Task 1. Write an analysis for 2 or 3 adverts.
BMW 1 Series Advert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kdZlpHumOc
GHD Avert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76O4lFqa_fY&feature=PlayList&p=73C9D84A51418F34&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=2
Thomson Holiday Advert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg1DFuJiS4U
Lines of appeal refer to images and references that tap into our needs, fears and desires. Gillian Dyer listed the main lines of appeal in her book; “Advertising as Communication Routledge 1988”:
Lines of appeal refer to images and references that tap into our needs, fears and desires. Gillian Dyer listed the main lines of appeal in her book; “Advertising as Communication Routledge 1988”:
· Happy families - everyone wants to belong
· Rich, luxurious lifestyles – aspirational
· Dreams and fantasy
· Successful romance and love
· Elite people or experts
· Glamorous places
· Successful careers
· Art, culture & history
· Nature & the natural world
· Beautiful women - men AND women like looking at beautiful women, so the thinking goes: men admire them, women admire what makes the men admire them.
· Self-importance & pride
· Comedy & humor
· Childhood - can appeal to either nostalgia or to nurturing instincts
The line of appeal connoting a “rich, luxurious lifestyle” is used in all three of the adverts. This is used to deal with our social needs of being recognized as somebody with a good lifestyle. This would encourage people to go and buy the product because the idea is that if other people see or know you have bought this product after seeing the advert themselves, they will see you as having a luxurious lifestyle also, this will, in turn, make other people want to purchase the product to also appear superior or appear as though they have a luxurious lifestyle. It could also create a sense of need as most people have ambitions and want to have a rich luxurious lifestyle, however if they see the advertisement and it includes the rich luxurious lifestyle line of appeal, they can then relate themselves and their lifestyle to the advert as they have the product that it is associated with.
The Thomson holiday advert and the BMW 1 series advert both use the self-importance and pride line of appeal, the Thomson holiday advert uses music to create this, the song lyrics: “built with you in mind”, suggests that the everything revolves around you as the consumer, this again will make people want to purchase the product or use the provider as it will give them the sense that thy are important, this could also relate to Young and Rubicam’s categorization of audiences;
(http://pgslearning.co.uk/media/?page_id=818)
This would suggest people in the ‘aspirers’ category are more likely to react to the advert than people in the ‘resigned’ category for example. The self importance desire is within most people, however not everyone will be able to afford these products so the way they tap into the pride desire everybody has could almost an attempt to justify the fact the product is expensive, as people want to feel important they will be persuaded to purchase the project. The BMW advert creates a sense of pride and self-importance through costume; the main character is wearing a suit, which suggests he has a well-paid, successful job. This would also encourage people to buy the car as they can relate themselves to the character and people will also associate them with having a well-paid job. The idea of huge machinery making this vehicle specifically for the character also creates a sense of self-importance and pride. This is suggested through the use of extreme close ups, showing his facial expressions, it is also made to look as though the machine is doing everything for the character, e.g. putting petrol in, reinforcing the idea that he is important and shouldn’t have to act out tedious chores.
The BMW series 1 advert and the Thomson holiday advert also use the dreams and fantasy line of appeal. Dreams and fantasy is portrayed in the holiday advertisement through the image of people doing everything to create the perfect holiday, the thought of an even beach, with perfectly laid out shells and perfectly organized clouds tempts anybody. However this is not reality, therefore the advert is appealing as it is making people believe their holiday is going to be nothing but what they dream of, however, “built with you in mind” clearly does not mean that the people who work at Thomson’s holidays are not going to create the scenery of your holiday as the images suggest, it is a play on words and denotes the fact that the holiday package is made to what you want and desire. However this would still encourage people to go to Thomson’s holiday and enquire if not purchase as the music and imagery suggests they are going to produce something that will fulfill their dreams and fantasies and make them feel and look important. The BMW advert uses the imagery of machinery doing everything for the character and the idea of the car being specifically created for him to tap into people’s dreams and fantasies as this would be impossible, this again would make people want to purchase the car, fulfilling the purpose of the advert.
