Dettol is the name of a line of both liquid and solid antiseptic cleaning products in the United Kingdom. Advertisers created the above graphic advertisement to entice members of society to buy their antiseptic products. The cleaning products industry is extremely competitive with common household names, such as Lysol and Purell, there is tough competition. Every corporation wants to maximize their visibility to increase sales. There is no better way to achieve this end goal than to use clever and intriguing ads. The advertisement for Dettol (as seen above) is a narrative for a young woman riding a form of public transportation, in particular a bus. The woman appears clean with a stark white shirt on and pristine make-up on her face.
Advertising is intended to persuade an audience to purchase a product, select an item, or take a certain action. The more creative the ad is, the better chance of being noticed by a larger population and persuading the audience to carry-out the desired action. Advertisers use many different methods to ensure their ads will be the most eye-catching. The use of semiotic techniques is one thing than can increase viewership.
The ideas behind semiotics are connotations, myths, and narratives. Society is deluged by signs expressing images, narratives, and myths all influencing peoples’ behaviors by ‘codes’ (Codes, 2005). These codes as expressed on the semiotics website are: “maps of meaning and systems of ideas that people use to interpret their own and others’ behavior,” (Codes, 2005) . Codes imply views about how the social world is or should be. The above advertisement plays on this idea of codes in combination with various semiotic systems.
Codes direct people to interpret what they see as the social norms of society. People from other cultures may see advertisements and expect such norms to be present in society in that culture. While people from other cultures may not fall for the idea that buses provide hands to hold for support during trips, they may grasp the idea of the transmission of germs and not knowing whose hands have touched the bars that you are touching.
When discussing semiotics and the general idea of signs, there are two main aspects involved: the signifier and the signified. The signifier in this advertisement is the public bus with the hands hanging from the hand rails. The signified is the feeling of filth and grime. The transmission of germs is what may come to mind. Especially once the words are read at the bottom, “Whose hands are you holding?” it becomes more apparent what the signified message is. This message at the bottom is simple which is possibly best for the ad. It does not need to say much because the visual ad itself is so powerful.
This advertisement does a good job playing up the idea of germs and the transfer of bacteria. The existence of germs and bacteria is something that people can not avoid or ignore. So in order to deal with this issue, Dettol hand-sanitizer is available to save the day!
This piece is well executed and has achieved to an extent what Dettol wanted. Dettol advertisers attracted people to view the sign, hence increasing visibility and name recognition of the brand and product. The advertisement was released in Australia in 2008. The following year in 2009 the Dettol bacterial spray ad was named the most effective ad of 2009 in the United Kingdom (Dettol, 2011). This goes to show the importance of quality, eye-catching advertisements. According to the Dettol website they are ranked as the 48th most trusted brand in India by the Brand Trust Report of 2011 (Dettol, 2009). Perhaps more well executed graphic design ads will bump Dettol up on the ranking chart in the following years.
References:
“Codes.” The University of Vermont. 18 Apr. 2005. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/codes.html>.
“Dettol – Cleaning Products & Disinfectant Products.” DETTOL® Cleaning Products & Disinfectant Products | Mission For Health. Reckitt Benckiser, 1 Mar. 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://www.dettol.co.uk/>.
“Dettol Cleans up as Most Effective Ad of 2009.” TNS Global Market Research | Market Research & Business Analysis Specialists. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://www.tnsglobal.com/news/news-D0D3C95D232F4F64958B193E366311C2.aspx>.
emilystank 