, the

sub-heading also conveys the main sales message quickly so that the reader can

scan the sub-heading to see whether they are interested in the content of the

copy.

7.3.2 Important Elements of Copywriting

There are a few important elements in the production of the text or copy script.

However, not all elements must be present in every copy that is produced. The

copywriter has the freedom to include all the elements or just concentrate on a

few elements. What is important is the meaning of the copy must be conveyed as

well as possible. All the designs and illustrations in the advertisement must first

be confirmed and agreed by the customer before they are inserted in any of the

media.

The illustration also plays an important role in determining the effectiveness of

the copy text. Illustration and text should complement each other to convey the

advertising message.

Headline: There are a few terms that illustrate the headline: title, head, main

heading and subheading. What is meant here is how the separate words or

phrases are presented. The purpose is to shorten the text or to express the essence

of the text under it. Besides that, the purpose of the headline is to attract

attention, persuade and inform the reader so that he/she will continue reading.

The terms used may be different and need to be explained.

The term ‘headline’ actually refers to the text. Its main function is to become the

name or title of the text. There are a few concepts for the headline, which are the

title, head, sub-headline, the subheading and the accompanying heading such as

the deck and the kicker.

 Title: A name for the whole text, for instance, book title, magazine title, film

title, documentary title and novel title.

 Headline: A name given to an article, a commentary, chapter, book section, a

part of a book or a discourse that is released in any of the media. However,

the term ‘headline’ is generally quite neutral and can also refer to a title or

other titles.

 Sub-headline: In a newspaper or magazine, it is called the ‘deck’ if it is

directly below the headline. Its function is to further explain the headline.

Besides that, the is The purpose of a subheading directly above the headline,

called ‘kicker’ or ‘eyebrow’, is to provide a scope for the headline.

 Subheading: The subheading becomes the essence of the text fragments to

facilitate the reader to scan the text without reading it in detail. The sub-

heding roughly illustrates the content of an article.

7.3.3 Body Copy

The body copy or the text of the advertisement is the logical continuation of the

main heading and subheading. The content consists of exciting, credible and

desirable elements as well as the action plan. The body copy also includes

information on the characteristics, benefits and usefulness of a product or service.

7.3.4 Logotype

An organization wants to be known easily and quickly by customers. To know an

organization, the details of its profile need to be given but the explanation in

words will be long and the audience will not be willing to read or listen to the

details unless it benefits them or they are compelled to do so. One of the ways to

introduce oneself easily and quickly is through the use of logotype. This is a

visual presentation that can illustrate the image and identity of an organization.

The word ‘logo’ is an abbreviation for logotype, which is the work of a designer

to represent the brand, company name or product. It is also known as

‘wordmark’ or ‘brand mark’ that can be differentiated from ‘trademark’ or ‘trade

Name’. Trade name is the full name used officially by an organization while

trademark is the symbol related to a product or an organization.

The logotype is the name of an organization in the form of art. However, some

organizations use the trademark as their company logo. They only use certain

object symbols that can be easily related to the company name, without inserting

any letters or words in it.

Logotype design: There are different ways to design a good and effective logo.

Each approach focuses on the creation of a unique image to illustrate the

Customer’s objectives. Usually the creation of the image is done by using word

elements such as brand name, brand symbol, initial letter or a combination of all

the ways mentioned.

 Word: This symbol has the company name, brand or product name presented

in its own style. This means the logotype approach uses the letters presented

in its own style and usually represents personal activity or character. For

example, a restaurant uses the name of the company in a design that has

symbols illustrating the category of service performed, which is food service.

This is the same for a transport company. For instance, Keratapi Tanah

Melayu Berhad uses the company abbreviation, which is KTM KOMUTER in

unique letters designed to highlight the image of a stable, fast and safe

transport company.

Figure 7.4: The different styles of logo presentation

 Symbol: The logotype that uses a graphic symbol, which looks simple but has

the strength to represent the company or product. This type uses certain

symbols in the form of an object or idea that can show a picture of the

company. This means the symbol can be created without the name of the

company but just pictorially or abstractly. Pictorial symbols have images that

represent the object while abstract symbols have non-representational images

of the company or product.

 Initial letter: The use of certain letters is another creative approach to create a

logotype. Usually the initials are chosen based on the first letter of the

company or product or one of the letters related to it. To make the logo easy

to remember and effective, the graphic designer will use many ways such as

combining it with the symbols, using the visual analogy or manipulating it in

a meaningful way.

 Combination of methods: This method combines a few strategies which have

been mentioned previously. It is said this method is more meaningful and

easier to remember. Look at the example that shows a picture of a knife and

fork that have been changed to resemble the letter ’X’ to illustrate an eating

place and also the name of a restaurant.

7.4 ELEMENTS OF RADIO ADVERSTISEMENTS

The radio only depends on words and sounds. The radio does not have any

visual or word element. So, the sound must play a role in creating the visual

picture for radio listeners.

The radio copywriter has to handle a few important elements, which are the

words (human voice), music (including advertisement song or jingle) and sound

effects. All these elements have their own potential and weaknesses from the

marketing communications point.

Words: Every word in the radio advertisement must be considered in terms of its

contribution to the selling power or marketing communication power of the

message conveyed and also in terms of its speciality or volume. Are the chosen

words clear, concrete, direct and easy to understand? Or are they ambiguous,

abstract and complex? It is important to choose words that convey an accurate

meaning of the advertising message.

Voice: The voice behind the words also plays an important role. Sometimes,

different voices can create certain effects. The criterion of the choice is whether it

is suitable for the advertising objective.

The human voice provides realism to radio advertisements and this is not found

in print advertisements. That is why affectionate and realism values need to be

explored by the radio copywriters. The radio copy needs to be read out loud to

ensure that the words are lively. They should not be words that are suitable only

in written form and which, when read out, do not have the any desired effect.

Talent: Talent are the characters or people who convey the advertising message.

They consist of radio hosts or actors who play a role in the advertisement.

Music: Music in radio advertisements originates from a few compositions and

music from instrumental collections. Melodies from the public domain are also

used frequently.

The important criterion in choosing the music is the same as for voice, which is to

see whether it is suitable for the advertising objective. Contemporary, soft,

nostalgic, emotional, romantic, slow and fast music are all suitable for certain

conditions. Music can be a tool to replace a word. For example, it can take a

person from one generation to another through the segue, which is a quick

transition from one type of music to another. Music can also be used as a

transition from one situation to another. This technique is called ÂcrossfadeÊ,

where a sad situation is changed to a happy one or the situation at a market is

changed to a formal function. Crossfade is the mix of one source of music with

another in a slow manner.

Jingle: Jingle is the advertisement song sung with the purpose of conveying the

advertising messages or to strengthen those messages. A jingle can be created

originally just like how a song is created or it can be adapted from existing songs,

specifically a popular rhythm that people are familiar with. However,

advertisement songs adapted from popular songs can create a problem when the

audience remembers the song more than the advertisement message.

Advertisement songs composed originally must also play their actual role, which

is conveying the advertising messages or strengthening them.

Sound Effects: Some people say the radio advertisement is the most visual type

of advertisement. This is weird because the radio does not have any visual

elements. The meaning of that perception is that when sound effects are used

effectively, they have a greater power to produce visual images. For example,

some sound effects can create a character, situation or a condition that cannot be

duplicated by other media. After listening to the sound effects, the audience can

visualise something completely in the visual form, for instance, the breaking of

glass, a dangerous situation on the road, a tense situation where the husband and

wife had an argument, or a happy situation with children playing. All that can be

visualised through certain sound effects that create the imagination for the

listener. Sound effects can also depict a season, the entrance or exit situation for a

function or a location. Like the jingle, sound effects cannot disregard the

advertising message, and in fact, should strengthen it. That is why the functions

of the sound effects must be maintained as sounds that appear in the

advertisement to strengthen the condition of conveying the advertising message.

7.5 ELEMENTS OF TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENTS

The copywriter has to handle visual and sound elements in the television

advertisement. The communication potential of this medium is unlimited. The

important elements of the television advertisement that are used to convey the

sales messages are explained here.

Visual element: Animated and static pictures can be used in television

advertisements. Animated pictures are those that can move and talk while static

pictures do not move.

Talent: Like radio, the talent are the people who conveys the advertising

message. They may be commentators or hosts of certain programme or even

actors recruited specially to play roles in television advertisements.

Props: The product and all other objects used in the advertisement presentation.

Set: Consists of external and internal sets with the function of supporting the

advertising message. However, some sets attract the attention of the audience

and distort the sales message.

Graphic: This is the card or visual materials that have the pictures of the product

or the components such as the letters, store name and address, price, copy or

other visuals that are used in the advertisement presentation. These materials

have to be prepared for shooting. Computer technology enables these materials

to be done on the computer, stored in it and retrieved when needed for the

production process.

Other elements: Like the radio medium, TV also uses elements such as speech,

music, jingle and sound effects.

Accuracy

Brand

Branding

Corporate Identity

Crossfade

Jingle

Logo

Preciasion

Segue

Slogan

Sound Effects

SELF ASSESSMENT 1

1. The design of the logotype is usually based on a few approaches. State all

the approaches.

2. How is the corporate identity projected? What do you think is the most

effective way?

3. How do you write a headline that can attract the attention of readers?

4. State the elements used in the radio advertisement.

5. What are the elements used in the presentation of television

advertisements?

SELF ASSESSMENT 2

1. Based on the logotype in the figure, what is the corporate image projected?

Explain and give your reasons.

2. Based on the list of characteristics that need to be avoided in slogan

writing, explain two of them.

3. In reality, an organization has different images in the eyes of the audience.

Is this statement correct and why?

4. Explain the meanings and characteristics of these slogans. Are they good

slogans?

(a) Asialife: Trusted tradition

(b) MBSM: Your first property financier

(c) Afi Break: Excellent break performance

5. What is the element in the electronic media that you think is the most

significant and important in conveying advertising messages? Why do you

think so?

REF

Cook, Guy. (1992). The Ddiscourse of Aadvertising. London and New York:

Routledge.

Norins, Hanley (1980). The Ccompleatlete Ccopywriter. Malabar Florida: Robert

E. Krieger Publishing Company.

Olins, W. (1990). The Ccorporate Ppersonality. London: The Design Council

Topic 8 Advertising Copywriting.

INTRODUCTION

This topic focuses on aspects of copywriting such as the format, writing strategy

and preparation of advertising material. The main topic, Advertising

Copywriting, is divided into subtopics covering print, radio, television and web

advertisements. The subtopics under print advertisement are the writing of the

headline and the writing of the body copy. Under the writing of the headline, the

different types of headline presentation, the different categories of headline

content and the strategy of headline presentation will be discussed. Under the

subtopic of body copy, the formats of body copy and the strategy of body copy

presentation will be explained. Under radio advertisement, copywriting for radio

advertisement and its basic format will be elaborated. Copywriting for television

and web advertisements will also be explained. The topic on radio advertisement

will also discuss the ways of script preparation, story board and related

examples.

By the end of this topic, you will be able to:

1. Identify the elements in print advertisment copy and their function;

2. Explain physical presentation and content of the advertisement

headline;

3. Describe the effective strategy of advertisement writing;

4. State the formats of both print and electronic advertisements; and

5. Prepare the advertisement script and story board.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

SELF-CHECK 8.1

Who do you think is the most effective spokesperson on television:

a famous film star, a popular singer, a great writer, a national

athlete, an unknown common person? Why do you think so?

8.1 PRINT ADVERTISEMENT COPY

The text for print advertisement has two elements, which are the body copy and

the display copy. The body copy consists of text or words that explain the

product message. The font size of the body copy is smaller than the display copy.

The display copy has phrases or expressions that attract the attention of the

readers so that they are interested to continue reading. The font size is bigger

than the body copy. The headline is one example of display copy. The other

examples are slogan, subheading or sub-headline, caption, deck and kicker. The

main functions of the display copy are to attract attention, create curiosity and

develop interest, which is the first stage in the hierarchy of effects model. The

figure below shows the advertisement elements and their relationship with the

hierarchy of effects model.