As both adverts use the same lines of appeal and are promoting expensive luxurious things, and not necessities, it could be suggested that these lines of appeal, dreams and fantasies and rich, luxurious lifestyles, are lines of appeal to justify buying such unnecessary and expensive things. However this fulfills the purpose of the advertisement so therefore need to be used.
The “glamorous places” line of appeal is used in both the GHD advert and Thomson holiday advert. The GHD advert uses imagery of beautiful women in a beautiful hall with huge chandeliers and expensive accessories, were al the people are wearing expensive beautiful dresses and suits, a place were most girls would want to go. This again allows the consumer to relate to these people if they purchase the product. It also means that other people that have seen the advert will associate them with the people in the advert. Which again is most girls’ desire. The GHD advert also uses a beautiful woman in the advert, which is admired by all the men. This creates the image of being admired by men if they have or use this product. The slogan also encourages the target audience to purchase the product; “thou shalt never be the same girl twice” which has been made to be a big thing in today’s society by the media. Girls worry about wearing the same dress or shoes in public twice; this suggests they never have o worry about this again just by using this product.
Factors Of Persuasion is a technique used by advertisers to encourage the public to purchase the product.
“In order for a communication to be persuasive, the reader must accept some or all of its emotional content, and to do that, the reader must have a reason for doing so.”
Hermerén (1999, 34-39) distinguished the differences between the main factors of persuasion;
“• Reward power: the product promises some positive benefit.
• Coercive power: the product is presented upon pain of threat or punishment.
• Referent power: the message associated with the product fits into the reader's value system.
• Expert power: an expert presents the product.
To these, we can add:
• Star power: the product is associated with a celebrity figure.”
The three adverts I have chose to analyze all use the “referent power” factor of persuasion, however as this means the message the advert is portraying relates to the viewers value system, it is almost necessary to use to sell any product. The GHD advert uses reward power as the slogan is; “Thou Shalt Never Be The Same Girl Twice” which has become a worry for most girls. The thought of not having to look the same twice is seen as a reward. This will make the product appeal to its target audience. Thomson’s holiday advert also uses the reward power factor of persuasion. The images of the perfect holiday suggest that this is what the customer will receive, this again will be seen s a reward for using their service and encourage the audience to use Thomson when booking their holiday.
The target audience for any form of media is the group of people intended to see it.
This table explains different target audiences, all three adverts will be aimed at people in the Aspirers category, as the products are not a necessity, they are materialistic and fashionable, and will aid the consumer in seeking status and looking good. The people that fall into this band would be image orientated, therefore the advert would be broadcast between programmes with similar audiences for example the GHD advert may be shown after Hollyoaks as their audience will be young women who are image orientated.
However, the target audience can be divided into two categories; the demographic and the psychographic. Demographics being the obvious stats about the people; age, gender, and home-town/area they live in. The psychographs are the traits these people would have for example; a young woman working in a shop is less likely to be married with children, so therefore would be more interested in spending money n herself on products such as the GHD’s and wine and chocolate, whereas a 30year old women working in a bank is likely to be married and have children and will be interested in reliable products that are good value for money.
