Download Assessing Advertising Content

Running head: ASSESSING ADVERTISING CONTENT
Assessing Advertising Content
Nathan Hillard Spicer IV
AET /552
November 9, 2015
Devin Andrews
1
ASSESSING ADVERTISING CONTENT
2
Assessing Advertising Content
The role of successful advertising is to build interest in a product or service and motivate
people to take action towards purchasing the product or service. Advertisers communicate using
digital media, television, radio, and many other methods to deliver their message. However, an
ad that gained my interest and motivated me to find more information was the P90X
advertisement. The following will examine several characteristics of the television based
advertisement that promoted the in home fitness routine, P90X. The review will discuss the
target market, objective of the ad, primary message, success elements, and the ad’s effectiveness
or ineffectiveness.
Target Market
The development of a successful advertising campaign requires diligent research to
identify the target market. A target market represents a specific group of consumers that are
likely to purchase the products or services a company offers and who the company focuses their
advertising efforts (2015 Entrepreneur Media, Inc, 2015). The advertising for P90X focuses on a
few key areas including persons that are looking to achieve fitness goals, prefer to work out in
their home, and have access to basic fitness tools. The target audience includes both male and
female and seems to appeal to adults. The segment or audience that may reflect this target
include working adults or parents that want to lose weight. In addition, this advertisement also
targets individuals that want the benefits of a structured training program without the cost related
to one-on-one training.
Objective
Advertisement can include various purposes depending on the phase of the business and
the organizations objective with each piece of advertisement. The common purposes of
ASSESSING ADVERTISING CONTENT
3
advertisement include inform and educate, increase variety of use, reinforce benefits, generate
traffic in locations, gain support, branding, and several others (Mysliwiec, 2011). The purpose of
the P90X advertising was to accomplish several of these purposes. The primary objective of the
P90X television advertising that I observed was to get persons to purchase their product using
their website or over the phone. The common name for this type of advertising is a call to action
which focuses on helping the audience to take action on purchasing a product or requesting a
service.
Primary Message
In addition to the purpose of the advertising, carefully selected message is important to
capture the audience. The P90X message to the audience was that by purchasing their program
and following the steps outlined that a person will be able to lose weight and have the body that
they desire. The message was delivered by the spokesperson Tony and people that had
completed the program themselves. Many of the persons in the advertisement displayed their
before and after photos while also demonstrating how easy it was to complete the workouts in
their home. The effective delivery of the message is important ensure the audience receives the
intended message. If there is confusion then the audience is less likely to respond to the
message.
Success Elements
An advertising success is dependent on its ability to accomplish five essential elements
which include features, benefits, urgency, layout, and offer (Arthur, 2015). The P90X
advertisement was successful in each of these areas. The program was clearly defined and listed
what items where included and what items the consumer would need to purchase on their own.
In addition, the ad included testimonials from actual users that displayed the process. The
ASSESSING ADVERTISING CONTENT
4
organization of the television ad was beneficial to the audience because it incorporate samples of
the content while also showing the consumer how it actually works on others. The energy that
was displayed by the spokesman Tony and other participants helped to create urgency and helped
to show the audience how they can have success. In the end of the ad there was a special offer
that enticed the audience to take action rather than procrastinate.
Advertisement Rating
I enjoyed the P90X advertisement from a consumer standpoint and as researcher. The
objective of marketing is to deliver a message to an audience that persuades them to receive the
message positively. The advertisement was effective for three primary reasons, the ability to
engage the audience through product demonstrations, providing a strong value proposition, and
delivery method. The ad offered ample amount visuals that engaged the audience in a fitness
mindset. In addition, the product they offered included each component of a fitness plan for a
value based cost versus the cost of a personal trainer. The ad was also placed in a target time of
late evening to early morning which targets adults. The ad has proven success through the
release of version two and three of the training program.
A review of the success that the P90X program has received from effective marketing
displays the importance of creating a persuasive message. The delivery of the content may
require diversity or adaptation to the consumption method of the target audience. An increase
use of mobile devices and other methods of media consumption require companies to create
more diverse messages to capture their audience. However, with careful research, a quality
product, and effective marketing a company can achieve similar success as P90X has with their
marketing campaigns.
ASSESSING ADVERTISING CONTENT
5
Reference
Arthur, L. (2015). Five Essential Elements of an Advertisement. Retrieved from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-essential-elements-advertisement-25767.html
2015 Entrepreneur Media, Inc. (2015). Target Market. Retrieved from
http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/target-market
Mysliwiec, A. (2011, January 3). Purposes of Advertising 1 [Video file]. Retrieved from
YouTube website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s32voK6UgBw