Essay 2

Essay 2

Image 1 belongs to an advertising campaign run by Nike Women entitled “Make Yourself,” Image 2 is from the Apple “Silhouette” campaign and Image 3 is a Coca Cola advertisement. I will be comparing these images.

Image 1 features the sentence “Make Yourself” with an interchangeable word following this - in this particular image “Proud” and “Fit” are used. The type itself is large, bold and capitalized to enforce the intended meaning with the interchangeable word in a handwritten style font, which makes it feel relatable to real life. Whereas image 1 and 3 bear type, image 2 does not contain any type at all, and it is also lacking a logo to identify the brand. Image 1 and 3 clearly show the logos of the companies Nike – whose logo is placed in the bottom corner and also emblazoned on their sportswear - and Coca Cola. Their signature logotype is repeated 5 times in the advert alone, making it almost impossible to miss. Apple does not use their logo in image 2 allowing instead for the white iPod each silhouette is holding to be the focus of the image and element that helps viewers identify the brand behind the campaign. As the company grew and the campaign continued, the image of the iPod grew more and more recognizable. As well as the iPod, the silhouettes are also wearing white Apple earphones, which would later become synonymous with the brand.  Apple is not the only company to use icons within their advertisements. In Image 3 Coca Cola were able to use not only their logo as a significant recognisable feature of the advert, but also the iconic bottle shape Coca Cola is famous for. As (Lury, 2004) states ‘It’s hard to think of Coca Cola and not think of the flowing, white, copperplate script on the bright red background, or the distinctly curvaceous bottle.’ According to (Kapferer, 2004) ‘Brand reputation is created by familiarity’, so by using pictures of the bottle almost everybody within the Western world is familiar with in the advertisement, again, drums the brand into people’s minds.

Whereas Coca Cola use illustrations of their famous bottles to advertise their product, Nike and Apple use people as the subjects of their advertisements.

In image 1 the motivational phrases of the Nike campaign are placed over images of muscular women, dressed in sportswear. Included in this particular image are Sofia Boutella, a French - Algerian dancer, and Perri Shakes Drayton, an Olympic athlete from the UK. Image 2 also contains people as subjects but here they are in the form of silhouettes. The silhouettes are black in colour with no distinguishable features, which makes the advert all-inclusive of race, class and gender. Image 1 also alludes to include all classes and races. The athletes in the campaign come from all over the world, which makes the campaign more diverse despite its language limitations and Westernized format – which is deemed inappropriate in some places, the Middle East for example. In these places, women are forbidden from showing any flesh – the practice is contradictory to the countries religion/moral code. This makes image 1 limited in its capacity, as it will not be shown in places such as these. Image 1 is also limited in the sense that it excludes men from its audience. The campaign is targeted solely towards women – but as the brand advertised is a womenswear brand this makes sense. Nike’s advertising campaign as a whole has strong feminist links, due to the use of a positive motif coupled with powerful female figures. This is important as men dominate the sportswear sector of the retail industry – creating an ad campaign to promote purely women’s sportswear helps to expand and diversify the brand image in the public eye. This is one of the objectives of advertising, ‘to change people’s perceptions of a brand and its attributes.’ (Lury, 2004).

Nike reaches out to women by centering their campaign on a wholly encouraging message. The motivating spirit of the phrase “Make Yourself” along with positive words such as “Fit” and ‘Proud” is meant to inspire women to go out and do just that. By using the female athletes in particular for the subjects of the advertisements, as opposed to non famous fit women, help encourage the message as these women are known in the public eye for being - and making a living as being - as the sentences say, “Fit” and “Proud.” The athletes are used as inspiration and as a sort of “end goal” for women aspiring to be fit and healthy. However it could be argued that the images used in the campaign sexualize exercise. The athletes show lots of flesh, especially in the second advert in the image; Shakes – Drayton’s legs are photographed in such a way to make her body look stereotypically “sexy”. Using sex to promote a product is proven to work, which has given way to the phrase ‘sex sells’. This again links back to feminist values – how women should not be treated as sex objects. However using these photos of the athletes could be argued to be vital to the success of the campaign – part of the premise of it is to motivate women to get a “sexy” body. ‘Sex sells whether it’s an athletic model or curvy model. Although these images may empower women to accept their bodies, I think these ads also build on the ideal body image, making viewers want the bodies advertised.’ (Racanelli, 2012).

By linking the empowering message of the campaign to its brand, Nike has added a subliminal message to its advertising. Nike is effectively stating in image 1 that if you buy their products, you will be able to “make yourself proud/fit” etc. It is enforced in consumers’ minds that the products will aid them to reach their fitness goals and that it will be harder to look like these women without purchasing Nike branded sportswear/trainers. Apple does something similar in image 2. The product that they are promoting - the iPod - is a portable music player, and Apple have shown this by making the silhouettes in the campaign appear as if they are dancing. Apple have intentionally evoked the happy feeling of carefree dancing in the consumers mind, which, when coupled with bright colours of the background, subliminally makes the consumer attach a sense of fun, youth and brilliance to the brand. ‘The consumer is persuaded that the brand is desirable’ (Lury, 2001).

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Kapferer, J.-N.N. (2004) The new strategic brand management: Creating and sustaining brand equity long term. 3rd edn. London: Kogan Page

Lury, G. (2001) Brandwatching: Lifting the lid on the phenomenon of branding. 2nd edn. Dublin: Blackhall Publishing.

Racanelli, J. (2012) ‘Response to Felicia’s post “Make Yourself-Nike Ad”’, let your light shine, Available at: http://let-your-lightshine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/response-to-felicias-post-make-yourself.html (Accessed: 29 January 2017).