According to these two categories the BMW 1 series advert has a demographic audience of young businessmen. However, the psychographic audience will expect these men to be single and carefree with no responsibilities, such as children, and have money spare to spend on themselves. As there is no indication that this is a reliable, family car, which they would need if they had a family to care for. They would also aim their advert at an audience with money spare to spend on themselves, as there isn’t anything said about the price that connotes the car is cheap. The GHD advert has a similar audience but aimed at women, who have nobody depending on them, who like to take care of how they look and that have money to spend on themselves. The Thomson holiday advert has a demographic audience of working young couples, with a psychographic audience of a couple who have good jobs and quite a lot of money spare for themselves or with the income to manage to save for a holiday, with no children, as the imagery used doesn’t include anything that suggests there is activities for the children, it is also made to appear peaceful and made just for the consumer not the consumer and their children. It also appeals to older couples that are looking for a peaceful, relaxing holiday that may have children but that are older and don’t depend on them anymore. As again it appears relaxing and gives a sense that nothing matters but the consumer, and that everything is going to revolve around them on their holiday. All three adverts use music beds, making the sound non-diegetic, as the actors cannot hear it. The BMW advert uses music with a fast beat to create suspense, and technical sounding music, to represent the machinery moving and working. However the sound is not from the machinery, it has been created with instruments so therefore is also non-diegetic. It is effective due to the images used in the advert as it represents the machinery creating the car for the actor. The GHD advert uses a classical, orchestra sounding music bed, which creates a sense of class and makes the product seem superior de to the stigma with classical music. The voice over is in a French accent again ads a sense of class and has connotations of love and romance; it also has connotations of fashion. These are all important to the target audience of young, females. The connotations of fashion also suggest that without the product they will be unfashionable. The music and voice over are effective as it directly appeals to the audience’s wants and needs and subconsciously appeals to them through the stigma and connotations attached to the language and music they use. The Thomson holiday advert, using the song “Welcome To My World”, appeals to their audience’s wants and needs by creating a sense that everything is made specifically for them. The lyrics “built with you in mind” ensure the potential customers that the holiday will be what they want. The music in the song is peaceful and relaxing unlike the BMW advert as they are not trying to create suspense but are creating a relaxed environment and show the consumers their holiday will be paradise. The voice over is a women’s voice and is in a soft-spoken almost sexual tone again connoting a relaxed environment.
The BMW advert uses a character that represents the people they expect to buy the car; he is middle aged, smartly dressed connoting he has a good job and is aware of his image. This means the audience can relate to the character and believe that if he has the car, so should they. The GHD advert uses characters that appear upper class and important as they seem to be at an important venue, all wearing black dresses and suits. This doesn’t allow the audience to relate to them but aspire to be like them. This then will encourage the audience to purchase their product. The women are stereotypically beautiful, as they are slim, pretty, and have beautiful dresses and hair. The men in the advert appear to be memorized by these women and want to dance with them, which gives the audience the idea that if they are like the women on the advert they will be attractive to men. The Thomson holiday advert uses professionals, which doesn’t give the audience anybody to relate to or aspire to but creates a sense of trust as they are in the uniform consumers will see if they go to the travel agents.
As non of the adverts use a narrative Propps' theory is not applied, non of the characters are portrayed as a hero, helper, villain or damsel in distress.
All three adverts begin with an establishing shot; this ensures the consumers are aware and clear of what is happening or what is going to happen and where. This allows them to put it into context. Throughout the BMW 1 series advert, medium shots are used. Medium shots allow the advertiser to show the potential consumers parts of the car hey need to see with out making the advert long and tedious by showing close ups of all the different mechanics. It also gives a good overview of the car as a whole, it also connotes the car is appealing to the eye and people will want to look at it. Over the shoulder shots are used, this shows the audience parts of the car, such as the dashboard, that are not visible in the medium shots. It also shows the actor looking which could make the audience believe that if he is looking at it they should too. This is also reinforced by the stereotype of the character. Tracking shots are also used to follow the car as the machinery is moving it. This enables the advertiser to make the advert moving rather than in one place with different shots. There is a close up of the actors face to show his amazement and interest in the car. The front of the car is also shown by a close up. This connotes the car is driving towards them or facing them which connotes a direct mode of address. The advert then ends with another tracking shot where the car drives out of the shot and the screen fades to white.
The GHD advert consists of panning and tracking shots. The shots vary from medium to close up shots. The swift movements of the camera through out the advert connote ease; this suggests the product is easy to use. The medium shots allow the audience to see all the characters and what is going on around the main focus. A panning shot is used to move from one woman to another’s feet the camera then pans up her body to show her dress, which connotes sophistication. The camera then tracks backwards with a woman appearing to walk towards the camera, this signifies the woman leaving the location, which in turn connotes the end of the advert. This gives the advert a narrative. The camera shot also shows all the characters and the location again, reinforcing the idea of sophistication.
