Fun Ads

Author: Yang Zhiqi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-03-01
Features: In summary, advertising positioning refers to product positioning, market positioning, and the positioning of the product in the market. Advertising positioning means the position of the product in the consumer's mind, the position of the product in the market, and the reason why target consumers buy the product.
II. Content of Advertising Positioning
Advertising positioning has two major types: tangible positioning and conceptual positioning.
Tangible Positioning: In advertising, it highlights the new value of the product, emphasizing the differences between the product and similar products, which can bring greater benefits to consumers. Tangible positioning can be further divided into functional positioning, quality positioning, market positioning, price positioning, etc.
Conceptual Positioning: In advertising, it highlights the new meaning of the product, changing the traditional concepts and psychological habits of consumers, and establishing a new product perception. Conceptual positioning can be further divided into reverse positioning and non-coke positioning.
III. Techniques of Advertising Positioning
Advertising positioning techniques, also known as advertising positioning strategies, vary depending on the type of positioning—different positioning types have different methods. For example, in tangible positioning:
Functional Positioning: The advertisement highlights the unique functions of the product, emphasizing its specific selling points. For instance, Ford Motor Company's "Quietly Quiet Ford" highlights its "quiet" function; the Italian Lancia Yacht "The Style of Leading the Way" highlights its "fast" function.
Quality Positioning: The advertisement emphasizes the good quality of the product, which is the specific quality of the product. For example, unleaded gasoline "can reduce air pollution"; using tubeless tires "ensures the vehicle will not burst or get stuck."
Market Positioning: The product is positioned in the most advantageous market position. For example, Johnson Company in the United States produces a shampoo that was originally positioned for babies. Because the shampoo does not contain alkali, it will not irritate the eyes when used for babies, so it is very popular with consumers. Later, due to a decline in the birth rate in the United States, the baby product market shrank accordingly. The company's advertising positioning then "adapted to the market," emphasizing the shampoo's other features, such as "making hair soft, fluffy, and shiny, suitable for young mothers and teenagers," allowing the shampoo to maintain a considerable market benefit.
Price Positioning: If the product has no above-mentioned features or advantages compared to similar products, it can win through low price and high quality. An advertisement for an airline: "The speed of an airplane, the price of a train." A supermarket in Greece advertised: "If you buy something cheaper anywhere than in this store, please bring the invoice to claim the difference." The advertisement is convincing and makes it hard to believe.
In conceptual positioning:
Reverse Positioning: Generally, companies use positive positioning, highlighting the superiority of their product compared to similar products. Reverse positioning uses reverse thinking, deliberately going against the grain, and actually leverages the reputation of a well-known competitor to attract consumers' attention, sympathy, and support, thereby gaining a foothold in the fierce market competition. For example, the advertisement for the EpiPen rental car company: "Second Declaration: Our company is second to Hertz, so we will do our utmost to improve our service." Admitting to being "second" shows sincerity, making it believable, and promising to "do our utmost to improve our service," which naturally earns the "full" support of a wide range of consumers.
Non-Coke Positioning: This is also a positioning technique that artificially divides the product market conceptually, also known as the non-coke strategy. For example, 7-Up in the United States used this strategy to win. Originally, in the U.S. beverage market, three major colas were popular: Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, and Royal Crown Cola. 7-Up company adopted the "non-coke" strategy, dividing the beverage market into cola and non-cola types, and launched a large-scale advertising campaign, leaving a memorable impression in customers' minds, and ultimately successfully occupied the U.S. beverage market.
The first line describes the origin of fine wine: Lanling, and the fragrance of fine wine: tulip. This is a literal description. The second line, however, is more metaphorical: "Jade bowl holds amber light," revealing the host's hospitality and generous spirit. The third and fourth lines describe the guest's feelings—when the host is hospitable, the guest will not feel like a stranger in a foreign land and will feel at home wherever they are. The poet expresses a hidden desire to showcase his talent through praising the host's hospitality. Now, the question is: does the "amber light" in the second line "Jade bowl holds amber light" refer to the light of fine wine or the fine wine itself? Although "light" cannot be "held," the "fine wine" being held does have "light," so it seems contradictory but is actually consistent: whether referring to "Lanling wine" or the "light" of the wine, it treats one thing (the wine or its light) as another (amber light). This is personification. Once personification is used, the description becomes vivid and lifelike, and it is more moving.
III. Parallelism
Parallelism refers to antithesis or paired lines. It generally requires the same structure, corresponding parts of speech, the same number of words, and symmetrical content. Parallel lines look neat and beautiful, sound rhythmic, and are easy to read and memorize. Advertising language often uses couplets as headlines or slogans for advertisements. Let's take a few examples. The great Qing Dynasty painter and calligrapher Dong Bangda wrote an advertisement for a hair salon: "All who meet are ready for office; none will scratch their heads after leaving." The original meaning of "tang guan" is to shake off dust from one's hat, preparing to take office. In the Book of Han, Biography of Wang Ji: "Ji and Gong Yu were friends, and the world called them 'Wang Yang in office, Gong Gong tang guan,' meaning their choices were the same." Later, "tang guan xiang qing" was used to refer to friends celebrating the prospect of a government position. In this advertisement, it mainly refers to the original meaning: people taking off their hats, ready for a haircut; but it also implies the extended meaning, which is the cleverness of the advertisement. The pair "tang guan ke" is neatly matched with "sao shou ren," where "sao shou" means scratching one's head. Idioms include "sao shou chi chu," "sao shou nong zi," etc. "This time, there should be no one scratching their heads," meaning that after a haircut, one's appearance will be transformed, and one will go confidently on the path they have chosen. Of course, it also implies the intention of "coming again soon." Such couplet advertisements are rich in meaning and evoke deep associations, filled with virtuous words and actions. Compared to the couplet "How many heads are there in the world? See how skillful my hands are" (though somewhat witty, it is still quite aggressive), or "Though the skill is minute, it is the top of the head" (though "minute" and "top" are puns, it still seems petty), it is undoubtedly superior and can attract more customers. Couplets are best when they are as balanced as "Heaven matches earth, rain matches wind, the mainland matches the sky," but this is just a matter of literary skill. As advertising couplets, special attention should be paid to the idea and creativity. A pair of couplets for a pharmacy is written as: "May all in the world be free of illness; fear not the medicine on the shelf gathering dust." This pair of couplet advertisements does not directly promote anything like "miraculous healing," "medicine working instantly," "miraculous medicine," or "curing all diseases." But can the, especially patients and their families, not be deeply moved by the store owner's high medical and pharmaceutical ethics, their painstaking efforts and intentions, and see through the words that the store's medicine is reliable and the price is trustworthy, and actively go to buy it?