Advertisements can be termed as a form of the media message. It tends or aims to have a huge influence over its target audience in order to sell the various products and services of the business organization that is being promoted. In addition, Advertising can be termed as a hard and complicated business that aims to promote the main message of the business organizations. It usually takes a long period of time in order to make one good advertisement. In recent times, advertisements are available everywhere such as television, radio, public transport, billboards, and social media. However, while making the advisement, the advertisers and the advertising agencies had to keep in mind lots of things such as “Who are the target audience for the company? What type of advertising to be used?” Say, for example, if the target audience for a particular brand like a beauty cosmetic product is teenage girls, then the advertiser would go for celebrity endorsements as the product brand would probably want the young teenage girls to believe that by using that particular beauty product of that particular brand or company, they would look nicer and more beautiful. Another example that can be stated is the cologne or a male perfume advertisement whose main target audience is the male members of the community. The majority of the time in cologne or a perfume advertisement, sex appeal is being used with the help of pretty women. In those advertisements, it is generally portrayed that since the cologne smelled so nice and the pretty girl liked it so much, she is attracted to the man who had applied it. Hence, it could be stated that advertisements are the true indicators of the brand image for all of its target audiences (Hackley, Chris, and Rungpaka, 2014, p: 35-40).
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer that mainly designs, engineers, produces, and sells luxury vehicles. Audi AG is a member of the Volkswagen Group and has its headquarters at Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. Audi has a huge market all around the world. Audi is has branded itself to be a luxury car. With the advancement of technology, the Audi Company offers a wide range of beautiful cars with exceptional power. Audi craters to a wide range of premium cars such as sedan, SUV, and sports with A8 being the benchmark for technology and design. Through it, advertisement, especially print advertisements, Audi has an appeal to niche high-class society people who are living in a posh area. Audi advertisements are primarily available with a rich glossy black color Audi car in the background, which indicates the class and elegance. Since the main target audiences for the Audi cars are rich wealthy people, the prices of the car are generally not mentioned in the advertisement. This suggests that those people who like the car and want to buy it would not care about the high price. Through the advertisement, the Audi Company portrays a rich elegant high-class lifestyle. People may aspire or wish to have that same lifestyle as shown in the advertisement, and by having that one Audi car, the audiences could feel the same satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment (Myers, Jun Rong, and Sela Sar, 2013, p: 168-181).
In addition, it can also be said that the Audi advertisements also craters to the male members of the patriarchal society with a sex and niche appeal. It is a common belief in the male dominant society that it is the male member, who runs the house. They are the sole bread earner of the family. Hence, it can be said that Advertisements are the true representation of the brand image (Zotos, Yorgos, and Eirini, 2014, p: 35-58).
However, it could also be stated that in modern time’s women have also become quite independent and strong. They have the stability and ability to earn their own livelihood. As a result, in recent times, women should also be considered as the target audience. They are financially strong and independent to be able to buy the premium Audi car. They are well capable to buy a high-cost product on the self-merit. In addition, the Audi Company has also started targeting another group of audiences who may not belong to the niche high-class influential society. This can be seen in the “Escapade” advertisement of the Audi, which shows the latest escapade technology of the premium car. It should also be stated that in recent time people who may not be rich but has a fetish for the cars might also buy the premium car after doing a huge amount of savings. In spite of the above-mentioned advertisements of the Audi, their cars still have a class and a style appeal.
The next advertisement analyzed is of the famous fast food restaurant chain, Mac Donald’s. The main target audiences of Mac Donald’s advertisements are small kids and young adults. They are the ones who mostly love having fried food like burgers and French fries. As a result, their advertisements have an emotional appeal to them. The various advertisements of the Mac Donald’s, especially the print advertisements, have fun and cheeky quotient to it. They take into account the various festivals and religious occasions keeping in mind their patent logo and the distinct yellow and red color in order to attract the small kids and young adults, which may include both males and females (Kim and Jay Yu, 2013, p: 133-138)
Since the main target audiences for the Mac Donald’s advertisements are the small kids and young adults who do not have a huge income, the price ranges for all the different products of Mac Donald’s are nominal and marginal. This could be well understood by all the various advertisements of the Mac Donald’s, which has a homely, humble, and family appeal (Hoang, 2013, p: 20-25)
Through its various advertisements, Mac Donald’s promotes togetherness, happiness, and celebrations within friends or family. Hence, it could be stated that Advertisements are the true representation of the brand image.
However, it should also be stated that Mac Donald’s are also loved and consumed not only by the little kids and young adults but also by many senior citizens all around the world who love having fried food. They are also consumed by rich people on their cheat days.
In spite of the above-mentioned fact, Mac Donald’s advertisement promotes togetherness and happiness with a fun and cheeky appeal which mainly attracts the little kids and young adults and represents the brand`s unique selling proposition.