Nicholaus1’s Weblog

As the previous post showed the importance of visual rhetoric in the Alltel ads, there are other facets which also play key roles in creating these ads. Generally, these facets are related to how the audience might respond to an ad. If an ad can get the audience to relate to the ad on any level, which includes music, catch phrases, or even humor, the audience is that much more likely to remember the ad and consequently purchase whatever it is you’re selling.

The Alltel ads incorporate many different things to capture the audience’s attention. They establish a subculture in their ads. For example, in the ad when they take Chad into the van, Chad brings up the game Dungeons and Dragons. Another ad is set in a food court.

Music is another way to attract the audience. The song that plays is “Come and Get Your Love,” which has a soothing sound and makes you feel like if you join this company, you’re be a part of something. The phrases that are said in the Alltel ads are also effective. The tone is the most important thing in these messages, because the tone creates sincerity. When the phrase is read, “America’s largest network puts you first with My Circle and Anytime Plan Changes,” and, “no matter how big or small, now there’s a circle that’s right for everyone” (Alltel Communications, LLC) the audience feels as if these people are genuine and sincere in there message.

Another method that is used to connect the audience is tropes, and in these specific commercials one of the tropes that is used is humor. The subtle humor that is used is also an effective way to engage the viewers of the ad. In looking at an Alltel commercial, the ad deliberately makes fun of the other brands, mostly by portraying the other company’s representatives as losers.

These aspects of the ad are creative methods in relating to the audience. Creativity of course, is essential in having effective ads, as Charles Marsh talks about in his article, Aristotelian Causal Analysis and Creativity in Copywriting, when he states that “ theorists and practioners alike maintain that creative advertising can bring competitive advantage to a product” (Marsh.)

Though there are many techniques in getting your audience engaged in your commercials and ads, it is still going to be to each person to somehow relate. I think Ogilvy described it best when he said, “I once heard Marvin Bower define marketing as objectivity. I cannot beat that.” (Ogivly)

Visual aspects of an ad are not only critical in grabbing the audience’s attention, but in keeping the audience engaged throughout the ad. These visual aspects include anything from colors, fonts, symbols, and the clarity of any people that are in the ad. Visual rhetoric, which is a form of communication that uses these images to create meaning, is often used to send the audience the underlining message of the ad without explicitly writing it out (What is Visual Rhetoric?.) In the My Circle ads by Alltel, visual rhetoric is used in several ways to illustrate some of the key messages that the ad is trying to convey.

In the Alltel My Circle ads, there are certain visual trends embodied in each of the ads. Four of Alltel’s competitors’ employees are depicted wearing shirts of the company they represent as shown in the ad below. The colors play an important role in the ads. First, each character from the different wireless company is wearing the color shirt that represents their company. For example, the Verizon guy is wearing red and the T-mobile guy is wearing pink. The guys wearing the colored polo’s are typical nerds, and are representing their companies, whereas Chad, the Alltel spokesman is well dressed but still wearing his brand color, blue. Another similarity between all the My Circle ads is that an Alltel store is usually visible. Either the characters are in the store, or Chad, the Alltel worker is just leaving. Showing the store creates familiarity of brand logos as well as what the stores look like so the audience can associate themselves with it.

The visual rhetoric also presents the idea of superiority. The characters’ style and dress shows them as inferior to Alltel. Superiority is also shown in the My Circle wizard ads. Generally, wizards are considered to be magical and in some stories very wise. Though the wizard in the ad is awoken by the competitors and is supposed to be used for their benefit, even he is impressed by the My Circle deal.

Visual rhetoric also helps create a certain atmosphere. The setting of these ads is generally in everyday places. A lot of the ads are taken place in an Alltel store. Other places that are used are parking lots and one ad even uses a mall food court. The atmosphere is important because using everyday places like these shows that the product is for everyone, which includes the entire audience. If an ad can make someone see themselves in that place, then that someone is more likely to purchase the product or in this care the wireless service.

Even though the audience probably won’t break down and analyze the colors of the ad, or think about what the wizard represents, their brain will automatically make the connection for them. The stronger the connection, the more effective the visual rhetoric worked.

Does the ad work?

Through the My Circle commercials, Alltel has been able to establish a new identity for itself while targeting its main audience—cell phone users who have plans that require customers to subscribe to the same company’s service to receive or make free calls. Alltel’s My Circle commercials have been regarded as newer, more effective advertisements than those of major competitors like Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Cingular who use popular celebrities to advertise their services (which has become a common cliché in the advertising industry). The My Circle commercials are also good parodies and don’t bring about a negative attitude towards the major competitors of the company.

