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Post on 04-Sep-2020
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OPEN COLLEGE OF THE ARTS Keith Greenough UNDERSTANDING VISUAL CULTURE Student No.: 416177 Assignment 3: Decoding Advertisements INTRODUCTION The objective of this assignment is to choose a current advertisement or advertising campaign and, drawing on the work of Barthes and others, analyse it to show how it derives and conveys its meanings to its intended audience. I have selected the Compare the Market.com’s award winning Meerkat campaign for analysis.
ANALYSIS The campaign is largely based on TV and on-‐line video. For the basis of my initial analysis I have chosen the above still image, which is typical of the content presented. In his essay Rhetoric of the Image (Evans, pp 33) Barthes proposes that advertisements derive meaning through both iconic (image based) and linguistic messages and that a pure image can create meaning both through literal and symbolic messages – denotation and connotation. The linguistic content of this advertisement comprises of a banner headline ‘ATTENTION!’ across the top. On boards resting on each of two easels, there are opposing statements. On the left are the words ‘FOR COURAGEOUS MEERKATS COMPARE THE MEERKAT.COM” and on the right ‘FOR CHEAP CAR INSURANCE COMPARE THE MARKET.COM’. The most frequent use of linguistic content is to guide the viewer on how to interpret the image content or, as Barthes puts it ‘The denominative function corresponds exactly to an anchorage of all the possible (denoted) meanings of the object…’ (Evans, pp 37). Images are polysemous, i.e. they are capable of being read in many different ways. The linguistic content limits or ‘anchors’ the range of possible readings that the advertisers want us to consider. In this case the words ‘ATTENTION!’ with the capital letters and exclamation mark, is meant to signify that the character in the image (a creature in a red smoking jacket and yellow cravat) is calling out to us in an authoritative manner. The opposing statements on the boards draw attention to two different websites. Thus the linguistic content make it clear that we should pay attention, and that we are comparing two websites.
In the TV advertisements Alexander speaks with an eastern European accent and ends all of the advertisements with the catch phrase ‘Simples’. This single highly memorable word indicates that the Compare the Market.com is easy to use. Turning now to the iconic content, Barthes contends that ‘we never encounter (at least in advertising) a literal image in a pure state.’ (Evans, pp 39). What he suggests is that we receive the literal and symbolic messages simultaneously. He does however point out that the literal image ‘has at least one meaning at the level of the identification of the scene represented’ (Evans, pp 39). I have conducted my analysis with this in mind. The image shows a central figure, a furry animal dressed in a red smoking jacket and yellow cravat. The animal has a stern expression and stands rigid with its arms crossed. The reference to meerkat in the linguistic component tells us what the animal is. On either side there is an easel with a board on it displaying the lettering outlined above. The easels are gilt with ornate patterns carved on them. In the background there is a wall with wood panelling. On the wall there is a painting and a bookcase. To the right and left of the room there are ornate gilt lamps and other items of furniture. To the right there is a tall window. On a symbolic level, the smoking jacket, cravat and erect stature, of the figure along with the grand nature of the room, suggest that he is a member of the aristocracy. His confrontational manner and the impression of a schoolroom created by the easels give us the sense that we are being lectured by a figure of authority. The juxtaposition of the two easels, the authoritative manner of the main character and the banner headline ‘ATTENTION!’ all work together to suggest that we are being told to compare and act on the two messages. We are being instructed to go to Compare the market.com if we are looking for car insurance. Although the image looks like a photograph, since the main figure is a talking animal we know that what we are looking at is ‘fake’. To use Barthes terminology, we are receiving a ‘coded’ message (Evans, pp 39), as would be the case if the advertisement were a drawing or cartoon. As such the ‘naturalness’ of a photographic image is lost and we are fully aware that the image has been constructed. We are being asked to believe that what we are being told by a puppet. This not only differentiates the advertisement but is also highly amusing. The campaign as a whole uses a series of TV and video advertisements to build the personality and history of its main character Alexander Orlov, who is pictured in the advertisement above. It also introduces other characters such as Alexander’s trusted assistant, Sergei. In the round it reminds us of amusing and sentimental children’s programmes we’ve seen at the movies and on TV. Despite his stern demeanour Alexander is perceived as endearing and cute.
The question remains as to why this advertisement would cause us to go to Compare the Market.com rather than any other source. In her book Decoding Advertisements Judith Williamson makes the point that it is ‘…the first function of an advertisement to create a differentiation between one product and others…’ (Williamson, pp 24). This is precisely what the Meerkat campaign is seeking to do. Price comparison websites for financial services products are a very generic business, with all having very similar branding. As such it is very difficult to tell one from another. The Meerkat campaign is highly unusual and quirky and quite different from campaigns for other price comparison websites that had gone before it. The advertisements are also amusing, eye-‐catching and highly memorable. The campaign has been very successful and won the top prize at the 2010 British Television Advertising Awards. It has also been successful on the Internet through social media channels. Alexander Orlov has his own Facebook page with 800,000 fans and a Twitter account with some 50,000 followers. It is clear that the campaign has differentiated Compare the Market.com from its competitors and that it is highly regarded by potential consumers. In traditional product advertising companies frequently use well-‐known personalities to advertise and differentiate their products. Judith Williamson illustrates this point with reference to Chanel’s use of the French actress Catherine Deneuve. Juxtaposing Deneuve with a bottle of Chanel No 5 perfume leads the viewer to assume that the two have the same meaning. Williamson points out that ‘…the work of the advertisement is not to invent a meaning for No. 5 but to translate meaning for it by a sign system we already know…’ (Williamson, pp 25). Catherine Deneuve signifies flawless French beauty. Chanel was aiming to transfer this meaning to their product and by so doing differentiate it. So what values does Alexander Orlov transfer to Compare the Market.com? There is a risk that using an amusing fictional character could trivialise their product. On the other hand the very novelty of the character marks Compare the Market.com out as a new kind of creative financial company -‐ one with a sense of humour and which understands today’s world, as demonstrated by the use of social network channels to distribute the advertisement. I believe the latter to be the case. Thus the meanings that the Meerkat advertisement transfers are creativity, fun, in-‐tune with today’s society (through internet viral advertising) and difference (from boring traditional financial institutions). The Meerkats have also come to represent the service, which Compare the Market.com sells, which is otherwise intangible and difficult to visualise. As Judith Williamson says ‘The technique of advertising is to correlate feelings, moods or attributes to tangible objects..” (Williamson, pp 31). In the terminology, she uses the Meerkats have become an ‘objective correlative’ for the service offered by Compare the Market.com. The big question is whether the advertisements cause people to buy from Compare the Market.com. The most important issues are that their name is memorable and that consumers are positively disposed them. The Meerkat advertisements are highly successful in achieving both of these aims. When consumers are sitting in front of their computers searching for financial services products they are likely to remember Alexander Orlov positively and by association be well disposed towards Compare the Market.com. References Evans J. and Hall S. (1999) visual culture: the reader London: Sage Williamson J. (1978) Decoding Advertisements Ideology and Meaning in Advertising London: Marion Boyars
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