One Last Note...

People are perpetually attempting to make sense of their surroundings. Narratives act as a platform for this sense making to take off, giving people context and meaning. This is why narrative is such a popular communication tool when parents communicate to their children. The morals and values imparted seem to make more sense when told with a context.

This is not too different when it comes to sales. With the amount of exposure to advertisements an individual is forced to deal with every day, it is no wonder that selling a product on basis of its value proposition is a tactic that is no longer effective. Instead, the audience needs to be engaged, needs to feel, and needs to want the product in order for a the product to stand a chance in the markets today.

What better way to do this than through the power of a narrative?

Steve Job's Revolutionary Story that took the World by Storm: the iPhone

So here we are, at the last week of our blog entries and we've decided to round it up with a bang. Over the past few weeks, we have introduced to you a number of advertisements and dissected their narrative elements to show how these elements have helped in the selling of products. However, the reality of the situation is that narrative tools may be employed outside of advertisements. After all, a sales pitch can take place at any point in time! So here it is, the story that Steve Jobs took that led to the entry of a product into an industry which was already wracked with intense rivalry, bought by 1.389 million customers within 1 year of its launch, and had snatched away 8.9% of the market with 24.89 million units sold by the end of 2008 - a mere 2 years after its launch: Apple's iPhone.

In order to fully appreciate the impact of the sales pitch, you must bring yourself to the time where smart phones were cumbersome and difficult to manage. A time where there was no touchscreen, where MP3 players were separate entities from their phone counterparts, and where phones were still just phones.

Now, Steve Jobs could have taken a different approach from the one he did. Like the countless number of sales executives that we encounter on a day-to-day basis, he could have simply cited the value proposition and benefits of the iPhone. If that were the case, the iPhone would not have succeeded in the manner that it had. Sales would have been slow.

Why? Well, how many potential customers would ask the following questions: "Why would I need a touchscreen? The stylus and keyboard on my current phone suits me fine!" and "Why would I need an MP3 player on my phone? My current MP3 player suits me perfectly"? Almost all of them would - Steve Jobs had created a phone that was unlike any other available at that point in time. It was something that was completely revolutionary, leading us to our next point: potential customers for new product categories do not know why they need a product.

It is precisely for this reason, that Steve Jobs had to employ the narrative tools that he did. He used the audience - us - as the characters of his story. At the beginning, he told a story about how we have been enslaved by the antagonists: the Motorolla Q, the Blackberry, the Palm Treo, the Nokia E62. "Smart phones that aren't all that smart". He begins to analyze the various antagonists and slowly, we begin to slowly realize how truly bad these smart phones are. As this dissecting occurs, the tension in the plot builds up. The audience agrees with Steve Jobs. Yes, those smart phones truly are horrendous. And then they ask the crucial question, bringing the story to the climax: Who can come down and save us poor damsels in distress from the evil that is the current smart phones?

POW! The revolutionary iPhone.

The plot truly was fairly simple:

1) Setting - Current Situation;

2) Characters - Us (Protagonists) and Available Smart Phones (Antagonists);

3) Plot - How available smart phones are inadequate;

4) Climax - So available smart phones are horrible, what choice do we have?;

5) Resolution - iPhone.

What follows the introduction was the happily ever after of how the iPhone resolves all the above-mentioned problems that smart phones were unable to address.

The story that Steve Jobs had presented was an introduction to his pitch. It was necessary for the audience to understand the context in which the iPhone is entering, so that we would see why we need the benefits that the iPhone provides. Moreover, Steve Jobs interacted with the audience with an engaging plot, motivating them to here out the salvation he provides.

Narratives are powerful. In this case, Steve Jobs' narrative had moved 24.89million people and counting. Earlier this year, Steve Jobs had recently presented his keynote on the Apple iPad. How many more people will he be moving?