Figure 8.1: The creative elements in the hierarchy of effects model

8.1.1 Writing of Headlines

The headline is a type of display copy and is expressed to attract attention to the

advertisement. Some headlines are the slogans of the campaign. The content of

the headline can include the various characteristics of the product, offer,

advertisement promise or the company. The headline is more prominent than the

other text so that it will be read first. The physical presentation of the headline

can be divided into various categories. The usual ones are:

 Banner: The banner is arranged horizontally from left to right in a row, covers

the whole area horizontally and goes across every column.

 Sideways headline: The sideways headline is a little shorter than the banner

and crosses one or two columns in a row.

 Centre headline: The centre headline is arranged in the centralised form and

has a few rows.

 Ladder headline: Each row is arranged in the indented form with each

susequent row indented more than the previous one.

 Hanging headline: A portion of words in the headline that are hanging out of

its column.

 Boxed headline: The boxed headline is framed inside a box to make it stand

out.

 Margin or side headline: Its position is in the empty margin area whether it is

on the right or left.

 Sub-headline: The heading that accompanies the headline, placed either on

top or below the headline, depending on the role it plays. It is the deck if it is

below the headline. If it is the kicker, its location is above the headline.

 Subheading: Subheadings can be arranged in different forms. Basically, there

are a few forms, which are middle heading, free side heading, side inset

heading and continuous side heading.

8.1.2 Headline Content

As mentioned, the content of the headline can include many things. However, in

terms of the form of content, it can be divided into the news headline, emotional

headline, main benefit headline, command headline, et cetera.

(a) News Headline: provides new information or new updates of a product.

Novelty is one of the characteristics of news besides other characteristics

such as reflecting the current situation, proximity, relevance, consequences,

quality, conflict, individual interests, entertainment, specific interest and

humour. Besides that, the news is usually informative and has specific

facts. According to research carried out by the Gallup & Robinson agency

in America, the headlines of advertisements that use figures, numbers and

statistics are more successful in attracting the reader’s attention, for

example:

 The first refrigerator in the world with a single compressor.

 The newest video recording technology in Japan.

 The only automatic piano with electronic mix.

 The greaseless hair cream most in demand in Malaysia

(b) Emotional Headline: manipulates the emotions that include fondness,

sadness, hatred, happiness, frustration, anger, longing, et cetera. The

statement consists of words that reflect those feelings. Emotive words are

different from informative words in explanation or notification. The

emotional headline is usually effective for products that are related to the

solving of personal problems. Some of the products are related to oneself

and the normal human self that is filled with feelings and emotions.

The feelings of love, care, pride, et cetera are the normal things that are

closest to humans. If expressed well, the emotional headline can touch the

feelings of the target audience. Besides that, the emotional headline is also

used frequently in advertisements related to health, which is the concern of

most individuals, or public service advertisements whose purpose is to

create awareness about the environment or appeal to the audience for

donations to help kidney patients. Some examples of the emotional

headline are:

 A small contribution leaves a great meaning to all.

 Your happiness is our happiness.

 Embarrassed with bad breath?

 For the protection of your pampered one.

(c) Main benefit headline: Generally, the benefit headline may not be much

different from the news headline. The approach is direct and simple, stating

the benefits or advantages of the products explicitly. In other words, this

headline is a brief statement of the main benefits offered by a product. This

means the main benefit headline uses the unique selling proposition as its

main message. Examples are:

 Soft, softness always

 More invigorating, more peaceful and even more

 White. Clean and the smell is good

 More invigorating air with less power

 Stylish everywhere you go

(d) Command Headline: Usually the people who market products want their

products to be purchased quickly. That’s why they use the command

headline. This type of headline usually gives a command to the prospect so

that they do as instructed. The advertiser likes to use this approach because

it is effective in encouraging the prospect to make a decision. Examples are:

 Drink the natural full cream milk

 Buy the labour brand oil

 Save money with ANZ

 Enjoy the 30-inch digital TV

What are the types of headlines given below based on their contents?

 The ÂkemilauÊ collection from Xantia

 We care about you

 The finer, the better

 The moment your child needs you the most

 Enjoy the relief

 Quality furniture from Italy

 Cleaning without rinsing

 Introducing the new Digital Stereo Set

8.1.3 Headline Strategy

David Ogilvy in his book Confessions of an Advertising Man has given

guidelines on effective headline writing. Some of the guidelines are:

 The headline is the ticket on the meat. So, use the headline to stop the reader.

The way to stop them is to go directly to them. For example, if mothers are

the prospects, use the word ÂmotherÊ in the headline. Besides that, do not say

anything that belittles or ignores the prospect. For example, if the product is

suitable for males and females, do not write too much on man or too much on

woman only.

 The headline must stress on the reader’s interest; it must promise an

advantage or benefit.

 Always try to insert the news in the headline because users always try to find

new products or new ways of usage.

 Some words are very powerful such as ‘new’ and ‘free’. Other words that are

also powerful are: recent, now, discount, introducing, special, effective, et cetera.

The problem is that frequent use of such words can create cliches. However,

they are still regarded important and will still be used in direct mail

advertisements, print, radio and television advertisements. One of the word

categories that is regarded inappropriate for the headline is negative words.

Normally, the negative word will stay in the mind of the audience for a long

time.

 Research has found that there are five times more people who read the headline

than the body copy. So the headline should have the brand name. Besides that,

insert the selling idea. However, the selling ideas are quite long in a sentence

and this requires skill in precision writing. A headline with six to 12 words is

more effective than a short headline that has only three to four words.

8.2 WRITING OF BODY COPY

The advertisement text is called the body copy. Generally, there are six types of

body copy and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The copywriter

will choose the most suitable body copy for the product being marketed.

8.2.1 Body Copy Format

A few body copy formats will be explained below, which are straight-line copy,

caption and picture copy, narative copy, monologue and dialogue copy, and

comic copy.

(a) Straight-line Copy

The straight-line copy is also known as factual copy. The copy is written in

the form of a direct, logical and orderly information presentation. This type

of copy is not long-winded and the prospect does not need to think hard.

The writing will focus on the benefits of the product in an orderly way to

be more convincing after the headline. This type of copy facilitates the

writer to produce text that fulfils the important aim of the advertisement. In

other words, the straight-line copy is suitable for all the types of products

even though the effectiveness is relatively different. The direct fact

statement is more effective if different characteristics of the products are

projected clearly compared with competing products.

(b) Caption and Picture Copy

This copy contains brief information that is presented together with

pictures and illustrations. Before the copywriter decides to use the caption

and picture technique, he/she has to make sure that a) the sales attraction

will fulfil the individual interest of the prospect who uses the product, and

b) the caption produced strengthens the message of the illustration and

picture. The production of the caption copy is regarded easier than the

straight-line copy because the caption copy refers directly to the productÊs

attraction illustrated in the picture or illustration. For the caption copy, the

copywriter does not need to write the facts in an orderly and convincing

manner in the form of text or body copy. This is different from the straight-

line copy that relates the fact and the established logic between the words

and the passage. However, this does not mean that the caption copy has no

direct relation to the illustrations presented.

(c) Narrative Copy

This type of copy is usually directed at a certain group of prospects who are

interested in a type of product and are ready to listen or read the product

description narratively or in the form of a story. The narrative copy is quite

long compared with the straight-line copy. It is suitable for its narrative

nature and story. Usually this type of copy is used for extraordinary

products and needs an emotional touch, such as an expensive watch, a

branded perfume, a dream house, a valuable gift for your mother, high

quality jewellery for your lovely wife, a wedding gift for a wedding

anniversary, et cetera. Sometimes, a prospect buys a product not because of

its benefits but he/she is motivated by other sentiments or emotions. Many

elements of emotions can be taken into consideration, such as excitement,

pride, happiness, sadness, pain, nostalgia, satisfaction and humour.

For some copywriters, producing narrative text is very exciting because it

gives them the freedom to experiment with creativity. However, the

copywriter must remember that the purpose of the writing is to sell the

product. He/she has to ensure that the relation of words can attract the

prospects’ attention and it is not just an experiment .

(d) Monologue and Dialogue Copy

This type of copy uses a statement or speech by one person or more on the

product advertised. Usually, the content of this copy uses the consumer’s

testimonial, which is the user’s statement on the benefits of the products

based on his/her experience. The copywriter will normally try to get a

famous individual or celebrity to do the testimonial or an expert in the field

relevant to the product being advertised. A testimonial can be presented

via two ways, which are personal acknowledgement and quasi-acknowledgement.

In the personal testimonial, the writer prepares the dialogue or monologue

that will be spoken by the personality or a normal individual. A good

testimonial is a brief but solid statement. It highlights the speciality of the

product generally. What is meant by quasi-testimonial is the dialogue or

monologue spoken by an individual with his/her identity not introduced

specifically and he/she is not from a famous personality. The individual

usually represents the prospect who may in the same age, occupation,

locality group or face similar health problems. The self-introduction is not

as important as the group that he/she represents. If we look at

advertisements in the media, advertisements of lubricating oil, insurance,

vehicle spare part components and the banking service usually use this

approach. The choice to use the quasi-copy is probably to save cost. A high

payment is usually charged by the celebrity or the individual acting in the

advertisement. Besides that, there are times when the advertiser has

difficulty finding the right celebrity and personality. For some products,

the quasi-testimonial approach is more suitable because not all products

require a popular celebrity or personality.

(e) Comic Copy

This copy is a continuity panel where there is a dialogue presentation or a

group of comic characters interacting to solve a problem and the problem

can be resolved through the purchase of the advertised product.

In this type of copy, priority has to be given to an interesting arrangement

of illustrations because the arrangement of panel boxes will determine the

effectiveness and attraction of the advertisement. The dialogue or passage

used should have the strength to persuade and explain the product

effectively to the prospect. If the copywriter finds that the dialogue or blurb

is not strong enough to attract the attention of the prospect, the copywriter

will need to use extra copy, either in the form of straight-line copy or

caption copy. Normally, the comic copy is used more widely in the print

media, especially in newspapers than on television. This type of

advertisement text also uses panel boxes of the same size and these boxes

are arranged vertically or horizontally, just like comic books.

8.2.2 Strategy of Body Copy Presentation

The body copy is read when the audience is attracted to the visual and the

headline. This opportunity is very important for the copywriter and it should not

be wasted. So, treat the audiences well as if you are talking to them and answer

specific questions directed at you. The copywriter must write carefully as if the

message is directed to a specific individual. This means conveying the message

directly, frankly and straight to the specific, concrete and factual message and in

a friendly way. The copywriter also has to avoid redundant, superlative,

bombastic words, jargon and very common generalisations.

David Ogilvy (1982) gave a few hints on producing effective body copy.

According to him, some effective body copies have the following characteristics:

 Use testimonials especially from celebrities;

 Give good advice on the product; and

 Written enthusiastically, warmly and brings back memories.

Ogilvy also gave some guidelines on the things that need to be avoided, such as:

 Using over exaggerated words,

 Belles lettres that achieves pomposity and does not provide any facts, and

 The award winning style of an advertisement even though an award offers

satisfaction.

Arens (2005) gave the following guidelines on the production of an effective

radio advertisement:

 Make sure the big idea is as clear as possible,

 Mention the advertiserÊs name early and frequently,

 Take time to create a scene and highlight the premise,

 Use normal sound effects,

 Use descriptive language to make the advertisement easy to remember,

 Do something surprising,

 Instruct the listener to take action,

 Use the local language because the radio is a local medium, and

 The presentation is very important in terms of the sound effects, voice, acting

and jingle.

8.3 COPYWRITING FOR RADIO ADVERTISEMENT

Radio is the medium that uses sound and listening. The usual practice for radio

listeners is to listen to the radio while doing their work such as cooking, driving,

writing, reading or watering the plants. The locations for listening vary, such as

the office, car, on the bed, the garden or kitchen. It is definitely hard to convey

sales messages because the attention of the listener is not focussed on a place.

However, the radio listener usually decides in a short while whether or not to

pay attention. To ensure that they make a decision that supports the copywriter,

the radio copy must be planned to solve the problem of unfocussed situation.

