Using metaphors in advertising.

In this blog, we’ll be looking at using metaphors in advertising.

At Partisan Advertising, we believe there are five tenets upon which effective and memorable advertising campaigns can be built and how they can be used for the betterment of your advertising. They are:

Humour, testimonial, metaphor, analogy, and demonstration.

Metaphors are the kings of advertising and can be a compelling option to explore when creating effective advertising campaigns.

What you’re doing is taking two dissimilar things and putting them together based on something they have in common. For example, drawing a comparison between a condom and a motorcycle helmet. They're very different in terms of size, how they’re made, and what they’re made from, but they both offer protection where and when it matters most.

Some messages can be clear and simple (like the condom example), but sometimes, a better and more unique impression can be made using very different elements, like an eel and a car (figure it out).

We often test products and brands based on what we can see, feel, hear, touch, and taste but there’s something more at play that creates a strong association with the brand and I call that the “smile factor”. This is the reality that there are a lot of other benefits that brands can offer that our five senses can’t describe – subconscious messages with deeper meanings and emotions which influence our decisions to make a purchase.

And this is where the metaphor comes into play.

Metaphors come in two varieties: pure metaphor and fused metaphor.

What is a pure metaphor?

This metaphor represents a completely different thing from your product; it is used to stand in for the product or the feelings we get from it. Here is one example:

Sofia is a newly established bank. Banks are boring and often their advertising is even worse. This ad seems to have no connection to banking, but it’s packed with associations: the visual tells the story that the bank is new but it is smart and knowledgeable in all things banking despite its age.

What is a fused metaphor?

This is when you take the product and something unique about it and combine it with something else. Here’s a great example that needs no explanation:

How we use metaphors:

• We look for pairs to parallel.

• We mix the product’s symbols with imagery that is somehow related to the product.

• We work in terms of addition or substitution.

• We start putting the product into formats to help make connections and create images:

  • “It’s like a ____.”

  • “It’s like a ____ for your ____.”

  • “Think of it as a _______.”

  • “If it were a ____, it would be a _____.”

If our first ideas are too clichéd, we don’t lose hope. We’re prepared to hold out for the second, third, or 20th comparison. Metaphors will start pouring out and the originality will come.

The brilliance in using metaphors lies within how we spark a connection between the product or service to the audience. Ultimately, metaphors are tools for communication whereby using one means your audience will better understand the purpose of why they can make use of your product/business.

Using testimonials in advertising to improve results.

In this blog, we’ll be looking at using testimonials in advertising.

At Partisan Advertising, we believe there are five tenets upon which effective and memorable advertising campaigns can be built and how they can be used for the betterment of your advertising. They are:

Humour, testimonial, metaphor, analogy, and demonstration.

We need to start at the very beginning. Way back before social media and the Internet, when we had to actively look for advice from friends, family, and industry experts – word-of-mouth was the most powerful marketing tool around (and it still is).

In the previous century, being a film or food critic (or any critic for that matter) was being someone with a make-or-break influence to those being reviewed. These days, everyone’s a critic. Is that a problem? It doesn’t appear that way except (once again) for those being reviewed.

Using testimonials in advertising is so powerful because we trust people more than we trust brands. According to research by UK think tank WyzOwl, 42% of people say testimonial videos are compelling because they showcase an actual person and help the viewer understand their story.

WyzOwl also said that 95% of people they interviewed say that reviews, whether positive or negative, influence their purchasing decisions.

This points toward the importance of video testimonials as a marketing and advertising tool. Video takes word-of-mouth marketing to the next level. A video is harder to fake. This is a real customer willing to associate their face and name with your brand. It creates trust and helps create a strong, authentic relationship between the viewer, the person in the video, and the brand. This strengthens the relationship between the brand and the consumer.

Testimonial commercials are a highly specialised form of advertising, and they can be tremendously effective.

• Testimonials make the invisible visible.

• Testimonials can demonstrate conversation benefits.

• A testimonial can add legitimacy and increase engagement.

• Testimonials can provide direct targeting through strong resonation with the audience.

In the past eight years, Partisan Advertising has successfully used testimonial-based commercials for our client, TR Group. Our approach to generating testimonials is simple:

• The customer does not have a script to follow. This results in a short, to-the-point, natural, and believable delivery.

• We position TR Group’s clients in their environment, at work, and doing business.

• We ignore marketing “buzzwords”.

So how has testimonial-based advertising helped TR Group?

• It has built stronger trust from the customers doing the commercials.

• The customers’ brand is showcased free of charge on a large media spend.

A testimonial is so powerful. To put it simply: even a short, 30-second TV commercial can show that there are clear benefits to using your product or service.

In our next blog, we’ll take a look at using metaphors to create better advertising.

Using humour in advertising to get great results.

