Society and Drunk Driving

Advertisements are communications to a targeted group of individuals mostly to encourage or convince them to take an action. Advertisements are also used to convince those who have already subscribed to a product or an ideology that it is still the best available. Often adverts are meant for commercial purposes, but they are also used to sell ideologies such as in public service announcements. Some of the media used for advertising include print, billboards, television ads and infomercials, and digital media. Firms interact with the targeted audience through these various media. No industry better interacts with its stakeholders as compared to the automobile industry.

A research by Borrel Associates estimates the automobile industry’s spending on advertising to rise 14% to $30.8 billion. This is due to car manufacturers expanding marketing campaigns, especially through digital media such as websites, blogs and text messages. Digital media were to get most of the funds estimated at $40 cents for every dollar spent on advertising in the industry. Dealers, dealer associations and the automobile industry, in general, spent $11.9 billion on online banner ads; search buys and repurposing trending videos and topics to convey their message.

Some of the dominant players in the automobile industry include BMW, Audi, Hyundai, Ford and Volkswagen. To promote their products, they use marketing campaigns such as BMW’s film series clips “The Hire” and Audi’s reality game “The Art of the Heist”. Indeed, the fierce competition has made the industry a means through which online marketing trends are analysed and also the effective tactics and tools are discussed.

The advert is an online banner of the automotive company BMW. The ad features two human legs, one original and the other counterfeit. The second leg is a mechanical transplant showing that the individual is disabled. The picture also contains a big text warning the targeted audience not to drink and drive as the mechanical transplants they will get, will not be as original as car spare parts. There is a small text at the bottom right-hand side of the banner and below it a company logo of BMW. Both of this show that the campaign is conducted by the BMW Automobile Company.

The purpose of the advert is to warn people not to drive while drunk. The advert is meant to shock the targeted audience (those who drink and drive) that they will suffer fatalities that may necessitate them losing some of their body parts. The text “Spare parts for human are not as original as those for cars” is placed visibly beside the human leg. It is meant to warn those who drink and drive that they may not enjoy their lives much after the accidents. Another text “don’t drink and drive” is placed below the first text. It is written in bold and a larger font than any other text in the picture. This is because it is the primary message that the BMW wants to convey.

The increase in the number of accidents due to drunk driving has made it necessary for automobile companies to use pathos to reverse the trend. The prevalence of the vice has made it necessary to increase funding to regulate it. The failure of other methods to inspire change has prompted the use of pathos. What this shows about this society that the firm serves is that it is not rational. Rational people do not engage in drunk driving knowing the consequences. The company can only get to them by scaring them that they will lose their original legs.

The focal point of the ad is to tackle drunk driving. One of the common reasons why the number of road accidents is rising is due to people’s habits of drinking and driving. Drunkenness renders the individual’s unfit to operate machinery such as driving a car. It endangers the process of driving putting at risk other drivers. Therefore, to assist in curbing the number of road accidents, the BMW Company is urging those driving not to do so while drunk. This is a part of the company’s social responsibility campaign, where it is attempting to reduce fatalities in road accidents.

The message that human spare parts are not as original as those for cars intends to communicate that the company supplies its customers with original spare parts. Therefore, the secondary message communicated is that consumers of the firm’s range of products get original and effective spare parts. Those who see and read the ad are warned of the consequences of drunk driving and at the same time, BMW is trying to convince target consumers that the company supplies them with original spare parts through the ad.

Digital media are an important tool for advertising agencies to reach their audiences. This is due to online ads consolidating gains made by other media such as billboards, TV and print. The strategy is to promote adverts in the mainstream media by initiating strategic advertising campaigns in alternative media. Advertisement clips and pictures are uploaded to selected internet websites to achieve a total promotion of a product or ideology.

The targeted audience of the advert is users of motor vehicles, and specifically those who engage in drunk driving. They are warned not to engage in drunk driving as it results in an increase, in cases of car accidents. The consequences of drunk driving are exemplified in the ad through the mechanical leg beside the original human leg. The intention is to paint a picture to drivers of the consequences of driving while drunk. It also intends to influence a change in behavior among the targeted audience.

The ad also reminds its current base of customers that the company is still the best in the industry. Through the advert, they are promising their customers that they will supply original spare parts of high quality for their vehicles. Furthermore, it convinces their customers that it is beneficial to continue using the firm’s products rather than switch to competitors. The advert also communicates to consumers of BMW’s products that using genuine parts may reduce accidents and fatalities. Potential customers of the company are also a target audience of the ad. Those, who are about to buy a car, after seeing the advert, may be convinced of the benefits of using BMW’s products. The benefits include access to genuine spare parts in case of breakdowns and joining a socially responsible company.

On the other hand, the BMW Company will benefit from the advert as well because of their growing market share as a result of respect gained. In a competitive automobile industry such as the U.S. industry, the players prefer to stick to themes and tactics that provide desired results. Moreover, they believe that there is no need to make changes if the system still works. Therefore, strategies like advertisements through online banners and search engines will still be relevant. This is because they generate consistency in achieving the overall marketing strategy.

To reach consumers of its products more effectively, it is crucial to choose the right mode of presentation. To achieve the desired impact, the message communication in the ad through media that are accessible to consumers. A certain mode of advertising is preferred if it reaches a wider audience of the targeted group. A recent trend is a preference of digital media over other traditional media such as TV ads. The evidence supporting this trend is the increase in spending on digital means of advertisements. It shows as it has been mentioned above, that, for every dollar spent on advertising in the automobile industry, 40 cents are spent on digital media according to a research by Borrel Associates.

The ad uses colloquial and informal language. The text language is informal such as the statement “human spare parts are not as original as those for cars”. Informal language is preferred when communicating messages dealing with social issues. It is preferred since informal language can achieve more change in society than formal language. This statement is ironical since not all human parts are replaceable. In the ad irreplaceability of human parts is shown by the replaced unoriginal leg in the person that suffered an accident. It serves to create the picture of the targeted individual losing some part of his body due to vehicle accidents that are preventable.

The colloquial expression “Don’t Drink and Drive” is both convenient and effective. It has the potential of developing into a campaign both beneficial to the company and the public. The campaign is socially beneficial through a reduction in a number of road accidents while at the same time create a good impression with its consumers. Such conclusion can be made because the text attributing the ad to BMW is in an extremely small font. It means that it is not the primary message that the ad is to convey. However, the company logo is easily visible.

The ad also uses contrast to show the difference between the original leg and a mechanical one. The two legs are placed at the center of the picture in order to draw full attention to them. The differences between the two are easily visible. One of the differences is that the original human leg is covered with flesh while the counterfeit leg is just a bare metal. The counterfeit leg is pale and worn out while the original human leg is healthy. The ideology propelled is that originality is better than counterfeit items that would not perform to expected levels.

The ad is relevant to BMW’s advertising objectives. It conveys its intended message to draw a positive response rate from the targeted audience. The media that the company uses for the advert are digital. The ad touches on the issues of originality and tries to deal with society’s destructive habits of drunk driving. Therefore, the advert conveys BMW’s message and objectives in a clear and concise version. The ads use pathos to warn a section of vehicle users who engage in the drunk driving of the consequences.