The radio copy must be clear. It should be clearer than print or web

advertisement copy because the listener cannot go back to the time that has

passed. For print advertisements, you can turn to that page and look at it again.

However, radio advertisers repeat their advertisements in a certain frequency

throughout their campaigns.

Although the radio advertisement only uses the audio medium, Alan Cundal (in

Orlik 1978) said that the ‘copywriter’s heaven is radio advertising’. One of the

main reasons for this great compliment to the radio advertisement is its

versatility. Cundal said that:

There are no stage or scenery costs. The actors can be ugly as sin and there

are no costume or make-up costs...with a 10-second sound effect of a crowd

roaring, you can picture 80,000 people at the Super Bowl game. You can

conjure up visual images

ă colours, shapes, places, people, events, emotions

ă everything from Adam to Eve to the end of the world...

By the same token, you can invoke sensations of smell, taste and touch. You can show colours

more vividly because no other colour competes for the listener’s attention.

Radio is not an audio medium

ă it’s visual. The audience ‘sees’ whatever

you want them to. The better you know your craft, the more they’ll see.

8.3.1 Radio Advertisement Copy

As mentioned previously, the strength of the advertisement lies in the sales

message. The sales message usually consists of the product’s promises to the

customers whether they are the product’s benefits, offer or prizes, purchase benefit

or the solution to a problem. The task of the copywriter is to convey the promises

convincingly. In this case, the radio is a conversational medium. Therefore, it uses

the spoken language. This means that formality in the radio language is not high.

In fact, it is colloquial in nature and in the form of daily conversation even though it

is near the formal level in the more serious discourse.

As informal copy, the radio advertisement uses abbreviations, verbs and visual

nouns. These words can create a visual picture faster than adjectives. Besides

that, the radio copy uses active sentences, simple and specific sentences,

repitition as well as other types of approaches that can increase memorability.

Memory and remembrance can be created by linking the product with the sales

message creatively such as the usage, expressions, rhythmical language, jingle, et

cetera.

To make sure that the potential of the radio is realised, the advertising copy must

observe radio dynamics. Orlic (1978) presented the SSA formula, which stands

for Succint Sound Appeal, to make sure that radio copy is effective.

 Depicts the background

 Gives different duration

 Avoids print style

 Concludes it with a strong force

 Reads it loudly

The radio advertisement needs to have a setting and to be seen as appearing from

a specific location. In television, an ‘establishing shot’ gives a picture of the

location and the audience knows the context of the television programme

immediately. The radio cannot do that and if the problem is disregarded by the

copywriter, then the radio advertisement will have no material. The listener

seems to be receiving the advertisement message blankly and without any

references.

The 20, 30 or 60 seconds duration of the advertisement is very fast and it is

difficult to develop creativity. However, the radio advertisement must have a

flow and the feeling of this flow can be strengthened through the expansion of

the different length of thinking units. These thinking units can be highlighted

through a sentence, a jingle, a dialogue, et cetera.

The radio advertisement can be listened to but cannot be read or seen. This

makes the conversation more effective because the aural meaning is easier and

simpler to understand. The meaning of a sentence in printed form is understood

if the sentence is perfectly written and seen. The meanings of the words are

understood as they are spoken. This means that print language is different from

radio language and print copy may not be suitable for radio copy. Some of the

print copies are too crammed for the radio while radio copy may not convey

enough information for the print copy.

The sentences in radio copy need to be concluded with a forceful ending just like

the print copy that needs to be ended with a strong message. In radio, the content

of the message needs to be strong and the voice must be acceptable by the

listener.

The copywriter needs to make sure that the words chosen are suitable because

radio copy is listened to by the audience and this is given the main priority. This

is done by reading the copy loudly. Words and sentences that look good in the

print format may not sound well or may even sound awkward when we listen to

it. A great piece of writing may not necessarily be a good radio copy.

8.3.2 Radio Advertisement Format

The radio advertisement can be presented in different formats creatively. Like the

print advertisement, the format of the radio advertisement functions as a template

to arrange the message elements in a pattern. Some of the radio formats are:

 Direct announcement;

 Personality;

 Testimonial;

 Dialogue;

 Interview; and

 Drama.

Direct announcement: This advertisement focuses on product renewal and

competitive benefits. There is no drama, music, jingle, sound effects or dialogue

in this format. There are no other approaches such as storytelling or dialogue to

convey the message either. The figure below shows an example of the direct

announcement advertisement script. Look at the script that only shows the

statement by the presenter or spokesperson.

Look at the sales message mentioned through the sales key words and which is

repeated no less than four times.

Figure 8.2: Direct announcement

Personality: A personality is used to talk about the product. For example, singer

Siti Norhaliza talks about facial products or actor Rosyam Nor talks about health

drink products. These celebrities loan their personalities to persuade the

audience to use a product.

Testimonial: The use of personalities or common people to acknowledge the

product in terms of its speciality and benefits so that they can persuade the

audience to use the product too. The use of a beautiful personality, for instance,

in beauty products can enhance the credibility of the product. The personality

looks beautiful and this can prove the effectiveness of the product. The use of

common people is preferred because common people are more realistic and it is

easier to connect them with the audiences, who are common people too.

Figure 8.3: Dialogue advertisement

Dialogue: A dialogue takes place between real persons or imaginary characters. It

can be participated by the anchor or spokesperson too. The conversation usually

focuses on the acknowledgement of a product and a statement on its speciality

and main benefits. It can be presented in the form of a story or just a statement on

the product benefits by the characters who act in it. The problem that may arise is

credibility. The feeling and situation that exist may not look real. Another

problem is that there may be a possibility that the blank dialogue makes the

advertisement ineffective.

Interview: The interview is also a form of dialogue. However, the interview is in

the form of the question and answer between the salesperson and purchaser or

between the marketer and customer. The content of the interview can also be

related to the question from the salesperson about the view and perception of the

consumer of the product being advertised. The content may also be the

customer’s questions on product benefits.

Drama: The structure of this copy is more of the narrative approach. A dramatic

situation is usually a playlet that presents how to solve a problem in daily life

such as a safety problem (helmet advertisement), dandruff problem (shampoo

advertisement), teeth problem (toothpaste advertisement), et cetera. The figure

below uses the complete drama format with sound effects (SFX), music, anchor

and characters.

Figure 8.4: Drama advertisement

Arens (2005) showed that the different strategies of presentation of the radio

advertisement copy are as follows:

 Product Demo: Shows how a product is used or the function of the product.

 Voice Power: A unique voice gives the advertisement power.

 Electronic Sound: Musical tools to produce sounds that can relate to the

product and trigger the audience to remember it.

 Customer Interview: The spokesperson and the customer spontaneously

discuss the product’s benefits.

 Extra Statement: Exaggerated statement attracts interest towards the valid

claim of the product. If the claim is conveyed normally, it may not be able to

attract attention.

 The fourth dimension: The time and event compressed into a short

advertisement that involves the listener of the future.

 Sensation: Uses the most recent sensation such as a popular song, a popular

singer or a popular programme

 Comedian: A famous comedian presents the sales message in his/her own

way to show his/her acknowledgement of the product.

 History Fantasy: A situation that uses historical figures to convey the

message of the product.

 Pictorial Sounds: Sounds that are easy to identify are used to trigger the

imagination.

 Demography: Music or any other references that interest a group of

customers based on their age, hobby or interests.

 Imagery Transfer: The music, logo or sound that enhances the memory of a

television campaign.

 Celebrity Interview: A famous personality acknowledges the product in an

informal interview.

 Product Song: Music and words are combined to produce the music logo and

to sell the product in a popular style of music.

 Smart Editing: The different situations, voices, music and sounds are edited

smartly in a series of fast transition.

 Improvisation: The characters read the dialogue without practice for a

situation and then post-editing may be done.

ACTIVITY 8.1

Listen to a programme on the radio for an hour or for a certain

period of time. Do a log on the information in the advertisement that

you heard. What are your important findings? What is your

conclusion?

The product advertised

The repeat of the product name

Direct announcement

Dialogue

Music

Sound effects

Jingle

Celebrity presenter

Male adult character

Female adult character

Male child character

Female child character

8.4 COPYWRITING FOR TELEVISION  ADVERTISEMENT.

The television medium is very popular. In Malaysia, almost every household has a

television set. That is why the television has become a very influential information

dissemination and entertainment media. The time allocated for watching television

daily for a person is around four to six hours and this duration has surpassed other

media such as the radio, newspaper or magazine. This gives the advertiser a

stronger reason to choose the television to convey the sales messages.

8.4.1 Television Advertisement Copy

In the presentation of television advertisement copy, the copywriter faces these

questions: How can the sales message be conveyed through the visual

effectively? How can the product benefits and sales be dramatised so that the

audience can see a relationship between the two and between brands? How does

the sales message relate directly to the audience’s lifestyle and how can it be done

through minimum ‘commercialism’. A part of it is the question of the

advertisement copy itself.

Look at the following table that shows the HOW-E-ZE Formula from Ziegler and

Howard (1978) to give you a guide on writing effective television advertisement

copy.

Figure 8.5: HOW-E-ZE formula

Some people think the television is ‘the nearest thing to meeting physically face

to face’. (Arnold Toynbee in Norins, 1980). That is why product demonstration is

the most favourite creative strategy. The question is how is the best

demonstration done? Demonstration means ‘to make a thing clearer’. To make

the product ‘clearer’, the copywriter needs to establish the truth with argument,

reason, proof and example.

The next question for the copywriter is what are the arguments, reasons, proofs

and examples that can make the product clearer? They may be expressed through

clear words. Slogans, expressions, jingles and emphasis can be used to express a

statement. They may also be proved through clear visual demonstration of the

characteristics or benefits proposed.

However, the products that cannot be seen, such as the insurance, service and

certain ideas, cannot be demonstrated physically. This problem can be solved

with the use of analogy, testimonial and acting to prove a claim. For example, the

freshness of a drink cannot be described physically through the drink in a bottle

or a glass. It is the same for other drinks. So, the analogy is through the use of

fresh music, a happy situation or cheerful and energetic behaviour. The tastiness

of the food cannot be described physically either, but the pictures of customers

licking their fingers can be related to tastiness.

8.4.2 Television Advertisement Format

One of the most basic formats in television advertisement is the announcement.

Like radio, the direct announcement advertisement uses an anchor to convey the

sales message. Music too, plays an important role in the direct announcement

advertisement. However, some advertisements do not use it. This format is easy

because it does not involve many elements and it is flexible because it can be

used in all situations. The presentation can be done on the screen where the

anchor is seen making the announcement. It can also be done outside the screen

where the voice of the anchor is heard as the voice-over and the television screen

shows the product announced. This format can be effective if the anchor makes

the announcement convincingly.

A slice of life is a popular format in television advertisements. This format

dramatises a real-life situation. It starts with the characters discussing an

everyday problem. One of the characters will introduce a product to solve the

problem. The product is tried and it brings happy results. Another commonly

used format is the lifestyle format. The lifestyle advertisement presents the life of

a person either in the house, working place, gymnasium, nightclub, restaurant or

in the outdoors such as the sports field, forest, ocean, farm. et cetera. For

example, a beverage advertisement wants to direct its message at the young

group. So, the lifestyle presented is that of youngsters, that is, free to mix happily

at the beach, shopping complex, cinema or field.

The animation field is now a big industry after the development of creativity in

television broadcasting. It is related to children’s cartoon programmes or other

programmes that require animation techniques. Animation is also widely used in

advertisements. Animation is a presentation that uses cartoon characters,

puppets or non-human characters. These characters are used to convey the sales

message in a light and happy way. The use of animation is not only preferred by

children but by adults as well.

The other different formats for television are almost the same as radio

advertisement formats, such as the testimonial, musical, et cetera. The following

table shows the radio and television advertisement format arranged in order

from light to serious.