In this blog, we’ll be looking at using humour in advertising.

At Partisan Advertising, we believe there are five tenets upon which effective and memorable advertising campaigns are built. They are:

Humour, testimonial, metaphor, analogy, and demonstration.

I’ll start by saying what we all know: humour isn’t universal but it’s super powerful and very popular. However, one man’s sense of humour can often be another man seconds away from being offended, or worse, not laughing. Humour can bring people closer together or push them further apart.

Human beings like to recall how humour made them feel, and because humour releases endorphins, jokes get remembered, retold and heard more frequently. A sense of humour can make us feel liked and connected, and humour can help develop our relationships. Humour is a fantastic method to appeal to customers’ emotions and gain their trust.

In the world of advertising, humour works and can easily cut through the noise and help brands stand out when it comes to communicating key messages. However, it’s not easy to find the perfect line to make your advertising humorous.

Years back, the word “viral” was the talk of the town. Every advertising agency was on the road to creating viral work, most often trying to go viral by using humour. But things have changed dramatically and the concept of viral has been turned on its head by current social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and just about anything can go viral with (or without) the use of humour.

When the Superbowl rolls into town on the first Sunday of February, advertisers pay extravagant fees to get their products and brands in front of millions of eyeballs on the biggest day in TV for advertising, and the vast majority use humour to break through and appeal to audiences. Superbowl advertising has become so popular that many people watch the Superbowl just for the ad breaks.

However, what is humorous can often quickly become imitated and boring, leading to a loss of memorability and, in worse cases, leading to a lack of likeability, as these three ads produced for Superbowl viewers show.

So here are ten easy tips to remember to crack the “humour effect” for your brand:

1. Show your personality.

2. Be authentic and believable.

3. Be relatable to your audience.

4. Don’t be offensive (unless it fits in with your brand positioning).

5. Don’t force your humour.

6. Don’t insult your audience.

7. Remember that humour is subjective.

8. Don’t use sarcasm, as it can’t always be communicated through text - as seen in the “Pepsi, Where’s my Jet?” advertising campaign.

9. Stay classy - don’t poke fun at your competitors.

10. Get a second opinion from a lawyer.

Here are five great places to use humour to build your brand besides on video:

1. Recruitment ads, like this one from SodaStream.

2. Internal communications. Just make sure that managers and leaders are fully onboard.

3. Email signatures. Here are some great ideas from RightInbox.

4. Create backgrounds for digital media meeting platform meeting rooms like Zoom and Google Meets using Xsplit Vcam.

One should never forget that using humour in advertising is the riskiest of our five tenets. Humour isn’t for everyone, but if you crack the code, prepare to enjoy the rewards.

In our next blog, we’ll take a look at using testimonials to create better advertising.

And while we’re waiting, here are 17 minutes of great examples of humour used in advertising. Enjoy!

Advertising for children.

In New Zealand, the transport industry is more than just businesses with trucks and trailers.

It is a tight-knit community of hardworking individuals that pass on their skills and knowledge to their families and friends – from generation to generation.

The New Zealand Trucking magazine features a kids’ magazine called “Little Truckers Down Under”. This year, we’ve had the pleasure of working with TR Group to put together advertising that resonates with both the adult and children readers of Little Truckers.

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TR Group is a proud supporter of I AM HOPE and its cause to raise mental health awareness and provide free counselling sessions to Kiwi kids. The first advert is focused on spreading hope and simply being kind to others – a timeless message that everybody needs a reminder of. With this comes a nod to mental health awareness in kids as they navigate the early stages of their lives.

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The second Little Truckers advert focused on the environment and how every single human in the world has a responsibility to keep our home habitable for generations to come. It has easy tips for sustainability that any kid or grown-up can follow – while simultaneously showcasing the hard work TR Group does in their commitment to a sustainable transport future. This is important because the children who read this will be the ones driving fuel-alternative vehicles.

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The next ad focuses on the connection between generations of truckies and how extraordinary a career in transport can be. TR Group is a company that prides itself on its people, and what better way than to ‘start them young’. This ad communicates how dreams can turn into reality and a career doing what you love, surrounded by the trucks you love, is a possibility.

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This takes us to the latest ad, paying homage to the truckies who deliver everything we have – from toys to food and everything in between. This showcases how trucks affect everyone’s life, bringing a sense of gratitude towards these big rigs and their drivers. It’s important to deliver this message for kids to be aware of how essential trucks really are. Often they’re seen as mere vehicles, but really, they are vessels that keep the world moving.

The Little Truckers Down Under adverts for TR Group has been a delight to work on, and we have another one on the horizon. We are grateful to TR Group for allowing us to do what we love as they communicate to kids and adults alike, empowering children to have the right mindset about the industry while waiting for their turn to take the wheel.