Communication Studies

The media text I have chosen to explore is in the form of an advertisement. In this particular assignment ,I will be hoping to provide a detailed analysis of this advertisement and at the same time draw on approaches , methodologies and perspectives by employing appropriate terminology.

Firstly, we need to understand the meaning of advertisement .So, what is advertising? Gillian Dyer (1982) describing advertising says “In its simplest sense the word ‘advertising’ means ‘drawing attention to something’, or notifying or informing somebody of something.” So, basically we can say that advertising is communication and the only way the communicator will achieve his/her goal of ‘full effectiveness’ when he/she (communicator)has a clear recognition and idea of the message that is to be sent.

I will be analysing my advertisement in accordance to the Shannon and Weaver’s model (1949;Weaver,1949b).John Fiske (1990)explaining this model says “Their basic model of communication presents it as a simple linear process .Its

English: A 1931 advertisement by E. Dent & Co Ltd

English: An old advertisement for the British phar...

Banana Advertising

simplicity has attracted many derivatives , and its linear, process –centred nature has attracted many critics But we must look at the model (below ) before we consider its implications and before we attempt to evaluate it .The model is broadly understandable at first glance. Its obvious characteristics of simplicity and linearity stand out clearly.”ReceivedMessage signal signal messageInformation ------- Transmitter-------- ---------- receiver ---------- destinationSourceNoise Source(Shannon and Weaver’s model of communication)The advertisement I am focusing is the advertisement of a camera which appeared in the weekly ‘Sunday Magazine’, a publication of the highly recognisable newspaper ‘News of The World’. The source which selected this piece of advertisement is a world renowned camera company ‘Olympus’ and this selection source is termed as the information source in Shannon and Weaver’s model. The magazine in which this advertisement has been printed is...