Analysing Advertising and Marketing

Introduction

Advertising is arguably the most pervasive media form on the specification. It funds most of the other forms (commercial TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, online platforms) and it has produced some of the most studied texts in media history — from 1950s print campaigns that defined postwar consumer culture to the viral online ads of the 2020s. The AQA CSPs for advertising typically span a wide historical range, allowing students to trace how the conventions, representations, and industrial logic of advertising have evolved.

This lesson covers the conventions of print and moving-image advertising, how to analyse a campaign (not just a single ad), how brand identity is built, how target audiences are constructed, the historical shifts advertising has undergone, and the regulatory framework in the UK (the Advertising Standards Authority).

Conventions of Advertising

Unlike a novel or a film, an advertisement has a commercial purpose: to persuade. Every choice in an advertisement — every colour, every word, every model — serves that purpose. The conventions of advertising have evolved but certain features recur across decades.

Print advertising conventions

• Headline — the verbal hook. Short, often witty or provocative.
• Body copy — the selling text, increasingly short in contemporary ads.
• Strapline / slogan — a memorable brand phrase ("Because you're worth it", "Just do it").
• Image / visual — the dominant element, often photographic, often idealised.
• Logo — the mark of the brand.
• Call to action — what you are asked to do (buy, click, visit).

Moving-image advertising conventions

• Narrative arc — even 30-second ads usually have a mini-story (problem → solution, or aspirational journey).
• Music — bespoke or licensed tracks that cue emotion.
• Celebrity endorsement — borrowed star power.
• Product placement / reveal — the product is often withheld until late for impact.
• Tagline / end-card — the verbal and visual brand signature.

graph TD
  A[Advertisement] --> B[Attention: Headline/Opening]
  B --> C[Interest: Image/Narrative]
  C --> D[Desire: Appeal to needs/aspirations]
  D --> E[Action: Buy/click/visit]

This classical AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) remains a useful shorthand for how most ads are structured, whether in print, on TV, or online.

Campaign Analysis (Not Just a Single Ad)

A key skill AQA expects is the ability to analyse a campaign — a coordinated set of advertisements across multiple executions, platforms, and sometimes time periods. A campaign is more than the sum of its ads.

When analysing a campaign, consider:

• Consistency — what is the through-line that makes multiple ads feel like one campaign? Usually it's a visual style, a slogan, a narrative world, or a spokesperson.
• Variation — how does each execution adapt the core idea? Different audiences? Different platforms? Different cultural moments?
• Cross-platform strategy — how do the ads interact across print, TV, outdoor, digital, social?
• Duration — is it a single-burst campaign or a long-running brand platform?

Brand Identity

A brand is not a product. A product is the thing you buy; a brand is the set of meanings attached to it. Brand identity is built over years, through consistent use of visual identity (logo, typography, colour), tone of voice, values, and association with particular images and ideas.

Semiotic analysis (drawing on Saussure and Barthes) is particularly useful for brand analysis. A Rolex watch is not sold for its superior time-telling — it is sold for its connotations of success, heritage, and discernment. A Nike swoosh carries connotations of athleticism, victory, and (more recently) activism.

Brand values matrix

Brand archetype	Values	Typical ad tone
Hero	Achievement, mastery	Triumphant, inspiring
Outlaw	Rebellion, freedom	Edgy, irreverent
Caregiver	Nurture, protection	Warm, reassuring
Sage	Wisdom, expertise	Authoritative, calm
Explorer	Discovery, adventure	Expansive, cinematic
Jester	Fun, humour	Comic, disruptive

Target Audience

Advertisers segment audiences using demographics (age, gender, class, region), psychographics (values, lifestyles, attitudes), and increasingly behavioural data (online browsing, purchase history).

Traditional advertising could only target broadly: a TV spot reached whoever was watching. Digital advertising can target individually — you might see a different ad than the person next to you. This is the most significant shift in advertising's history, and it underpins most contemporary regulatory debates.

Classic demographic categories (NRS social grades)

Grade	Description
A	Higher managerial, administrative, professional
B	Intermediate managerial, administrative, professional
C1	Supervisory, clerical, junior managerial
C2	Skilled manual workers
D	Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers
E	Casual workers, pensioners, unemployed

Psychographic frameworks (such as VALS — Values, Attitudes, Lifestyles) group audiences by disposition rather than demographics. A Waitrose customer and a Lidl customer may earn identical incomes but have very different values, and advertisers speak to them differently.

Historical vs Contemporary Advertising (Illustrative)