Mac Vs PC

In this particular ad, you can see that the computers Mac and PC take on a human role. As we have discussed in class a few weeks ago, this allows the audience to relate to the characters in the ad. The ad, although has no proper setting and "climax", we are still able to see that there is some story going on in the ad. As we have mentioned in previous posts, this way of personifying an inanimate object is a great way for a brand to become associated with human traits and therefore seen as more personal to the audience watching the ad.

These computers, with their human traits, allow the audience to feel the same emotions that the computers feel. In this case, we feel sympathetic towards PC since he has to go for a major surgery to change his OS. We all know that the OS change is the biggest thing for a computer and alot of Windows users were very bothered by the fact that it takes so much to change just one operating system. AND. its fear of "death" is also one of the biggest fears for windows users when they change their OS as there is a possibility that they may have to get a whole new PC. Mac plays on that fear and makes fun of it.

Mac also uses humour to make sure that the audience remembers the ad. For many of the previous ads that we have shown, it is clear that humour really helps brand recall. In fact, this ad has been so popular that many people parody the ad and post them up on Youtube.

Story telling like that using just two characters that represent one of the most important inanimate objects creates a really interestingly new combination for the audience. It not only makes them laugh at the ad, but think about how we treat the computers. The humanization is definitely a big part of how this ad works and next time i change computer, i will make sure that my mac doesn't suffer.

The Truth About Cosmetics Ads

Everyone loves parodies. Here’s one for you to enjoy!

Commercials are used to convince consumers to buy a company’s product. This parody, though not a real advertisement, shows exactly how they are used to tell STORIES to entice viewers. The video itself is more of an exposition than a narrative, but I think it is relevant to our topic as it is cleverly used to show how commercials (narratives) make use of tools of narrative to sell a product. The fact that it is a parody of commercials makes it more of a narrative than it actually is.

The narrators used in this video are average-looking girls who are nobodies. This deliberate selection of characters convinces the audience that they are speaking for them and like them. We compare them to the celebrities who hog our TV screens and we are likely to trust them more. Here, we see that advertisements for cosmetics use characters who are epitomes of beauty so that they themselves can be a proof of the product. Interestingly, ‘heroes’ used in this video are different from the ‘heroes’ used in commercials because they advocate different messages – truth, as compared to skin-deep beauty.

Sardonicism is evident – the ‘characters’ talk in an upbeat tone (like in commercials) which mocks at the too-honest information they are relating to the audience. A stark contrast is also brought about when we see that they imitate the narrators in commercials we see on TV every day, but this time they speak the truth.

The fake settings used in the video may be a reflection of the low budget, but it can also be a subtle reflection of how commercials use settings which seem more real, but convey messages which are less truthful than what the video says.

One thing that builds up the impact of the message of the video is the compilation of micro events. It talks about different kinds of cosmetics, including mascara, shampoo, perfume and facial solutions. Rising action builds up to the climax, which is when we find out that beauty companies which appear to campaign for a cause (breast cancer awareness) are actually actively using toxic ingredients in their products. The horror is doubled when we realise that on top of exaggeration, cosmetics companies blatantly lie to us.

MOON FACE :(

Firstly, almost half of the commercial is narrated by a narrator. Due to the language barrier, it is difficult for us to determine if the narrator is of first or third person. However, no matter which narrator it is, it leads us to wonder why there is a need for a narrator when the commercial is actually self-explanatory.

1) If the narrator is first person with the girl with the “moon head” being the narrator, the incorporation of her narration would serve to illustrate what she actually felt over her skin problem.
2) If the narrator is the friend of the “moon head” girl, the reason for narration would be to express the friend’s (first-person) point of view of the situation and her concern towards the “moon head” girl.
3) If the narrator is a third person, the reason for narration would be to either explain the transition between scenes or to give a more objective view of what is happening.