The Thomson advert uses a series of close up shots; this shows the audience in detail what the actors are doing. There are some medium shots used which allows the advertiser to show all the workers, this reinforces the idea that they create the perfect holiday for the customer. It connotes that there will be a lot of workers trying their hardest to make the holiday perfect for the customers. Which in turn will encourage the audience to book their holiday with Thomson. The advert finishes with an establishing shot to show the final product, that the actors have been creating throughout the advert.
Foot Notes.
1. http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA4945
2. http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA2596
3. http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA8073
4. http://www.mediaknowall.com/gcse/advertising/analysisnotes.htm
5. http://pgslearning.co.uk/media/?page_id=818
TASK 2: Making Reference to a range of the narrative structures outlined above, write a detailed analysis of the different narrative structures employed and try to explain why they have been used to help sell the product.
Advert 1. Cheryl Cole L'Oreal Advert.
The L'Oreal advert uses a linear narrative, this could be to ensure the advert is not confusing to the audience as it needs to be clear and fulfills its purpose of persuading people to buy this product. It is also a realist narrative from an objective point of view. It is an objective narration as it is a realist one, the advert uses things that happen in real life which allows the audience to relate to it, as most women have experienced trouble wit their hair and in todays society image seems to be extremely important. The narrative in the advert is not shown in the traditional way. Todorov's theory that every narrative has an equilibrium, disruption and resolution appears in the advert but not in this order. The advert begins with the disruption, it being that the characters hair is "weak, limp and lifeless", then the resolution is found, the shampoo that targets, "lifeless, dull and straw-like hair". The narrative then ends in an equilibrium were everything is calm and normal. This allows the audience to relate to the advert, which will enables the product to gain the potential customers trust, which gives them a good reputation for other potential customers.
Advert 2. Guiness Evolution.
The advert uses a non-linear narrative but is at the same time linear. As the advert starts with something everybody understands and can relate to, three men at a bar drinkin a pint, the narrative then see's the three men going back in time showing the theory of evolution backwards. As the narrative shows what we believe happened backwards, it can be described as linear, but as it starts with the "end" in can also be described as non-linear. This could have been used to give the connotation that Guiness is the newest thing in evolution, or even the best thing to come of evolution as once the evolution process is complete there will be no need to evolve anymore as the product will be flawless. As Guiness is the first thing we see it signifies that this is the flawless product of evolution and the process has no need to carry on. This will make the product sell as the advert implies Guiness is the best beer we have through out the millions of years evolution has been going, making people want to purchase it, if not at least try it. The narrative again is a mixture of realist and non realist. It can be argued it is realist as the imagery shows how the human race have evolved, or how scientists believe it evolved. However it can be argued to be non realist as there is no proof this is exactly how evolution happened and some of the creatures shown could be fictional creatures. Todorovs theory cannot be applied tentatively here as there is no real characters or story it appears more of a documentary style. However the advert does conclude with a closed ending, as the newt-like creature is the last creature shown it suggests this is were evolution started, connoting the end of the advert, as there is nothing else to show. Then as the 3 pints of Guiness are shown and the slogan "Good things come to those who wait" the ending is made clear to the audience. Propps' theory that all narratives have a hero, damsel in distress, helper and villain can be applied lightly to the advert as I don't think any of the characters are portrayed as any of the characters suggested in Propps theory, but it could be argued that they are portrayed as male damsell in distress' as when they are the three men in the pub they would not have expected the reversal of evolution to happen to them. The marketer could have used this idea to appeal to their audience as it is a target audience of middle aged men, and evolution has a lot of connotations of "man". This then restricts the character choice as the characters themselves do not tell the story, the images do.
