Problem: Suppose you are an advertising coordinator and your boss asks you to recommend an appealing message for the next series of print ads for a new scanner software product aimed at small clothing retailers. What would be your recommendation? Explain.

Solution:
Here is what I would recommend. The key word here is appealing. This could mean many things, but in terms of a clothing industry, I believe that the message should be visually appealing. This means that it should bright, clear, convey the message well - however, it should be pleasant to the eye, in bold colors, nice funky fonts. However, the ad still needs to be semi-conservative and not completely out there because we are selling a scanning software.

So as the advertising coordinator, it is really important to strike an intricate balance between the clothing industry and the software industry.

If the add is too out there, then people who are scouting the product for the software might think that the product will not perform up to speed and is all hype. If the ad is too boring and structured, they might not think that the product fits the target market of the clothing industry.

A compromise would be to have a nice ad with beautiful bold colors and a clear image of WHAT the machine can do, with a technical catch phrase which would summarize the essence of the scanner. This way, both points of view will be satisfied, and the image of the company can be highly regarded.

Another alternative lies in the fact that the company is coming out with a series of ads. Half the ads could them focus on the technical aspects of the scanner, while the other half of the ads could focus more on what the scanner does for the clothing industry.

The technical ads will be informative, classic and simple. The functional ads can be bold, bright, funky and colorful.

A third option would be to design three sets of ads - one for the technical, one for the functional, and one hybrid of both like I described above. This might be the best option since clients can see each thing in isolation, and then see them interacting together, and they could get the full feel of the product.