Download AS Advertising and Marketing

MEDIA STUDIES – EXAMPLE QUESTIONS
ADVERTISING AND MARKETING
AS JANUARY 2006:
1. EITHER
(a) “When buying a product consumers seek to buy into the lifestyles presented in advertisements.”
Discuss this view with detailed reference to a campaign of your choice.
OR
(b) Outline a recent advertising or marketing campaign that has gained media coverage, discussing
in detail the strategies used and the advantages and disadvantages of publicity attracted in this
manner.
AS JUNE 2005:
1. EITHER
(a) It is often said that television advertisements offer more entertainment than the
programmes.
How and why do advertisers and marketeers make advertisements entertaining for their
target audiences? Illustrate your answer with examples form a campaign or campaigns of your
choice.
OR
(b) Some celebrities from the sporting and popular entertainment worlds are brands in
themselves.
Discuss the brand value of celebrities and evaluate some promotional strategies which have
involved them.
AS JANUARY 2005:
1. EITHER
(a)
By referring in detail to a recent campaign that presents a strong brand identity show how
brand image is important in advertising and marketing.
OR
(b)
“Research has shown that many groups, for instance young people, do not respond to
traditional advertising strategies when making their consumer choices”.
Discuss in detail some recent promotional strategies that have been developed in response
to such challenges.
AS JUNE 2004:
1. EITHER
(a) Advertisers and marketeers are always seeking new ways to get their messages
across to increasingly sophisticated media consumers.
Describe and illustrate three promotional techniques. Explain how such techniques might
successfully reach their target audiences.
(These techniques might include sponsorship, events, use of celebrities, guerrilla and ambush marketing,
viral marketing, product placement, amongst others.)
OR
(b) “A brand is an experience, the mere mention of which will immediately trigger
a host of images, thoughts and expectations in the consumer.”
(Michael Peters, branding specialist, in The Guardian 21/8/2002)
Discuss this statement with reference to the experience offered to consumers by a well known
brand or brands. Support your answer with detailed textual illustration.
AS JANUARY 2004:
1. EITHER
(a)
Describe, giving detailed examples, some of the potential advantages for advertisers and
marketeers of one or more of the following media outlets:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Television
Radio
Print media
Outdoor advertising
Cinema
Internet and new media technologies
OR
(b) “Standing out from the crowd is an essential part of any advertising campaign.”
(Meg Carter in The Guardian 28/01/02)
Discuss this statement with detailed reference to a recent campaign of your choice.
AS JUNE 2003:
1. EITHER
(a) How important is the role of direct advertising within ‘the marketing mix’?
Illustrate your answer by referring to one recent campaign that used a variety of
strategies, including direct advertising, to reach its audience.
OR
(b) Outline and evaluate a range of strategies used by marketeers to promote products, people
or services across the media.
(Strategies you may wish to consider include the following: public relations, promotion, publicity,
sponsorship, paid for advertising.)
AS JANUARY 2003:
1. EITHER
(a) “A great brand taps into emotions and emotions drive most if not all our decisions.”
Scott Bedbury, ‘Marketing Chief’, quoted in The Guardian, January 2001.
Describe and evaluate the emotional appeal of advertising and/or marketing techniques from
campaigns you have studied.
OR
(b) Why do advertisers use covert techniques to promote their products? Support your
answer with illustrations from a range of promotional ‘below-the-line’ techniques.
(Examples of documentaries which could be described as ‘Reality TV’ include: docusoaps, Big
Brother-type shows, Popstars, Survivors).
AS May 2002:
1. EITHER
(a) Advertising campaigns are regularly awarded prizes. To which recent advertising or
marketing campaign would you award a prize? Give detailed reasons for your choice.
OR
(b) “All media products are, in fact, promoting something or someone.” Do you agree?
Give detailed examples to support your views.
AS JANUARY 2002:
1. EITHER
(a) Describe and evaluate one recent advertising or marketing campaign in terms of its aims,
target audience, techniques and strategies.
OR
(b) How do advertisers and marketeers gain media attention for their brand or product?
Discuss the strategies used and evaluate their success.
(Examples of strategies you may like to consider include shock tactics, sponsorship, events, tie-ins,
use of celebrities, the Internet, news management.)
AS JUNE 2001:
1. EITHER
(a) “Ads don’t sell products – they sell brands.”
Discuss this statement by referring closely to a campaign you have studied.
OR
(b) Advertisers and marketeers use a range of promotional techniques to reach audiences.
Illustrate and discuss three techniques with which you are familiar. Examples of techniques
you may wish to consider include sponsorship, product placement, plugs, tie-ins, worldwide-web.
AS JANUARY 2001:
1. EITHER
(a)
Describe and analyse the ways in which a recent advertising or marketing campaign
targeted its audience.
OR
(b)
Promotional and covert advertising techniques have become increasingly widespread.
Account for this using specific examples.
QUESTIONS ON ADVERTISING & MARKETING FROM OLDER
PAPERS:
A2 JUNE 2001:
1. EITHER
(a)
Discuss the argument that advertisements create false needs. Illustrate your argument with
reference to at least three different advertisements.
OR
(b)
How and why do businesses, services or organisations create a brand identity for
themselves? Use at least one example of a business, service or organisation in your answer.
A2 JUNE 2000:
1. EITHER
(a)
Choose one mass medium and explore the major advantages and disadvantages it offers to
potential advertisers. Use examples in your discussion.
OR
(b)
Analyse any recent advertising or marketing campaign in terms of its techniques for
reaching and appealing to its target audience.
A2 JUNE 1999:
1. EITHER
(a)
Explain the major principles, techniques and practices of marketing, illustrating them with
a range of examples.
OR
(b)
What are brand images and why are they so important in advertising and marketing?
Present an analysis of two brand images with which you are familiar.
A2 JUNE 1997:
1. EITHER
(a)
What techniques do practitioners of advertising and marketing use to gain the attention of
their specific target audiences? Give examples, wherever possible.
OR
(b)
Describe one recent advertising or marketing campaign. Pay particular attention to the
campaign’s aims, target audience, techniques and media strategy, and estimate its success.
A2 JUNE 1996:
1. EITHER
(a) With reference to specific examples, describe some of the ways in which products, services and people are promoted within either television programmes or newspaper and magazine
articles. Why has there been a recent growth in this kind of promotional activity?
OR
(b)
What characteristics are observable in media which are funded mainly or entirely, by
advertising revenue? Give examples of, and account for, these characteristics.