Piece two

Chosen Service: Paddington Sports Club. Target audience is people aged 20-45, whose income is higher than average and tennis players of all levels or want to learn how to play tennis. This will be a one-page advertisement in the sports magazines or a take-away flyer in such natural food shops such as Holland and Barrett.

 

Visuals: a setting of an outdoor tennis court with bright green trees around the court. Maria Kirilenko, a world famous professional tennis player who has won a number of titles during her career, is standing in the foreground, smiling and facing the viewer. She is wearing classic women tennis clothes: white top and skirt and white sneakers, holding a racket. On the right side of her there is a text in small letters: “Maria Kirilenko, professional tennis player”. She is standing more to the left side of the picture and on the left side of her is the label of the tennis club and the copy is underneath.

 

Copy: Headline: “We offer 10 all-weather courts and work with skilled and qualified coaches. Be one of the first 25 people to join our new tennis membership plan and receive a 20% discount!”

 

Bodycopy: “We have celebrated our centenary in 2005 together with our numerous clients and a team of experienced staff. We will be more than happy to welcome you in our club!”

 

Slogan: “Play like a Champion today”.

 

Explanation of persuasive techniques:

The central idea in this ad is to attract new customers to join the club. The ad itself is aimed to establish a respectful atmosphere by the celebrity endorsement. The weapons of influence such as liking, authority, social proof and scarcity are used in this marketing piece.

Maria Kirilenko is one of the most attractive female world-famous tennis players. Both men and women will respond to her attractiveness and it is generally accepted in marketing that “what is beautiful is good”. “Beauty sells” and the appearance of a beautiful person in an ad makes an ad more effective.

The strongest weapon in this ad is a weapon of authority. Maria Kirilenko is a famous professional tennis player and her ‘visual support’ makes a viewer to conclude that if the person that is experienced in this area is ‘advising’ this tennis club, then it must be a good tennis club. Not many people who will come across this ad will be familiar with Maria Kirilenko and her title, which is why there is an explanation box on the right side of her so that the authority weapon will be present even if the viewers do not know her. She is dressed in a tennis suit and this gives an ad an even more support of the authority. There are no quotations of her speech and no confirmation that she is a client at the club, but “the appearance of authority is enough” (Cialdini 2007, p.188).

Social proof weapon is present here in the bodycopy: “our numerous clients”. It confirms that the club has a numerous clients base and therefore the viewer suggest that this is a good club as many people hold a membership with it.

The weapon of scarcity is also used in this ad: “Be one of the first 25 people to join our new tennis membership plan and receive a 20% discount!” makes the ad more efficient. Even if the people were suggesting another sports club for themselves or are already playing tennis anywhere else, they simply may not want to loose an opportunity to get a discount, even though they do not know the actual price of the membership as it is not mentioned, they simply know that there is a unique opportunity to get a discount at a respected tennis club.

Ethos is used here as a proof from the Mrs Kirilenko. She is smiling and seems happy to be using facilities of this club.

The slogan has a rhyme in it between words “play” and “today”, which makes the slogan more memorable and pleasant to the ear.

An “ad antiquitiam” fallacy is present in the bodycopy of this ad: “We have celebrated our centenary” which leads a viewer into a delusion that if something is old than it has to be good.