Using Internet Symbols in Delivering Print Advertisement Messages

Like other types of advertisements, printed advertisements keeps pace with technological development and renovation. It is worth noting that the technology development is among the main aspects of this age. This caused most of the segments of the society to pay attention to its components, chief among which is the internet that has become an essential part of the daily routine to most people whose present always includes surfing the net, downloading and others. Advertisement designers managed to benefit from this situation by using symbols whose meanings are known among people in the society. These symbols are known internationally in designing ads, whether printed or not, such as animated T.V. ads for products or services or internet-based or non-internet based ideas.
The paper aims at explaining internet symbols to achieve the targets of both the advertisement and the advertiser represented in grabbing the attention of the recipient and trying to interact with him and persuading him. This is mainly accomplished through fulfilling his needs and his eagerness for the internet that provides him with knowledge and what ever he needs to know about marketing. This is in addition to fulfilling his needs for social communication.
The first part of this paper is concerned with the recipient, attempting to explain ways of fulfilling his needs employing Uses and Gratifications Theory which aims at identifying the needs of the recipient and, in turn, fulfilling these needs. The second part of the study involves two sections. The first section is concerned with explaining the meanings of internet symbols through the employment of semiotics theory. In this respect, the study aims at explaining the use of internet symbols in delivering advertising message in the printed ads. As for the second section of this part of study, it includes the analytical samples of printed ads that used internet symbols to advertise products or services or non-internet-based ideas in an attempt to fulfill the needs of the recipient and his passion about using the internet.
In fact, the study relies on the analytical descriptive methodology of selecting and analyzing selected samples of printed ads that used internet symbols like images, shapes, or figures in designing these ads to communicate particular advertisement message that grab the attention of the recipients and fulfill their needs. The advertiser’s targets will, accordingly, be achieved.
The findings of the study and results of analytical samples are considered strategic indicators that identify and explain the internet symbols used in designing the printed ad in a way that both fulfills the recipient’s needs and achieves the advertiser’s targets.