The Features of advertising Language

The Features of advertising Language 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 1 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 Content Abstract…………………………………………………………….1 Chapter.1 An introduction to advertising……………………………….3 1.1 Defination…….……..............................................………………….……...3 1.2 Adverting components.........………………………………….…………….....4 1.3 Advertising function…………………………………….……..……….....….5 .…………………………..….….6.1English morphology in advertising……………………………….…..................7 2.2 English syntax in advertising…………...……………………………….……8 2.3 Rhetorical devices in English…………...……………….…….……...9 …………………………….............10 3.1 Headline………………………………………………………………..…….11 3.2 Body copy………………………………..…....……….………….……...…..12 2 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 Abstract: Today with the development of teachnology and the advertising of the mass media.Advertising has infuenced us pervasively in our daily 3 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 I. An introduction to Advertising 1. Definition: American Marketing Association (AMA) defines advertising as “the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.” Today, with the development of the technology and the diversity of the mass media, advertising has influenced us pervasively in our daily life. However, whatever the promotive strategies advertising takes, language is the main carrier of message all along, as The Language of Advertising, by Vestergaard & Schroder, says, “Advertising takes many forms, but in most of them language is of crucial importance.” Advertising language is a style of immediate impact and rapid persuasion. The point of an advertisement is to persuade you of the merits of a particular product or service, in order that you will take out some of your money. 2. Advertising Components: According to the definition of the advertising, most of the advertisements should have the following components: (1). Advertiser The advertiser is the sender of information and all the advertising activities should be consistent with the purpose and willingness of the advertiser. Therefore, the advertiser is the main body of advertising, namely, every advertisement should have its specific owner of the advertising information. The specific owner should be a recognizable group, including corporation, enterprise, government, organization and individual. There are three significances of an advertiser (both for the advertiser themselves, and for the public): firstly, it‟s easy for the target audience to recognize the company and the products of it, which will promote the propagandas and the sale of its products; secondly, it will establish a high reputation for the group, enterprise, or the individual in order that the consumer will trust the brand; finally, it will prevent the advertiser from counterfeiting and deceiving by legal supervision. (2). A certain amount of money paid The advertising fees are paid by the advertiser no matter it‟s operated by itself or other agency. Because advertising is a kind of marketing action, an advertiser has to pay for its 4 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 advertisement. There are quite a few people who consider that too much advertising fee will inevitably raise the price and cost of the product, and thereby will influence the sale of the product. However, this conclusion is a one-sided view. Advertising can bring you a huge profit by reasonable planning and proper operation. (3). Advertising Information Advertising information is the principal contents an advertisement wants to disseminate. Advertising is a serious of planning action, so the information of advertising should be aimed at the certain target market and consumers, and should avoid aimlessness. The dissemination of information should be accurate, definite, recognizable and moderate in length. An effective advertisement involves not only “what to say”, but also „how to say”. (4). Advertising Media Media are the means of the dissemination of advertising, including newspaper, magazine, broadcast, TV program, billboard and mail. The newspaper, magazine, broadcast and TV are called the four main media of advertising. Moreover, any kind of objects or tools can be a medium for the advertisement, such as airplane, train, bus, building, neon light, movie, package, exhibition, and etc. Different kinds of media have different features, disseminating area, target audience and speed. (5). Nonpersonal Advertising is not aimed at any individual, or by any individual. It‟s a nonpersonal transmission of information aiming at the public or a certain group of people. Because of the nonpersonal features of advertising, the dissemination and operation of it should be restricted by the law of a country, the moral standards, psychology, zoology, and environment protection. The information, methods, media, and other components of advertising should abide by the advertising laws, policies and rules, and should be under the supervision of the public. All of these components are mutual features and essential elements of every advertisement. 3. Advertising Functions: What kind of advertisement is successful? And what features a successful advertisement should possess? American Marketing Manager‟s Handbook points out that an advertisement should have four functions: AIDA, which represent four words—Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. (1). Attention—a good advertisement should attract the consumer to direct their attention to the product of it. (2). Interest—the introduction and publicity of an advertisement should arouse consumers‟ great interest. 