Hooking You In
Module 1, Activity 8.5 - Advertising Techniques
Teacher Page
(student page for this lesson)

Introduction:

Advertising is key to magazine production. Chances are that a significant percentage of every magazine's pages are made of ads targeting a particular audience. In this lesson, students will learn the different advertising techniques and have a chance to write their own advertisement.

Resources:

- access to computers
- evaluation form (.doc) or (.rtf)
- example ad analysis (.doc) or (.rtf)
- timed quiz

Activities:

Task One - Trying to hook you

When they have read the information on advertising techniques, they can test their knowledge with this timed quiz!

Task Two - Talk the Talk
Along with a variety of advertising techniques, there are also a number of principles for writing effective advertising copy.

Have students create a short reference page, using the links provided on the student version of this page. They should include key concepts such as: tips for writing effective copy, the components of an advertisement, and information on use of color

Students often have difficulty determining what information is important. As they are beginning to create their reference sheet, you might want to review skimming and scanning. Help students focus by providing key concepts such as the ones listed above.

Task Three - Walk the Walk
With the information students have on advertising techniques, and writing advertising copy, they will now create their own advertisement using a word processor like Microsoft Word.

Students will need to complete the steps listed on the student version of this page.

If they are having trouble getting started with the ad techniques or wording, an example might be helpful. You may want to look at some of the ads for Cold-fX that target different audiences using different techniques.

You will be able to help students see:
1. that more than one ad technique may be used in an ad.
2. use of colour, font, and balance can create an appealing ad.

Try to use two ads that are for specifically different audiences such as the ad from Hockey Now and the ad from the ATA magazine. Then give students a short analysis of each ad.

There should be specific evaluation for Task Three. An important part of the evaluation process will be the students' write-ups. Much of their understanding and your evaluation can come from their justifications for the choices that they have made.

Reinforcing concepts: If it seems like students are struggling with the creation of good ads, have them review the criteria for good ads they created through their handouts.