Testimonials ads for the National Park Foundation needed to be made to increase publicity and potential donors for the organization. The head of the organization is a good way to connect the organization to an actual person. This gives the audience a sense of urgency to visit the national parks and potentially become investors because they relate to the person in the ad.
To attract the attention of the public, the use of a normal looking family is beneficial to, again, attach human qualities to the National Park Foundation. The audience is encouraged to visit the parks with their families, so the sense of urgency is evident.
Another tactic to gain potential visitors and investors would be show them an alternative unhealthy option. The goal is to show the audience something negative to spark emotions and cause them to react. The sense of urgency for this ad shows the audience that a healthy lifestyle is achievable at the national parks.
Felton says to “Give the brand a human face” (Felton 241) to attract the attention of the audience. By showing the connection, this testimonial ad would be able to grab the attention of the viewer because its human qualities. Felton, George. Advertising: Concept and Copy (Third Edition), 3rd Edition. W. W. Norton & Company, 08/2013. VitalBook file.
“Testimonials from real people, unbought and unscripted, have become part of all brands that choose to involve their customers” (Felton 246). By using normal, ordinary people, the viewer can see a point of view closely related to their own. It allows them to connect with the image and overall design.
“Often consumers are persuaded to buy things be- cause of a negative endorsement” (Felton 243). This captures the attention of many users just because of the negativity in the ad.
Connecting, Synthesizing, Transforming
The National Park Foundation project was used to research different methods to synthesize a solution for the client. The main goal of this campaign, in addition to gaining more visitors, is to increase the investments and donations of people in the community to conserve the National Parks across the United States for the future generations.
To achieve this goal, initial designs were created so that the ads would attract different target groups. In the revision process, the cohesion of the ads was focused on to show that each ad represents the same organization. A natural wooden border and green background was added to each design to communicate the importance of nature and show that the organization is dedicated to the preservation of the lands. Levels of Hierarchy was also researched to find the best way to display the information to the audience. “Hierarchy is the way type is organized in order to indicate levels of importance to the viewer” (Saltz, 2013). George Felton’s book, Advertising Concept and Copy, was also a huge part of the specific reading assignments for the creation of the testimonial ads.
By working towards the cohesion of the designs, an expert level of design was used to transform the ads into entirely different forms to increase the attention of the audience. Expert connections were made from the instructions and concepts have been taken into consideration to better produce designs that the client desires and the company needs.
References:
Saltz, Ina. (2013). Hierarchy and Functionality. Retrieved from https://www.lynda.com/Graphic-Design-tutorials/Hierarchy-functionality