Table 8.6: The Advertisement Implementation Spectrum by Hank Seiden

Light Comedy

Famous spokesperson

Musical

Jingle

Animation

Dramatisation

Exaggerated performance

Symbolic character

Light situation

Current situation

Anchor spokesperson

News

Documentary

Direct demo

Dramatisation

Customer’s acknowledgement

Friend’s acknowledgement

Expert’s acknowledgement

A slice of life

Famous spokesperson

Company spokesperson

Monadic demo

Side-by-side demo

Serious Clinical demo

Source: Arens (2005), Contemporary Advertising

Baldwin (1982) divided television advertisement formats into 14 types, excluding

its sub-divisions. The categories are as follow:

 Product only: shows the product and explains its benefit and function.

 Demonstration: explanatory, side-by-side, before and after, test.

 A slice of life or Problem solution: the structure is easy where a character has

a problem, someone advises the character, the character tries the product and

the problem is solved.

 Anchor or Spokesperson: a salesperson, an authority, a product user, a

celebrity, a personality, a leader.

 Life character: real characters as the product spokespersons.

 Fantasy character: the use of cartoon characters or puppets to convey the

sales message.

 Testimonial: acknowledgement and acclamation of the product.

 Documentary: reports a real person with real experience of the product. The

commentator is the anchor who does the commentary on what is seen on the

screen.

 Vignette: behind the use of a character, the vignette presents a few characters

who have the same experiences. The different types of people with the same

experience is the way of presentation.

 Narrative: an episode with a beginning, a middle part and an ending.

 Satire: a form of complete or pure satire that mimics a person, an event, a

genre or a normal situation for the audience.

 Musical: the use of music or jingles.

 Personification: the use of non-human characters that are given human

nature.

 Analogy: the use of symbolism through a more explicit comparison. Because

an analogy conveys a message analogically, the examples used for

comparison must be relevant and easy to understand.

8.4.3 Television Advertisement Script

The television advertisement has two main elements, which are the visual and

audio elements. The visual refers to the images or pictures displayed on the

screen while the audio is the voice and sounds uttered by the character or sound

effects in the background. The television advertisement script is presented by

including the two elements in a clear division. This results in a script with two

columns. The right column is for the video and the left column is for the audio.

The explanation of what appears on the screen is written in the video column.

This usually covers the elaboration of important props and main actions. Some

scripts use capital letters for all the things not mentioned in the advertisement.

This means the props and action are written in capital letters. In the audio

column, small letters are used because most of it are words that can be uttered.

The props are tools or objects that become a part of the advertisement

presentation setting. For example, the setting in a kitchen will have props such as

crockery, pans, stove, et cetera.

The movement in the television advertisement cannot be drawn, so the

copywriter must prepare the visual instruction and the explanation of the sounds

so that the actor, producer and the management understand the act clearly. These

terms represent both the camera and optical movements.

 Long shot, LS: shows a person from the legs to the head, a room from the

floor to the ceiling, the outside view from a far perspective.

 Medium shot, MS: shows a person from the waist to the head or the view a

bit closer than the long shot.

 Close-up, CU: shows the face or head.

 Extreme close-up, ECU: shows the eyes or ears or the nose. This is the closest

shot.

 Cut: a sudden transition from an act to another act.

 Dissolve, DISS, DIS or DS: a transition from one act to another in the form of

absorption where one act dissolves into the next act.

 Fade: there are two types of fades, which are fade-in and fade-out. Fade-in

involves the appearance of an act from zero or darkness. Fade-out involves

the disappearance to zero or darkness.

 Montage: a series of fast transitions one after another or a few images

appearing simultaneously in an act to produce optical effects like a montage

in a poster.

8.4.4 Storyboard and Photoboard

The storyboard refers to a piece of paper that describes every frame of the

television advertisement with both audio and video instructions. The storyboard

looks like a comic strip because it contains a series of boxes or frames with

pictures in them and descriptions below the boxes. These pictures show the

subject that will appear in the advertisement, with each frame presenting a new

act, and the acts continuing from frame to frame. The purposes of a storyboard

are:

 Gives a picture of how the advertisement message is presented.

 Describes the flow of ideas clearly from start to end before the actual

advertisement is produced.

 Expresses a statement or dialogue mentioned by the characters in an

advertisement, such as an actor and anchor.

 Becomes a presentation material for the client, which is the advertising

company.

The storyboard is produced in different forms in terms of artistic perfection. The

location, the props and the set may be sketched roughly or finely, depending on

the need, but the important thing is it can give a picture of the content of the

advertisement and how it is presented. The more detailed and finer the drawing

in a storyboard, the better it is because it can depict the message and sequence of

presentation clearly and be close to the real advertisement. The advertisement

producer, client, which is the advertiser and the decision makers, need to look at

the storyboard carefully to see what is proposed for the actor, props, location, set,

sound effects, et cetera.

In contrast to the storyboard, the photoboard is a storyboard that uses pictures

from actual advertisement films. It is usually produced onin thicker paper. The

explanation in the photoboard is different because it includes the audio

explanation only. The video explanation is not needed anymore because the

photoboard is produced from the advertisement that has already done the

shooting. Besides that, the photoboard has the same function as the storyboard.

8.5 WEB ADVERTISEMENT COPY

A recent medium that is becoming more important in the area of information

communications is the Internet. In research by Burson-Marstellar, every views

leader who is termed ‘e-fluential’ will convey a message to an average of 14

people. This caused Chet Burchett, the president and chief managing director, to

say that ‘an e-fluential is the rock that starts the ripple’. Generally, this is the

power of the Internet media in terms of its dissemination.

8.5.1 Writing of Web Advertisements

As a medium that still uses the text element besides graphics, audio and visual,

for the purpose of communication, the most important characteristics are

readability and effectiveness. So, the use of frame, table, applets, animation and

other graphics should not affect the readability of the text. Some of the pages are

designed attractively and look interesting but when they are completely surfed, it

is difficult to read and understand them.

A website needs to focus on the content and the content should attract readers.

This means the information presented must be easy to follow and interesting to

read even though generally, it frequently disturbs webpage surfers. Jakob

Nielsen has identified four ways to make the writing of web text more useful.

 Use an objective language. Information usability on the website can be

increased as much as 27% by using neutral language, which means stating the

facts, reasons, claims, characteristics, et cetera as well as summarising the

conclusions. This neutral language is different from non-neutral language but

it is filled with values such as exaggerated or degrading values.

 Make the text easy to go through with bullet points. This is different from the

list of points in a sentence. It is said that the use of bullet points can increase

information usability as much as 47%. Besides that, giving key words

emphasis such as the colouring of text, colour contrast or hypertext links can

help make the text easy to go through.

 Make the text precise by using accurate and economical words to increase

usability as much as 58%.

 Combine the three strategies mentioned above by using objective language,

bullet points and precise sentences.

8.5.2 Web Advertisement Format

On-line writing is different from writing for printed pages because the design is

different. The virtual world is very visual and the eyes cannot look at the

computer screen for a long time.

According to research, on-line readers seldom read word by word. In fact, they

scan the page and pick certain interesting words or sentences or whatever is

retrieved by them. According to research carried out by the Jacob Nielson

company, 79% of consumers will scan a page and only 16% will read it word by

word.

If the material is just scanned, the information needs to be presented accordingly,

which is through bullet points, the heading and the summary paragraph. This

way, the maximum number of readers can access the information. A few forms of

web advertisements are used such as the banner, button, pop-up, pop-down, et

cetera. The forms are explained below:

 Banner: The graphic image is usually placed on top or below the screen or

page. It is stretched across horizontally from left to right. The standard size

for the banner advertisement is 468x60 pixels. The banner is connected to the

advertiser’s webpage and by clicking the banner, a person will be taken to the

advertiser’s webpage.

 Button: The button is the same as the banner, but normally smaller. The

standard sizes for the button are 125x125, 120x90, 120x60 and 88x31 pixels.

The position of the button is below or beside the page.

 Text: The text uses hyperlinks based on the text. Usually, there are short

explanations positions are all around the page.

 Pop-up: The new browser window that displays an advertisement. Some

people find this window annoying because it blocks all the other new

windows. That is why it is also called ‘Pop-up Blocker’. The pop-up is a type

of interstice that actually refers to a narrow space. The interstitial

advertisement is a format that goes into the narrow space between the page

that is requested with the page that is being downloaded. There are two main

types of interstitial advertisements, which are the ‘Pop-up Interstitial’ and the

Inline Interstitial’. The pop-up interstitial is activated when a person first

accesses the webpage. A small window will pop out and advertise the

product while the main page is being downloaded in the background. The

pop-up can close by itself or can be closed by a person. The second interstitial

is the ‘Inline Interstitial’. This format usually appears in the environment,

such as the Java, Shockwave or VRML. It is not only used as the

advertisement but also to prepare games information.

 Pop-under: Like the pop-up, the pop-under advertisement also appears

suddenly but opens in a window behind the main window. It will remain at

the back until you notice it.

 Vertical banner: This is the same as the normal banner and the standard size

is 120x240 pixels. Its position is on the left or right of the page.

Banner

Demonstration

Photoboard

Props

Storyboard

Testimonial

SELF ASSESSMENT 1

1. State the three strategies of the advertising copy presentation that you think

are most commonly used.

2. State the three ways how the advertisement headline is presented.

3. List the use of a storyboard.

4. What are the differences and similarities between the storyboard and the

photoboard?

5. State the three formats of the web advertisement.

SELF ASSESSMENT 2

1. Give your opinion of David Ogilvy’s guide that mentioned that an

advertisement must create a good memory of the product and it must be

written enthusiastically and leaves a memory.

2. There are people who say that the ‘copywriter’s’ heaven is radio

advertising‰. Explain this statement by giving the reasons of opportunity

and the problems faced by the copywriter in the production of a radio

advertisement.

3. What’s is meant by „an e-fluential is the rock that starts the ripple‰?

Elaborate. Also explain who is meant by „e-fluential‰.

4. Based on the figure by Hank Seiden, explain one advertisement format that

you think is very effective. Why do you think so?

5. What is the difference between the advertisement format listed by Baldwin

and Seiden. Explain.

REFF

Cook, Guy. (1992). The Ddiscourse of Aadvertising. London and New York: Routledge.

Duncan, Tom (2005). Principles of aAdvertising and IMC. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Norins, Hanley (1980). The Ccompleteeat Ccopywriter. Malabar Florida: Robert

E. Krieger Publishing Company.

Pickton, D and Broderick, A. (2005). Integrated Mmarketing Ccommunication.

London: Prentice Hall.

Zeigler S.K. and Howard H. H. (1978). Broadcast Aadvertising: A

Ccomprehensive Wworking Ttextbook. Ohio: Grid Inc.

Topic 9 Measurement and Evaluation.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this topic, you will be able to:

1. Discuss advertisement message evaluation in terms of its needs and challenges;

2. Describe the field, objective and evaluation method;

3. Explain the types of sales message tests;

4. Identify a few general questions in the evaluation and measurement of copy test; and

5. Measurement the advertisement messages.

INTRODUCTION

This topic explains the aspect of measurement and evaluation in the context of

advertising copy. Measurement and evaluation are seen as a general concept to

understand how effective advertisement messages are. This topic focuses on three

things, which are evaluating the creative idea, the message test and evaluation

issues. In the area of evaluating the creative idea, the students will be given an

understanding of the importance of evaluation in the task of producing the

advertisement message and the challenges faced in the evaluation process. This

area also discusses the aspects of evaluation, which are the creative approach and

the creative implementation. In the aspect of the message test, students will

discuss normal types of tests, which are the pretest or concept test, and posttest.

These tests involve different techniques and strategies as well as various test

motives. Based on the marketing communications objective, these tests may be

used to measure attraction, awareness, interest and consequences. Finally, a few

general issues in research and measurement, such as defining the problem, test

elements, and validity and credibility will be explained .

SELF-CHECK 9.1

What is an excellent advertisement? List the characteristics that you

think can contribute to an excellent advertisement. Why do you say

so? Give a reason for each of the characteristics that you list.

9.1 EVALUATE THE CREATIVE IDEA

What is a good advertisement? How do you evaluate it? The evaluation of an

advertisement, whether good or not, differs according to who is evaluating it. For

the audience, a good advertisement is one that attracts attention and is

interesting. For the marketing manager, a good advertisement is one that sells the

goods. The advertisement will move the product from the warehouse to the

stores and finally into the hands of customers. For the copywriter and the creative

director, a good advertisement is one that has an excellent concept, has copy

written with skill and produced artistically and commercially.

