GROUP OF ADVERTS

The group of advertisements I have identified on television is the sensodyne toothpaste and Aqua fresh. They are both toothpastes which are advertised mostly on television and they differ in the way they are both aired.
Aqua fresh toothpaste is highlighted as the only toothpaste that a family will need and they endorse in a way that all people with families should use Aqua fresh toothpaste. Sensodyne is toothpaste for sensitive teeth and it is dentist recommended and it is approved by the Kenya Dental Association.
Both advertisements run every day on television and every company is trying hard to win consumers interest in terms of their product consumption. As much as it is healthy for people to brush their teeth with toothpaste, the way these products are advertised brings controversy in the society. People have different test and preference when it comes to sensitive products like toothpaste.
Aqua fresh advertisement uses a family to endorse its product. The message accompanied by this product is; “what every family needs.” They portray their product to be the best for every family and they encourage parents to buy Aqua fresh toothpaste for r their families.
Sensodyne toothpaste is for sensitive teeth and dentist recommended. Experts who are doctors are used in endorsing sensodyne toothpaste. The message that makes people think it’s the best toothpaste is where they say that it is recommended by the Kenya Dental Association. Many people are persuaded to change their toothpaste to sensodyne. They use charts to demonstrate on how sensodyne treats tooth decay and how it lowers the degree of tooth sensitivity.
They have decided on the group to advertise their products where we have family members and doctors. They both encourage consumers to make the decision to buy their products.
Aqua fresh has learned about the average family and what their needs and wants are. They have found out what really people want out of toothpaste so that their product is the best that it can be. They have created a survey and what to give to families.
The research has shown that even sensodyne toothpaste is recommended by dentist, the price is too high and not everyone can afford it. Many people go for cheaper products.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. Why not all the toothpaste brands not use the same price?
2. How does shelf replacement make a difference on sales?
3. How can some make their prices cheaper?