The My Circle commercials usually force people to giggle because of the nerds’ failing attempts to harass, or rather threaten, Alltel’s spokesman Chad. The nerds have very conventional yet contemporary ideas when trying to threaten Chad. In the “Van Ad,” for example, the nerds intimidate Chad by forcing him to “get in the van” and by stressing that “My Circle’s gotta go” because the nerds’ companies are losing customers that what want to desperately join Alltel for its My Circle plan (Youtube, “Alltel Van Ad”). The nerds’ schemes bring a comical effect to the commercials and parody the other major companies that provide cellular services without purposely describing their services as being limited and restricted.

One way to evaluate the effectiveness of the series of advertisements is by analyzing feedback from the audience in the comments section for the My Circle advertisements on Youtube. The feedback seems to show that the ads are very effective in the comical sense. Many viewers on Youtube have called the Alltel My Circle advertisements funny, and some, like Darkscreamer785, say “Alltel has some of the best commercials!” (Youtube, “Alltel Wizard Part 1”).

Alltel’s customer count has been growing rapidly since March 31, 2006. One of the major reasons for the company’s increasing success has been its effective commercials and the launch of the My Circle campaign. A Yahoo Business Report claims that “the total number of customers served by Alltel increased by more than 1.2 million customers, or 11 percent, during the twelve month period ended March 31, 2007” (Yahoo! Finance, “Summary of ALLTEL Corp.). Currently, the marketplace for cell phone services has been extremely competitive, and Alltel’s success for the remainder of this year will be calculated based on the company’s capability to attract new customers through efficient advertising like the My Circle campaign.

Company Rhetoric

Alltel has established a reputable name for itself while discretely calling out its main competitors (Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Cingular) through a series of humorous television commercials promoting their most recent “My Circle” campaign. The commercials tend to be comical and parody Alltel’s competitors without instilling a negative attitude about their competitors, which has always been the company’s main goal when advertising their services. The advertisements share numerous similarities that are consistent throughout all the My Circle commercials aired on television. Chad, Alltel’s friendly, easy-going representative is featured against the competitors’ representatives who are portrayed as stereotypical nerds. At the end of each My Circle commercial, the song “Come And Get Your Love” is played. Also, Alltel’s representative asserts that everyone, no matter what service they have, can be part of the My Circle plan.

Alltel began a series of advertisements involving Chad, who plays the role of Alltel’s spokesman, informing trapped cell phone users (from Alltel’s competitors) who are unable to call others outside their network about the My Circle plan, which allows a customer to call any five, ten, or twenty people for free regardless of what network they carry. In all of the My Circle commercials, the parodied competitors from Verizon, T-Mobile, Cingular, and Sprint, are referred to as “Sales Guys” who attempt to threaten Chad because they are unsatisfied by the unpopularity of their companies’ services. The competitors’ representatives are portrayed as stereotypical nerds while Chad is featured as a good-looking, friendly person. The nerds are constantly plotting against Chad in all of the commercials, thus creating a negative attitude towards the companies they represent. In turn, viewers assume that only “good” people are customers of Alltel and that the bad companies (Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Cingular) are only attempting to trap their customers by giving them a minimal amount of people to call—making their unlimited minutes limited. By representing their own company through a more amiable character like Chad, in contrast with the ill-minded nerds of their competitors, Alltel is able to emit a positive atmosphere about its company in the viewers’ minds.

The theme music for each of the My Circle commercials is “Come and Get Your Love.” By using this music in all of the commercials, Alltel is able to create a familiarity with its target audience. All the viewers are able to familiarize themselves with the music which essentially advertises Alltel’s excellent customer service and appreciation. Alltel has also established a very welcoming attitude towards its customers through its My Circle advertisements, saying “America’s largest network puts you first with My Circle and Anytime Plan Changes,” and, “no matter how big or small, now there’s a circle that’s right for everyone” (Alltel Communications, LLC.). By making the customer feel like he or she is a part of the largest network in America, and by offering flexibility through the My Circle plan, Alltel is able to generate a welcoming and involved attitude towards its customers. The music “Come and Get Your Love” further adds to the viewer’s feeling that Alltel is the service that is right for them.

How would it feel to know that you are included in the My Circle plan despite having some other service? That is exactly what Alltel is trying to say through its commercials—everyone, even nerds and good looking people, can be friends. In the Alltel “Van Ad” Chad says that with My Circle “you can choose the people you want to call for free no matter what network they’re on,” and that “now [Chad and the nerds] can all be friends” (Youtube, “Alltel Van Ad”). By stressing that the My Circle plan gives you the flexibility of being able to call whomever you want to without having to worry about what network they have, Alltel makes the viewers and their customers feel more welcome to their network and also illustrates that the My Circle plan circles around you and no one else.