I in

1. Guide to the codes and conventions of
advertising
Unit 15: Advertising production learning aim A

2. codes and convention
there are many codes and conventions of an advertising production that can vary with each production
adverts use structure to draw the appropriate audiences through mediums such as narrative. a narrative is like a
story that they are selling to the consumer which could be as anything as simple as how the product has
benefitted the consumer. however there are two different types of narratives realistic narrative and anti realistic
narrative. realistic narrative can be persuasive because it draws power from real event whereas anti realistic
narrative can suck the audience in by consuming it with things that are impossible the use of CGI, special effects,
mythical characters, etc. either of these narratives can be chosen depending on the conventions of the audience
being targeted and the product being advertised
techniques such as lighting, editing props, camera, techniques, scenes, characters, choices. all these things can
be utilised and altered for the right target audience are the main codes and conventions for video advertisements
this is because video advertisements are heavily reliant on visual storytelling with things such as characters, CGI,
lighting, typically every feature that is commonly used in modern day filmmaking
another technique used is the use of slogans, slogans can be short catchy phrases that are used to make the
advert/brand memorable and separate your product from other brand this is especially present in all video, print
and radio advertisements as the slogans can be audible or written, overall slogans are a good way of linking these
mediums and create iconography in a sense they are especially useful in campaigns.

3. the codes and conventions will be very different to its counterparts as it relies solely on visual information so it will
typically have to implement a strong colour scheme and something that is visually striking to the eye to appeal to
audiences they are typically distributed on billboards, public transport, shop walls etc. usually they will also have
big bold writing or a vibrant or cohesive colour scheme. print advert also could potentially implement famous
people to fit in with iconography so consumers are familiar with who is endorsing the product someone who they
'trust' and are influenced by, print advertisements rely on as getting as much information on and efficiently
interesting the consumer as there is only so much space so they must follow these codes and conventions to
garner a consumers interest
iconography is a good way of ensuring that consumers will be interested in what a brand is selling if it back by a
celebrity or influencer as there is a trust dynamic between the celebrity and consumer that a celebrity wouldn't
endorse a bad product a lot of diet tea brands use iconography to gain a consumers trust
a radio advert can range from around 10-60 seconds long however the average is usually around 30 seconds to
ensure all the tight information is relayed. slogans or jingles as they are called when they are sung, are very
common. this is because they are usually played in cars or standard radios which means there is no memorable
video footage, just audio, so it has to be memorable in some way. the language of a radio advert is usually
tailored to a certain demographic, so for example if it was an advert for the release of a new movie is usually
tailored to a certain demographic.
all adverts will have different specific codes and conventions because each advert is tailored to a different kind of
audience that will need to see different things.

4. Classifying an audience
each individual type of adverts has different ways of identifying and classifying audiences that they are trying to target to and are
done so in multiple ways such as;
Social grades; which are grades audiences are categorised and classified in a system determined by a persons social
statues/occupation and the grades range from A-E, A being Upper/upper middle class which are people doing administrative or
profession and higher managerial work and E being pensioners/lower class, who either do none to very little work compared to other
classes. This is important to an advertiser because a brand has to tailor their product towards an audience, and if a product is
typically expensive and more suited towards a consumerist audience, a brand would specify and targets it towards na upper class
audience e.g. B/A
Demographics; which are classified by gender, race, location, and employment status (which also overlaps with social grades) and
demographics are especially important for advertisers because it tells them the most basic yet crucial information for advertisers,
because it tells them the base of what audience they need to advertise to, e.g. selling toys towards a younger audience, or selling
perfume towards women of a certain age
psychographics; which are most likely the crucial part of information when it comes to advertising because it classifies an audience in
terms of personality, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyle. This is crucial to advertisers because this information is very specific
and crucial when it comes to advertising because it shows a viewers interests and core beliefs, so when an advertiser would like to
advertise a sport program, typically they have a high male viewer count so they would advertise it towards males and on channels
that males would typically watch.
These are the main ways audiences are categorised, all these combined and throughly researched can effectively create a interesting

5. Type one: Demo
This is a visual demonstration of a products capabilities and shows benefit of
the product.
Type two: Show the problem
First, you make it clear that somethings not up to snuff in the consumers life
and you SHOW it. It isn’t enough to imply that there is a problem; the ad must
make it manifest. Then, the ad almost invariably introduces the remedy –
which is, of course, the product it’s selling.
Type three: Symbolise the problem
This format is much like the previous type, but this time. you employ a “symbol,
analogy, or exaggerated graphic” to represent the problem, thus the ad doesn’t
show the real problem or need; it shows an exaggeration of the problem or a
symbol meant to represent the need or problem.
Guns 12 types of advertising

6. Type four: Contrast with competition
Here, the spotlight’s on the claim that your product is superior to those of your
competitors.
Type five: Exemplary story “Show the actual benefit”
These ads weave a narrative that helps illustrate the product’s benefits. In
Gunns words, the key is to create “a situation where you’d use [the product]
and be very glad for it.
Type six: Benefit causes story
These ads use the benefit that the story causes to tell the a story – usually one
thats quite exaggerated. These ads focus less on the use of the product;
typically, the ad doesn’t the product until the very end, setting it up as the
answer to why something is the way it is in the story.
Type seven: Presenter testimonial “tell it”
This can take the form of a kindly neighbor or best friend spot, it can be a “real
person” testimonial, or it might be a classic talking-head ad.