5 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 (3). Desire—the publicity of advertising should stimulate consumers‟ desire to buy the product, and make them realize that this product is just what they want. (4). Action—the advertising makes consumer to response to the advertising information and evoke them to take the action of purchasing. II. Features of Advertising The wide use of advertising has created a special style of English—advertising English. Its unique features, simple language and immense attraction separate it from other kind of language. In the development of advertising English, this kind of language has formed its own features in several aspects. 1. English Morphology in Advertising As a means to disseminate information, advertising English must be compact, vivid, visual, emotional and attractive. Therefore, morphology in advertising is quite different from common English. (1). Simple and informal The function of advertising is to provide information, attract consumer, exploit market, and promise the quality. Therefore, advertisement must pay attention to its impelling language, and the first step is to use popular and oral language to make it easy to understand and memorize. For example: “I couldn‟t believe it, until I tried it!” “I‟m impressed! I‟m really impressed!” “You‟ve gotta try it!” “I love it!” This is an advertisement of a microwave oven. The words in it are very simple and oral. It uses the slang “gotta”, which means “got to” in American English, to give an impression that this advertisement comes from the real life. (2). Misspelling and Coinage In some of advertisements, the advertising copywriter misspells some words on purpose, or adds some suffix or prefix to the common words. Although the new words still keep the original meanings, they are quite different from the original words in spelling, which will make the advertisement more vivid, interesting and attractive. e.g. We know eggsactly How to sell eggs. In this advertisement, “eggsactly” is the variation of “exactly”, and echo the word “eggs” at the end of the sentence. 6 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 The Orangemostest Drink in the world. In this drink advertisement, the word “orangemostest” actually is “orange+most+est”. It uses this word to express the high quality and purity of the drink. The coinage and misspelling are also representing in some phrases, such as: First of all, because now Yoplait is thicker. Second of all, because it‟s creamier. Third of all, because it‟s still 100% natural and really very good for you. Fourth of all, because to me Yoplait tastes better than all the other Yoyurts. And fifth of all, because…well, just because In this advertisement, the copywriter imitate the phrase “first of all” to create “second of all, third of all, fourth of all…”, which will inspire consumers‟ imagination. In addition, some prefixes or suffixes like “super-”, “ex-”, “-er”, “-est” …etc, are often used to stress the high quality of the product. (3). Loanwords The most frequently used loanwords are French and Spanish. For example: Order it in bottles or in cans. Perrier…with added je ne sais quoi.The meaning of “je ne sais quoi” is “I don‟t know what”. The purpose to use this simple French is to show the French flavor of this drink. The loanwords in some advertisement are good methods to express the exoticism of the products. (4). Contraction Because the advertisement fees are so high that it‟s essential to use some contraction to cut short the length, and reduce the cost. To Let or For Sale.Furnished Edinburgh Court, 426 Argyly st, 2nd floor, 1,630 sqft4 bedrooms with dining and living room, prive garage. Sale at 130,000. Rent 1,400. Tel, 38954 office time or 823748. This is an advertisement to rent or sell a house. There are many contractions, such as: st=street, sq=square, ft=foot, Tel=telephone. (5). Use of verbs Although the ultimate purpose of advertising is to persuade consumers to buy its products, advertisements seldom use the word “buy” in it. Statistics show only two out of ten advertisements use the verb “buy” directly. On one hand, the advertisers try their best to promote their product; on the other hand, they don‟t want to give the consumers a feeling of spending their money. Therefore, the choice of verbs is very careful in advertising. The most frequently used 20 verbs and phrasal verbs are: Try, ask, get, take, let, send for, use, call, make, come on, hurry, see, give, come, remember, discover, serve, introduce, choose, and look for. 7 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 Examples: Getting places in the business world is easier if your banker is there to meet you. --Security Pacific Asian Bank. We can give you a better view of investment opportunities from both sides of the Pacific. --City Bank. (6). Use of Adjectives The most frequently used adjectives are: 1.new 2. crisp 3. good/better/best 4. fine 5. free 6. big 7. fresh 8. great 9. delicious 10. real 11. full, sure 12. easy, bright 13. clean 14. extra, safe 15.special 16. rich (7). Use of Compound words There are lots of compound words in advertisement mainly because the element of compound words could be any part of speech, and has few limits in grammar and word order. The following are the main ways of word forming: adj+noun: short-term goal, high-fashion knitwear noun+adj: the farmhouse-fresh faste, brand-new v-ing+adj: shining-clean noun+v-ed: honey-coated sugar puffs, home-made adj/adv+v-ed: warm-hearted, perfectly-testured cakes noun+v-ing: a relief-giving liquid, record-breaking adj+v-ing: innocent-looking, fresh-tasting milk adv+v-ing: hard-working, the best-selling soft toilet tissue noun+noun: economy-size