Old Old Spice
The first radio ad that I chose is for Old Spice. The older ad is about thirty seconds long, and a man with a very deep manly voice is reading it. He is appealing to wives to buy their husbands Old Spice for father’s day, saying that whatever kind of man he is, outdoor or indoor, he must be an Old Spice man. The target audience of this seemed to be to the woman wanting her man to smell good. The unique benefit seemed to be the versatility; every man could wear Old Spice. At the end of the ad there is a little jingle about Old Spice which is probably the most creative part of the ad, and the most appealing. The strategy here was to advertise to married women with children around father’s day.
New Old Spice:
While I couldn’t find an actually radio ad for Old Spice that was recent, I did find a video that would be able to be used on the radio and have the same effect. This video has a man who says he doesn’t really fight octopi, drive a boat, or have money flowing out of his pockets, but when he’s wearing Old Spice, women don’t know the difference. This ad is far more sexual than that older one because of the difference in time. It targets men who want to attract women, which is a pretty large target. The “unique benefit” would be getting women to fall all over you on false pretenses, and that is also the creativity of the ad (though I think it was Axe who actually started this idea, and it was therefore their idea). The advertising strategy is to make people laugh about something that is fairly ludicrous while subconsciously making them desire it.
Old Reeses:
I like the classic look of the old Reeses ad. Compared to the modern one, it is simple and subdued. It is already focusing on the fact that it is an established brand name, by writing “the original for over a quarter of a century”. The target audience is anyone who loves chocolate 9it’s made in chocolate town, how can it not be good?). The unique benefit would probably be the fact that they know what they are doing because they have been around for so long, and pointing this out would also be their advertising strategy. You also see the name Reeses 11 times in this ad making it impossible to miss. I’m not entirely sure what the creative aspect of it would be because it’s pretty straight forward and laid out simply.
New Reeses:
The target audience for this ad, with its bright colors and simple design, seems to be a different one than of the old ad. This ad says “every day is your birthday with Reeses”. I feel like this addresses our more self-centered society making it all about the reader. This audience would be anybody who loves Reeses and anybody who wants to feel special every day. The unique benefit is the deliciousness of Reeses that has been around for so long, and that no other candy is quite as good as. This ad is far more creative than the earlier one because it has a unique message that makes the viewer interested and makes them feel that it affects them personally. This is also a strategy that they use – making YOU feel important.
Old Hanes:
I love this ad. “You read about the women who are an unforgettable, disarming, and a not-so-quiet sensation.” Then they say you can become one with run-free nylons. The pile of books that this seemingly naked girl holds refers to the women you may read about but is also showing that she probably is one of those women. This is very creative and unique. The “unique benefit” for this product is that for just a few pennies more, you can get nylons that won’t run. The target audience was probably professional women who wanted to look and feel professional, and they appealed to this audience by addressing the bold and smart women who was probably career-oriented.
New Hanes: This ad takes the modest amount of sexual pull that was in the old one and amplifies it. Instead of the girl being mostly covered with the implications that she’s not wearing anything, this girl is uncovered with just underwear. This does not seem to appeal to the woman who wants to be thought of as smart and independent as the old one does, but rather appeals to the women who are trying to be sexy; it appeals to the women who is trying to please someone else rather than just her. This shows a culture change from then, when feminism was more thought about, to now. I do not find this ad to be creative; they are just trying to sell their product by selling sex. Another advertising strategy that they are using is a famous person as a model. They do that in many of their other ads as well.
