Shagri La Advertisement Analysis free essay sample

One of the hallmarks of modern capitalism is advertising, helping fuel the economy by motivating buyers and supporting sellers. A prime promotional tool includes television commercials. It has become apparent over the years that television ads heighten peoples interest in products. Taking this into consideration, television advertising today has overwhelming influence on consumer purchases and   attraction to services. The consumer mind frame is largely weighted by what advertisements encourage and coerce people to buy, do and even believe. A television ad concept is not difficult to actualise, but creating an affective one that will excite audiences is. Television is firstly a visual medium and secondly auditory, allowing short stories to be told by advertisers. This medium allows for maximisation of the creative potential. Brand History Shangri-La is a premier hospitality provider founded in 1971 in Singapore. Its name was inspired by James Hiltons legendary novel Lost Horizon, which encapsulates a placid haven in the Himalayas mountains, called Shangri-La, which cast a spell on its residents. Today, Shangri-La composes of over 70 deluxe hotels and resorts in key cities in Asia Pacific, Canada and the Middle East. Apart from providing hotels and resorts, it has also established spas and luxury serviced apartments. Based in Hong Kong, Shangri-La has plans to expand globally with advancements under way throughout Asia, Europe and North America. The vision of Shangri-La is to be the first choice for their guests, colleagues, shareholders and business partners, with its mission to delight their guests every time by creating engaging experiences straight from their hearts. Target Audiences Instead of highlighting the usual comforts and amenities of the hotel, the ad tries to work on the subconscious level of the consumers. The man is neither familiar with nature of wolves nor with the terrain. This means that ad is not designed for regular loyal customer and Shangri-La is confident of retaining them with its service. Furthermore the ad characterizes a man fighting alone in an adverse condition rules out family as target. Its primary aim is to attract new customer especially working class who are rich enough to spend but are skeptical of service provided. This tactic used is to convey quality   which uses a very fine experience from human life. It is safe to consider this ad to be reaching out to the niche market of business men of middle to upper class stature. However, also not to mention anyone who is willing to pay the price for comfort as well. Objectives Of Commercial The advertisement is excellently scripted and shot to keep viewers glued to the screen when watching it   for the first time. Creatively crafted with such brilliant cinematography and accompanied by an empowering original music piece composed by Bruno Coulais. Audiences would not figure out that this would be a commercial for a hotel until the ending of it. The symbolism used in this ad creates a lasting impression on the viewer’s mind. The ad is designed keeping in view the consumer’s perspective and expectation away from the hotel. Depicted in the commercial is a   man with backpack and equipment that symbolizes a career oriented customer. This person is in an unknown place for work related affairs. He is tired in his endeavors and looking for a place to rest and rejuvenate, namely a hotel or a resort. Wolves are generally associated with sinister and wicked activities and here they depict hotels and resort. It is common perception that hotels and resort charge expensively   and have lot of hidden charges but most of them fail to deliver the value for money spent. The customer doesn’t trust the wolves (hotel) and when he finally gives in to his fatigue, he gets unexpected, friendly and customized treatment from the stranger who are the wolves; Shangri-La staffs. Cultural Impacts In recent years, change and adaptation seem to be the norm for society all around the world. Adaptation to sub-cultures is not always the easiest. Habits and culture change are more often than not the hardest to accept. In this case,   the advertisement emcompasses that entirely. With the man lost in a foreign environment, looking desperately for a place to rest. Unable to familiarize himself to his surroundings, he succumbs to settling down in the cold winter snow. Unexpectedly, Shangri-La, depict as the wolves, show up to comfort the stranger. After which, the tagline, â€Å"To embrace a stranger as one’s own, it’s in our nature† is shown. Hence, audiences are able to gather that no matter where you are across the globe, in a foreign environment, Shangri-La will take you in not as a guest but a kin. Creating a ‘home away from home’. Mass Media Theories There are four main theories that are formulated into the advertisement, namely the cumulative effects theory, attitude effects theory, behavioural effects theory. Cumulative