However, advertisement experts agree that a good advertisement is an effective

advertisement and an effective advertisement is one that can carry out its

function, that is, to achieve its fixed objective. Usually, the objective of an

advertisement is fixed based on the AIDA model. So, a good and effective

advertisement must attract the attention of the audience, convey the sales

message, and build or strengthen the positive character of the product and

company. Finally, the purchase reaction can be developed.

No matter what the evaluation, it is very easy for us to say what we like about an

advertisement, but it is difficult to prove it. That is why empirical measurement

and evaluation are needed.

9.1.1 Evaluation Need

In whatever marketing communications campaigns, evaluation plays an

important role in gauging how far a campaign achieves its objective. In an

advertising campaign, an evaluation is done to gauge its efficiency, effectiveness

and problems. This evaluation is important in increasing the productivity of

advertising messages. It is seen from the point of the advantage of evaluation,

which is its ability to:

 Lessen the campaign risk by making careful predictions

 Enrich the management and planning

 Prepare control

 Document the advertising contributions

 Create countability.

One of the important things in advertising campaigns is creativity, which is to do

something in a different way and this requires courage to take risks. If the

creative messages can be evaluated before they are implemented, the risks will be

lessened, the success rate may be higher and failure can be avoided. Such

evaluation can produce careful predictions about the possibility of change of

attitude and behaviour as a result of the campaign and advertising message.

To enrich management, the tests carried out can provide input to the

management to improve its strategy. Without the inputs of brand performance, it

is difficult for us to make smart decisions. Control is needed because many

parties are involved in preparing the campaign.

The more people are involved, the more control is needed for consistency and the

smooth going of the process. One of the aspects is documentation. Through

documentation, a part of the evaluation results and data can be used by the

advertising department as a justification to determine the budget for following

campaigns or to make other management decisions. Justifying the increase of a

budget is difficult unless there is strong data from research to support it.

Measurement and evaluation are needed to see whether the objective fixed can be

achieved. An achieved objective shows that the money and human resources are

spent accordingly. This is related to accountability that has become a must in

business these days. The shareholders and management always want to know

how the money is spent and the customers will demand answers if the campaigns

do not provide the desired results.

One of the reasons for evaluation is to identify the gap between the advertising

estimation and reality. This is the gap analysis where there is a difference between

what is desired by the customer and the actual experience involving a product.

9.1.2 Evaluation Challenge

However, there are a few limitations to evaluative measuring systems. In the case

of advertising, the challenge covers the following aspects:

 Cost

 Time

 Validity

 Projectability

 Decrease of creativity

 Over reliance on research and figure.

Evaluation involves cost and time of both internal and external staff. Some

agencies or companies do not have a large budget, so a satisfactory

evaluation cannot be implemented. All the evaluations and research are

usually done based on samples. An important question is how representative

the samples are. Some of the tests done in the laboratory may not produce

the same results when the advertisement is implemented.

In terms of creativity, some of the marketers believe that if the advertisement

messages are measured based on an aspect, for example, the memory, the focus will

be on achieving the objective, and the other aspects, such as product awareness and

knowledge, will be ignored. Some agencies overstress on evaluation and everything

must be evaluated first to ensure efficiency. Besides that, some managers are afraid

to make decisions that are not supported by evaluation data.

Generally, the evaluation is carried out by a company that has a media budget

and there is a high tendency that a great loss will be incurred if the campaign and

advertising message fail to achieve its objective. This means that in practice,

many of the sales messages do not involve formal evaluation and the company

depend a lot on the marketing division to prepare the information needed about

consumers. However, if the sales concept or creative strategy is proven effective,

the company will be satisfied and the risk of its campaigns will be reduced.

9.1.3 Evaluation Aspect

What is actually the field or aspect being evaluated? What can be evaluated from

an advertisement? Generally, an advertisement evaluation gauges:

 How likeable is the published advertisement to the audience. For example,

the audience is given advertisements and asked to rank their attitudes and

perceptions of the advertisements. It is presumed that the advertisements that

are well-liked by the audiences will attract attention more easily.

 How selling communication is done. For example, do the audiences

understand the advertisement? Are the sales messages in the advertisement

clear? It is presumed that the audience’s ability to understand the essence of

the advertisement proves the efficiency of the advertisement.

 How far the audience can remember the advertisement. Does the audience

remember having seen the advertised advertisement before?

 How far does the advertisement change the audienceÊs attitude and

behaviour. Measuring the audienceÊs attitude towards the product before and

after the advertisment shows the ability of the advertisement to influence the

thinking and feelings of the audience.

The evaluation is usually done to make a critical decision on the selling messages

with the idea to determine earlier the possibility of success. This shows emphasis

on areas that have risks. The higher the risk of a decision on the sales message,

the more evaluation needs to be done.

For example, if a company wants to change its advertising slogan to a more

contemporary expression, it needs to do a test and evaluation to see whether the

new slogan is more efficient and effective. In short, the efficiency and

effectiveness can be seen from two aspects, which are:

 Creative approach

 Creative implementation

The evaluation of the Creative approach:

 Is the creative approach consistent with the marketing communications

objective?

 Is the creative approach consistent with previous campaigns ?

 Is the creative approach consistent with the message strategy and objective?

 Is the creative approach suitable for the target audience?

 Does the creative approach convey the message clearly and convincingly?

The evaluation of the Creative implementation:

 Does the creative implementation confuse the message?

 Does the creative implementation attract attention?

 Is the creative implementation persuasive?

 Does the creative implementation bring back memory?

 Does the creative implementation face the problem or limitation of rules and

regulations?

The questions above show that a few areas require attention for the evaluation of

efficiency and effectiveness in determining the strategy and implementation of

creative ideas. However, Wells et al. (1992) divided the field of evaluation into

five subjects:

1. Relevance: how suitable, related and important is the advertisement

presentation to botjh the audience and advertising objective?

2. Empathy: how clear, understandable and successful is the advertisement in

getting the audience’s involvement?

3. Originality: how natural, unique, extraordinary and interesting is the

presentation?

4. Avoid cliches: are problems such as not fresh, common and weak being

avoided?

5. Visibility: how far is the objective achievable?

The focus of the message strategy is the way the message, concept and creative

strategy is conveyed. One of the usual tests conducted is copytesting. This is a

test carried out on advertising copy in terms of its message, creative concept and

internal elements to gauge the creative effects that stem from it. Copytesting can

be used when the advertising message is in the development stage or after it is

published. Copytesting is used to evaluate a few aspects of communication such

as attention, brand awareness, brand knowledge, emotional reaction and

psychological reaction.

One of the tests of emotional reaction is to gauge how likeable an advertisement

is to the audience. This is because likeability is regarded as a strong indicator of

success and effectiveness of an advertisement. The likeability of an advertisement

can be measured along a continuum from „I like the message‰ to „I hate the

message.‰ The respondent chooses from the scale of 1 to 5 or from 1 to 7 to

describe their feelings towards the advertisement. The likeability test weighs the

related factors.

However, the evaluation can be done at all the stages in the creative process. The

first stage is the evaluation of the consumer’s perception towards the product to

determine whether the product positioning needs changes, enforcement and

repositioning. The test that can be done at this stage is the product positioning

test. After that, it is the concept test that measures the effectiveness of the rough

ideas that become the campaign theme. The following stage is copytesting, as

explained above. This is a test that evaluates the implementation of the

advertisement message before it is produced. After that, there is a parallel test,

where an evaluation is done to identify the performance of the message when it is

published. Finally, the evaluative test measures the presentation and performance

of the message based on the objectives fixed. As a conclusion, the evaluation of

advertisement messages is done through different tests at every development

stage.

Figure 9.1: The measurement and evaluation methods

9.2 MESSAGE TEST

The evaluation of the advertising message is done at certain times, which are

during the forming of the selling message or during implementation, when the

real advertisement is carried out. There are a few tests to be done, which are the

pretest, posttest and tracking research.

9.2.1 Pretest

The pretest is also called the concept test. The pretest is done on the advertising

copy when it is in the early stage or rough idea stage. ThisIt is the early stage of

formation of the advertisement ideas before the real advertisement is used. This is

because at the concept stage, there are many possible concepts that can be chosen.

It will be more economical if the concept is tested before the real material is

produced. The purposes of the pretest are to:

 Evaluate whether the sales message is acceptable and perceived by the

audience as per the objective.

 Collect important information for the creative team to improve the

advertisement message presentation.

 Reduce the failure rate of the advertisement campaign and increase its

effectiveness.

The pretest is usually related to new products. However, existing products also

need a pretest if there is a change in the product marketing strategy, such as

repositioning, product differentiation, et cetera. So, the content of the test will

focus on the product name, the characteristics of the product, the price and

packaging. A form of stimulus to depict the sales idea is needed for the test. For

print media advertisements, the stimulus can be the artwork and the evaluation

can be done at the different stages.

There are at least three stages in the production process of the artwork, which are

the thumbnail, the rough sketch and the comprehensive stage. The thumbnail is a

small and free-sized sketch of the replica of actual size. It is an early task to collect

all the possible ideas for selection so that the best print advertisement can be

chosen. Although small in size, the sketch should use the same proportion to

facilitate matching. The thumbnail is not detailed because the important thing is

the structure, position, pattern and style of the design.

The thumbnail will be evaluated or tested before the decision to choose one or

two of the best sketches. Based on the selection, the creative team will move to

the next step, which is the rough sketch stage. In the rough sketch, the actual size

will be used and the layout will be done in detail. The details are clear and the

best sketch will be selected for the third stage, which is the comprehensive stage.

At the comprehensive stage, only one artwork will be given focus and the layout

artist will produce an artwork of the same quality as the final one.

The pretest criteria are different and depend on their objectives. However, the

usual criteria are the audience’s reaction during the first view, negative or

positive effects of the presentation, visual impression, headline, sub-headline,

copy, the desired message, the audience’s choices and the input in the way of

improvement.

In television advertisements, the stimulus can consist of the storyboard that

depicts the rough concept of the advertisement in the form of shot sequence from

beginning till end by giving the description of the sound effects and the words

uttered.

In conclusion, the pretest generally covers the measurement of:

 The basic theme · the main message, the main promise, slogan.

 The creative and production elements · words, music, camera angle and

talent.

 The overall advertisement · interest, credibility, memorability.

9.2.2 The Posttest

The posttest is conducted at the end of the campaign, which is during or after the

advertisement is published. For some people, the posttest is unimportant

compared with the pretest. The posttest measures the content and design as well

as the effects of the advertisement message on awareness, attitude, buying

intention, claimed buying practice, et cetera.

Figure 9.2: The Pretest and Posttest Questions

9.2.3 Tracking Research

This research is done to measure the awareness of the product, the knowing of

the product, the memory and also the consequences. The concept of the tracking

research is not one-off but continuous. This enables the creative team to evaluate

the communication of the advertisement message in a few usage stages. In this

way, the effects can be monitored along the campaign and modifications can be

made if needed at a particular stage.

ACTIVITY 9.1

An advertising expert, John C. Mahoney, once expressed these words:

We can evaluate the effects of sales or the public opinion and the

change of attitude towards the whole campaign. We can evaluate the

effectiveness of an advertisement in a campaign. We can evaluate the

graphic, text and the other subsections in the advertisement. We can

evaluate the fast effects, the short-term effects and also the general

long-term effects. However, we can never fully understand the

meaning of the measurement of effectiveness in this partial form until

we understand the relationship between the parts and the entire

advertisement.

 Explain Mahoney’s statement in your own words.

 What is meant by the last statement in the passage?

 How far do you agree with the statement?

9.3 EVALUATION ISSUES

In a world that pays great emphasis on R&D, the scientific inputs become very

important. It is the same for the marketing communications field. These inputs

can strengthen communication and convey the sales messages in different ways.

It can help the creative team to choose the most credible message theme, to see

what combination of elements is easy to remember, to know what character,

setting and shots can attract the most attention and to differentiate the brand as

well as motivate a change of behaviour.