Advert 3. Halo
This advertisement again uses a linear narrative as it is the clearest one, enabling the audience to follow and understand it. The advert starts with a realist narrative, which means the audience can relate to it aiming to persuade them to keep watching, the story then goes to a non-realist narrative, where the characters are shooting aliens, this has connnotations of danger and excitement which reflects the game they are advertising. The advert uses a pattern of narrative being a journey, which enables the audience to relate to it. As the target audience is young males the idea of the army and fighting ensures the advert appeals to this audience. The information is unrestricted which creates a sense of reality and being there. This again makes the advert appeal to the prefered audience. Propps' theory can be applied through out the advert as the characters make the story unlike the Guiness advert. There is somebody who appears to be a hero when he is fighting and training in the army, he then appears to be a damsel in distress when this huge alien creature acts as though it is going to kill him, who is therefore the villain. As Propps' theory can be applied so can Todorovs'. The advert starts with a disruption as it is a funeral, it can then be argued that it goes into resolution as the main character is sorting his life out and going into the army. It then goes back to a disruption when the aliens are seen to be defeating them, the advert has an open ending which creates a sense that there hasn't yet been an equilibrium but could be.
Task 3.
This advert uses Scarlett Johansson as a star vehicle to endorse the lipgloss. This appeals directly to the target audience, of women who like to take care of their appearene. By using Scarlett Johansson the lipgloss is given connotations of beauty and class, which in turn will appeal to the audience as most women desire to be beautiful and appear to be classy, this will encourage them to buy the product. This advert employs the style of talking heads and a slight documentary style. The talking head style appears when Scarlett is talking directly to the audience through the camera, saying; "transform your lips with mirror shine". The word "transform" will appeal directly to the audience aswell as in todays society alot of women, most of whom will appear in this adverts demographic, are not happy with their appearance and would transform their look if they could. The talking head style works in this advert as the direct-mode of address will appeal to its' audience. The documentary style comes in when the advert goes on to describe the wand. However, as most adverts use the documentary style to promote the science within the product this advert describes the shape of the wand and appear less scientific and less proffessional, leading me to conclude that this style was not succsessful within this advert. Although it may not seem proffessional it will appeal to the women interested in this product as the name is "crystals collection" and wonem in this adverts' psychographics will aspire to have crystals the advert does appeal directly to womens needs and demands, making it succsesful.
5alive advert dancing dodo
In this advert animation is used, this allows the marketers to add humour, as the animated character is a Dodo, an extinct bird, coming to life from a beach after having tasted 5Alive. Suggesting the drink makes you feel alive and as the bird starts to dance there are connotations that the drink also gives you more energy. This style works for this advert as its' target audience is to both genders and to most ages so cannot have specific tag lines or slogans to appeal to the audience, nor can it use stereotypicall characters to attract the attention of the audience. The humour appeals to all ages and genders, young children may not understand the idea of the Dodo coming back to life but will enjoy watching it "dance" and "sing", where as adults and teenagers will understand the idea of it being a Dodo and still find the dancing and singing amusing. By not adapting the documentary style and introducing science into the advert the advert can appeal to younger people aswell as older. However the science is portrayed through the energy of the Dodo signifying the drink is good for the body.Making it a succsesful advert. The advert also employs the surreal style. This also enables the advert to create humour using animation as the fact this would never happen makes it funnier.
The third advert also uses an element of ironic humour. The idea of seeing your Dad dressed as a woman would embarrass anybody, especially a young boy like the character in the advert. However as the boy asks his Dad if he could get them in the club it connotes he is understanding and accepting as this is more popular in todays society. This connotes that people that drive this car all share this personality type, suggesting the car is made for todays society, which appeals to both older people and the younger generation as most working to middle class people, that would be in this products demographics, would prefer to have something economical than expensive. It also employs the parody strategy to appeal to its' audience. As in todays society, due to laws and understanding of free-will people can express themselves as they please, if by being a "drag queen" is how somebody wants to do so they can. Although, alot of the public do accept things like this, alot of people don't and it would be expected that a popular, good looking teenage boy would be embarressed or ashamed of his Dad being a drag queen, however, in the advert he isn't, he seems proud of him. This sense of parody and mocking the public it isn't relateable, which in turn makes it funny as people enjoy laughing at things that wouldn't happen or that are odd and unfamiliar. I think this is a succsesful advert as is appeals to both male and female and older and young generations which is its purpose.