Secondly, the commercial is able to portray the character trait of the “moon head” girl within a short period of time. The fact that a “moon head” is used illustrated that the girl has low self confidence because she does not even see herself as having a normal human face anymore. This is emphasized by the repeated scenes where the “moon head” girl starts screaming and gets dejected after she sees objects with craters (which remind her of her face condition). The portrayal of low self-esteem is commonly used in cosmetic commercials to entice audience with similar problems to buy and use the products to look better, hence boosting their confidence.
At 0.10, the point-of-view shot is employed to demonstrate the idea of the “moon head” girl being mesmerized by the boy at the seaside. Through the point-of-view shot, the audience is being put into her situation, allowing them to understand how she feels when she cannot master enough courage to approach the boy.

The element of suspense is also evident in this commercial. This is illustrated by how the audience does not get to see the boy’s face until the last few seconds of the commercial. It creates suspense and anticipation to a certain extent as audience would be curious to know what kind of boy would kindle the girl’s love and admiration. However, the suspense is dissolved by humour when the commercial reveals that the boy actually has the same problem as the “moon head” girl.

Not to forget, a stereotypical setting of the seaside is used to create a romantic air for the commercial. However, this romantic air dissolves into disappointment, illustrating the irony between the romantic setting and the disappointment (which is unromantic) that the “moon head” girl felt.

Thai Cosmetics Ad

This commercial depicts a setting that is not typical of a cosmetics ad. A cosmetic ad usually features models and the plot of the narrative is quite predictable- women feeling unconfident and having problems with portraying the best side of them. However, this ad seeks to be different from the rest and uses vampires as the main characters. The idea of using horror in promoting cosmetics is really innovative. We see that after the vampires’ attack in the car, a group of men appeared shortly, and they are probably vampire slayers. This is also not typical of a cosmetics ad as male figures seldom appear in them. There is conflict as the vampire slayers first meet the old lady and the audience may think that the old lady will kill the men. However, much to the audience’s surprise, the old lady was killed instead (and perhaps in an amusing way).

A greater conflict appears next, as we see the men barging into a room where the female vampires are. Suspense is created momentarily as we see the female vampires ‘disappearing’. Up till this scene, the ad is still very much like a horror movie and the audience are unable to realise that it is a cosmetics ad. It is only when sunlight is shone on the vampires and one of the vampires “survived” by applying make-up that the audience realise the objective of the ad- To promote Mistine double powder that has high SPF (therefore protecting the vampires) and whitening effect (making the vampires look white/pale/whatever).

Various filming techniques are also used in this short commercial- use of long shorts and close ups (especially the close ups on the vampires as sunlight is shone on them), appropriate camera movement such as panning, and the music used also helps to enhance suspense and action. The use of colours like red and green reinforces the idea of blood and evil.

Blast from the Past: Calvin Klein Jeans in the '80s

Having looked at several advertisements that are relatively recent, let's take a walk down memory lane and look at an advertisement from Calvin Klein Jeans in the 1980s.

Brooke Shields in Calvin Klein Jeans Advertisement from the '80s



The advertisement begins with the camera slowly panning up Brooke Shields' leg, with whistling in the background. This beginning successfully draws the attention of the audience, engaging them to try to make sense of the event that is unfolding before them, perking their curiosity. The slow panning of the camera up the Brooke Shields' leg serves to build up the suspense.

Eventually, the camera reveals Brooke Shields in denim jeans, fiddling with her hair and whistling. Having satisfied the curiosity of the audience, the tension of the scene is released - until she stops whistling and gazes directly at the camera. This quick release of tension and its subsequent immediate build up of suspense puts the audience at the edge of their seats, waiting to devour what the beautiful protagonist has to say.

And then she speaks.

"Do you know what comes between my Calvins and I?"

Dramatic pause. Advertisement reaches its climax.

"Nothing."

The advertisement then ends with the brand name: Calvin Klein Jeans.