7. Type eight: Ongoing character & celebrities
One big challenge when making an ad is to ensure that your brand “gets credit” for the spot. The
viewer may remember the ad just fine and yet forget which brand it was for. The use of a recurring
character or celebrity, can help a brands identity into the viewers brain.
Type nine: Show benefit through a symbol, analogy, or exaggerated graphic
Like the fifth type of ad, this type shows the benefit; this time, however, the ad shows the benefit
through a symbol or exaggeration.
Type ten: Associated user imagery
Here, the advertiser showcases the type of people it hopes you’ll associate with the product. Often
these people will be hip, funny, or good-looking people. But sometimes the associated users are goofy
or geeky – it depends on the target market.
Type eleven: Unique personality property
These spots highlight something indigenous to the product that will make it stand out. It could be the
country of origin (a sports car boasting about german engineering.
Type twelve: Parody or borrowed format
This is a popular approach these days, perhaps because pop-culture references have become our
common language. Recent ads have parodied movies, TV shows – and even other ads. At its worst, a
parody is a lazy way to gin up some tepid humor. Done well, however, a parody can be both
memorable and hilarious.

8. gucci guilty - video
https://youtu.be/4DBfnl-Jbag
in this advertisement gucci it presents itself with many codes and conventions which however contrasts against its
message and target audience, the description to the perfume ad reads
"Jared Leto is joined by Lana del rey in the campaign by glen Luchford. featuring familiar american scenarios, filmed
in los angeles, they play individuals who live and love outside of social conformism to embody the gucci fragrances
gucci guilty pour homme and pour femme"
this ad is the centrepiece towards a large campaign around guccis new fragrance and parfum; gucci guilty. The short 2
minute film as they describe it has many codes and conventions, but visually show lana del rey and jared leto roaming
around various 70's inspired locations in 70's inspired gucci fashion which is apart of their new clothing campaign
aswell..
This being a perfume campaign, it will be hard for them as a brand to diverge from typical codes and conventions as
perfume is something that is not easy to sell to consumers as they physically can't smell or experience it, however
being infamously gucci they may be able to diverge because they are already at the height of branding, but typically
brands will sell the lifestyle surrounding the perfume, and in this case it's the outside of the social conformity

9. This ad heavily relies on iconography from artists and celebrities who don't fit the social normality in their
respective industries, which fits in with their overall message of "individuals who live and love outside of social
conformism" this ad is appealing to men and women who see them selves as alternative or non mainstream
which is ironic for such a brand like gucci who are a big name for things associated around consumerism culture
and materialistic people for their high end fashion and overpriced accessories however this is following the codes
and conventions because they are appealing to their audience by using these celebrities front and centre to sell
perfume as it is not easy to sell already
Another code and conventions is narrative, the story that the campaign is selling around this "living outside the
social conformism" they tell this visually but not in a realistic way, therefore making it anti-narrative, by having
these big elaborate objects, which you find common in perfume adverts, because they exaggerate the
extravagance of the lifestyle surrounding the person or celebrity who is wearing the perfume and in this case lana
del rey and jared leto are roaming about a 70's inspired supermarket with a tiger shopping and then in the next
scene in a diner being waited by courtney love (lead singer of hole/widow to kurt cobain), 2 very unrealistic
scenarios, and they play on this unrealistic ness by exaggerating it and making it very grander and larger than life
with bright colours and making life seem very rose-coloured this is very typical for perfume adverts as they have
to exaggerate life in general.
Thematically the video is very consistent and on brand with gucci, ever since the rebranding of gucci in their use
of animals and animal prints as their muses on a lot of their clothing and accessories, we find these same
animals being present in the videos such as shots of tigers and snakes which are key staples to the gucci brand,
this exotic ness fits in with their overall branding on outside social conformism and helps solidify themselves as a
brand by these tiny details, but also these features and extravagance are what makes it memorable to an
audience which connects back to iconography.

