The Creativity of the Verbal and Nonverbal Advertising Codes of Banks Operating in Croatia

• Main Authors: Branka Barić, Antonija Jurčić
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Center for Philosophy of Media and Media Research 2016-09-01
• Series: In Medias Res
• Subjects: creativity; advertising; advertising code
• Online Access: http://www.centar-fm.org/inmediasres/images/pdf/9/B.%20Baric%20i%20A.%20Jurcic,%20Kreativnost%20verbalnog%20i%20neverbalnog%20koda%20reklamnih%20poruka....pdf

Marketing is one of the key ways in which marketers and markets communicate, while advertisements are an integral part of our lives. In 2015 Croatia had one central bank, 27 banks, 1 savings bank, and 5 housing savings banks. Despite the numerous attempts and pressures exerted on the banks, or the Supreme Court ruling in the Swiss-franc loans case, information on the overall amount of resources spent per year by the banks in Croatia on advertising appears to be impossible to obtain. Since advertising has an impact on each and every one of us, and no individual is spared from persuasive advertising, one does need to wonder if the banks adhere to the Code of Advertising when engaging in marketing activities promoting their services. This article deals with the creativity of the verbal and non-verbal codes of ads in bank marketing due to the fact that the banking, automobile, insurance and telecommunication industries are highly competitive in terms of producing the best advertisement that will attract as many clients as possible. The first part of this article deals the theory behind advertising, i.e. the most common violation of the Code of Advertising and provides an overview of the stereotypes thus promoted. The second part deals with advertising creativity. The results of an analysis of five randomly selected advertisements of banks doing business in Croatia have been presented. The analysis involved a set of independently formed variables used to evaluate creativity in the use of verbal and non-verbal codes when designing ads and the messages contained in them.