Copytesting is done mainly for diagnostic purposes. It determines how effective a

message is or identifies the reasons for the effectiveness. In the copytesting

process, there are a few things that require attention.

9.3.1 Defining the Problem

One of the most important and difficult things related to the task of determining

the effectiveness of an advertisement is defining effectiveness in terms of its

measurable communication. This means efficiency needs to be defined

operationally. In the copy platform or the creative brief, the objective is related to

the communications objective. If it is achieved, it will encourage the customer to

make a response. This objective us used as a basis by the creative team to evaluate

the advertisement. At the same time, the advertising copy also performs the

public relations functions of the company. It is not only for the consumers but for

non-consumers and the public, whether internal or external, as well. No matter

what the purpose, the end results are the reactions and the reaction list is actually

long. The usual measurement is based on the brand image, the information or

knowledge acquired from the advertisement, the perception of the product in

terms of its credibility and the buying intention. So, the step to define the

problem is not that difficult compared with the evaluation task itself, for example,

how advertisement credibility is measured, how to evaluate effective memory,

what type of memory is regarded good, et cetera.

9.3.2 Test Elements

Generally, only one message factor or message result may be measured at a time.

This enables the results of the findings to be related to the element measured. For

example, the results of the research may find that the 60-second advertisement is

a complete slice of life with a jingle. The sound effects and housewife characters

are more informative than the 30-second demonstration filled with animation. It

is difficult to prove which message variation or which combination of messages

will have an effect.

However, when we are learning about the elements of the advertisement, we can

evaluate the exposure of the advertisement message, the perception of the

product, the message communication, the entire reaction and the change of

attitude.

9.3.3 Validity and Reliability

All research faces a standard in terms of validity and reliability. The test is

regarded valid if it measures the elements that are supposed to be measured. For

example, if we want to measure the height of a person, we measure the length

from top to toe when the person is standing straight on the soles, and not

tiptoeing or slouching. The tools such as tape, string or thread can be used to

obtain the quantitative measurement. However, how do we measure the

memory, likeability or awareness of a product? An accurate qualitative scale

needs to be formed to measure the identified character to obtain the desired

results of the findings.

A test is regarded reliable if the measurement results obtained are the same in

different situations and at different times as long as the stimulus and the type of

respondent is the same.

ACTIVITY 9.2

A research is done to measure how retentive an advertisement is a

day after it is published. The research method is the telephone

questionnaire. The sample of 200 people is taken in a systematic

procedure from the telephone directory. Questions are asked to:

 Determine the television ownership,

 Know whether the respondent watched the television

programme broadcast,

 Know whether the respondent watched the advertisement from

start to end,

 Know what products are remembered by the respondents from

the advertisements broadcasted in the programme.

 Identify what is remembered from the broadcasted

advertisement.

 Know the respondentÊs opinion of the advertisement.

Plan a research instrument based on the explanation above.

Appeal

Concept Test

Copytesting

Emotional Appeal

Evaluative Test

Gap Analysis

Marketing Communication Objective

Positioning

Rational Appeal

Thumbnail

SELF ASSESSMENT 1

1. What are the challenges faced in the evaluation of an advertisement?

2. What are the general questions that need to be answered to know about the

creative approach?

3. What is the importance of a pretest?

4. What is a tracking research and why does it need to be done?

5. If a research or measurement has no validity, what does it mean?

SELF ASSESSMENT 2

1. Give an example of a product that has been successfully repositioned. How

does it make the change through advertising?

2. For some people, the posttest is less important thanthe pretest. Why?

3. State the reasons why an evaluation needs to be done on the advertising

copy produced.

4. Explain how reliability and validity are determined.

5. Give three questions that can be asked in a pretest questionnaire and three

questions in a posttest questionnaire.

REFF

Aaker, David and Shanby, Gary. (1982). Positioning your product, Business

Horizon 25. (May/June), 56-62.

Baldwin, H. (1982). Creating effective TV commercials. Chicago: Crain Books.

Beierley (1995). The advertising handbook, New York & London: Routledge.

Zeigler, S. and Howard, H. (1978). Broadcast advertising. Ohio: Grid Inc.

Topic 10 Advertisement

INTRODUCTION

As a piece of work that will be published or broadcast, the advertisement is

subject to various rules and regulations such as media law, intellectual property

law, communications and multimedia law and by-laws under the local authority.

Besides the rules enacted by the central and local legislation bodies, advertising

practices are also monitored through the rules and code outlined by the local

authority and the industry itself. This topic will discuss a few rules related

directly to advertising activities. It covers Media Law and Intellectual Property

Law. A few codes will also be explained, such as the Advertising Practice Code,

the Advertising Code in the Broadcast Media and the Content Code. This chapter

is divided into five subtopics, which are Advertising Monitoring, Media

Regulation, Specific Rules, Local Authority Rules and Advertising Ethics.

Topic 10 Advertisement

Rules and

Regulations

By the end of this topic, you will be able to:

1. Explain the different rules and regulations in advertising;

2. Discuss provisions in the important acts related to the media;

3. Clarify the concept of ethics and professional responsibilities; and

4. Evaluate the issues related to the ethical profession in the field of

advertising.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

SELF-CHECK 10.1

List the general criticisms frequently directed at advertisements

published in the print or electronic media. For each criticism, think

of a way to defend it.

10.1 ADVERTISING MONITORING

The monitoring of advertising activities is carried out only by the government

but by the industry, the public and organisations as well. At the government

level, there are certain rules and regulations enacted. At the industry level, there

are guides and advertising practice codes created by advertising practitioners

themselves to ensure standards of professionalism are adhered to. At the public

level, the monitoring is done by consumer associations as well as individuals

who have the right to complain about any violation of rules.

At the organisation level, the advertising and media agencies will conduct self-

censorship of the advertisements that they think are inappropriate for broadcast

or publication. Advertisement producers need to be sensitive about their

advertisement work. All the rules are important not only to protect the public

from unhealthy practiced but also to take care of professional advertising

practices.

10.2 MEDIA REGULATION

Media regulation covers all the acts and laws enacted to monitor mass media

activities and their practitioners. The advertising activities or professions in the

media and communications field are subject to the various mass media

regulations, for instance, the Copyright Act, et cetera. For discussion purposes,

we will group the main media regulations into Media Law and Intellectual

Property Law.

Figure 10.1: The monitoring levels

10.2.1 Media Law

Media Law refers to all the regulations that are related to the media. The clauses

in this law has implications for the media field, whether it is the practitioner,

organization, content or its process. Some of the main media laws are:

 Internal Security Act 1960 (Act 82)

 Official Secrets Act 1972 (Act 88)

 Sedition Act 1948 (Act 15)

 Defamation Act 1957 (Act 286)

 Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (Act 301)

 Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588)

The Internal Security Act 1960 (Act 82): This Act provides security in the country,

preventive detention, prevention of subversive acts and the eradication of

planned violence against the people and property. Provisions under Chapter III,

Section 22, of this Act prohibit the printing, the selling of documents and the

publication of elements that incite violence, encourage the violation of the law,

develop the feeling of hatred among the races and endanger the national interest.

Anyone involved in the offences stated in Section 22 will be regarded as having

committed the offence and if found guilty, will be fined not more than

RM2,000.00 or imprisoned for not more than three years or both.

In Section 29, it is stated that whoever disseminates a circular, a sticker or a

document that contains the elements that incite violence has committed an

offence. The same applies to an action that disseminates a false report that causes

public anxiety.

(a) Official Secrets Act 1972 (Act 88)

The main purpose of this Act is to protect the secrets of the government so

that they do not fall into the wrong hands. Under this Act, a person is not

allowed to receive, keep, take out, transfer, publish, copy, collect, record or

use fully or partially documents labelled as official secrets without

permission. The official secrets in this Act are defined as whatever letters or

information that are classified as „Top Secret‰, „Secret‰, „Confidential‰ or

„Limited‰ by the Ministers or Chief Ministers.

(b) Sedition Act 1948 (Act 15)

The offences listed under this Act include the action or attempt to to do any

act or utter any seditious words, print, publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute

or reproduce any seditious publication; or import any seditious publication.

Under this Act, a seditious tendency is a tendency to:

 Create hatred or contempt or arouse feelings of dislike or dissatisfaction

against the king, the government or the administration of justice.

 Promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or

classes of the population.

Question any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or

prerogative established or protected by the provisions of Part III of the

Federal Constitution or Article 152, 153 or 181 of the Federal Constitution.

(c) Defamation Act 1957 (Act 286)

Defamation Act is related to libel and slander laws. The words referred to in

this Act include a reference to pictures, visual images, gestures and other

methods of signifying meaning.

Defamation occurs when a person publishes words or matter containing

untrue imputation against the reputation of another. Generally speaking, if

the offensive material is published in a permanent form, it is libel and if it is

published in a non-permanent form, it is slander.

(d) Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (Act 301)

This Act is created to supervise the use of printers and printing, the

importing, reproduction, publishing and distribution of published works.

The term ÂpublishingÊ in this Act refers to documents, papers, books and

periodicals, printed or written material, or any forms that portray words or

ideas and voice recordings.

(e) Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588)

This Act has provisions to supervise the communications and multimedia

industry. Some of the purposes of this Act are to:

 Make Malaysia a centre and main focus of the world in the

communications service and information service.

 Encourage the society that uses services based on information to

enhance work quality and the quality of life continuously.

 Increase the high level of confidence of consumers in service providers.

 Build and encourage local information sources and the representation of

local culture that can illustrate national identity and global diversity.

 Encourage ability and efficiency in the combination of industry in

Malaysia.

In this Act, communications is defined as „whatever types of communications,

whether between one person and another, between one thing and another or

between a person with a thing in the form of sound, data, text, visual image,

signal or whatever forms or the combination of those forms.‰ Content is defined

as „whatever sounds, texts, pictures, static pictures, animated pictures or other

audiovisual presentation, touch presentation or whatever combinations that can

be created, manipulated, kept, taken or conveyed electronically.‰

Through this Act, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission

was established. Among the tasks of this ommission is to manage the application

of individual licences and class licences to carry out activities in the

communications and multimedia industry. The Commission also monitors

licence holders to see whether they are law-abiding. A person who disobeys the

instructions of the ommission is regarded as committing an offence and if found

guilty, the offender can be fined not more than RM300,000 or imprisoned not

more than three years or both.

Another important task of the Commission is to establish an industrial body to

become the Industrial Forum. One of the tasks of this forum is to prepare a

voluntary industrial code or Content Code that becomes the outline of the

professional practice. According to Section 99 (the instruction to obey the

voluntary industrial code), it is not mandatory to obey the voluntary industrial

code. However, obeying it can be a defence against any accusations, actions and

court proceedings against a person. A person who disobeys the voluntary

industrial code can be fined not more than RM200,000.

10.2.2 Intellectual Property Law

In Malaysia, Intellectual Property Law consists of a few categories, which are:

 Trademarks Act 1976

 Patents Act 1983

 Copyright Act 1987

 Industrial Designs Act 1996

 Geographical Indications Act 2000

 Layout Design of Integrated Circuits Act

The implementation of the copyright protection system is under the operations of

the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia. The patron is the Ministry of

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs. Malaysia is a member of WIPO besides

being a member of two international copyright conventions, which are the Paris

Convention 1883 and the Berne Convention 1986. The Paris Convention provides

the standard protection for the patents, trade charges and industrial designs

while the Bern Convention is related to the standards of copyright protection.

Besides that, Malaysia is also a participany of the Trade Related Aspects of

Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement administered under the World

Trade Organization that was enforced at the beginning of year 1995. The purpose

of TRIPs is to reduce the gap between the standard of protection and the

enforcement of intellectual property rights in the world. Under this agreement,

the country members are responsible for preparing the procedure that enables

the enforcement of intellectual property protection and effective management. To

carry out such responsibility, Malaysia has enacted a few new Acts, which are the

Layout Design of Integrated Circuits Act and the Geographical Indications Act.

The government has amended other related Acts so that they are in accord with

the provisions of the agreement.