shredded wheat, a state-of-the-art cell sorcer adv+noun: up-to-the-minute sculling 2. English Syntax in Advertising (1). More simple sentences, less complex sentences It will get better effect to use simple sentences than compound sentences, because the readers will get bored on reading complex sentences. Another reason is to reduce the cost of advertising, and effectively stimulate the consumers. (2). More interrogative sentences and imperative sentences According to statistics, in every 30 sentences there is one interrogative sentence. Because interrogative sentences are quick and effective to arouse readers‟ response. The following is an advertisement of Lurpark Danish butter: What‟s so special about Lurpark Danish butter? Well, can you remember what butter 8 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 used to taste like — real fresh farm house butter? Do you remember how you used to enjoy it when you were young? Today — the taste of Lurpark bring it all back to you — that‟s why it‟s so special. The imperative sentences have a meaning of claiming, calling and commanding, similarly the goal of advertising is to persuade and urge consumers to accept its product or service. Therefore, there are lots of imperative sentences in advertising, such as: Get ready to encounter the new trend in timepieces. The Citizen Espreme Collection. Watches that are indicators of tastes and moods. that express you. --Citizen Watch (3). Disjunctive Clause Disjunctive clause is unique for advertising English, which separates a long, complex sentence into several simple sentences by using full stop, dash, semi-colon, hyphen, etc. Those sentences are independent in form, but are related in the content. The use of disjunctive clause could add more information and save more space and money. The separated parts are usually the features of the product, so that they could emphasize the good points of the product. There is an example of Amtrak, which has successfully used the disjunctive clauses: Amtrak has created a new. nationwide passenger rail system. Literally from the ground up. A system that represented a viable alternative for people who fly. For business or pleasure. (4). Minor Clause Minor clause has simple elements, which could lay stress on the key words. It could not only reduce the length and cost, but also disseminate information more effectively. More than a timepiece, An acquisition. --Piagit So come into McDonald‟s and enjoy a Big Mac Sandwich. --McDonald 3. Rhetorical Devices in English Advertising Rhetorical devices are variations of literal or ordinary form of expressions. Their use is to make the thought more striking and effective, for they have the power to vivify and illustrate. A fresh, apt rhetorical device appeals to the imagination, creates mental pictures and makes the speech or writing vivid, impressive and interesting. For this reason, advertisers often use various rhetorical devices to increase the readability and appeal of an advertisement and to arouse consumers‟ interest of buying the product. (1). Personification 9 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 Personification is a figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form. The use of personification in advertising will endow the product with human emotion, and will make them amicable to consumers. Flowers by Interflora speak from the heart. --Interflora We are proud of the birthplaces of our children, the grapes of Almaden. On our classic varietal wines, you will find the birthplaces of our children. --Almaden (2). Simile and Metaphor Simile is a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as. Light as a breeze, soft as a cloud. Ride like a feather in your pocket. Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison. Go for the Gold.The brightest star in electronics. (3). Pun Pun is a play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words. Ask for More--More cigarette .Spoil yourself and not spoil your figure. A Deal with Us Means A Good Deal To You. (4). Repetition In some advertisements, the copywriters often use the method of repetition to stress certain information. When you‟re sipping Lipton, you‟re sipping something special. --Lipton tea (5). Rhyming Rhyming is correspondence of terminal sounds of words or of lines of verse. Pepsi-Cola hits the spot, Twelve full ounces, that‟s a lot, Twice as much for a nickel, too, Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you. III. Advertising Elements A complete written advertisement (newspaper, magazine) is usually composed of headline, body copy, slogan, illustrations and colors, trademark, and brand name. These 10 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 elements are named as visual elements. Another kind of elements—audio elements are advertising commentary, advertising music and advertising sounds. In these elements, headline, body copy and slogan are the most important elements in an advertisement. 