MEDI 255: Research on Pantene

Whilst doing research on Pantene to perfect my images I came across this interesting article. In America in 2010 the company launched a campaign to find the first reality TV 'hair' star. I found it staggering that the celebrity they pulled on in this was a rock star. Rock as genre shares a lot of the same style and fan base that metal does. Although they were asking for women to be the star the prize was to go to a rock concert and other privileges. I do know rock is much more mainstream than metal but it was an interesting link.

I also found an extremely funny blog post about supposed research conducted by the company saying that women who use Pantene experienced "more joy" than others. 

Pantene are actually very clever in their advertising they use either very original ideas such as their 'The Haircare Collection' campaign.

The very unique approach to the media norm, an attractive model selling you the 'sex appeal' of the product, is what makes this advert work so well.  It is instantly attention grabbing and makes the consumer engage with the advert. This kind of ad leaves a lasting imprint in the consumers mind increasing the chances they will buy the product.

They have also used more traditional method in their ads such as going for just 'sex appeal' and the much less overt 'girl next door pretty' factor to sell their products.

 These two adverts play on completely different elements of a female consumers psyche. When products for women overtly use sex appeal they are marketed at women via men. Men play a part in choices that a female consumer makes, if a product is perceived to please males she will buy it to achieve this effect, also some adverts that garner male attention may result in the male actually suggesting the product or the woman may observe the males attention to the advert and then link the product with male attention. The 'shine' advert is much more focused on how a woman views herself. The focus is much more on the face, hair and the smile. The message is clear, be pretty and happy like this woman by using the product. It is so simple yet staggeringly effective!

The normal layout of a hair advert in print:

There is normally a logo in the top right corner. The model is attractive with shiny hair. the actual bottles of the products are small and to the right but are still a focus point. There is normally a clever slogan to further add to the product image and appeal.