10. camera work however is where they diverge from the norm, typically modern day adverts want to be as
crisp and up to date as possible and will use special effects and other CGI and high tech cameras to be
as appealing as possible especially in perfume adverts, but as previously mentioned, gucci wanted to
keep the 70's theme throughout and used a 35mm camera as some of their shots to solidify this theme,
and have this vintage feel to the advert as a whole, this diverges from typical codes and conventions of a
perfume advert, yet alone a Video Advert. They also toy with this use of vintage in their own way by
using a projector as a way to have a backdrop, which in this case would be classed as special effects, so
instead of opting to use a green screen in which modern day adverts would use, they used a projector so
maintain and commit to this theme of the 70's and old glamour but this use of a projector completely
goes against modern day codes and conventions and therefore diverges.
This ad also implements slogans in its brand aswell which is very typical for campaigns to implement, in
gucci's case they use the slogan "foreverguilty" along with the hashtag of the same name, this is a
creative way of using the products name and an other word that both compliment each other to create
their own phrase.
In terms of gunns type of advertisements, this would fit many in the region of iconography, to start off
with 5 - which is exemplar story, the product is deemed necessarily to have this extravagant lifestyle that
gucci are trying to sell the consumer and this need to have the perfume/fragrance to achieve this non
conformity.
next and primarily would be 8 - ongoing character/celebrity - the two celebrities featured are the driving
and focal point of the entire advert, they are mainly selling the product to the target audience and have
been specially selected for respective target audience because of the trust that they have with their own

11. Gucci's target audience and demographics, gucci which is a brand that has existed for nearly a century now have
always appealed to a younger audience and with that audience constantly shifting so has gucci, but in terms of a
modern day one, this would be an audience that are young to middled age (18-35) directed to both genders,
however would be typically more diverted towards female with their bright colours and soft and subtle imagery,
but because the campaign is selling the pour homme and pour femme in this case it is directed for both, and
people who will have just started somewhat of an higher education and/or people in a full time job who make
upwards of 20k+ per year and in terms of psychographics this would be for people of all sexuality's and religions,
who typically hold more of an open modern socialist views and live a very modern and young lifestyle, and would
be classed as aspirers, and in terms of social grade would’ve been anywhere from A-D due to the high
eccentricity lifestyle that Gucci promotes and for the brand itself gathers an upper class audience and it being in
the thick of consumerism would appeal to a lower/working class audience
was gucci effective and how? and did they appeal or challenge codes and conventions?
in my personal opinion i think gucci was quite effective in their overall delivery and appeal to their target
audience, they correctly and articulately created a campaign and ad that they knew would appeal to their
selective audiences, by doing this niche and unique approach thematically they were overall successful because
this uniqueness and iconography is what sets them apart from other competitors and by selling this lifestyle and
fantasy to a younger audience through iconography they effectively garnered a lot of attention from an audience
that wants to live outside the conformity.
in terms of diverging from codes and conventions they overall followed them but for a perfume advert there is not
enough room to be as creative as they'd like with a product so they must stick with to appealing to the audience
in a way that is familiar, however they still managed to slightly diverge with their use of cameras and special
effects which in a way is what helps set themselves apart from other brands, therefore continuing this
iconography. so overall no they did not diverge from codes and conventions however they did not fully go as far

12. tesco price drop ad - radio
https://youtu.be/RLvBRCyNHJs
This radio ad for the major supermarket store tesco's takes a comedic turn at their own price drops which the first
narrator tries to quickly list all the items that have been given a drop in price in the short ammount of time the 15-
25 second advert is on, because it is a radio advert and solely relies on audibly information is has to quickly get
the listeners attention, and adverts typically do this by a jingle or song, a catchy slogan, persuasive language
and an uptone voice, a celebrity endorsement, sound, music, narrative, humour,
in tesco's case because they're a serious company they don't really have the opportunity to go very far out and
tell a anti narrative so in their case they take an informative but humerus approach by the narrator speaking
quickly and then another narrator on top of that one finishing it off as he continues to list off items that are apart
of the price drop.
there are a few codes and conventions in there that are worth mentioning, to begin with persuasive language
and humour, as the first narrator begins to list things off and keeps on going on becaude there is too much to list
off, this is a form of exaggeration, they are using their time frame of a radio ad to make it seem like the price drop
is bigger than it is, and this exaggeration is also a form of humour aswell as it being persuasive, what they are
trying to do is catch the listeners attention straight away, this is a typical code and convention what radio ads will
do, something that will set them apart from others and comedy and persuasive language was tesco's way of
getting the listeners attention as it is hard to be informative but also interesting at the same time.