Effects Theory It is necessary for an ad to be repeated several times before an individual consumer attends to and processes the message. This need for repetition is the cumulative effect of actual exposure to the message. Message quality is a critical factor in determining whether communication has any effect. The placing of the Shangri-La ad in cinemas before movie screenings and on YouTube allows for this necessary repetitive exposure. The cognitive and affective responses to the ad (e. g, attention, recall, attitude) initially hikes with increasing repetition over time. By placing it in cinemas over a stretched period of time, movie-goers are more exposed to the ads as it is highly unlikely for them to intentionally avoid it. The placement of it on YouTube before certain videos also ensures that viewers are unable to avert the intrusiveness of the ad. With the behavior attitude effects that derive from the Shangri-La ad, the cumulative effects are elevated. Behavior Effects As Shangri-La has already been established as mature in its industry, one of this commercials purpose is to influence its viewers with social appeal. The motivation that leads a consumer towards selecting Shangri-La usually involves actively seeking to satisfy the need of luxurious accommodation. In relation to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the ad satisfies the psychological, safety and self-esteem needs of consumers. By reminding travelers that Shangri-La will care for travelers as their own, this ad keeps the consumer feeling a sense of safety, which is an important concern in every traveler’s mind. At the same time, while actively motivating them to pursue luxury accommodation, the ad is feeding their self-esteem need of knowing they are capable of affording premium accommodations while traveling, setting them apart from markets that cannot afford so. It is vital for a ad to communicate possible benefits to a consumer as by doing so, they appear more credible and are more able to influence the consumer’s behaviour and choices. Another factor that affects the consumer behaviour in this ad is the subliminal messages it sends. The subliminal message of this ad was intended to cause viewers to think of Shangri-La as the ideal choice while traveling. After a mind picks up a subliminal message, the subconscious mind will tell a person to obey the message the next time he sees something that relates to it. A consumer that has watched the ad will tend to be reminded of Shangri-La when he travels, creating a lasting retention in their minds. Attitude Effects Attitude is a central focus in the fields of advertising and consumer behaviour. Much of research has shown that consumers brand-related beliefs affect brand attitude formation (e. g. , Mitchell Olson 1981) and change. In addition, recent evidence suggests that consumers brand attitudes may be affected by consumers attitudes towards the advertisement themselves. For ad-evoked feelings to become directly associated with a brand, associative mechanisms have to be present. This result could be an effect on the brand attitude or brand choice or both. The Shangri-La ad is an emotional commercial without much information content but evokes thinking and cognitive activity. The feelings of fear, being taken care of and eventually safety that the audience experiences while being exposed to the Shangri-La ad, over time and with multiple exposures, become associated with the Shangri-La hotel. These associated feelings can also change the symbolic meaning that consumers associate with Shangri-La, as it is now seen as not just a hospitality provider but also a part of travelers’ warm experiences. The association of such feelings with the brand leads to Shangri-Las brand imagery and personality, which leads to consumers developing a more positive attitude towards it. This association also directly affects the attitude and buying behaviour that travelers have toward the brand. Conclusion In a nutshell, the advertisement has proven to be a huge success. Having incorporated the use of mass media theories seamlessly into the ad itself was tantamount to having half the battle won. The final pieces of the jigsaw was fitted when Shangri-La went spot on with their intended target audience as well as excellent placement for their ads. Suffice to say, the burgeoning reputation of Shangri-La has allowed the versatility in their advertisements. It is noticeable that throughout the ad, there is not any one time that Shangri-La had to showcase their facilities or services they provide simply because the masses have already instilled in their minds that the company is in a distinguished class of its own. This unconventional way of driving a particular message across to viewers instead of the typical flaunting and showcasing of products and services brings about something fresh to the advertising scene enables them to take a bigger leap forward in drilling the intended message across to the audience.