Donald Gunn identified 12 types of advertising: 1. The demo type demonstrates the product's capabilities. 2. The problem type focuses on problems the product can solve to motivate purchase. 3. Symbolizing the problem uses graphics to represent problems and solutions. 4. Symbolizing benefits uses graphics to represent a product's advantages. 5. Comparison ads show a product outperforming others. 6. Exemplary stories depict real-life benefits. 7. Benefit causes ads imagine a chain of events from using the product. 8. Testimonials feature endorsements from real people. 9. Ongoing characters/celebrities create brand familiarity and recall. 10.

1. Donald Gunn’s 12 types of
advertising
Patrick Urbanowicz

2. ‘The Demo’ – Type 1
The demo is an advertising type that demonstrates the product that is
being advertising which introduces the audience to the product and
what it does and also shows how capable the product is.

3. ‘The Problem’ – Type 2
This type of advert focuses on the problems that the product can solve
which makes them want to buy the product to solve these problems.
The problems shown in the adverts are always very relatable which
exposes as much of the audience as possible.

4. ‘Symbolise the Problem’ – Type 3
This uses an illustration or exaggerated graphic to symbolise the
problem for the audience and showing how it can be solved by using th
e product.

5. ‘Symbolise the Benefit’ – Type 4
This uses an illustration or exaggerated graphic to symbolise how
beneficial the product is to purchase.

6. ‘Comparison’ – Type 5
This type of ad compares a product to another and showing how much
better or worse it performs a task.

7. ‘Exemplary Story’ – Type 6
The exemplary story advertisement type is a advert that follows a story
or narrative and shows how beneficial the product is in real-life
situations.

8. ‘Benefit Causes’ – Type 7
The benefit causes advertising type is a type of ad that imagines a trail
of events that might be caused by the product and its benefits, an
example of this would be advertising for the deodorant brand Lynx that
follows a male who shows himself beginning to get female attention
because he used lynx deodorant

9. Testimonial – Type 8
The testimonial type advert is a type of advert that portrays and actor
or “real person” who says that that the product being advertised was
beneficial to them. This persuades the audience to buy it as they feel
that they can relate to

10. 9. Ongoing Characters/ Celebrities
An ongoing character or celebrity is used in advertising to make sure
that the audience has a familiar face to remember the brand by. An
example of this would be the Duracell Bunny or Michelin Man.

11. 10. Associated User Imagery
The Assosiated User Imagery type of advertising showcases the type of
people it hopes the audience will associate with the product. An
example of this would be Athletes shown wearing Nike sportwear.

12. 11. Unique Personality Property
The Unique Personality Property advertising type highlights a unique
part of the product being advertised and focuses on that. An example
of this would be an advertisement for a German car focusing on its
“German Engineering”

13. 12. Parody or Borrowed
A parody is an advertisement
technique that involves a brand
mocking a more popular advert, film
or music video to appeal to the mass
market as it makes the advert more
memorable and more humorous. This
makes it appeal more to the audience
and make them more likely to buy
into the product or service.