Pure Nautica Fragrance Advertisement

Pure Nautica Fragrance Advertisement

Perfume advertisers employ means other than the sense of smell alone (which could include sexually suggestive images) to grasp the attention of the customers- the ultimate goal being to gain prominence overthe competing brands. This was the case, for instance, with VF Corporation, whose advertisement of Pure Nautica focused on sexual orientation to market the perfume. The advertisement premiered in the winter of 2010, where it was published in the monthly menswear fashion and industry magazine, MMSCENE. Male fragrance advertisers have resorted to magazines and periodicals due to the growing market reputation of increased readership of these publications by men middle-aged men; these publications have fashion trends that most men see as the ideal depictions of a modern man. Therefore, this advert targets the young men of between eighteen to forty-five years, all who are energetic and sexually active and desire esteemed fragrances to supplement their outward appearance. The Pure Nautica advertisement conveys the message that modern men are strong, confident and spirited when they make their own decisions concerning their body- achieving this by the use of emotional appeals to influence energetic and sexually active male audience who values these qualities.g.

Deconstruction

The full-page advert featured a portrait of a muscular manpictured in black and white picture leaning on a tight rope, with the words Pure Nautica written in front of the model’s chest. The words are written in uppercase, ‘PURE’ written in white, and ‘NAUTICA’ written in navy blue. Below them is a subtitle that reads ‘Strength and Spirit.’ Next to him was a proportionally smaller perfume bottle with the label Pure Nautica, overlying the words, ‘The new perfume for men.’

Analysis

The choice to set the advert on a full page, unscathed with other articles or adverts, gives it a sense of visual dominance to the readers of MMSCENE.Typical of many other perfume adverts, Pure Nautica strongly relied on visuals (pictorial elements alone) with just a few written texts accompanying the perfume name. The use of pictures with a clear background and without a lot of accompanying textual descriptions engages the consumers by giving sufficient room for personal interpretation and contextualization of the message conveyed in the advertisement. This strategy successfully invoked thoughts about the prodigies of the perfume. For instance, a potential buyer would imagine that no word could be fit enough to describe the quality hidden in thescent.The word pure isin white, a symbol of purity of the fragrance. The navy blue is perhaps a connotation of the nautical derivative of the name Nautica, which references the blue color of seas and skies as seen by navigators. The essence of navigation is further reinforced by the rope that the model clung onto: most sailors are often pictured holding onto ropes. These props would be indicative that the perfume is suitable even for long-distance navigators, for it lasts longer on the body.

Pure Nautica seemingly exploited the cliché of “a picture speaks a thousand words,” where the quality of photography and posture were deemed enough to communicate with the consumers of interest.  Looking at the composed, assured male model, who posed as if to let the viewer observe his perfectly sculptured body, brings about a sense of strength in the perfume. The consumers could easily compare the perfection of the perfume and the perfection in the body of the model and perceive the perfume to be equally perfect, as is the body of the model in the picture. The other pictorial components depicted minimum color saturation and limited use of various ranges of color. Being a black and white picture, the prevailing use of a single shade of color depicts the harmony between the user and the perfume. Here, the substitution of all the other ranges of color by the shades of black tends to eliminate the bias factor from the customer end. Different people have different preferences when it comes to color, and it would be easy to influence consumer purchase decisions by presenting the advert in neutral colors such as black, white, and grey.

Rhetorical Devices

This advertisement has extensively exploited the use of rhetorical appeals to consumer psychology. Persuasion in advertising revolves around the use of ethos, pathos, and logos, generally termed as the rhetorical triangle (Higgins and Walker). To convince men to buy perfumes through each of the rhetorical devices must involve the use of different appeals between the advisor and the targeted consumer. Pure Nautica succeeds in interacting rhetorically with the consumers who seek fulfillmentand assurance before buying any of their products. Actually, Nautica has been known to rely on rhetorical devices, not only in perfume advertisements but also in clothing. Particular to this advertisement is the use of logos. Although Nautica advertisements are least known for using logos due to its limited use of statistical evidence, the use of masculinitylabels and sex suggestions to emphasize ethos and pathos has been achieved with great success.