Task 4
TASK 4.
All productions have codes and conventions, these are things that the audience expect to see with in the product. They are techniques used by the media to portray certain ideas or desired impressions. They include technical aspects e.g. camera angles and sound, but also include symbolic codes such as the language, dress and actions. [1] For example in a horror film we would expect to see blood, a weapon, and hear screams, where as if it was a childrens TV programme we would expect to see bright colours, basic shapes, familiar settings such as a nursery, even puppets for very young childrens TV programmes, and hear basic language. However in advertising the codes and conventions all depends on the priduct itself. E.g. Loreal. If a Loreal programme cam on television we would expect to see it in the middle of a show that is aimed at women (Eastenders or Coronation Street.) and we would expect to see some ones hair, we would expect to hear some scientific explanation and even percentenages from surverys. We would expect to see the character in fashionable clothing and be a beautiful woman, usually a celebrity for products such as Loreal and Max Factor as they are products aimed at women. We would also expect to see the product either at the end or beginning of the advert. Usually the product is placed at the end to give clarification as it is the last thing you see in the advert so therefore the thing you remember most.
The Honda Advert The Impossible Dream.
[2]
As this advert is about Honda we expect to see some products that Honda have made such as their cars and bikes. As the first shot of the character shows him in full leathers we expect to see a motor bike, which we then do. We would usualy expect to hear a voice over of somebody explaing technical aspects of the car but as this is advertising the brand itself it is not nescersary. It follows the codes and conventions in terms of the character, as we would expect to see somebody driving the cars and other vehicles manufactured by Ford. We would also expect the character to be male and middle aged, as cars and such are stereotypically linked witha male interest, it would also be odd to see a young boy driving the vehicles as you have to be 17 to drive, and even at this age it would be unlikely that they know about any of the older products shown in the advert. As it would be odd to see an old man driving the cars, as people associate old people as being bad drivers, and after a certain age old people tend to stop driving. In terms of technical codes and conventions we would expect to see alot of panning and tracking camera shots, to show the vehicle driving/moving, which we do. As the advert starts with music we don't expect to hear a script throughout the advert.
Vortex Bleach Advert.
[3]
This advert begins with a medium shot with 4 people in white over coats which immediately connotes scientists, which then leads us to expect the product to be about something such as a cleaning product as the main characters are quite old and are not celebrities which suggests the product isn't make up or hair dye, or other products we expect to see being promoted by celebrities with scientific references. Technical codes and conventions we expect to see here are close up camera shots of their scientific equipment, to connote a sense of professionalism and expertise, as the advert follows the codes and conventions in this area this is what we see, however today we would expect to hear a jingle or a slight music bed somewere in the advert, usually at when the product is shown, in this advert we don't. This could be because the advert is from the 1980's and the media has evolved and conventions will have deffinately changed. We would also expect facts to be read out which they also do.
Foot Notes.
