The ability to speak multiple languages, or at least become bilingual, has increased in popularity so much that the consumer of today is seeking more ways to learning a new tongue throughout the course of busy daily lives. Though many individuals attend an educational institute to acquire fluency in foreign conversation, several people have little time to explore the world of language with a paid instructor. For some, time is not so the issue in regards to taking a specialty course; their overall concern is monetary: “can I afford to learn a new language?” For all intensive purposes, providing an affordable, comprehensive, effective, computer program, our product will sell itself. The only aspects we should need to worry about in our advertisements would be accuracy of information and overall dynamic appeal. In reviewing our print/online advertisement for Instant Immersion™, one cannot help but to think that the flyer was produced poorly.
Our language skill building company has been making learning more convenient to our customers for just over two decades. We can give a lot of our thanks to Greg James for founding Countertop Videos back in 1990 and the efforts made in producing educational VHS cassettes. Spiraling triumphantly into the new millennium, with a plethora of videos for various arts, Countertop videos in conjunction with our ‘Learn Country Line Dance’ series was one component into making us the successful company we are today. It was in the year 2000 that we teamed with TOPICS Entertainment, industry experts for over 125 years in development for our products of the future. Right now Instant Immersion is on our lines of publication and is the number one selling software for language. This may surprise those who work for, or have heard of our competitor Rosetta Stone®.
What gives us the edge over our company is no longer the innovative approach as we have been manufacturing CD-ROMS for language since the mid ‘90’s. The people from around the world have come to expect our brand and thus the allure of a new way to learn a language is no longer the major selling point. Today there is a computer in almost every American’s house and on the shelf will either be Rosetta Stone, or Instant Immersion (if not a reference book for language). Today we can beat the status quo simply by submitting to the facts. We have always kept our software affordable.
The Spanish ad from the year 2010 has smeared our name and has made us look less than appealing. If we look carefully right away we have lost the ethical appeal to most families as photograph of the male college man, with the Spanish exchange student, presents a pretty adult and perhaps unrealistic relationship. For starters his hand placement is on her leg, the same uncovered leg pressed against the male actors knee. His fingertips are noticeably under the brim of her short red dress, and indicating too much sexuality. We are a family company and the picture alone personifies something almost entirely contrary. Secondly, perusing the writing we have wording that is out of character. With words underline such as “sexy”, “smart”, and “saved about $300”, we have lost our audience in the logos plane, as they do not know what is important in our advertisement. Her being ‘sexy’ has already been overcastted in the photo and having it in writing really makes the consumer question whether or not this is even a real ad or some horrible Rosetta Stone knock off (we will address this momentarily). I do agree that words like ‘smart’ can and should be highlighted this is one of the principals our company stands on as we discuss modes of integrity or core values. This is fact is quickly diminished by the use of approximation measure words or what I think of as uncertainty words terms which have the ability to put our audience in a noncommittal category. We need measure words that are finite as oppose to saying, “saved about $300”, we could say “saved up to $300 dollars” or “saved just under $400”. The reader’s eyes are now pulled away from the underlined words and the overly distracting female sharing a drink with the ‘college man’, and they are directed to our cost portion giving them the same noncommittal determination to buy our product. Instead of just telling our readers, or potential customers our price, we have given them an approximation, “About 50 bucks.” Using the word bucks instead of the term “US dollars,” have had added insult to intellectual injury and printed a very uncommonly used slang word on our professional advertisement.
Needless to say I am disappointed with the rhetoric we have opened up with this advertisement. The online community has already begun to blog their responses and the comments are very unbecoming to our company. In addition to everything mentioned above I believe it is doubly important to stress the concern I have about our integrity. By creating an advertisement so similar to Rosetta Stones’, we have circum to this primitive form of competition. I am not certain whose ad came out first, but I can honestly say that without a doubt Rosetta Stone has done a far better job with the ‘farm boy’ approach. Their ad, by comparison comes off as one that is professional, and treats their audience with the dignity they deserve. Using words carefully and not trying to sell sex, Rosetta Stone has produced an advertisement that speaks well for their company providing the readers with accurate useful information. Even though their product is by comparison far more than ours in cost; their rhetoric displays a commercial of seriousness, classiness, a little bit of humor, and great color choice. The consumer has put our advertisements into question; because, we have little continuity and have used different colors on individual products entirely. As one looks at the picture on Rosetta Stone’s advertisement, the farm boy in grayscale, the software in hand in full bright golden color, we realize that they are not selling a product; they are selling a future life. For use to stay number one, we need to develop an ad campaign that dynamically illustrates the product, and conveys the dream. Somehow we must put our heads together and aim our rhetoric at pathos while providing accurate information about our software. Where one can obtain a copy, how much a copy costs, and what
specifically the product is, are three areas to be addressed in our next campaign.
(Figure 01)