Gunn's 12 Types of Advertising - Advertising Production

Gunn's 12 Types of Advertising

Gunn's 12 types of advertising is something we all, as consumers, witness day to day via advertisements on the TV, radio and print media. In order to gain the grades I wish to receive, I need to showcase my understanding of Gunn's rules in our ever changing world of consumerism and advertising.

So what on earth was Gunn on about?

His 12 rules are as follows:

1. The Demo – Visual Demonstration of a product’s capabilities as in late night TV spots. Knives, Samsonite luggage, stain remover.

2. Show the Problem – Example would be a man trying to communicate with woman about first date night before over mobile phone. Communication drops out, leads to communications, then present the fix or the solution, the phone company etc.

3. Symbolize the Problem – Use of symbols or exaggerated graphics to symbolize the problem e.g. presenting someone with a cold as a monster.

4. Symbolize the Benefit – Use of symbols to focus on product’s benefit.

5. Comparison - Pointing out how one product is superior to it’s competitors e.g. Samsung comparing it's flagship phone against Apple's.

6. Exemplary Story – Ads the weave a narrative around the product’s benefits e.g. a car crash showcases the vehicles safety features.

7. Benefit Causes Story – Use of product causes a unique story e.g. Lynx ads in which a user of the product attracts the entire female population

8. Testimonial – Tell it, testimonial or “A” tells “B”. Real people telling other real people about the product.

9. Ongoing Characters or Celebrities – An ongoing char-actor, celebrity or spokesperson keeping the brand’s identity into the viewers memory e.g. Kevin Bacon for EE, Ryan Reynolds for BT and Martin Freeman for Vodaphone.

10. Associated User Imagery – Ads that showcase the kind of people the brands want to associate with their product, usually value driven people that people aspire to be. A great example is Nike’s advertising. Who wears Nike? dedicated hard working athletes.

11. Unique Personality Property – Highlighting feature that makes the product stand out, like the country the product comes from, products longs story history or the product’s memorable name or the company’s founder.

12. Parody or Borrowed Format – Parody of well known movies, TV show and other ads infusing humour.