Intellectual Property Law protects the rights holder or owner of the property by

giving him/her the exclusive rights to use the work for a stipulated period of

time. Besides that, they are given the rights to prevent any forms of violation. The

period of rights will continue up till the period of time stipulated by the law or

until the owner grants permission to another party. The protection given by this

law can encourage human creativity and production as well as healthy

competition in the field of works.

(a) Copyright Act 1987

The copyright is the legal right of an intellectual property that becomes the

exclusive rights of its owner for a stipulated period of time. The works will

get copyright protection automatically when a person fulfils the following

conditions:

 Enough effort is done to make the work original.

 The work is written, recorded or made into a material.

 The creator is an eligible person, where the person is a citizen or

resident and the work is first published in Malaysia.

Under Section 36(1) of the Copyright Act 1987, the violation of copyright is

said to happen when someone does or causes someone else to commit an

offence under the Act without the permission of the copyright owner.

According to Section 41, the offences under the copyright act are listed

below. The punishments for some of the offences are a fine of not more

than RM10,000 for every violated copy or an imprisonment of not more

than five years or both.

For some other offences, the fine is not more than RM20,000 for every

violation copy or an imprisonment of not more than 10 years or both.

Another punishment for the offence is a fine of not more than RM10,000 for

every design that is related to it or an imprisonment of not more than 10

years or both. The punishments for the offence of violating the

management rights are a fine of not more than RM250,000 or an

imprisonment of not more than three years or both.

(b) Trademarks Act 1976

The protection for trademarks in Malaysia is in the Trademarks Act 1976

and the Trademarks Regulations 1997 (Amendment 2001). The 1976 Act

was enforced in 1983 to protect the exclusive rights of the trademark

owner. It was subsequently amended in 1994, 2000 and 2002.

Stamp under this Act means a mark, brand, head, label, ticket, name, signature,

word, letter, number or any of the combinations mentioned. Trademark means a

mark used for a product or service to show a trade relationship between the

product and the owner who has the right to use the trademark. Under the 1994

amendments, services related to advertising, insurance, telecommunications,

transport, education, travel, entertainment, lodging and computer software are

categorised under the meaning of trademark.

(c) Patents Act 1983

This Act does not defone a patent but mentions inventions that can be

patented. Section 12(1) defines the invention as an inspiration of an

inventor to solve a problem in a certain field.

This section divides an invention or intellectual property that can be

patented into two categories, which are product inventions and process

inventions. A product invention is related to the tool or machine that can be

divided into four categories. The first category is the entire machine or tool,

such as the coconut skin remover, room heater, car or hair shaver. The

second category is one or two of the components of the tool. The third

category is a new element and the combination of those elements in which

some parts are old. The fourth category is all the old elements but the

invention involves a new combination of old elements into the creation of

something new or useful in a better way compared with previously.

(d) Geographical Indications Act 2000

The geographical indication identifies the place of origin of a product if the

quality, reputation or the other characteristics are regarded as originating

from that geographical place. This is stated in the Geographical Indications

Act 2000. To understand this, we take the Sayong pottery or the Losong

keropok lekor as examples. Although the two are not registered under this

law, it is known that Sayong in Perak is famous for its pottery and Losong

in Kuala Terengganu is famous for its high quality keropok lekor. ThatÊs

why protection needs to be given to Sayong for the pottery and to Losong

for the keropok lekor there.

(e) Industrial Designs Law

Industrial designs are related to the decoration aspects or aesthetic value of

an industrial product and handicraft. It covers the technical equipment

such as accessories, textile, packaging, medication, vehicle, handicraft, et

cetera. The aesthetic characteristics are the form, style, structure and

product format that attracts attention. So, the design means the concept,

suggestion or idea of the form, picture, figure or combination that can be

used for a thing manually, mechanically or chemically. The concept,

suggestion or idea can be registered but not the product itself.

10.3 SPECIFIC RULES

The specific rules on the content of advertisements cover medicine

advertisements, pest poison advertisements, food and beverage advertisements

that have claims and overseas institution of higher learning advertisements.

Medicine advertisements, medical treatments and medical facilities are under the

jurisdiction of the Medicine Advertisement Board, Ministry of Health Malaysia.

Pest poison advertisements are under the jurisdiction of the Pest Poison Board,

Ministry of Agriculture. The advertisement of food and beverages that have

claims are under the jurisdiction of the Food Quality Control Unit, Ministry of

Health. The Overseas Institutions of Higher Learning are under the jurisdiction

of the Private Studies Unit, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia.

10.3.1 Medicines Act (Advertisement and Sale) 1956

The Medicine Advertisement Board comprises the Chief Director of the

Malaysia’s Ministry, the Director of Pharmaceutical Services, the Director of

Medical Services and representatives of the Malaysian Medical Association, the

Private Hospitals Association, the Medical Experts Association, et cetera. The

functions and responsibilities of this board are to:

 Manage the application of advertisements for services, medicines,

equipmentand healers that have medical claims in the mass media and other

media.

 Revoke or cancel any of advertisements that have been approved when

necessary.

The Medicines Advertisements Board No. 2/2006 dated 24th February 2006 lists

the latest guidelines to complete the provisions of the Medicines Act

(Advertisement and Sale) 1956 (Revised 1983) and the Medicines Advertisement

Board Regulations 1976. Advertisements in the guidelines include any notices,

circulars, reports, commentaries, leaflets, labels, wrappers or any other

documents and announcements made orally or by sight and sound.

The objective of this guideline is to ensure that advertising practices responsibly

promote medicines, equipment or healers that can be purchased by people

without prescription. All products defined as poison or contain poison under the

Poisons Act 1952 cannot be advertised.

(a) Advertisement Content

An advertisement should contain credible, accurate, true, informative,

balanced, recent, proven and suitable information. It should not have any

confusing, unclear or negligent statements that influence the use of

medication inappropriately or increase unwanted risks. The advertisement

should not include the presentation of views of doctors, dentists,

pharmacists, scientists, nurses, paramedics, et cetera who give professional

scientific advice, recommendations or verifications. The advertisement

should not have statements or visual presentations that oppose or violate

the moral standards or decency of Malaysian society or insult any segment

of the population.

Figure 10.2: Advertisement content not allowed under the medicines act

(b) General Claims

Exaggerated speeches or hyperbole cannot be used in medicine

advertisements unless the speech is used to attract attention to the

advertisement and not used as a claim or conclusion for an advantageous

status or the highest status of the advertised product.

Figure 10.3: Claims not allowed under the medicines act

(c) Specific Claims

The advertisements should not recommend or portray the product offered

as being able to:

(i) increase sexual prowess or effective in treating sexual impotence;

(ii) reduce, control or treat ageing;

(iii) reduce, control or reverse the ageing process; and

(iv) prevent balding problems, stop hair loss or increase hair growth.

However, treatment that uses mechanical techniques such as hair

thickening, et cetera is allowed.

(d) Warning Statements

The Medicine Advertisements Board makes it compulsory that warning

statements are to be inserted in the advertisement. For example:

 Advertisements of products that contain herbs or herbal ingredients

must have the following sentence: „This is a herbal preparation.‰

 Products that contain alcohol for pharmacology effects or as a solution

must state the percentage of alcohol content such as: „This preparation

contains X% of alcohol.‰

 Products that contain the ingredients of animals must state the source of

those ingredients by mentioning the part or organ and the species of the

animal.

 Products containing a special formula of fat soluble vitamin to be used

as an additional food must insert the following warning statement:

„Excessive consumption of this vitamin can endanger your health.‰

 Products to relieve the fever, cough and pain must insert the following

statement: „If the symptoms continue, please inform a doctor.‰

 Medical equipment for diagnosis such as the blood pressure gauge, et

cetera must include the following statement: „Consumers are advised to

inform the doctor when interpreting the reading.‰

(e) Methods Not Allowed

The advertising of a medical product through the post is not allowed. Any

advertisements that encourage the direct sale of a product from the

manufacturer, wholesaler or sales representative are not allowed. Visits to

houses or offices to advertise a medical product, whether on demand or

otherwise are not allowed. The exemption to this prohibition is for

information disseminated in journals and news published by medical

bodies. The Malaysian Medical Association and Malaysian Dental

Association have the approval of the Health Minister to publish

advertisements. The Medicine Advertisements Board at a meeting on 30

June 2005 decided to allow hospitals and private clinics to advertise their

services in the print media. Prior to this, they were only allowed to

advertise their services in such media as leaflets, the yellow pages and the

Internet. However, all advertisements must obtain the approval of the

Medicine Advertisements Board.

(f) Health Service Advertisements

Under the law, only three groups are allowed to advertise services offered.

These are private hospitals/clinic, radiology clinics and private medical

laboratories. Other services are not allowed to be advertised in any of the

media.

10.4 LOCAL AUTHORITY RULES

Eachlocal authority has its own laws. It functions as the law and rule-maker in its

own region. Generally, the laws have the following functions:

 Enforce the laws for the ocal Authority.

 Provide legal advice and carry out prosecution in the courts.

 Prepare and check agreement letters.

 Enact and amend the By-laws, Rules, Commands and Methods.

 Prepare and check summons, accusations and complaints.

 Hold legal education for the Local Authority staff.

(a) By-laws

By-laws are the subordinate laws of principal laws. These subordinate

laws are also known as the Command, Method, Rule, et cetera. In the

context of advertising, many municipal or district councils have enacted at

least two laws:

 Advertisement By-laws: For example, the Advertisement By-laws

(MPKB) 1990, Advertisement By-laws (MPK) 1983, Advertisement By-

laws (MPSJ) 1998

 Election Advertisement By-laws: For example, the Election

Advertisement By-laws (MPKB) 1989 and the Election Advertisement

By-laws (MPK) 1990.

(b) Compound Rate

Based on the Compound By-laws of a Local Authority, the violation of any

of the by-laws can be fined a compound of up to a maximum of RM500.00.

The maximum compound rate for an offence under the Local Government

Act 1976 (Act 171) is RM1,000.00.

Figure 10.4: Guidelines for advertisement language usage under the advertisement by-laws MPSJ 1998

Figure 10.5: Advertisement guidelines of the Municipal Council of Subang Jaya

Figure 10.6: Guidelines for billboards for the local authority of Selangor

ACTIVITY 10.1

Get documents of advertising laws from the Municipal Council or

the District Council in your area. Elaborate on the guideline. What

is your opinion on the rules and the control?

10.5 ADVERTISING ETHICS

What is the relationship between advertising practitioners and social

responsibility issues? Do advertising practitioners carry out the responsibilities of

humanity problems? It is hoped that advertising practitioners, like professionals

in other jields, play a certain role.

Advertising practitioners are actually one of the important contributors in the

areas of safety, health and society welfare. However, some parties think the

ethical decisions are a personal matter However, if each and every person thinks

honestly and seriously about morality, responsibility, society, social justice,

prosperity of the family and society, we will do something with a great impact

that we cannot imagine.

10.5.1 Advertising Practice Code in Malaysia

The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Malaysia (4A’s) was

established in 1960 to promote good advertising practices and to provide the

public with information of products and services. By doing this, it can develop

the interests of advertising agencies towards its clients, which are the advertisers.

The association handles industrial issues by making certain suggestions to its

members in facing those issues. It negotiates with other industries that have a

direct indirect relationship in matters related to advertising. It negotiates with the

government and other bodies on issues related to the various advertising tasks

by becoming a representative for its members who protect their interests as

professional advertising practitioners. The association is an educator for its

members through training activities to enhance the skills and knowledge of the

staff in this industry.

Figure 10.7: The 4As charter

(a) Behavioural Standards

The behavioural standards of this association reflect a belief in ethical

business practices. So, the success of a business in the advertising field is

based on honest and decent transactions, as well as an appreciation of the

principle of high integrity.

(b) The Members of the 4As are Concerned about the Following Efforts:

 Show true professionalism.

 Establish trust and important values for long-term success.

 Observe high ethical standards in every stage of business transactions.

 Act fairly towards customers, partners and suppliers in the business

community.

 Treat all transactions with customers and business partners with

confidentiality.

 Obey the Advertising Practice Code and follow self-regulation as the

basis of good practice in advertising ethics.

