Adverts 'vs' Adverts Analysis

A common difficulty within the study of beauty imagery is the difference between an editorial image and that of an advertisement. Advertisement imagery contains three key features that assist in its identification, these include the placement of a product, model and brand (either through text or symbolism). The purpose of an advertisement image is to appeal to the masses and target the public buyer, often this is done through the filtering of a look adapted from the creations seen within the runway and editorial work previously put out via magazines and fashion weeks. Often these advertisements act as a salute to the concept of the show by taking textures, colour tones or designs and concentrating them into one singular cosmetic product. Generally within beauty advertisement the style of imagery is also slightly different with brighter lighting, generally cleaner and more polished makeup and hair, but also the crop into the area of product placement. For example lipstick advertisements will commonly portray a lip focused look that is cleanly executed, with a bright lighting to accentuate the colour pigment. Depending on the brands aesthetic this use of photography can either be done to create more glamorous adverts that border on the line of editorial imagery, or much simpler product focused photographs. An example of this difference can be found within the adverts of brands such as Yves Saint Laurent's advertisements which feature more ornate props and colour palettes. As opposed to a brand such as Maybelline which focus more towards a younger audience and therefore crop into the model and the product. Higher end brands strive to sell a lifestyle along with their product, whereas drugstore select one element designed to sell the item. All these factors eventually come down to the companies target market. The higher end the brand, the higher the cost and more extravagant the advert.

Yves Saint Laurent - High End Advertisement
http://www.luxuryhighheel.com

High Street 'vs' High End

Maybelline - High Street Advertisement
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In an effort to better understand the difference between the target market of a cosmetic advertisement and therefore the images construction a side by side analysis provides much needed visual information. Both of these images feature a staple product within beauty makeup, the red lipstick, however each advert tells a completely different story within its imagery and therefore visually targets contrasting demographics. Within these two images there are a small number of similarities including the obvious use of a red lip, models facial expression and colour scheme. The red lip is an obvious similarity between the two advertisements as it is required for the visual representation of the product, furthermore without the appearance of a matching makeup to that of the product then the advert would render itself counter productive. Secondly is that of the mirrored facial expression, within beauty imagery the use of a slightly opened mouth increased the area of lip therefore by creating this expression more attention is drawn to the mouth, thus making the product prominent to the surrounding imagery. The fact that many lipstick advertisements feature this expression is purely coincidental as it is a common pose within beauty photography. However there is a deeper aspect to this posing, by creating this facial expression the models effectively push the product to the foreground of the image and create a more sexualised pose in the process. This technique comes back in many levels to the Laura Mulvey 'male gaze' theory as the focus on the red lips carries a heavy degree of sexual connotation. The direct result of this connection constructs an appeal for men towards the red lip but also evokes a desire within women to adopt a similar sense of allure. Using the symbolism of the classic red lip to therefore make them feel more beautiful and desired. This ideology is enhanced further by the feature of the rose which supplies another visual metaphor to connect the symbolism of the red lip to that of romance. Roses being a flower traditionally given as a symbol of passion and iconographical image of love.  

Despite these similarities on a theoretical scale, the more advanced differences from a in depth visual representation truly mark out the differences between each adverts demographic target. The first major signifier in the difference between high street and high end advertisement is that of the crop of the image. Traditionally lower market advertisements crop heavily into the face, making the makeup being sold the key focal point of the image. In addition to this the remaining background is often filled by a singular colour block that acts as an enhancer for the product that is being featured on the model. The purpose of cropping in an image to this extent on a drugstore advertisement is to retain the focus on the product, within this bracket the main objective is that of the item and not creating an archetype around the model. Through visually establishing the model in this manner it makes the advertisement more approachable which is essential especially when targeting a young adult demographic. The lack of visible context for the model as a result of the close up imagery removes any form of cultural aspiration in regards to the lifestyles created within more higher end advertisement. When analysing this presentation of class/wealth within advertising, the Rouge Pur Couture campaign for Yves Saint Laurent supplies a strong example. Despite having a similar product type a wide divide is created through the crop of the image within which more of the model is exposed, her pose carries a specific message and the visibility of props create a lifestyle around the context of the advert. The wide crop of this image and therefore greater model exposure allows for more information to be translated through the use of posing. Despite its similarity with that of the drugstore advertisement in regards to the models facial expression, by moving the frame backwards from concentrating on the facial features it is apparent that the model is laid backwards. In addition to this the chest area is suggestively exposed creating a more risqué image context. Another similarity is within that of the use of props, within this image a red lounger is visible within the frame, what is interesting here is the similarity in the use of the red roses. Again like with that of the drugstore advert the appearance of roses reinforces this concept of romance however through its appearance on a prop makes its message more subliminal. The connotations connected with this use of a luxurious sofa is immediately with the ideology of a wealthy lifestyle, therefore by purchasing this lipstick Yves Saint Laurent are also selling a slice of the lifestyle associated with the model. 

Another key difference between the two styles of advertisement is that of product placement. Commonly within lower market advertisement the products remains the key focal point of the image with a large product shot standing at the forefront of the advert. This is done to make the product easily identifiable to the buyer and also create a sense of importance, it is a similar technique to that seen within media product placement whereby the obvious placement of an item on a larger scale allows for it to be easily stored within the subconscious. This is also supplemented by a heavy use of text which retains mostly buzz words to create another form subconscious association with the brands product, for example "indulge" and "passion" are featured within this advert for a red lip. Verbal associations with the ads romantic theme. In addition to this is means that the buyer knows exactly what they are looking for as the product can be so effortlessly recognised visually.  This is a contrast to the methods used by higher end brands which instead emphasis the selling of their brand identity. These forms of advertisement feature significantly less text often only presenting the company name/logo and product title, the text is almost always placed in a smaller font at the lower half of the image. What is interesting about this technique is the fact that for highly established brands it works effortlessly as the quality of their product is already established through the presentation of the model and reputation alone. Automatically the consumer has a greater trust for the product. Within these ads the presentation of the item itself is featured but much like the use of the text it is done so through a smaller placement at the bottom of the image. The purpose here is for the product to supplement the message of the photograph and make the product itself recognisable to the public, it is significantly more subtle in comparison to the energy of a drugstore advert.