Advertising Analysis Of The Brand Rolex
Advertising plays a major part throughout society today. Wherever there is a large population of people, advertisement is present to attract people to a product through various forms such as online, television and newspapers. This particular assignment will focus on one advertisement each for the female and male genders. Analysis will be conducted on techniques and how the ad is portrayed to a certain gender group.
The first advertisement is titled “the explorer’s watch” and is appealing to the male gender, with a silver Rolex watch in a background surrounded by frozen icy water. Shades of black are outlined as a border with a description of the watch, what it’s designed for, previous users and a logo of the Rolex brand printed on the far right side. The advertisement is aimed at men, in particular those who are adventures, sporty and are interested in challenging themselves. This theme is presented by the ice that surrounds the strap of the watch, an indication that it is designed specifically for exploring purposes. Another indication of this is the watch having a stainless steel strap as a pose to a formal leather strap. Steel is hardier than leather and this makes it evident that the watch is not suited for formal use but for primarily casual or adventurous purposes. The sharp black edging provides appeal to the watch as well as strength, power and character to those that choose to wear it. Black is an authoritive colour and provides clarity to the fact that the product is exclusively for men.
The Rolex advertisement provides a sense of charisma and a sense of sportiness to those that set their eyes on it, therefore naturally its location will be on publications such as Time, Sport or Outpost. Magazines that are exclusively dedicated to outdoor lifestyles, travelling and leisure and recreation are the forms of publications that an advertisement such as this may be found. The text on the background describes the Rolex as “invaluable to polar explorers” and provides a brief summary of previous wearers of the watch which were Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay, who were both mountaineers and polar explorers. The text also describes the Rolex as also being able to “meet the demands of professionals” and “no other watch is engineered quite like a Rolex.” These statements put emphasis on the Rolex brand and creates the idea that it is the only brand of watch that a man can wear for any occasion, whether it be for formal, recreational or casual events.
The image of the watch is the central theme of the advertisement, with it being placed in the centre to convey its importance and relevance as a product. The cold silver of the watch along with the harshness and strikingness of the frozen ice water behind the stainless strap means that the focus of the reader eyes will always return to the watch. The description is written directly above the picture, with the main focus of the writing falling on the words “the explorer’s watch.” This technique is important as it puts the reader’s attention on what the watch is about and what they can expect from using it. The black background on the outsides of the advertisement along with the white font has done deliberately so that it creates detailed emphasize on the picture as well as highlighting a clear focus on the text in order to be seen by readers.
The brand Rolex has a style of designing watches that suit a particular trait or characteristic of a person, and therefore this particular advert is a part of a larger collection of advertisements that target the mail audience extensively. The second advert is titled Lancôme, Paris and is focusing on the female gender, with two women; one White and one Black with the page divided in half to separate the styles represented for both girls. The backgrounds for both sections of the page differ with a lighter white/skin colour for the Caucasian girl and a darker white for the Black girl. Similarly, the products being advertised are different as well, despite the brand being the same.
The product being advertised for the White girl is lighter in substance than that being advertised for the Black girl, which has a darker tone; both match their individual skin colours. The advertisement is aimed at women, in particular those that are focused on physique, look and attractiveness. The contrast between both races of women indicate that the brand isn’t bias and caters for a larger variety of consumers, not just one race. Both the girls in the advertisement look sleek, an indication that they are wearing the product. This is important as they become a billboard for the product, to show off how it works, its beauty and its attractiveness as well as its ability to make a woman stand out.
