The purpose of radio commercials is to inform, persuade and sell in order to make money. By selling air time this enables radio stations to also make money by charging companies fees to air adverts on their stations. Other ways radio stations make money is by promoting competitions that allows the audience to phone in and selling newscasts. In this report I will be analysing two different radio commercials that use different styles to advertise their products or message.
The first radio commercial I will be analysing is the Pizza Hut advert. When this radio commercial was released in 2016. Its main purpose was to serve as an advert and attract existing or new customers into their restaurants. The radio commercial is aimed at a wide target audience of teens and over, who enjoy going out to get food with their friends or families.
The message of the advert is to let potential or existing customers know about the new Hut’s delight meals they now have on offer. The audience is informed what the advert is about in the opening two seconds when the scenario is created; being in a restaurant when you receive an expensive bill. We are then persuaded to go to Pizza Hut as we are told about the new offer they have introduced. Pizza Hut sell the advert by telling us all the food they have to offer and the price per person.
The style of the commercial is comedy as the commercial is simple, informal and colloquial. The advert can also be considered as comedic due to the use of sound effects. This suggests that the advert is light hearted as they are trying to appeal to a wide target audience of all ages. The advert fits into the radio station ‘house style’ as it is appropriate for all ages. The radio commercial has been structured so that it is a one-off and has no relation to any other Pizza Hut adverts that have been made previously.
The purpose of the advert is to promote sales and the new special offer that has recently been introduced. By producing this advert Pizza Hut aim to increase their market share by attracting more customers and raising more income in comparison to their competitors for example Pizza Express. This advert can be used all year round as it isn’t related to any specific seasons.
At around 0.03 seconds of the commercial a sound effect of a burp is used to set the scene of the advert. Additionally, by using this sound effect and not another one reflects that the advert isn’t formal or something that should be taken seriously. Moreover at 0.06 seconds the use of diegetic sound from the character as they gasp loudly and exclaim “oh my gosh”, creating a conversational tone with the audience. The use of multi voice dialogue between the characters it makes the audience feel like they are in a restaurant atmosphere so that they can relate to the advert. From the narrators voices we can guess that they are in their late twenties or early thirties and are from England. We hear from all the narrators between 0.05 - 0.12. Furthermore, the use of background music makes the audience concentrate more on what the main narrator is saying; this technique is used so that the audience remember the advert. In relation to background music at 0.28 of the advert a sting is used so that we associate the advert with the business.
The persuasive technique used is that the advert plays on the customers fears and desires. This is first introduced at 0.07 seconds when the narrator creates the scenario of receiving an expensive bill. This plays on the audiences’ fears however, the advert offers a desire to its audience by informing them about the new deal at a fixed price which benefits the customers as they get what they are paying for. Additionally, we are persuaded to go to Pizza Hut due to the humorous aspects used such as the character burping; this creates an animated tone of the characters. From 0.22 seconds the narrators start to list off the different food they have to offer, persuading customers to visit to Pizza Hut.
The advert would’ve been distributed nationally so that they can attract more customers to their restaurants across the country. Throughout the entirety of the advert no contact details are left because Pizza Hut are a well-known established brand throughout the nation.
Regulatory bodies such as OFCOM and ASA would’ve checked the advert for any issues such as taste, ethics, age restricted material, use of children and consumer protection. This advert meets all the requirements of the regulatory bodies and has therefore been published for the entire nation to hear.
The second advert I will be analysing is THINK! - 18 - 30-Year-Old Males. The advert was released in February 2009 to inform drivers about the dangers of falling asleep whilst driving. THINK! are a road safety campaign that promote road awareness. This specific advert is aimed at drivers who drive whilst being tired.
The message of the advert is to let drivers know about the dangers of driving whilst being tired. The audience is informed about the dangers when they are given a statistic about what could happen if you fall asleep behind the wheel; this persuades the audience to stay awake whilst driving.
The style of the advert is shock; this is due to the formal, serious tone of the narrator. Additionally, the audience is shocked due to the aggressiveness of the advert. However, the advert is suitable for the radio due to its simplicity that initially draws in the audience. Likewise, to the Pizza Hut advert, this advert is also used as a one-off in relation to other adverts that THINK! have produced.
The purpose of the advert is to raise road safety awareness and to provide factual information about the risks or requirements of driving on the roads in Britain. The advert raises awareness by discussing important matters in a simple yet formal tone making the radio commercial seem more severe and serious.
In most THINK! adverts they use non-diegetic sound throughout the entirety of the commercial. This is so that the narrator can make it seem like he is having a conversation with the audience. THINK! often use diegetic sound effects to shock their audiences; in this case the sound effect used is a loud crash, 0.26. This is used to reinforce the adverts message. Moreover, the use of repetition,0.04 – 0.17, gains the targets audience’s attention making them more likely to listen to the advert.
THINK! persuades its target audience to listen to the advert by playing on the audiences fears of dying in a car accident. A key example of this is when THINK! provides us with the statistics of how many people have died whilst asleep behind the wheel. Moreover, the character creates a dual effect by playing tired and creating a hypnotic effect due to the tone of his voice and the words he is using for example, “You’re tired, the monotony of driving is sending you to sleep”. Furthermore the use of non-diegetic sound of the road creates the driving atmosphere.
This advert would’ve been distributed across the nation as it is used to raise road safety awareness. At the end of the advert no contact details are left at the end of the advert because THINK! are a well know campaign across the nation. Furthermore, no contact details are given because the audience shouldn’t have any questions after listening to the advert.
Regulatory bodies OFCOM and ASA would’ve looked at the taste of the advert to make sure it wasn’t too graphic and would scare young children. The advert meets the requirements of the regulatory bodies and are therefore used to raise awareness.
Bibliography:
Pizza Hut:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tV1maIR1jo
THINK! - New
Regulations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxec1vs0eNo
