1.
Common Advertising
Techniques
• HUMOUR
• SHOCK
• EMOTION
• DEMONSTRATION
• COMPARATIVE
• CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
• ENIGMA ADVERTISING

2.
Humour

3.
HUMOUR
PRO
• Memorable. Entertaining the audience can hold
their attention. Some of the most popular adverts
are the funny ones, making the audience relaxed
and happy. 
• CON
• Sometimes the consumer does not pay enough
attention to the product being advertised, or they
just don’t get the joke. 

4.
Shock

5.
SHOCK
• PRO
• Useful in changing behaviour so mainly
used in public service adverts, insurance ads
etc. 
• CON
• Can be too extreme and alienate the
audience – AIDS adverts 

6.
Emotion

7.
EMOTION
• PRO
• By appealing to the emotions and desires of the
audience they feel affection towards the brand.
Examples – Andrex – the aaah factor, envy with the
National Lottery Adverts, nostalgia with Hovis,
romance with Impulse or even sexual desire with
perfume adverts. 
• CON
• It has to be the right emotion and should clearly
represent the brand positioning or it doesn’t work. 

8.
Demonstration

9.
DEMONSTRATION
• PRO
• Showing how a product works or how it has
beaten a competitor – eg before and after
stain removal, dandruff ads, car ads etc. 
• CON
• People are becoming ever more cynical
about advertising – do they believe weight
loss adverts for example? 

10.
Comparison

11.
COMPARATIVE
• PRO
• Used when two or more products are competing for the
same market – Whiskas – 8 out of 10 owners, who
expressed a preference, said their cats preferred
Whiskas, BMW beating Audi for awards. 
• CON
• Advertisers have to be careful they don’t look like they
have nothing positive to say about their own brand.
• Legal problems - using a popular “rival brand” which
can make it meaningless, or unpopular. 

12.
Celebrity Endorsement

13.
CELEBRITY PRESENTERS
• PRO
• Testimonials (Cheryl Cole/Wayne Rooney)
or voice overs by celebrities adds value and
quality to the product. 
• CON
• People know the celebrity has been paid to
appear, more likely to be cynical. What if
they don’t like the celebrity involved? 

14.
Enigma

15.
ENIGMA ADVERTISING
• PRO
• Used to get around industry guidelines which
govern the advertising of sensitive products – eg.
alcohol– Guinness or products that are promoting
sophistication to target a more sophisticated
audience who think for longer about the brand as
they try to figure out the puzzle. Also these ads
flatter the audience into thinking they are clever for
solving the puzzle and this goodwill is then
associated with the product. 
• CON
• Frustration for the audience if they do not “get” the
message. They may ignore the advert all together.
