Analysis of Social Media Advertisements
As more and more of the world’s business related communications are beginning to take place online, it has become increasingly important for business writers to have the skills necessary to tailor their writings to specific online platforms. One of the most important of these platforms for business writers to be familiar with are various popular social media websites. Growing portions of our culture’s social interactions now take place online. This creates tremendous opportunity for businesses looking for new relevant methods of advertising in our rapidly changing society. However, because the online world of business has changed so much in recent years in order to keep up with the changing ways in which consumers are receiving and processing information, an entirely new skill set is required of business writers looking to capitalize on the opportunities. In this essay I will attempt to outline the ways in which common rhetorical concepts discussed in our class readings, taken primarily from the 2nd edition of Shwom and Snyder’s Business Communication: Polishing Our Professional Presence, apply to the world of online business writing in a social media context.
Burger King posted this advertisement on its company Facebook page early last month. It is included here as an example because, for better and for worse, it makes use of many of the concepts discussed in our readings.
This advertisement in particular focuses predominantly on ethos and pathos in its attempt to persuade the consumer.
By using language like "that feeling," with little else for context, Burger King aims to show potential customers thatthe company is on the same page as they are, that they, and we both, know exactly what "that" feeling is. The company wants the consumer to feel as if the people at Burger King are just like them, and that they enjoy the same things that they do. In this way, Burger King attempts to draw on the ethos, or character, of the company.
The company’s manipulation of Pathos is also very prominent in the advertisement. By leaving the reader with only a picture of a steaming chicken nugget and the words “that feeling,” Burger King aims to appeal to the consumers’ emotions. Ideally, Burger King wants to immediately evoke the anticipation of “that feeling,” in the viewer as they are glossing the advertisement.
Other features of this advertisement worth noting: the brightly colored, close up picture of the featured product helps to immediately attract the eye of the consumer, and the strictly limited word length of the text makes it possible for the information to be processed quickly by potential consumers without creating the risk that they will become overwhelmed and scroll past the advertisement altogether. These are important factors to take into account when developing a message to be communicated over a social media platform.
What’s The Verdict?
By using bright colors and a prominent picture of the product being advertised I believe that this advertisement will be successful in attracting viewers’ attention. The problem is that with little useful or informative information included, this grasping at the consumer’s attention may come off as an annoyance more than anything.Let’s be honest. As a society, is ripping into cheap, processed chicken pieces something that we really want to start assuming that everyone is familiar with and enjoys? Or is that just what Burger King wants? My gut tells me that it’s the latter, and for this reason, the marketing strategy used here feels shady to me, and it makes me a little uncomfortable.
In my experience, Burger King's food is not something that one buys because they are out seeking some extravagant oral sensation. People buy Burger King's food because it's fast and cost effective, because many times in our fast paced modern world it may seem to be the logical thing to do. Therefore, I feel that Burger King's advertisements should focus on the true logical benefits that their products have to offer. Unfortunately, there is a marked lack in this advertisement of any appeal to Logos. By focusing on the true benefits of their products, Burger King could potentially earn the trust of the public, creating lasting opportunities for honest transactions based on mutual consent. In this advertisement however, these valuable opportunities are missed.
In chapter four of Business Communication: Polishing Our Professional Presence, it is written that in order to build goodwill, business related social media posts should “provide useful information that audiences want and need” (p. 142). If I were a social media consultant for Burger King I would strongly recommend that the company take this into consideration. To do this, Burger King could put more of the focus of its social media advertising on current deals that being offered with relevant pricing information included. I believe that this could be paired well with the Logos based marketing strategy I suggested earlier and help to improve the companies overall sales as well improve the way that the company will be perceived in the minds of consumers.
The next social media advertisement that I will discuss also makes very interesting use of rhetorical concepts discussed in our text. I found the below Ray Ban banner being advertised on the homepage of a popular music discussion blog. The product being advertised is the company’s new line of Wayfarer sunglasses with transparent frames.
One interesting feature of this advertisement from a rhetorical point of view is the way in which the company
uses the promise of self-actualization as a means of attracting customers. By including the words “never hide,” below a picture of a woman wearing, in addition to Ray Ban sunglasses, a t-shirt that says “speak the truth: I’m an ex-convict,” the implied message is that if you buy Ray Ban sunglasses, you can be your true self and you will no longer have to hide. The advertisement also draws on ethos by focusing on creating a specific, stylish image for the company. The woman being featured is strutting unapologetically through a pretty looking urban area with a cool and confident demeanor. By choosing this woman for the advertisement, the company is able to say, “This is who we are.” It establishes the people behind Ray Ban as well as the people that purchase their products as being progressive and unafraid to express themselves in a world where many people are becoming afraid of disappearing into mediocrity.
Another interesting rhetorical feature of this advertisement is its effective use of kairos. According to the Purdue Owl Online Writing Lab, “kairos is a term that refers to the elements of a speech that acknowledge and draw support from the particular setting, time, and place that a speech occurs.” This may be hard to see, because the advertisement has been removed from its original context, but a very specific fringe audience is being targeted. While the style of this advertisement certainly would not appeal to everyone, it succeeds in establishing the brand as an entity that embraces counterculture, and though this would only appeal to a very specific audience, music fans have always been on the very cusp of emerging countercultural trends and so they are the perfect demographic to receive this advertisement as the company would have intended.
Other Feature of this Advertisement worth noting: The majority of the layout is in black and white, which, in a competitive online world that is littered with bright colors to attract the eyes of would-be consumers, may actually come as a relief to many viewers. The black and white color scheme also reinforces the idea that Ray Ban wearers are unique individuals that stand out from the crowd. All of the text in this advertisement is also spelled out entirely in capital letters, which helps the information to pop out so that it can be easily read, and, again, the bold capital letters subtly emphasize the fact that Ray Ban wearers are bold and stand out from the crowd.
What’s the Verdict?
This advertisement does a great job of isolating and catering to a specific target audience, however, after only a quick viewing of the advertisement it is not ultimately clear what it is that is being advertised. The advertisement is introducing Ray Ban’s new Wayfarer style sunglasses with transparent frames, and yet the word “frame,” is never once used. A customer could easily assume that it is the lenses and not the frames that are newly transparent, and it is very likely that many readers will miss the small box that says “transparent Wayfarers” altogether.
Another potential problem with the advertisement is that, like the Burger King advertisement discussed previously, it does not include any information that would be useful to someone interested in the product.
As it says in chapter five of Business Communication: Polishing Our Professional Presence, “businesses are increasingly recognizing the value of content marketing—providing information that audiences value” (p. 184). To put it briefly, content marketing is the method of providing consumers with helpful relevant information about the products at hand. Rather than to try and directly sell something to the customer, a business would instead provide customers with the information that they would need in order to make an informed purchase. By doing this, a business is able to appear more honest and transparent than they would using more traditional sales tactics, thus goodwill is established between the business and the consumer and the framework is for a lasting, mutually beneficial relationship is established.
If I were a social media adviser for the Ray Ban company, a content marketing approach is certainly what I would recommend. I think that this would be especially beneficial in the case of this specific advertisement, because I believe that a large portion of people who value individuality and forthrightness are weary of businesses telling them how they should look and feel, and so I believe that a decidedly honest and straightforward approach would resonate with them well.