 Compete fairly and ethically and in accordance with accepted standards

in the professional practice and do not carry out any practice that

tarnishes the reputation of the advertising field.

(c) The Members Promise to Adhere to the Following Standards in the Public

Interest

 Show responsibility towards the consumer and society.

 Concerned about the public’s sensitivity in the use of offensive matters

and ensure that negative effects are avoided.

 Do not exploit unknowledgeable and inexperienced consumers.

 Do not approve of advertisements that provoke violence and anti-social behaviour.

 Able to prove that claims made, whether explicitly or implicitly, are honest by not giving inaccurate, obscure, exaggerated or deleted information.

 Responsible in displaying race, age, sexual orientation, disability, traditional and religious values.

ACTIVITY 10.2

Examine the Charter of the Association of Accredited Advertising

Agents of Malaysia in Figure 10.7. Give your review of the charter

and its relationship with the aims and purposes of the association.

10.5.2 Advertising Code in the Broadcast Media

Basically, the Malaysian advertising code is designed to protect the interests of

the public, the country and the government from elements that can threaten the

unity and growth of the country through the broadcast media. This code is also

created based on the responsibility and sensitivity of the government towards the

needs of the society, values and social culture of the country. The intention of the

government is to create a civilised, advanced race with good morals. However,

the advertising code is only used in commercials broadcast by the radio and TV

stations. The code was enforced on 1 October 1998.

(a) Code Content

The code content covers rules on decency, permission, sensitivity,

advertisement comparison, testimonial, privacy protection and safety.

Besides that, the aspects that are given guides also cover guarantee,

violence, moral, women, children and cigarette brand products.

(b) Code Provision

The broadcasting licence holder has the responsibility to determine that

advertisements broadcast by it follow the rules of the code and instructions

given by the minister from time to time on the code. The minister can, at his

discretion, revoke or add any new rules in the code from time to time.

Figure 10.8: Important guides in the advertising code of the broadcast media

Figure 10.9: Products and scenes that cannot be advertised

ACTIVITY 10.3

Look at Figure 10.10 below and answer the following questions.

Figure 10.10: Crony advertisement

1. What is product being advertised?

2. Who is the target audience?

3. Does the advertisement violate any of the ethical codes, rules or laws? Discuss.

10.5.3 The Communications and Multimedia Content

Code

The Communications and Multimedia Act states that the Content Forum must

prepare the Content Code and enforce it in the communications and multimedia

industry. This Code outlines the guides and procedures for the practice and

standard in content to be distributed to the audience by the service content

provider in the communications and multimedia industry in Malaysia.

The Content Code shows the commitment of the industry towards self-regulation

to follow the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. The Code strives to

identify things regarded as offensive and objectionable. It also outlines the

responsibility and the role of the content provider in the context of the social

values of the Malaysian society. This Code is important as a guide to a

responsible approach in preparing content and devising procedures on self-

regulation to prepare the platform of creavitity, innovation and a healthy development in the fast-moving industry.

Conforming with this Code is voluntary and it is subject to Section 99 of the

Communications and Multimedia Act. Conformity is important also as a defence

against any punishment, actions or proceedings against a content provider.

(a) Code Objective

The important aim of this Code is to suggest a guide on content

preparation through self-regulation by the industry and it should be

feasible commercially. Specifically, this Code is outlined to prevent the

following things: improper, obscene, destructive and offensive content that

intends to hurt, anger, threaten, abuse or disturb people.

It is hoped this Code provides a guide on the preparation of news or

reports to form a knowledgeable society for a harmonious and developing

country. This guide is important in preparing information and

entertainment to fulfil the various needs of Malaysians in various fields

such as business, politics, recreation, culture and education. Finally, it is

hoped this Code will guide content providers to give the consumers

freedom to obtain the content material of their choice.

(b) Content Guide

Section 211 of the Communications and Multimedia Act bans improper,

obscene, false, destructive or offensive content with the intention to destroy

and threaten other people. This means the Code ensures that the content of

the materials does not include the elements mentioned. Some of the specific

guides outlined in this Code are the following:

(c) Obscene Content

Obscene content is material that is offensive, morally inappropriate and

beyond generally accepted behaviour. It involves sex and nudity. Those

scenes are not allowed unless they have the approval of the Film Censor

Board. The obscenity test is to test whether the content of the material has

the tendency to corrupt and affect the minds of the audience.

(d) Violence

Psychological or physical violence or incitement towards violence should

be presented in a responsible and not exploitative manner. Presentation of

violence must avoid excessive, exaggerated, improper, instructive or

insulting characteristics. Besides that, the use of violent elements to show

aggression and physical suffering including by sight and sound must be

avoided. Programme involveing violence must be suitable for the context

and the audienceÊs expectations. Besides that, there must be efforts to show

the consequences of violence to victims and perpetrators.

The portaryal of violence is permitted in news reporting, discussion or

analysis and in the context of sports. Viewers must be cautioned in advance

of scenes of violence. Careful attention should be given when presentations

are viewed by children or when children are involved.

(e) Destructive Content

This type of content creates anger, encourages crime, is likely to cause

incitement, is bad in nature or threatens to cause destruction. Hate

propaganda such as encouraging killing or racial loathing is not permitted

to be broadcast. The same applies to information that threatens the security

of the country or the safety and health of the public. Disseminating false

information that creates racial havoc is also not allowed.

(f) Improper Language

Improper language includes offensive cursing of the other people. The use

of vulgar language, obscenities, insults, et cetera create dissatisfaction

especially if they are contrary to audience expectations. Some elements of

improper language are offensive words, obscenities and a breach of

etiquette that includes words referring to sexual relationships and sex

organs. In addition, harsh words, speeches and loathing images as well as

insulting phrases on the basis of racial, ethnic, religious, nationality,

gender, sexual orientation differences or deformity are not permitted.

(g) False Content

False content contains material that is likely to mislead. Such material

includes inaccurate and incomplete information. The content provider must

be concerned with the materials that tend to disseminate false information

or untruths. However, such content is allowed if it is used for satirical and

parody purposes, and where it is clear that the audience knows the

material is fiction.

(h) Children’s Content

Content directed at children or those aged 14 and below must be given

attention. The important aspects are child safety and charity. Scenes of

violence portrayed by real-life characters must be essential to the development of character and plot. Animated content can include non-realistic violence but should not depict violence as its main theme. Scenes that may invite children to imitate what they see, such as the use of plastic

bags, matches, weapons and dangerous products or dangerous physical

acts, must be handled carefully.

(i) Family Values

The principles of intellectual and emotional equality of both sexes and and

the dignity of all individuals are to be respected. Despite social

discrimination, content must portray awareness of the need to avoid and

overcome biased portrayals on the basis of gender. Men and women should

be portrayed as equals both economically and emotionally, and in public

and individual contexts. The content must also illustrate all persons as

supportive participants in the family unit, home management and

household tasks.

(j) Disabled Citizens

There is a risk of causing anger and dissatisfaction in the use of jokes based

on physical, mental or other disabilities even though the content producer

does not have any such intention. The reference to any kinds of disabilities

is allowed when it is really needed and relevant to the context. In this case,

patronising words should be replaced with neutral phrases.

CONTENT CODE

This section is a guide for advertisements conveyed electronically and includes

media such as television, radio, on-line services and audiotext hosting services.

The word ‘advertisement’ in this code refers to the ‘announcement of a public

nature whether for the sale or purchase or provision of goods or services or

constituting an invitation to participate in an activity and conveyed by or

through any signage, image or sound disseminated through electronic medium

for advertising purposes’. The ‘advertiser’ is any person who utilises the

electronic medium to advertise their products or services’. The advertising

content provider in this section refers to the advertiser, advertising agency and

the person who controls the dissemination of the advertisement.

(a) Objectives

This section is to ensure that high and continuing advertising standards

through self-regulation are in accord with consumer’s expectations and

good practices acknowledged internationally. The advertising practitioner

admits that creative freedom comes with the responsibility of ensuring that

the audience’s rights are protected. That is why this section is a guide to

achieve an expected high standard by the advertising industry for the

healthy progress and development of the field.

(b) Principles

All advertisements must be valid, decent, honest and true. They must be

prepared responsibly for consumers and the society. They must also

respect the principles of healthy competition genererally accepted in the

business.

(c) Some of the Specific Guides to Advertisements:

 Valid: The advertisers are responsible for ensuring that their

advertisements obey the law.

 Decent: Advertisements must not anger the public, or contain offensive

statements, audio and visual presentations.

 Honest and true: Advertisements must not abuse the trust of the

consumers or lie by giving inaccurate and obscure information as well

as exaggerated statements.

 Fear and depression: Advertisements must not instil fear without

reasons. However, the advertiser can express a statement of the need to

be fearful to encourage decent behaviour and avoid destructive actions.

 Safety: Advertisements must not encourage practice that endangers an

Individual’s or the public’s safety.

 Violence/Anti-social behaviour: Advertisements must not encourage or

acknowledge violence or anti-social behaviour.

 Personal privacy protection

 Claim: Any promises, accusations or claims, whether explicit or implicit,

must be proved objectively.

 Price: The price stated must be clear and related to the advertised

product. If the price depends on the purchase, it must be explained.

Any free offers can be stated ‘free’ based on certain conditions.

 Free offer: In any free offers, the liability cost must be clear.

 Guarantee: The word ‘free’ cannot be used at all to reduce the legal

rights of the consumer.

 Comparison: Advertisement comparison is allowed if it fulfils the

conditions of respect for fair competition, no deception, and real benefit

is available.

 Insult: The advertiser cannot attack or belittle other businesses or

products.

 Unacceptable products: Tobacco, cigarette and its accessories, products

banned by the Postal Services Act 1991, fortune-telling and occult

practices, wedding agency and friendship clubs, recruitment agency

without a licence, any forms of gambling, clothes that have words or

symbols with inappropriate messages.

 Indecent and improper scenes: For example, pornography, pig

products, gambling and betting, firecrackers, financial speculation, et

cetera.

Content Code

Copyright

Ethics

Intellectul Property

Intellectual Property

The Local Authority

SELF ASSESSMENT 1

Answer all the questions in 15 minutes. The full marks for this test are 20 marks.

1. State the three acts categorised as intellectual property law.

2. Give examples of (a) vulgar language, (b) obscene language, (c) insulting

language in the advertising context.

3. State three advertising guides as outlined in the Content Code.

4. State one of the purposes of Act 588.

5. What is TRIPs and what is its purpose?

SELF ASSESSMENT 2

Answer all the questions in 30 minutes. The full marks for this test are 30 marks.

1. What is the meaning of self-censorship? How is the self-censorhip carried

out in advertisements?

2. The guidelines in the advertising code are important to protect the public

from unhealthy practices. Give examples of those unhealthy practices.

3. The rules in the ethical code encourages professional advertising practices.

Elaborate.

4. What is Article 152, 153 and 181 of the Federal Constitution?

5. What is stated in the advertising code for the broadcast media on cigarette

products? What is your perception of the advertisersÊ practice and the

media organizations in Malaysia at present in this context?

6. How can these companies carry out advertising campaigns?

 Lasik Laser Vision Correction

 C.J. Wong Cancer Specialist

 Carolyyn Hair Loss Treatment Sdn Bhd

 D’Resdung Maharani Centre

 Peng Sun Hair Care and Treatment

REF

Cooper, Thomas W. (1989). Communication Eethics and Gglobal Cchange. New

York: Longman.

Hamid Mawlana. ‘Communication, ethics, and the Islamic tradition’ in Thomas

Cooper, Communication Eethics and Gglobal Cchange. New York:

Longman.

International Law Book Services. (2006). Undang-undang Kkewartawanan.

Petaling Jaya: ILBS.

Kamali, Mohammad Hashim. (1994). Freedom of Eexpression in Islam. Kuala

Lumpur: Berita Publishing Sdn. Bhd.

Khadijah Mohamed & Ahmad Shamsul Abd. Aziz. (2005). Undang-undang

Harta intelek di Malaysia. Sintok: Penerbit Universiti Utara Malaysia.