1. Headline Headline is the theme and center of advertisement. It‟s usually in the most conspicuous position of advertisement to attract consumers‟ attention. Therefore, headline is crucial to the success of advertisement. But what kind of headline is a good headline? There are 7 principles for headline writing: (1). Hit on what readers like, and make them feel it will benefit them. When people are reading advertisement, they always wish to find something good to them. So to give the reader a feeling of getting benefits will have the best result in advertisement. Every time we race, you win. This is an advertisement for Yamaha electronic organ. It tells the consumer that every price war in the industry will benefit the consumers out of question. (2). Try to introduce new things. Any new product, new concept or improvement of old product will effectively attract readers‟ attraction. The words “new” and “free” are the most frequently used word in advertisement. (3). Try to include the name of trademark in the headline. (4). Use words that could arouse readers‟ interest. (5). Keep moderate length. A research by Institute of the Retailer Business Researching of New York shows that: headlines that have more than 10 words usually have better effect than short headlines. The most effective headlines have 6 to 12 words. (6). Avoid to use vague words. (7). Avoid to use privative words. There are many ways to write a headline, and 5 types often appear in written advertisement: (1). Straightforward headlines This kind of headlines usually uses interrogative sentences and imperative sentences to arouse readers‟ interest. Ever wander why most guys in pants ads are standing up? Discover the wonder of your first Dash wash! (2). News headlines Pursuing new things is the nature of human beings. People are always interested in finding some new products or improvement of old products. Therefore, news headlines 11 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 could attract consumers‟ attention better. Introducing Renunt Freshell, The New wave in Air Fresheners. (3). Information headlines Example: Datsun saves about a gallon of gasoline a day. (4). Emotional headlines Example: Soft shoes for hard world. (5). Curiosity headlines Example: Saturday night On Sunday Morning. 2. Body copy After their attention has been attracted to the advertisement by headline, the readers will move to the body copy, which is the main part of advertising information, to find something useful. Whether an advertisement has met the consumers‟ requirement, satisfied their desire, and stimulated them to take action are the factors to judge a good advertisement. There are 5 kinds of body copy writing. (1). Straight-line Copy This kind of body copy is to objectively state the features and advantages of the product. (2). Question Copy Question copy is to use a serious of questions in the beginning of the advertisement, and then give positive answers to each question. Moreover, all of these answers are just the good points or advantages of the product. (3). Narrative Copy This body copy is to introduce a product by telling a story, which will obviously increase the interest and attraction of the advertisement. (4). Extend Knowledge Copy This form of advertisement is to state the scientific knowledge that is correlative to the information of the product. The consumer will feel the product is creditable and advanced. (5). Testimonial Copy Testimonial copy is to make up a speaker, or take out a real witness to judge and praise the product. (6). Similar Copy Similar copy is to compare the product with other brand of product, which will make the strength of the product more prominent. 3. Slogan Slogan, which is also known as taglines, shares some similarities with headline, 12 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 because some slogans come from successful headlines. Explicit, refined and inflammatory are the features of slogan. The principle of slogan writing is: (1). Briefly The slogan of an advertisement should be brief. Normally no more than 10 words. (2). Point out the advantages and arouse the readers‟ interest (3). Inflammatory The slogan should be inflammatory to urge the readers take action. Conclusion Advertising language as a special kind of language is very different from common language. It has its own features in morphology, syntax, and rhetorical devices. Simple and attractive are two general features of advertising English. Because there are different types of advertisements, and they are differed in the way of writing according to their target audience, the product or other aspects. Therefore, we must analyze the features of different kinds of advertisements, in order to find a proper position for our own advertisement, and choose methods fit it best. In the statistics of four groups of advertisements I find that: consumer advertising uses the widest range of forms and devices, whose main task is to attract readers and urge them to buy the product; business advertising, on the contrary, needn‟t put much effort in attracting its readers, its words are more practical; service advertising has the similar feature as consumer advertising in the use of words, but the former describes more about its product in some imaginable way; public interest advertising is a nonprofit action, which however still needs to attract readers‟ attention, tries to strike the reader in emotional way and urges them to take action immediately. 13 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 Bibliography: 赵静，ed., 广告英语 (Beijing, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1992) 1. 宁建新 and 陈观亚，eds., 实用广告英语 (Henan Province, People’s Press of Henan, 1997) 4. 魏玉杰，ed., 英语广告手册 (机械工业出版社，1995) 46. 【日】植条则夫 余纯麟 余振伟 译,《广告文稿策略———策划，创意与表现》 复旦大学出版社 14 河南机电高等专科学校毕业设计论文 Acknowledgement: It was really a laborious task to accomplish a B.A thesis. Many people gave me support and help in the process of writing the paper. I‟d like first to give my grate to my dear teacher, Zhang qingfeng, who generously gave me his kindly help and instructions during the whole process of my paper-writing. Then I‟d like to give my many thanks to my classmates who helped me a lot with my information collecting and paper-polishing. Most important of all, I want to give my thanks to my mother university and all the teachers in the English College, who educated and cultivated me to be a qualified teacher in the future. 15