There are different approaches that marketing directors can take when advertising their products but appealing to a particular audience by using consumer market research is key. In the examples given of the cigarette ads, the target demographic is obvious, as the designers have used profiling (ALTA Team, 2019). In the Virginia Slims ad, directed at women, the poster shows a young and attractive woman refusing a plate of food with a smile on her face and a cigarette in her hand. Next to her, as if quoting her, the words “If I ran the world, calories wouldn’t count” are depicted. The ad is targeting the female desire to lose and keep off weight by marketing the appetite-suppressing quality of Virginia Slims cigarettes. Although it is unclear whether this was the intended message originally, this is the perceived implication. The designers’ tactic is to appeal to women by making them desire to look like the woman in the picture.
Another ad, the Kool XL, promises an “XL experience” to men. It shows a group of young and attractive people in front of a black car. All of them appear to be paying particular attention to the man in the middle, dressed in a suit and smoking a cigarette, which he is holding between his fingers. He has a lady’s arm around his shoulders and yet he does not seem to be bothered or excited by it, conveying the message that it is something he is used to. The message in this ad is that by smoking Kool XL cigarettes consumers will gain access to such experiences as the man in the picture is having. Similar to the first ad, the designers appeal to the stereotypes about the target demographics, as well as the attempt to create a desirable image.
Work Cited
ALTA Team. “How to Efficiently Use Demographics to Understand Your Target Audience.” Alta Digital, 2019, Web.