Bike Adverts example essay topic

Compare Several Adverts Looking At The Ways They Aim To Influence Their Intended Audience Discuss in relation to feelings / experiences using particular ads as examples to support your view. In todays world, adverts have a great deal of influence over what we buy and do. Nearly everywhere we go some type of advert bombards us. For example, there are adverts on buses, on television, in magazines and on the street. Most of the time I feel like a prisoner to them, because their power of persuasion is amazing. This essay will compare a number of adverts which advertise mountain bikes.

Half of the adverts are from Mountain Biking UK (professional mountain biking magazine) and the other half are from FHM (mens magazine). All adverts vary depending on many things, including what type of magazine its in. Of course, the genre of the magazine will determine its audience and all adverts are geared towards a certain target audience. If the advert was in Mountain Biking UK it would be far more detailed, and would include things like spec sheets, pictures of famous riders, and special technical components.

This would because the target audience would be interested in and could identify with the product and the message the advert portrays. It would probably also be aimed at a professional mountain biker, because if someone won a competition on a companys bike, it would be extra publicity for that company. However if we had the same company advertising in FHM, the advert would be very different. It would be much more plain and simple, and would include things like a picture of the bike, a slogan, company name, and maybe a small section that has some specifications in it. This is because most people who read FHM wouldnt really care that a national champion won on that particular bike, or that it ha a LX group set, and a mavic / hope wheel set up.

Mainly all they would care about, is which bike looks the best, gets them from A to B, and if its in their price range. In my opinion this is a very good way of reaching the preferred target audience. The backgrounds in the ads are usually linked to what type of bike it is, what type of riding you do on that bike, and what type of audience will see the ad. If it were a town bike, the background would obviously be in the town or city, mainly aimed at people who would cycle to work or to the shops. If it were a cross-country bike the background would be in the countryside, rolling hills and gravel tracks, aimed at people who would cycle for fitness or fun.

And the same goes for all other types of bikes, downhill, freeride, dirt jump and BMX. Bike adverts usually include a slogan; these are mainly linked with three things, going fast, winning, and adrenaline. Which in my opinion attacks the right areas of a mountain bikers head. This is because most people, who buy the nice expensive, very high performance bikes advertised, would usually enter competitions, or have a very great enthusiasm for Mountain Biking as a sport. So they would want to buy a bike that went fast and helped them win or just improved their personal performance.

Therefore, if they saw Steve Peat (who is world wide #2 and British #1) riding a GT DHI, they would be influenced to buy that bike, because it has helped the British champion to his crown. However the large majority of people only want bikes to get from a to b. In this instance companies approach advertising their product differently, perhaps stressing their products cheep or good value rather than its good performance and guarantees. Often because the audience that this type of bike is not interested in these type of things. Nearly all of the adverts have men advertising the product, this might be a sexual approach to influence more women (or men) to buy there bike by putting young, famous and good looking male riders on there bike.

This actually surprises me greatly, I would actually expect there to be more female riders to advertise bikes than male, because men are usually more influenced by sexual suggestion, than females. It may be because the magazine has a mainly male audience, and it would appear that they would be more influenced by somebody who wins, than by somebody with a big chest. On the other hand it might just be the fact that there are more famous male riders than female. Some people would perhaps suggest this type of advert appeals to men because it portrays a macho image that they would like to have and so subconsciously think that if they buy this certain product it will boost there own personal macho image. However I dont agree with this. Personally I buy products because they improve my bikes performance not my street credibility.

I think this because some people use the personalities in their adverts as role models, therefore suggesting that if a professional uses a certain product it has to be good. Another factor of adverts is the way it is laid out. In FHM most of the adverts have primary colours of black or white, and the Secondary was red. This might be by coincidence, or it might be that black and white show of the bike more than other colours. Another thing that I noticed was the positioning of the product and product name, mainly the product was in the bottom half towards the left-hand side, and the product name was in the bottom right.

Again this might just be by coincidence, but it is more likely too have something to do with the side of adverts that appeals to the audiences subconscious, and the way our mind takes things in. As with all aspects of adverts the colour and layout is used to create an effect. Making certain aspects of the advert stand out often does this. In MBUK the colour scheme and layout is far more loud and colourful than in FHM, it is more like an explosion on the page. This would appeal to the audience of MBUK because the advertisers believe that they are more subconsciously influenced by bold / colourful slogans that do not require a great deal of thought.

The advert would include a picture of there team rider, the teams achievements, spec sheets, the product, pictures of the team in action, sponsors, phone numbers, websites, slogans and other little things that make certain adverts unique. Nothing has any particular place; its all just there. In FHM the adverts are more subtle and sophisticated. In FHM the slogan of an advert would probably concentrate on a products value for money i.e. Unhinged, Deranged. Financially astute, this is because most people who read FHM would be looking for a cheap and cheerful bike. But in MBUK the slogans will be aimed at the three main targets mentioned earlier, going fast, winning, and adrenaline i.e. Getting to the front is one thing, staying there is another and Here the only limit on speed is yourself.

In conclusion Ive found out that the use of adverts to sell products are so effective because they play on your subconscious image of how you see yourself, and tap into an aspect of the audiences lifestyle. They do this by varying their adverts depending on what type of audience will see it, and what type of product they are selling. For example, a bike company would not stress a bikes high-speed performance if their target audience were Oaks. As long as there is competition to be the best there will always be adverts, and no matter what people think of them, they are here to stay. By Sam Roberts.