Degree Men's Deodorant: Analysis of Project in the Real World

As of right now, my advertisement itself has been receiving mixed reviews. People either love it, or hate it, but unless I were to, I don’t know, place puppies and the American flag in my image, not everyone is guaranteed to be pleased with it. After further explaining my ad, and showing off my campaign in its entirety, some people changed their minds, agreeing that the concept was strong, even if not depicted in a way they had in mind. When I created this campaign, I wanted it to be largely image- driven, because “Image-driven compositions emphasize image and de-emphasize type. The image becomes the “hero”, (Landa, Advertising by Design, 155). Having my image be the main focus means that the communication between the viewer and myself would be much quicker than if I chose to have a tiny picture with a paragraph written underneath.

Of course, I couldn’t have my entire ad being only images. I had to have some explanation for why you’re seeing Degree deodorant being thrust towards you. I needed a line to further engage my audience. According to Robin Landa, author of Advertising by Design, “visual-verbal synergy happens when the headline and the main image work together to communicate the meaning,”. I spent countless hours trying to make sure that I could achieve this concept in such a way that my ad is easily understandable as well as captivating to my audience. When I was confirming my beliefs that this was accomplished, I was able to see that “the ad idea is expressively communicated to an audience through the visual design and cooperative action between design and copy...,” (Landa, Advertising by Design, 74). This allowed me to finally be comfortable enough with my campaign to feel like I was finished.

I may not be a professional advertiser yet, but I think various aspects of this campaign could be successful in the real world. Asking my friends and family for their opinions on the ad only furthered this idea. If I ever gain the courage, I will take my ad out and see what complete strangers think of my work. Unfortunately, I wasn’t brave enough yet, so, for now, my advertising will have to remain here in the virtual world.