Running head: Advertising Content 1

Advertising Content

Dan O'Brien

AET 552

February 6, 2017

Dr. Charity Jennings

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Introduction

Advertising and marketing stretch across many different available mediums. With this

weeks readings and discussion many advertisements were utilized to show examples and

explanations of advertising methods and techniques. The majority of these advertisements were

predominantly in the printed or video format. With my thoughts on these advertising mediums it

was a radio advertisement that I heard recently produced by Honda which caught my attention.

Advertising Content

The advertisement was for the new Honda Accord Hybrid and how it compared to one of

its close competitors, the Ford Fusion Hybrid. Honda had many objectives and points they

wanted to make with potential customers. . The target audience was commuters on their way to

work, home or running errands around town. A radio advertisement was an excellent choice for

this particular message as many potential consumers would be receiving this message as they

were in a vehicle as a driver or passenger.

The objective and primary message for this advertisement was to communicate how

superior the new model vehicle is to its competitors with its performance and efficient fuel

consumption characteristics. The advertisement began by making comparisons to the new

upgraded horsepower of the new model Accord. The spokesperson informed the audience of the

enhancements and stated the new features could be compared to horses racing, next a sound track

of galloping horses played to associate the vehicle as having lots of horsepower. The

spokesperson then mentioned that the new enhancements can be compared to one of its closest

competitors by the following sound. The next sound was of a single donkey slowly and

inconsistently trotting around making noises one would expect of a stubborn donkey. This was
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an excellent illustration of the performance enhancements which was accomplished without

providing any technical specific data about the actual horsepower of the vehicles.

The next point that was presented was about the fuel economy of the two vehicles. The

spokesperson stated the consumption of fuel could be compared to the sound of someone

drinking from a straw. The next sound was of someone trying to get the last bit of a beverage

from a straw, implying that the vehicle did not need very much fuel to produce these improved

performance characteristics. The competitors fuel consumption was also mentioned by the

spokesperson and then what sounded like the same identical sound drinking from a straw. The

point was that the Honda Accord delivered a noticeable amount of additional performance for the

same fuel consumption as its dismal performing competitor.

This advertisement made successful use of semiotics by utilizing common sounds that

are associated with performance and the lack of performance and apply meaning to the desired

communications regarding the new characteristics about the product being advertised. The

listener of this advertisement was able to easily and quickly construct the intended meaning of

the advertisement. The simile of the vehicle being like galloping horses or a wandering donkey

was an excellent method to communicate the technical data without providing actual specifics to

those who may be preoccupied driving a vehicle. Several, if not all, of the success elements of

advertising are satisfied with this ad. The ad utilizes simple concepts and no technical data,

when this ad is first heard, the receiver of the message would not be expecting to hear

comparisons involving horse and donkey sounds. The information is clearly and concretely

communicated with the comparisons utilizing these sounds. Honda is a known, credible source

and authority in the automotive area. Emotionality may be the least represented element but the

ad appealed to peoples desire for a sporty car that performs well and also gets good gas millage.
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The ad does an excellent job of delivering the message with a story type of delivery, it is a radio

ad and communicating a message verbally and telling a story is one of most effective methods

for an ad such as this.

Conclusion

This particular advertisement really stood out to me as it made me realize that different

advertising techniques and methods are required to communicate to target audience members

who are involved in activities such as driving a vehicle. Billboards are another method that

communicates to this audience but a billboard requires the attention to be directed away from an

important task such driving a vehicle.

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References

Combs, W. L., & Davis, B. M. (2010). Demystifying technical training: Partnership, strategy,

and execution. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer/Wiley.

New Cars.Com, (2017). Retrieved from http://www.newcars.com/green/fuel-

efficient/sedan/index.html

Shimp, T. A., & Andrews, J. C. (2013). Advertising, promotion, and other aspects of integrated

marketing communications (9th ed.). Boston: MA: Cengage.