SOURCE
Receivers are strongly influenced when they perceive that the speaker possesses power, status or dominance. Some advertising agencies use celebrities, professionals in endorsing their products.
Source credibility is important in persuasion. A source who is perceived to possess high levels of expertise by receivers is described as trained, experienced, skillful, informed, authoritative, able and intelligent. The fact that experts persuade is obvious.
Producers expect consumers to buy their products when they advertise them on advertising channels but source credibility is highly required to convince people that their product is the best. For an effective persuasion, the source must convince the consumers to buy their products.
Being an expert does not guarantee that the speaker will be successful. Facts and evidence is required.
Sensodyne toothpaste uses experts who are doctors in endorsing its products. People tend to believe more in doctors than just using an ordinary person especially when it comes to people’s health. What makes persuasion more effective is that, sensodyne toothpaste has been approved by the Kenya Dental Association. AUDIENCE Audiences are the people who are exposed to the message or products in advertisements. Advertisements are designed to make a product look appealing and to make it more sellable to a mass audience. These toothpastes advertisements are designed to show how effectively the toothpaste cleans teeth. The audience is shown it’s effectively where in Aqua fresh, we are able to see the family happy and people smiling to show off their teeth as well as shots of the toothpaste product itself. The use of children in the advertisement makes children the audience to be more persuaded and to encourage their parents to buy that kind of toothpaste they saw on television because they want to be like the child on the advertisement. Members in this age group often do not even know what a commercial is, when it begins and when it ends. They are extremely susceptible to celebrity endorsements by their real or cartoon idols. MESSAGE AND MESSAGE APPEAL
Message is the information accompanied on the product of advertisement. Being consistent in advertisement message and style are helpful in producing the advertising that you will be running with them. You are able to attract the number of customers needed to be successful in business. Promoting benefit is the emotional satisfaction your product or service it provides.
The message accompanied on sensodyne toothpaste saying its toothpaste for sensitive teeth and dentist recommend it world wide, creates an appealing feeling to the audience. People have a feeling that a problem will be cured when they switch to these toothpaste that doctors endorse.
Tooth sensitivity is caused because dentin is exposed. It’s got all these holes in it and that is why nerve fibers lie. Sensodyne goes into those little holes to get to the root of tooth sensitivity. Sensodyne blocks the feeling of sensitivity around the nerve, with regular brushing, builds increasing protection against tooth sensitivity.
The effectiveness of sensodyne depends on how you use it and how long you use it. It should be used twice a day everyday to ensure maximum effectiveness against tooth sensitivity. You should start to notice the difference in as little as two weeks. Your dental professional may recommend that you use sensodyne as your regular everyday toothpaste because tooth sensitivity is frequently a recurring condition. These are the messages that always accompany the toothpaste product.
The message of appeals used is fear. High fear of appeal messages are effective in getting people to worry and become anxious about tooth decay and sensitivity. Lower levels of appeals are more effective in changing attitudes toward tooth brushing than in high levels of fear. CHANNEL AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS
Mass media can be used to persuade large groups or receivers. Although the mass media can be used to reach large group of audiences, it appears that little behavioral change occurs. The toothpaste use the television as a channel for its product advisement.
Television as a channel of advertisement operates differently compared to other channels on receivers where the channel effects are about getting the receivers attention. Younger children watch incredible amounts of television in the mornings and evenings while teenagers read little but listen to radio.
Reaching the audience appropriate to a persuader’s goal is often a major problem. Channel attributes or qualities are limited to certain types of channels. Emotions of warmth may be elicited, emotional expressions, the colors used and by the appropriate background music. Toothpaste requires a happy scenario where people laugh exposing their teeth indicating the effectiveness of the toothpaste.
Television may help in effective persuasion where people get aware of what causes tooth decay and tooth sensitivity and how to prevent further damage. Many people may try these products and if they succeed, they will continue using them and some will even tell their friends on how effective the product is. Medical practitioners will have to collect data and see how many people liked their products and how effective it was to them. FEEDBACK AVENUES
The producers need feedback from the consumers to see if their persuasion was successful or not. They have to collect data and see if their products were really bought. Feedback avenue is important because it encourages the producers to know if they are making profit or not, and if there is products have been bought or not.
For any campaign, there must be feedback to determine if it was successful or not.
Positive feedback from the audiences indicates a successful persuasion among the people and if people continue buying the products.
Feedback provides information that denotes the success or failure of policies, objectives, and gives the audiences a chance to give out their views concerning the product. Producers may gather the response they get after feedback and decide to change or continue with endorsing their products.
Feedback may also be gathered from the hospital dental section to see if the number of patients with teeth complains had reduced and also to encourage the hospital to create awareness among the people on measures of preventing tooth decay and sensitivity.

A CRITIQUE ON THE GROUP ADVERT
Tooth sensitivity can be caused by gum recession, loss of enamel, damage to teeth and gums. Sensitive teeth can hurt as a reaction to cold foods or beverages, hot foods or beverages, sweet or sour (acidic) foods, plague and bacteria, chemical stimulus or dry mouth. These are the causes of tooth sensitivity and if a person does not brush his or her teeth frequently, will experience teeth decay. The advisements do not inform its audiences these causes but compete in informing the audiences that their products are the best.
They should inform people what they should eat and how to prevent tooth decay and sensitivity. Consumers do not care what people especially the average families go through just than telling them Aqua fresh or sensodyne is best for them. What if the damage can’t be repaired?
Frequent visits to dental doctors, drinking a lot of water and milk, brushing our teeth after every meal can help us prevent tooth decay not by using sensodyne or Aqua fresh. We ourselves are our own healers when it comes to our health. We must be aware of what we eat and how we take care of our teeth.
The theory of cognitive dissonance will help in explaining why the advert is effective. We experience dissonance every day, but dissonance feel can vary tremendously in magnitude. Very high levels make us feel distraught, guilty, aroused, upset, threatened and so on. The magnitude by which we experience dissonance is related to the importance of the elements involved, the intensity with which attitudes are held toward elements, and the number of elements. People should be made to change their attitudes towards tooth brushing after every meal. Some believe it’s a waste of time and others believe once they brush their teeth in the morning, its over till the following day. It’s unhygienic and not health. The cognitive dissonance theory will be effective in helping people take care of their teeth frequently.

REFERENCE LIST
Cody. Bettinghaus (1994), persuasive communication. Fifth edition
Benoit L.W (2005) dental journal. oxford university press, vol 55; no 1
Retrieved April 25th 2011, from http://www.sensodynetoothpaste.com