Sometimes we have to compare a number of ads in the same market category and to quickly grasp the essence and the strategy behind those ads. It can be a tedious and lengthy process if you don’t know what you are looking for. Everybody in their respective fields of expertise have their own sets of heuristics – IT’S HIGH TIME WE HAD THE SAME IN ADVERTISING COMMUNICATIONS!

1. HEURISTICS
FOR ANALYZING ADS
SEMIOSEARCH.LT

2. sometimes we have to compare a number of
ads in the same market category and to
quickly grasp the essence and the strategy
behind those ads

3. it can be a tedious and lengthy process if you
don’t know what you are looking for

4. now everybody in their respective fields of
expertise have their own sets of heuristics –
IT’S HIGH TIME WE HAD THE SAME IN
ADVERTISING COMMUNICATIONS!

5. LET’S GET STARTED WITH 10
SHORTCUTS TO JUMP-STARTING
AD ANALYSIS

6. CONSUMER
OR PRODUCT
ORIENTED?

7. CONSUMER
OR PRODUCT
ORIENTED?
who is really the hero in the ad: the product or
the consumer?

8. 2. Which level of benefits does the
commercial address?

9. consumer benefits
product/service attributes
emotional
benefits
BENEFIT
PYRAMID

10. 3. CONSUMER PORTRAIT
implicit explicit
expressed through
details, items, tone,
cultural references
expressed through
characters within
the ad
who is the intended target audience

11. 4. Can you recognize any consumer or
product journey steps in the ad?

12. PRODUCT JOURNEY
conception
origins
materials
production
delivery
usage
motivation
need
trigger
purchase
usage
lifestyle
CONSUMER JOURNEY

13. NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
it’s not the time, space and the
characters that are important, but
the deep meanings and categories
that hide behind them: e. g. are the
characters individualistic or
collective, what are the type of
spaces represented and in what
ways are they related
CHARACTERS, SPACE
AND TIME (sometimes)

14. 6. REVERSE INSIGHT
If we have the actual ad, then we can
dig our way back to the creative brief
and the insights that grounded the
communication. So we have to ask
ourselves what was the actual
consumer insight in this particular ad
and where did it come from?
REVERSE?

15. 7. BRAND TERRITORIES
CULTURAL
TERRITORIES
TREND
TERRITORIES
EMOTIONAL
TERRITORIES
what references to the popular culture, established and counter-trends, emotional states
and other more universal constructs does the brand employ in its communication:

16. 8
What archetype does the brand represent? Does it have any
recurrent features (like efficiency, wisdom, friendliness), or does it
portray itself in a consistent ways (collective vs individualistic, intro-
vs extrovert). Rely on universal brand archetype classifications

17. 9 the summary of the value that the brand explicitly of
implicitly promises to deliver to a certain audience

18. 10. NEXT STEP
WHAT HAS IT
GOT IN
COMMON WITH
THE CATEGORY?
WHAT HAS IT
GOT IN
COMMON WITH
THE BRAND?
WHAT
INNOVATIONS
AND FRESH IDEAS
DOES IT BRING?
in what ways does the
ad relate to the whole
category logic?
what brand elements
and meanings are
retained throughout the
communications?
how does the
communication deviate
from the established
brand and category
conventions?

19. SEMIOSEARCH.LT
A n d r i u s G r i g o r j e v a s