1. Use an illustration of a product alone, either a line drawing or a photograph against simple background, e.g., Bentex watch is shown alone with the headline ‘when was the last time you made a woman’s hand tremble?’

2. Use an illustration of a product in a setting, e.g., Mont Blanc pens are shown on a dial or a sofa- set is shown in a living room.

3. Use an illustration of a -product in use, e.g., a woman in is using cellular phone a restaurant to talk to her beloved. Similarly, model Anupama Verma uses Braun Silk Epil to get silky smooth legs.

4. Use an illustration of the benefit resulting from the use of the product, e.g., a woman’s hair with a bounce and shine with the implication that this is due to the use of a shampoo with a conditioner.


5. Use an illustration of the loss or disadvantage from not using the advertised product, e.g., Cease Fire, a fire extinguisher’s ad. A devastating fire shatters the woman’s happy home, of course in her fantasy.

6. Dramatize the headline. This is a strong visualization. In a well-conceived dramatization it is difficult to say whether the concept of the headline came first or the concept of illustration, e.g., BPL’s TEIO Large Screen TV ad has the head-line ‘Live Thunder dramatized as a TV set with four wheels attached giving a look of a sports-car.

7. Dramatize the evidence, e.g., Whisper sanitary napkins absorb ink on them, and yet give dry feel.

8. Dramatize a detail. The illustration may emphasize a small area of the product or may enlarge a detail, e.g., Raymond’s trousers magnify special stitches at the pockets.

9. Use a comparison, e.g., Luxol Silk Paint of Berger is compared with a flowing satin saree of a woman.

10. Use contrast, e.g., before and after pictures as in a Bullworker ad – first a skiny chap who later becomes a muscular he-man.

11. Use cartoons. Cartoons are used in print ads as well as in TV commercials. Recently Rasna TV commercial used animation of a dinosaur.

12. Use trade-characters like Gattu for Asian Paints, tiger for Goodlass Paints, MRF man for MRF tyres and Maharaja for Air India.

13. Use charts and diagrams while making rational appeals in scientific copy. In consumer goods advertising, along with these, a less technical picture should also be used as a warmer.

14. Use cross-section diagram, e.g., inside of a car

15. Use symbolism, e.g., Merril Lynch uses a bull to show their bullish investment sentiment.

16. Use abstraction, e.g., Wool-mark to show pure quality of wool.

17. Use continuity strip. A series of photographs set like a filmstrip are used.

18. Use mood-setting illustration. Here the product is romanticized. It may be set against a romantic landscape. Cosmetics use this approach.

19. Use a product illustration in its package.

20. Use illustration of components or raw materials of a product, e.g., Cadbury milk chocolate that combines cocoa and milk.