The content I chose for my thesis is one of the Print Ads- by ‘Bailey’s Fine Jewelry’, and I believe this text is a unique example of print ads media form. The ad itself is a fine piece of imagination, depicting a human’s nature; especially those of women, when it comes to materialism. The tag-line of their advertisement is ‘Every Woman Wants a Bailey Box’. The statement itself holds the irony which is being depicted in the text. The text created, is presenting a story of its own which goes best with the tag-line, the company is using for the product marketing.
It is found in a human nature that it seeks to attain something, not to satisfy its need, but to satisfy the lust for it. A person often gets attracted to an object when he/she sees it in possession of another person, then only they value its existence or have a strong urge or hunger to get it. An old Monk in a movie once said, “Lust awakens the desire to possess. And that awakens the intent to murder.” . The image of the advertisements perfectly portrays this quotation which justifies the intense behavior of mankind.
The print ad of Bailey’s Fine Jewelry shows two classy women with manicured nails and high heels, belonging to high-social life and of wealthy standards wearing expensive dresses are have a dispute over a pretty looking box with white and black thin strips tied with an elaborated glorious red ribbon. The woman standing over the other is grabbing the hair of the possessor of the Bailey’s Box. She has an intense look of rebelliousness, showing her desire from every corner of her actions and expressions. Her hand is extended ready to grab the majestic box, which is supposedly full of treasured gems and sparkling, fine-cut diamond accessories, from the grasp of the lady under her who is trying hard not to let go off the box. However, the lady below has an expression of utter bewilderment; making it look like that the crazy woman who is grabbing her by her highlighted hair came as a surprise to her after the Bailey’s Fine Jewelry box came into her possession.
The method used by the company for this particular advertisement is ‘Storytelling method’. Storytelling is an effective advertising technique and is one of the smartest marketing strategies used by many companies. Storytelling is one of the most accomplished methods of marketing, on the other hand it also requires immense creativity to produce a compelling story which is relatable to audience and they can attach a memory or a meaning to it.
Storytelling is a way of representation of every culture. People easily understand it and is a way to easily grasp interest of the audience. It is a powerful yet persuasive way to deliver matter or object which you would want to convey to the audience.
While developing the story, it is most important to keep your audience in consideration, and to create interesting scenarios accordingly. Storytelling doesn’t only works for videos but for print ads it requires immense skills to portray what you want to with only a snapshot which is delivering loads of impressions only with expressions. The advertisement is fulfilling all basic pointers for engaging and compelling narratives with a story and characters in it. It is passionate and delivers a strong sense of company’s perceptions and principles.
Jealousy is clear in the actions of the woman who is making for a snatch and desire for the product. The advertisement itself is memorable and easy to tell; it has a twisted suspense in it and allows a person seeing it to feel empathy towards it. It is relatable, yet also saddening, which is allowing a person to acknowledge and conceive the substantial element it is depicting clearly with such grace and poise that is present in our society. Nobody wants to accept the fact open-heartedly but the advertisement is a great way to convey a disturbing factor in the society with such charm and glamour.
The company also used the ‘Gender advertisement method’ for their print ads. It depicts a stereotypical gender behavior. Gender and sexuality awareness is developed within human beings due to vast exposure in society and correlates with one another. It is basically the depiction between masculinity and femininity. The advertisers use this method, as people define themselves among genders and it makes it easier to insert the element of gender and sexuality for the advertisers so as to make the ad more relatable for the audience.
Men and women in society are depicted in various roles having altering attitudes, behaviors and social statuses, to define them in different sexes. Gender and sexuality method allows audience to relate gender relations into different roles and associated figures with their outlooks as reflected by most.
Gender and sexuality itself encompasses great deal of meaning. It includes temperament, abilities, activities, ideal behavior and its deviation, sensuality, all are conceived in the gender constructs of a society. Advertisers take in regard the color, packaging, tag-lines and all other possible ways to associate a sex correctly and accordingly to a product.
An image for the depiction of feminine is generally presented as a caring, gentle, delicate, irrational, placid, passive, attractive and emotional. They are made to depict a sense of extreme psychological streak in their actions.
The advertisers for the company are depicting a sense of intense emotional account from the feminine side, which is widely believed in a society that a female had a tendency to show. They have made the correct use of elements such as colors, theme for the product, expressions and feeling in the print ad showing what a woman is capable, and to what lengths she can go to achieve what she desires. Then may it be a precious gem or a human she wants in her possession.
The outside source I use to further evaluate my analysis is a book ‘Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture: Advertising's Impact on American Character and Society’, by Arthur Asa Berger. In this book he elaborately talks about how the present advertisement is impacted by the society or modern American culture; or how the culture itself affects today’s advertising and marketing strategies. I believe it is an insightful analysis, breaking into different aspects of marketing or advertising components a company generally uses from its agencies to the selling product.
Our society shows a psycho-cultural perspective when it comes to advertising. It is true that one uses sexuality and gender juxtaposition for the marketing strategy and how they align the attributes with a gender to the product they are selling. They depict a quality of a gender which isn’t alien in the society and using that as a level they build upon with the story which they want the audience to conceive using the image. It is the way an advertisement is used for communication with the audience and how much insight it holds within itself of the depiction of society, culture, gender, sexuality, tone and theme.
The book also evaluates an advertisement in multiple ways such as, its semiotic, psychoanalytic, sociological, Marxist, mythic, and Feminist analysis. It vital that how attention is grasped and how the print ad is conceived by different generations’ groups – the meaning and impressions it is creating over them.
The advertisement by Bailey’s Fine Jewelry is considered a fine example of depiction of sexuality and gender associated attributes, telling in a completely subtle way the motto or slogan the company is actively promoting.
In conclusion, it was analyzed and accepted that an advertisement is carried out using multiple elements and components from a strong narrative to a thematic expression. It is presented in accordance with the wide believe a society holds and perceives. We can agree that the advertisement by the Bailey’s Fine Jewelry is cleverly crafted to create the sense of glamour, passion, beauty, emotion, luxury, strong-headedness, seduction and femininity. Although it can’t be denied that it is presenting the retrospect culture of our society. Overall, I believe their advertisement is very creative and indulging, depicting a company’s motto in true essence, still the idea it represents behind the whole campaign promotes substantial element and is not worth spreading out. After all, Marty Rubin justifies it amazingly well as, “Appreciation, not possession, makes a thing ours.”
Bibliography
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