GCSE Coursework Media – Neutrogena Foundation

Advertising is used in everyday use. It may be a small advert like advertising selling your bike in the local shop, on a leaflet. Or maybe much bigger like advertising new cars, houses for sale, or holidays on billboards, TV or radio stations. Advertising can get across in many ways like radio, TV, magazines, billboards, adverts, flyers, posters or leaflets. Different adverts mean different things. One advert maybe a plain background with a few graphics, featuring a car or a holiday, this would be shown on a billboard. Whereas another maybe full of information, advertising the same. The advert with lots of information may not be understandable. Therefore, the market of advertisement has to decide many things to make them standout. Millions of pounds are spent trying to persuade the customer to buy the product.
The first advert is Neutrogena, foundation. I found the advert in a teenage girl magazine, Bliss. I chose this advert because I use the product and I thought it would be interesting. Anyone who wears make-up is the target market. There is no specific age, but it would be advertised at young girls, to get their parents to buy it for them if they cannot afford the price. The Price of the foundation is around 7, which is quite expensive therefore that is why it is aimed at parents.
I think this because I have used this product, and I am in the target market. My first impressions of the advert were that it was plain and the colours blend with the product. It is a clear background, and it associated with the slogan, “CLEARER skin it’s in your make-up.” I also thought that the picture of the model was quite effective the first time I saw it because she is actually wearing the foundation, to promote it. Also the only other feature on her that stands out is her lips because they have had brightly coloured make-up added.

The copy is very pale; it is like a gold colour, which gives an expensive look. It makes a difference because you can see it, it draws your attention towards it, it makes you look more closely therefore you read it. The make of the product is Neutrogena and you know this because it is boldly and largely written and set out. There are few graphics, one is a picture of a model wearing the product and she has very little make-up on so nothing else catches your attention. I think they have used her because she looks young, and she has clear skin. She is pretty so this may persuade the customer to buy the product to get that look.
The other picture is of a few products; the foundation that is advertised. This may have been used to help the customer recognise the product if they are going to buy it. The slogan at the bottom of the advert is “Beautiful ; Beneficial,” these is effective because if you read the advert fully then that would be the last thing you read and it might stay in your thoughts and persuade you to buy it, more and more.
If I didn’t have experience with this product then I think it would appeal to me and may make me buy it. The first thing that I saw when I first looked at the advert was the brand name ‘Neutrogena’ and the picture of the product. This makes me read the whole of the advert. The brand name is ‘Neutrogena’ which I don’t think implies anything. But on the actual product it says, “SKIN CLEARING oil-free make-up” so that part implies that the foundation is for oily skin, and it helps prevent and clear spots. In the text it says, “there are times when ordinary, make-up can make spots worse” so there they are trying to say that this type of foundation is for the skin type specified and they are trying to make you buy it. It also says, “… has a proven spot fighting ingredient” so in nearly all of the text, they are trying to make you buy it, and I think it is very persuasive.
The container is clear therefore you can see the shade of the product. The size of the bottle makes a lot of difference, if the bottle was large then it wouldn’t fit in your make-up bag, but if it were small then it wouldn’t contain much of the product. Therefore the current size of the container does not need to be changed, because it’s a good handy size, it will fit in your make-up bag and contains quite a lot of the product. The lid gives a sleek look, and the silver ring gives a more stylish look. On the front of the bottle the company name is designed in black bold letters and it stands out and catches your eye. Also on the bottle it states that the foundation is for a specific skin type, and a skin clearing look and that it has a blemish treatment and contains salicylic acid.
This advert is similar to other make-up advertisements. It gives a suttle and calming effect, which in my opinion doesn’t give a good look, because quite a lot of other companies like, No.7 and Miss Selfridge have tried and tested this look. At the bottom of the page Neutrogena stands out and reminds me of TV programs showing Hollywood actresses getting their make-up professionally applied. Neutrogena is a large well-known company and has a wide advertising campaign, which is shown, in magazines, television and on billboards.
I think this advertising campaign is very effective because a wide range of people see the product because not everyone read/buy magazines or see television. This must be a good product otherwise the company wouldn’t spend so much money advertising their products if they weren’t going to get a good cash-in-flow, and there would be no point in spending all this if it wasn’t going to be cost effective. The advert tries to sell the product by viewing the container it is in therefore you would be able to easily recognise it if you wanted to buy it. The advert doesn’t illustrate you the price, so you would have to go out and look for it, this could be a good and bad thing because….