Was there a historical issue or past advertising that this campaign was trying to overcome, explain, or amplify?
Select a currently running advertising campaign. It could be a print campaign, television campaign, or
multi-media campaign. Include a representation of the campaign in your paper; for example, if you’re
writing about a print campaign, embed small versions of the ads your text; if you’re analyzing a TV
commercial, include a few key frames.
Clearly introduce the campaign that you’re analyzing. Include the name of the sponsor, the product, the
agency, the amount being spent, and where/when it is running. As with any good analysis, your
opening paragraph should have a thesis – or statement of an informed point of view. Make sure to
place your argument in a strategic framework. Ask yourself such questions as: why was this campaign
launched? Was there a marketing problem that it was trying to solve? Was there a historical issue or
past advertising that this campaign was trying to overcome, explain, or amplify? Is something going on
in the marketplace/macro-environment that triggered this campaign? Who is its target – and does the
advertising speak to it? Was the media placement effective? Can you reconstruct the agency and client
rationale for doing what it did?
Be most expansive in your analysis when critiquing “the creative” – or the ads themselves. Use the
language of critique presented in this class and detailed in the book, Ad Critique. Always consider
whether the creative expression meet strategic goals. Explain why you feel that way. Provide proof, if you
can, of its effectiveness. Watch your verb tenses when analyzing something that was produced in the
past, but still delivers its message in the present. Use exact language!! For example, if you’re writing
about a campaign, that is not the same thing as writing about a single ad or commercial; generally, the
client pays to produce an ad, but it is the agency that creates and produces it, so clearly distinguish the
sponsor from the agency; the product is not always the same as the client; and so on.