13. they also used slogan which fits in with iconography, tesco's iconic and long running
slogan has always been every little helps, which was said towards the end of the ad as the
first narrator starts to get quieter, a second narrator is narrating on top of him to close off
the ad explaining about the price drop at tesco and finishes with the slogan.
finishing with the slogan and even including it is a good way to be memorable and long
lasting in listeners heads, and is a typical code and convention that almost all brands use.
however i would like to note that there is a few typical codes and conventions that Tesco miss
out, ones that are typically very beneficial to an add, especially as it is hard to sell something
in a short amount of time, first off it would be the missing use of a jingle, typically it is
important for radio ads to have a jingle, because it's creates memorability, but it has the same
functionality of a slogan however and this ad doesn't feature any celebrity endorsements
which means there is no iconography which doesn't help create that trust between the brand
and consumer.
in terms of guns advertising, this ad's strong suit is through its humour and informativeness;
firstly the most fitting would be 9) symbolise the benefit because from the brands selling point
is they're trying to sell the store to them and the benefit of shopping there because of the
price drop

14. the target audience of tesco's and demographics; becsude tesco's is a supermarket they will not want to appeal to a
younger audience and more of an older adult one, the age ranging from 25-60, most likely targeted towards both
genders of people who live independently and are adults specifically targeted towards middle class families who earn
a liveable wage because of its solemnity and informativeness and in terms of psychographics this will be targeted
towards more conservative families who live a very domestic life and have traditional values and are most likely
religious. In terms of social grade it would be targeted towards a social grade of C1-E, towards families who don’t
have access or the ability to afford high end supermarkets every month
is it effective and how? and do they follow codes and conventions?
Overall i don't think this advert is majorly effective in terms of other radio adverts because of their lack of following the
codes and conventions, however for their specific audience they have communicated what they need to
communicate, they don't need to go much further because they don't need to sell the price drop however they are
more promoting it whereas ads like gucci that are more persuasive.
in terms of following codes and conventions they follow very little codes and conventions however because the advert
is a little lacklustre and lacking in content it does not follow as many codes and conventions as they should/can.

15. cadbury's print ad
tbis cadbury's print ad is from the 1950's so the codes and
conventions will be slightly different from a modern print ad and
the audience and demographics will have changed however there
are still many codes and conventions that are still there and worth
noting.
this print ad is advertising a milk assorted packet which features
various biscuits. Print ad's are difficult because they rely solely on
visual information so they have get an audiences attention visually
as they are featured on walls as posters, billboards, in magazines
etc by using various features such as;
a bold colour scheme - in this poster a coherent colour scheme is
present, a cream/white background with pink bold writing that
contrasts against the background, this is common for posters and
follows the codes and conventions because it catches the eye for
audience walking past and makes it easy to read, this bold colour
scheme is probably the posters strongest suit as there is not a lot
of detail.

16. slogan - a slogan is very important for a poster as it creates memorability, the slogan is featured at
the very bottom of the poster in the same font as the main title which is another code and
conventions,
also what is note mentioning is that the actual product has its own slogan to reinforce its functionality
which reads "five favourites in one packet" and this slogan also has features of alliteration which is
persuasive language but this is following the codes and conventions already because it's creating
memorability with an audience and also help build and solidify this branding that cadbury's has
always had and the reinforcement of why you should pick cadbury's.
bold writing and copy - various fonts are used and colours are used for each font depending on the
importance of the text, a lot of the important information is written in pink so when a consumer walks
past they can connect what is important for a brief viewing information such as the weigh of the packet,
the name of the brand, the name of the product, the names of each chocolate in the packet and the
various illustrations that come along with it.
this is following the codes and conventions similar to the bold colour scheme because it is implicitly
visually showing what is important to the viewer.
images - typically in a modern day poster they would typically use real photos but because of the time
period these weren't available so they had to use illustrations, which is the focal point of the poster and
used various illustrations so at the time this poster was made, illustrations would be following the codes
and conventions at the time but in general images are very important and are following the codes and
conventions anyway.

17. in terms of guns 12 types of advertising, this would be 4 in terms of a comparison, because of the
slogan convincing you that cadbury's makes the highest quality chocolate trying to convince the
consumer that any other brand isn't as high quality as cadbury's and i would also like to note 9 -
symbolise the benefit, through the use of illustrations and the information that promotes its good
value and efficiency for families
cadbury's target audience in the 1950's will have slightly shifted, especially for this product because it is
branded more towards families therefore older adults/parents which at the time would've been quite
young people ages 20-25 and more promoted towards white women/house wives so they didn't have a
job because they were the matriarch and cooks off the families whereas nowadays this product would
typically be promoted towards a younger audience however in terms of psychographics the target
audience will have really conservatives views in modern day standards and will most likely be a christian
friendly brand whereas because of modernity nowadays brands shift and separate themselves from
religion and would’ve been in a social grade of D/E
was it effective? does it follow codes and conventions?
in terms of effectiveness, i think this ad for its time would've been quite effective in its colour scheme and
would've been very persuasive towards its target audience because of its content and illustrations, it has
a good balance between being persuasive and informative and was very bold.
overall i think this safely follows the codes and conventions and doesn't diverge at all, it knows what to
cater to garner an audience and at that time it would've been classed as a high quality poster and
would've been very persuasive.