There was a play on words as Brooke Shields declares that nothing comes between her Calvins and herself. Firstly, it could be interpreted as the fact that she would stop at nothing to wear her Calvin Klein Jeans. Secondly, it could also be interpreted as the lack of undergarment, between her Calvins and her skin. This could potentially imply that Calvin Klein Jeans are comfortable to the extent that she was would rather feel the denim against her skin, than her undergarment. This acts as a stark contrast against the traditional belief that denim jeans are stiff and uncomfortable. Lastly, her statement could be interpreted from in a sexual perspective, allowing the audience to imagine more. This sexual innuendo is further compounded by the fact that her legs were spread in a rather suggestive manner.

This brings about the last topic for discussion. The theme of "sex" is a recurring one in the clothing and fashion industry - becoming almost synonymous with the term "fashion". This is because of the fact that aside from an affordable price, a comfortable feel, and a unique design, sexual appeal is a major value proposition that clothes bestows upon its wearers. As humans, it is in our nature to desire to be attractive and sexually desirable. Thus, Calvin Klein leverages upon our human nature to appeal to us via a hint of sexual appeal through the wearing of their jeans.

Clearly, narrative elements were used in the telling of the advertisement. Rather than just letting the audience understand the facts and actual value propositions of wearing their jeans, Calvin Klein Jeans makes use of our need to make sense of the world via narratives. They specifically picked Brooke Shields as their protagonist in the advertisement to appeal to our desires to be like her. They intentionally employed the slow build up of suspense to draw the interest of the audience. They intentionally chose to insert an undertone in the statement that Brooke Shields made to engage our minds in a cognitive process.

Thus once again, the employment of the narrative as a tool for communication, makes the product much more desirable than the plain stating of facts.

Anyhow, to this date, sex still sells.

Burberry! :D

The commercial starts off with a setting of a school, then zooming into the activity in the car, showing the meeting of the Caucasian boy (Harry) and the Chinese girl (Xiaoli). The reason of why Xiaoli and Harry were in the same car was not explained, suggesting some element of chance in their meeting. The element of chance is stronger in this case because the 2 characters are of different races. It would be more likely for Xiaoli to meet a Chinese boy in the car as compared to meeting a Caucasian boy considering the setting of Shanghai.

As the story progresses, we see many changes in the settings, for example, from the marketplace to the lake and the house. The short shots at the marketplace and lake illustrated the memories in which the 2 characters shared. By the changes in settings, the commercial successfully created an impression that the 2 characters have went through a lot together with less than a minute in the commercial.

Not to forget, the setting of the area outside the house of the 2 characters also play a significant role in the commercial. This is because the 2 characters were separated outside the house at 1.15 and the ending of the commercial shows the 2 characters at the same setting (but after many years). This ties the ending with their separation nicely, giving a sense of “reunion”.

Moving on to the sequencing of events, the events in the commercial follow a chronological order. An interesting point to note is that techniques like acceleration and ellipsis are employed to condense the story which would have taken place for over 60 years to mere 2 minutes. Firstly, acceleration is seen at 0.38 where the tree changes to show the change in seasons. This exemplifies that a short discourse of the commercial is devoted to events which would have happened for over a longer period. In this case, the changes in the tree at the same setting illustrated the passing of time. Next, ellipsis is evident towards the end where the transition from the past to present takes place. This is simply done by the narration of words “Shanghai today” at 1.25, bringing the audience from the 1940s to the present. Effectively, possible happenings between the 2 time markers are skipped.

In a nutshell, the commercial succeeded in conveying its message of “The good things in life never change”. This is achieved by the technique of ellipsis. By using ellipsis, the commercial allows the audience to contrast between the events which happened before and after it. The fact that the Burberry scarf is still kept by the girl (and passed on to her granddaughter) after so many years illustrated that Burberry goods have sentimental values and quality which can be passed on to future generations.

D for Doritos

Man Vs. Kid



The commercial depicts a casual setting at an ordinary house, where we see a woman introducing her new boyfriend to her son for the first time. Doritos uses ordinary, everyday characters to show that the snack appeals to average people like you and me. The simple and light-hearted plot is perhaps reflective of the image of Doritos, a light snack for any occasion.

