Visual Rhetoric- Part III

Recently, I have been looking into the results of the “Tips From A Former Smoker” ads.  My theory is, if the visual rhetoric used in the ads is effective and resonates with the audience, then the results should be a large number of people that have quit smoking.  To finish up my research I need to analyze the smoking facts that the campaign presents to its audience, the visual rhetoric in the images, and the connection (if any) they form with the audience.  In this blog I’ll focus on mostly on the results of the campaign.

According to their website, the Center for Disease Control’s campaign has influenced 1.6 million smokers to attempt quitting in its first year (Campaign).  I would say that’s pretty amazing results even if all of those people didn’t successfully quit long-term.  They also say that over 100,000 smokers successfully quit after 2012 (Campaign).  Keep in mind that these results are from the first year alone, so imagine how large that number is after three years!  They clearly persuaded a lot of people to consider quitting, so I would say that the visual rhetoric and connection they formed with their audience was successful.

I’ve recently found that there was a study done on the results of the Tips campaign that was published in the Lancet Medical Journal.  This is what the CDC references on their website when talking about the people that the campaign has influenced to quit smoking.  I think it’s pretty cool a medical journal has researched the results of these ads.  I hope to find the journal soon to see what other statistics they found that I could add to my research!

"Campaign Overview." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 Sept. 2015. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.

Visual Rhetoric- Part II

After reviewing a few of my fellow classmates blog’s I have decided to expand my current research.  My next step in researching the CDC’s “Tips From A Former Smoker” campaign was to research how successful it was.  How many people were inspired to quit due to seeing the campaign and the images used in it?

Ne’Dra Bell wrote a blog about Verizon and how social proof can help to build credibility.  This inspired me to want to look into how the research and data the CDC have provided to their audience on the affects of smoking have influenced the success or failure of their campaign.

Hannah Faircloth is researching how rhetoric affects the way the audience views a business.  One point she made was that creating a connection through rhetoric in advertisements/social media makes the audience more likely to remember your name when it comes time for them to buy a product or service.

I would like to incorporate both points that Ne’Dra and Hannah made into my research.  They will both help me see how effective the visual rhetoric used in the “Tips From A Former Smoker” campaign were or were not.

Visual Rhetoric

Ever find yourself aimlessly scrolling through your Facebook feed looking for anything interesting, when suddenly a striking image of a hot model or an adorably cute puppy advertisement catches your eye?  Were you driven to click on it?  Did it influence you to take action or change the way you felt about something?  If you answered yes, then you were effectively influenced by visual rhetoric.

 I am currently researching visual rhetoric and how it helps businesses with their marketing and advertising. When rhetoric was defined in 4^th century B.C. it was viewed simply as an act of persuasion (Trenholm).  As time has gone on, its definition has evolved from an act of persuasion to a perspective or lens through which we evaluate things (Trenholm).  This evolution of the definition has also prompted new concepts to form.  One of these concepts is visual rhetoric.  Visual rhetoric is a form of communication that uses images to create a meaning or construct an argument. 

My main focus is to analyze the “A Tip From A Former Smoker” ads that many of us have seen on television commercials and the occasional ad on our Facebook feed.  These ads have a strong message that really resonates with its audience and I want to know why and how they are so effective.  One reason they are so successful is because both the images and the written text in each ad work together to convey a similar message.  This is an example of resonance, which is “grounded on a strict interaction between the visual and verbal component of an ad (Grancea).”

         I am confident in all of the sources I have so far.  My primary source is a government run website, my secondary scholarly article has strong research and data, and my third, a communication studies book, is used in teaching the subject of communication at the college level. 

For my next round of research on this subject, I would like to find data on what kind of results this advertising campaign has had.  How many people have quit as a result of seeing it?  This should give me an idea of how successful or unsuccessful the visual rhetoric used in the ads really are.

Trenholm, Sarah. Thinking through Communication: An Introduction to the Study of Human Communication. 6th ed. Pearson, 2010. Print.

GRANCEA, Ioana. "Visual Rhetoric And Framing Strategies In Advertising Word-Based Product Categories." Argumentum: Journal The Seminar Of Discursive Logic, Argumentation Theory & Rhetoric 12.1 (2014): 146-162. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

"Tips From A Former Smoker." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 Apr. 2015. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.

"The Case for Visual Rhetoric." The Case for Visual Rhetoric. 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.

Analyzing Social Media

Delivering effective messages is an important part of business communication, especially with the increased use of social media to communicate with customers.  Effective communication through social media can help companies build brand awareness and reach a larger customer base (Shwom 5).  It can also help them persuade new readers into becoming their customers.  How do they persuade their readers?  Through the use of rhetoric.  Rhetoric, according to Aristotle, is “observing, in any case, the available means of persuasion (Newbold).”  The ad below is for a store called Clothes Mentor.  When compared to an ad from their competitor, Plato’s Closet, I would argue that Clothes Mentor is more successful at persuading readers to shop at their store through effective use of written and visual rhetoric.

Before analyzing these ads, let’s discuss the two forms of rhetoric we are going to use.  The first type of rhetoric is visual rhetoric, which is just as important as written rhetoric when it comes to successful persuasion on social media.  Visual rhetoric is a form of communication that uses images to create meaning or construct an argument.  When analyzing visual rhetoric we evaluate how the images stand on their own and how they work together with the written text.  The second type is written rhetoric, which is effective persuasion through the use of speaking and writing.  Both forms of rhetoric try to persuade readers through logic (logos), emotion (pathos), or credibility (ethos).  

               

To begin our analysis, let’s first look at the woman in the Clothes Mentor ad.  Visually,  she is dressed with higher end clothing, looks stylish, and has bold fall colors that create a sophisticated ethos.  The bold colors, warm-weather clothing, and backdrop in the photo invoke a pathos of fall.  These characteristics of the photo work together to create a pathos, or emotional appeal, in the customer to start shopping for fall, which is right around the corner.  The model’s clothes are stylish which also creates a pathos in the reader to visit the store and find a similar outfit.  The written message on the ad mimics the same rhetorical elements portrayed in the photo.  The first sentence mentions “brand-name clothing, shoes, and accessories” the same sophisticated ethos that was noted in the photo.  Also, they advertise clothing for every season, which is one element they are also communicating through their photo.

In comparison, Plato’s Closet does a good job at showing how diverse their client base is, but does not succeed at creating a pathos that makes readers want to shop there.  The models in the ad are mostly dressed in gym clothes, which creates a more laid back and juvenile ethos.  Additionally, the combination of pictures, cropping, color shading, and lines make the photo visually muddled.  The ad appeals more to a younger college demographic, which is also verbally advertised in their written advertisement, “for teens and twenty-somethings”.  One element of their written ad that I think turns off potential customers is the fact that they advertise “gently used clothes and accessories.”  This gives a pathos of lower quality clothing that won’t appeal to customers.

When written rhetoric is used in combination with a similar visual rhetoric, it results in strong and effective persuasion.  This is how Clothes Mentor does a better job at persuading readers to shop with versus Plato’s Closet.  Ultimately, the visual rhetoric created with their photo effectively mimicked the rhetoric created in their written ad.  

Works Cited

Shwom, Barbara Lynne, and Lisa Gueldenzoph Snyder. Business Communication: Polishing Your Professional Presence. Second ed. Print.

Cisnero, Kristina. "10 Benefits of Social Media for Business." Hootsuite Social Media Management. 25 July 2014. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

Newbold, Curtis. "What Is Rhetoric." The Visual Communication Guy. 2013. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.