THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADVERTISING

William Bernbach   – “Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art”                

As establish in the previous blog-post, the nature of advertisement changed forever as a result of “mass-production”, it was now easier than then ever for companies to advertise their products. Whilst creating obvious advantages this also created a significant barrier to companies trying to sell their products to consumers, a rise in competition due to this increased practicality and availability.

As people now had a much greater market in terms of available products, it was now more important then ever for companies to ensure that consumers were most likely to be drawn into and attracted to that particular companies product alone. For example, if a consumer has a choice of 10 available cigarette brands, than they will be bound to go for the one which appeals to them the most.

From the 1920s onward, companies began to tap into consumer psychology, realizing the link between how presentation of an advertisement may effect the connections/associations the viewer has with such a product. As psychology slowly began to grow in influence and the impact it had on the consumer, this was met with criticism from various writers and philosophers at the time, seeing the artistic methods used by companies as exploitative – a form of opportunism playing on sub-conscious urges, thus manipulating consumers into purchasing products. On the other hand many avant-garde artists were prepare to dismiss any moral restrictions, in celebration of the opportunity this allowed artists for creative expression.

GROWING LINK BETWEEN ART AND ADVERTISING

Modern advertising began to emerge and develop soon after the First World War. In the U.S. Various advertising groups and agencies can be largely credited for this growth, groups such as N. W. Ayer, J. Walter Thompson and McCann Erikson, who formed part of the ‘American Association of Advertising Agencies’.

Additionally 1920 led to the creation of the Art Directors’ Club, which helped to create the bridge between art and the commercial work, creating an organisation whereby artists could be commissioned to produce work for these newly developed advertising agencies – an incentive for better and more insightful artistic work to be produced for advertising purposes . Also in Germany, designers and photographers were brought together through the establishment of the Deutscher Gebrauchgraphiker, another example of the link between art and design.

Specialized magazines encouraged the use of photography and colourful graphic design, to create more realistic and visually exciting formats of work – moving away from less accurate and tedious methods of design and artistic presentation, such as sketching and line-drawings.

RISING INFLUENCE OF PHOTOGRAPHY 

By the mid 1920s, advertising found a new and powerful way which photography could have an influence on advertising – using photography to show with clarity, the usefulness, comfort , luxury, (along with other benefits) of a particular product. A growing number of photographers including Edward Steichen and Andre Vigneau, began to specialize in ‘publicity photographs’. Steichen for example, was commissioned to photograph Camel cigarettes, in which he experimented with chiaroscuro lighting to create dark, gripping and enticing images of cigarettes, showing them in a charming and exciting way.

Although the health effects of smoking were perhaps less known or considered in 1920s, it is still interesting to consider that photography could be used to promote a product such as cigarettes, in such an attractive manner. From a modern perspective at least, it is easy to question the morality of such forms of advertising – the use of lighting and other photographic techniques to manipulate a ‘realistic’ interpretation of a product which is extremely unhealthy and highly addictive (to the extent that it is banned as a form of advertising in the UK nowadays).

However, soon many photographers working in the advertising industry soon sought to distance themselves from the restrictive and controlling task of ‘promotional advertising’, and instead venture into more experimental, avart-garde work. Many previous publicity photographers began to concentrate on creating a mood associated with an object, rather than just objectively recording the object alone. In order to achieve this, photographers started to follow the ideology and principles of the ‘Bauhaus Art School’ and the surrealists, evoking techniques such as tilted camera angles, lining up rows of objects, photograms, superimposition, solarization altering images and X-Ray techniques.

As a result of this change in attitudes – photographers began to diverge into advertising for things other than basic consumer products, such as manufacturer brochures and seasonal catalogs of big department stores, expensive jewelry and designer products. Subsequently the type of work photographers were required to do altered dramatically. At first, photographers had a degree of control over their equipment and photo-shoots,  free to delve into different and varied means. However, soon a much greater degree of control was imposed on photographers concerning what they can and could not do, as photographic agents, copy-writers and editors became increasingly involved in the production of images, commissioning and the organisation of photo-sessions.

 

During the Second World War, advertising  was inspired mainly by the exploration of patriotic themes. Whilst going about the selling of ordinary products, they sought to incorporate slogans, posters and news articles in support of the Government and War, some for financial gain other simply due to feelings of patriotism and loyalty for their country. During this period, Photography was used by all nations as a means of reassuring civilians, boosting the morale of soldiers, and preserving national security. Increased censorship on photo-journalist was introduced to ensure that the images they created did not undermine and disrupt the war effort, which the Government wanted to convey to the general public as successful.

In the post-war years, U.S. industry expanded at a rapid rate, whilst Europe also experienced a period of relative return to growth and prosperity. During this period, as commercial industries sought to recover, and so quickly needed to find a way of encouraging people to resume spending and consuming after a drop in such activities due to the disruption of war. To achieve this, companies recognized the need for new and refreshing advertising campaigns and slogans, to encourage and motivate consumers to buy in a period of uncertainty, Luckily, this was made easier by improvements in printing techniques and the improved quality of colour film – greatly increasing the attractiveness of images.

The commercial opportunities for professional photographers to sell their images also enhanced dramatically during this period, with the rise of colour photographic magazines such as, Time and Life, giving photography as a visual art more status. The powerful documentary photographs which were produced during the periods of the Great Depression and later the war were very powerful and effective,  to the extent that text soon began to be compromised and reduced to meet the needs of photographs.

One of the most prominent ways in which photography influenced the masses was through the various ‘general interest’ photo-journalist magazines such as Time, Life and Weekly Illustrated which looking at ordinary lives and changing trends expressed largely through photographs, in the process reporting on, changing and influences cultural trends and patterns in consumerism, television, fashion etc. As a result many companies sough to associate themselves which these extremely popular magazines through selecting advertising slots and paying for special commissions for editors to include the companies own ‘promotional images’. This even caught on to the point that  large companies created their own general interest magazines, targeted at selling their specific products.

Now photography was not just influential in advertising but equally, it played a substantial part in reflecting and challenging commercial trends. It grew in commercial value and large corporations started to respect the powerful and influential nature of photographs; whereby the photographer has a greater degree of freedom to express and explore creative ideas.