Ethos

In the MMSCENE copy of the Pure Nautica advertisement, Jason Casselton, a Welsh model, takes the modeling role in the picture (Mmscene). Jason’s physique is an embodiment of the textbook male. He possesses a blend of both outmoded and modern characteristics manliness by the muscular body: with broad shoulders and a square chin. Such apersonification of manly features in a model establishes the ethos that indeed, Jason is an alpha male, whose taste of fragrance is exceptionally classy; this is where credibility comes into play. In the composition, the model stares out in the open without in a relaxed pose, and though it is a still image, the fact that he is not pictured looking frail is a likely indication of the confidence that he exudes thanks to the fragrance that he has worn. The suave posture and demeanor attitude from his facial features mimic the “alpha male’s” approach to life. Such a display of a confident approach to life is a trait every man would desire to possess. Consequently, the customers are left pondering over the likelihood that the model could be getting such confidence from his use of the perfume in the display. The overall effect of posing as an alpha male is to build credibility and value on the product as many people’s minds are directed to attribute Jason’s model to the dominance and ability to attract women.

The credibility of the advert is further reinforced by the use of a public figure. Jason Casselton, being a celebrity model, draws curiosity both from his fans and the general public at large. Some would be interested in the advert due to the curiosity over Jason’s personal accessories while his loyal fans would consider buying the product as an act of loyalty to their celebrity icon. Either way, the use of Jason Casselton’s picture, an esteemed public figure, is a move to trick the public into association with the product on the ground that Jason himself has endorsed it.

Pathos

Pathos is dominantly used in the advert because it produces sensuality through visual enticements. The masculinity of the model in the picture, other than serving to showcase dominance over men, also purposed to attract women to the brand. This attraction could result from Jason Casselton’s compelling physique when he poses shirtless for the picture. By sexualizing the product, it appeals to men’s desiresto emulate the “ideal man” or rather the ultimate choice for the women (Fowles, 274). The advert challenges men that they might lose their women to the model, first because of his boy who is sexually attractive and second because they could be smelling less desirable to these women unless they start using the perfume. Believing, therefore, that women love men who wear Pure Nautica, the advert appeals to the psychological need of affection. An ordinary man would, as a result of this enticement, easily purchase the perfume with the intent of adding a drop of class necessary for attracting the women.

Conclusion

To conclude, Pure Nautica advertisement has successfully reached out to and captivated the consumer’s attention due to its sensible use of rhetorical devices. The brand is just an example of how advertisers rely on various techniques to market their products to the general public. More value has been put in products such as fragrances and body wash. Thus the manufacturers from beauty factories are adopting better advertisement techniques to lure their targeted customers into making purchase decisions. As elaborated above, the various visual features used in the advert are often recurrent in magazine adverts. Thus additional creativity and innovativeness will be the key to making the advertisement better. From a personal perspective, I would give the advertisement a darker background. The dark background would give the perfume a secretive, mysterious outlook. Black as a color is often associated with hidden greatness.  In essence, therefore, the fragrance would rather remain mysteriously unique and neutral in black. Overall, the advertisement was successful in captivating my attention, and I would buy it.

Works Cited

Fowles, Jib. “Advertising’s fifteen basic appeals.” ETC: A Review of General Semantics (1982): 273-290.

Higgins, Colin, and Robyn Walker. “Ethos, logos, pathos: Strategies of persuasion in social/environmental reports.” In Accounting Forum, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 194-208. Taylor & Francis, 2012.

MmScene. “Jason Caselton for Pure Nautica Fragrance Fall Winter 2010.” Male Model Scene, 6 Sept. 2010, www.malemodelscene.net/ad-campaigns/jason-caselton-pure-nautica-fragrance-fall-winter-2010/.