Media Advertising - Colgate Advertising Strategies Over the Years Essay

A Look at Colgate Advertising Strategies Over the Years "To be, or not to be?" This is the question that plagues companies every year. The business is one of survival- survival of the fittest. Companies around the world are constantly scattering about, developing new weapons in nuclear advertisement. Having looked back at old strategies, it is interesting to see the strategies that worked have lasted over time. Since the April 5, 1937 edition of LIFE magazine, Colgate's advertisements have evolved to appeal to different audiences as seen in another ad in the January 1985 edition of LIFE. Though targeting different audiences over the past fifty years, Colgate has kept many of their original advertising strategies, but has changed their approach by introducing children as subject matter, leading parents to respond to the ad with their children in mind. A sort of sex appeal is visible in the 1950's commercial, mainly focusing on the fun that a man and a women can have if they both were to have nice breath. The Colgate advertisement in the fifties is focused towards an adult audience who are single and looking for ways of attracting the opposite sex. All the characters are portrayed as clean, single people. Ray, the man in the ad, seems to be a business man, though not the type to be swimming in money. Colgate wanted every man to be able to identify with Ray, and so placed him in what would probably have been the largest economic group. Not only would this allow the men in the audience to identify with the situation, but it would also attract the middle class and make it easier for them to relate and become involved with the ad as well. In the Colgate advertisement of the eighties, a question could be raised in contrast to... ...e the viewer is an average American, the ad forces the reader into a group- such as you are a mom, or one of those that love the taste- which gives reason for the viewer to by the product. Ultimately, Colgate has always tried to make their advertisements in a way that stops the reader from flipping the page by capturing his interest. Strategies used by Colgate in the fifties can be seen in the ad of the eighties, though the subject matter has changed and some of the strategies have become extinct. This subject matter, which includes the children from the eighties, became a very important factor in appealing to the audience. Likewise, the subject matter from the fifties, including the sex appeal, was probably very effective in that day. Because times have changed, neither of the ads would have fit in the others time, and would likewise probably not work in 1997.