An example of the point of view of a first-person narrator is seen when the boyfriend 'appreciates' his girlfriend's figure as she exits from the sitting room. I think the director chooses to show the audience from his point of view because there is no better way of showing us what exactly it is that the man is ogling at.

Surprise is created when the kid slaps the offending man (in his opinion) suddenly – we are as surprised as the boyfriend in the advertisement. Doritos cleverly uses this surprise to captivate its audience so as to deliver its punch line effectively: “Keep your hands off my Momma, keep your hands off my Doritos”. Furthermore, because the general opinion is that children are honest, the use of a child as the conveyor of this message reduces scepticism. The perceptual defence of consumers are eroded, and they are better convinced of the deliciousness of Doritos. Surprise is a technique that advertisers like to use, as it is effective in making an impression within the short discourse of an ad. Unlike narratives like novels and films, commercials do not have the luxury of time to build up on the plot to reach the climax. Hence, surprise is often used in bringing the audience straight from the start to the climax.

A striking aspect of narrative found in this advertisement is the stringing of different events to tell a story. Humour is created with the juxtaposition of two events, one with the woman’s knowledge and the other without. In one event, the woman is under the wrong impression that her boyfriend and son are getting along and “playing nice”, while in the other event, we see for ourselves how aggressive the kid is towards his mother’s new boyfriend. The direct disjunction of these two events brings into starker contrast the kid’s anger towards the man for stealing his Mum and Doritos.

AND here comes the FOOD WEEK!!!!

HI ALL!! Yes we are going to post ads relating to food!!

CAUTION: Do NOT continue reading our blog if you are feeling hungry right now!!






As shown from the video, a narrative is clearly present.
The setting is that of a bus on the road and the ad then zooms in on the two main characters.
There is rising action as the hungry man attempted to steal fries from the man who was dozing off in the bus. The narrative reaches its climax as the bus braked and the sleeping man woke up. There is a quick transition to the end of the ad with the big man( sleeping man) glaring at the poor 'thief' angrily.

One can notice that chance plays an important role in this ad. The bus just so happened to brake at the point in time when the hungry man managed to steal one fry successfully (after failed attempts) and the big man woke up as a result and thought that the hungry man had eaten all his fries.

There is stereotyping of big sized man here of course, that they are violent and aggressive. This stereotyping then led the audience to guess that the hungry man will be in trouble and hence McDonald's used the tagline "Don't risk your life".

Chance creates humour in this ad that grabs the audience's attention.
As mentioned in the previous post of how humour in ads should be used sparingly and effectively so as to not dilute the intended message, at the end of the ad, McDonald's advertised its fries. This draws the attention of the audience back to the intended message of the ad, and that is to buy McDonald's fries.

The genre of the narrative seems to imitate that of a 'fable' in concluding the narrative with a moral of the story- don't risk your life. Buy McDonald's fries at $xxx. This advertising tagline reinforces humor in the ad as the moral lesson hasn't got anything to do with ethics (One should not steal) and instead, was merely an advertising tool for McDonald's.

On a lighter note

Yes yes. This week will be car week and we will now feature a really funny ad that we hope you will enjoy!

The Mercedes Benz E-Klass: Beauty vs Brains


This advertisement is used to promote the intelligence of the Mercedes Benz E-Klasse. As can be seen in the video, it has an unconventional introduction which features a conversation between a librarian and a fine lady. It has nothing to do with the Mercedes Benz E-Klasse. However, this is a technique used to grab hold of the audience's attention and keep them. A mystery gap creates curiosity which probes the audience to listen attentively and watch the advertisement till the end. Eventually, the core message is communicated effectively to the audience.
Narrative is as we know used to recount a story which consists of micro events which make up a macro event. In this advertisement, it utilizes the micro events which include the conversation going on between the fine lady and the librarian to ultimately portray the punch line 'beauty is nothing without brains'. This is a creative way of showcasing the strengths of the new Mercedes Benz E-Klasse. This will make an idea stick into the audience's head longer than if it were shown in the conventional method. By the understanding of narrative, we can create many different ways to entice an audience and to communicate messages more effectively. The setting used, the characters chosen and even the music used are all selected to fit the overall plot of the advertisement.

