Find a good or bad hospitality company or tourist destination ad in print media (i.e. magazine,
tourist guide, or newspaper). Submit 1-2 page (single-spaced, Times New Roman 12pt font)
discussing why you think it is good or bad advertising and how it can be improved. Scan (take a
picture) and import a copy of the ad onto your page. Using the textbook (Chapter 13) and any other
material provided by the instructor, identify each ad’s target market, source (type of magazine,
newspaper, etc.), purpose, message content, execution style, and layout and design. Then, evaluate
the ad’s effectiveness. A “good” ad has congruity and synergy among all these components (That is,
it has the right source, right content, right style, and right layout and design for its target market and
purpose). Also, discuss what you would change to further improve the ad’s effectiveness.
Components of Promotion Assignment
Please use the following outline for ad’s write-up. Each component will equally contribute
to your total grade. Provide a copy of the ad with the write-up.
Target Market: Each promotion piece is designed with a target audience in mind. Who is the target
market(s) of the ad? Examples would be business travelers, female business travelers, meeting
planners, travel agents, investors, senior travelers, families, high rollers, weekend travelers, golfers,
general public, and so on. Be as specific as possible and include certain characteristics of the target
market (demographics, benefits sought, psychographics, etc.)
Source and Date of Publication: For example, Conde Nast Traveler, 09/01/2016. The source
should be suitable for reaching the target market of the ad (pp. 392-394).
Purpose: Each ad should have a purpose and specific objective(s). The purpose of an ad would be
informative, persuasive, and/or reminder (pp. 368-371, 382-384). The specific objectives would be
positioning, differentiation, creating an image, communicating certain benefits, obtain immediate
action, steal from competitors, etc. An ad may have more than one objective; however, a good ad
should not have many objectives not to confuse the target market.
Message Content: The message content of an ad may fall into one or more of the three types of
appeals: rational, emotional, and moral (pp. 370-371).
Message Execution Style: Message execution style is related to how the message is said.
Particularly, the slogan (headline) of the ad should get the attention of the target market. There are
different message execution styles a company can use to deliver the desired message; and you should
be able to identify the style of the ads of your choice. For a list of message execution styles, please
refer to pages 387-389 of the textbook.
Layout and Design: This, to a great extent, will contribute to an ad’s attractiveness and eyecatching
design, which includes borders, pictures, icons, colors, fonts as well as the layout of text
and pictures.
Your Suggestions: Once you identify and evaluate the components of your ad, you can go ahead
and evaluate its effectiveness as a whole. , A ‘good’ ad has consistency and synergy among all these
components (that is, it has the right source, right content, right style, and right layout and design for
its target market and purpose). The design of the ad will always start with the target market in mind,
and all the components discussed above should complement each other in reaching them. There is
always room for improvement! In this section, discuss what you would do differently to increase its
effectiveness. In general, you will have more to discuss for a “bad” ad in this section.