In this ad, the eventual goal is to communicate the new Mercedes Benz E-Klasse does not just look good but is technologically superior as well. It does so by stringing events which seem to not be anything about a car and surprises all by the witty tagline which promotes the car's main selling feature in an interesting and attention grabbing way, none of which would have been as successful as if there was no integration of narrative concepts in the ad.


However, having too much of a narrative that is not entirely related to the product could be uneffective. The audience may only remember the funny bits of the advert but may find it hard to recall what this product was for. Some people that we spoke to thought that the ad was for Macdonalds or Fast Food chain. So there needs to be a fine balance of narrative or in this case, humour, and the main product itself. Another way we can see this is that, the ad could only highlight one attribute and given the advertising costs invovlved, that might not be worth it. As much as the ad may be memorable, the product or company may not benefit from it entirely.

The Maiden Entry

Most great advertisements are the result of the use of a good narrative in an appropriate way. We see that using a narrative, people begin to relate to the characters involved and thus associate themselves with the product. This then allows marketers to reach out to their audience by creating cognitive awareness and also encouraging the audience to take behavioural action.

In our weekly blog, our group will attempt to discuss the how marketers in different fields use narratives in their advertising campaign and how they are successful in doing so. We will also highlight some campaigns that have used narrative and may not have been that successful.

Embrace Life- always wear your seat belt



I know I was told to do an advertisement about cars but I thought about it and marketing a campaign is just as difficult as marketing a car. This particular campaign in the UK encourages drivers, and their passengers to put on their seat belts for safety reasons, so you see, a car is involved. Unlike the usual campaign ads that feature gruesome images and loud crashing sounds, this particular ad is pleasant and heart warming. I shall discuss how the different components of this narrative make the ad affective in evoking emotions among its target audience.

It begins with the setting; the scene sets up in a normal living room, something most of us are familiar with. We see a man, who one would assume the role of the protagonist or some might even say the “hero”, miming the actions of starting up a car and then steering. His family watches as he begins and he turns to his right, meeting the eyes of his wife and daughter. The camera angles make this possible and it allows the audience to take on the roles and the point of views of the different characters. It is hard to tell what is happening at this point and this could intrigue the audience so much so that they would want to find out what happens next. Suspense begins to build as we see the close ups of the character's faces changing and the audience still cannot tell what is happening. This once again picks up the interest of its viewers. We then see his daughter and wife holding on to him, like a seat belt as he is seen crashing through this imaginary vehicle as glitter fills the place as he leaves the scene safe and sound.

It is not difficult for the viewers to understand what is happening, they can geel the urgency of the situation and understand the emotions going through the characters in the narrative. Thanks to the angles given by the camera as well as the slow motion sequences, it allows the viewers to not only see every single change in mood of each character and also time to think about what they are looking at. There is no need for the exchange of words or any form of dialogue as it becomes very clear what the message is about. For campaigns such as these, they usually use the concept of fear to spring the viewers into action. Even though this clip is not gruesome and is nothing frightening, it still invokes the fear in the viewers as it touches emotions that are close to their hearts. The use of pleasant music allows the viewers to concentrate on the matter or the message present. This sort of reminds me of Bertolt Bretch's style where you eliminate unimportant elements so that the audience would see the main message and thus spring into action. This type of filming is also very rare, where the whole clip is at the same slow motion speed and yet, there is so many things happening that the viewers are not bored. In fact, what makes it even more effective is that people will want to watch this clip over and over again and therefore, spreading this to their friends and family. This is by far, the most memorable ad I've ever seen and every time I drive, I put on my seat belt and think about the ad.