1. http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/media20revision/glossary.html
2.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBS-wKwkiAU
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPMhqLuvbeg
Task 6
The ASA, advertising standards authority, aims to ensure companies create and use adverts that are acceptable by being: “legal, decent, honest and truthful.” They ensure the adverts are acceptable by reinforcing “the Advertising codes”. The codes include general rules that include; “advertising must be responsible, must not mislead, or offend.” There are also specific rules that cover advertising to children and ads for alcohol, gambling, motoring, health and financial products.[1] The rules apply generally to both TV advertising and radio adverts.[2] ASA is not government funded so is therefore is free to the taxpayer. The advertisers fund it. However it is not compulsory for the company to fund ASA, it is also anonymous, meaning ASA cannot find out which companies have chosen to fund it and how much they have chosen to give.[3]
ASA doesn’t cover all advertisements, adverts they don’t regulate are; Marketing messages on companies’ own websites,
Non-broadcast ads for credit products such as credit cards, store cards, personal loans and secured loans,
Telemarketing calls and marketing faxes,
editorial content,
product-related claims in non-broadcast ads for mortgages, general insurance, investments, pensions, cash savings and bank accounts are dealt with by the Financial Services Authority. See, however, the information on credit advertising above, Fly posting, Misleading claims on posters, shelves or till points on in-store advertising, medicines advertising, phone-paid services; help lines, competitions, downloads, TV voting, news alerts, charitable donations and interactive games. They also cannot deal with claims regarding political bias in TV or radio advertising due to the freedom of speech act they do not have a remit over non-broadcast ads where the purpose of the ad is to persuade voters in a local, national or international election. ASA cannot deal with complaints about misleading or offensive shop window displays, these should be reported to the shop itself or a councilor or local MP. It also has no control over TV and radio sponsorships.[4]
The types of ads they do regulate include:
“Magazine and newspaper advertisements
Radio and TV commercials (not programmes or programme sponsorship)
Television Shopping Channels
Posters on legitimate poster sites (not fly posters)
Leaflets and brochures
Cinema commercials
Direct mail (advertising sent through the post and addressed to you personally)
Door drops and circulars (advertising posted through the letter box without your name on)
Advertisements on the Internet, including banner and display ads and paid-for (sponsored) search (not claims on companies’ own websites)
Commercial e-mail and SMS text message ads
Ads on CD ROMs, DVD and video, and faxes
We regulate sales promotions, such as special offers, prize draws and competitions wherever they appear.” [5]
When dealing with a complaint the ASA assess it against the codes and decide whether there is a problem with the advert. Once decided if there is a problem they will decide how to pursue it depending on the nature of the issue. They can use five different courses of action;
Out of remit, this means that the complaint falls under the list of things they do not cover.
No case to answer, this means the advert may comply with the Codes and may be the persons interpretation of the advert.
No case to answer after a Council Decision- whereby the ASA Council may be asked to decide whether an investigation is needed or not if the advert does comply with the Codes. The complaint will not be pursued if they believe the complaint will not reflect most peoples views of the advert.
Informal resolution, if the breach of the Codes is minor it will be resolved informally if the marketer agrees to change or withdraw the advert.
Formal investigations, if the Executive believes there is a major breach of the Codes where the advertiser is asked to provide relevant evidence to support their advertising technique and substantiation for the claims they have made. [6]
Examples Of Codes For TV Advertising.
Section 3 - Unacceptable Products and Services- including; private investigation agencies, guns and gun clubs, escort agencies and pornography.
Section 2 - Programmes and Advertising- viewers should know at all times whether they are watching programming or advertising
Section 5 - Misleading Advertising- "No advertisement may directly or by implication mislead about any material fact or characteristic of a product or service"
Footnotes.
1. http://bcap.org.uk/The-Codes.aspx
2. http://bcap.org.uk/The-Codes/Key-principles.aspx
3. http://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA/Funding-and-accountability.aspx
4. http://www.asa.org.uk/Regulation-Explained/What-we-cover/Complaints-outside-remit.aspx
5. http://www.asa.org.uk/Regulation-Explained/What-we-cover.aspx
6. http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Dealing-with-complaints/Complaints-and-investigations-process.aspx
Task 7
**Click to Enlarge.
This information is very powerful to marketers as they need to know what type of people their advertisement needs to appeal to. For example to advertise The Jeremy Kyle Show, it wouldn't be appropriate to use exclusive vocabulary, as the people that would fall into category E and watch the show would not understand and therefore be put off watching it. This then makes the advert fail to fulfill its' purpose. As it would be an unsuccessful advert for "The daily show" if they showed untidy and shabby characters the people that would watch this (high class people) would be put off watching the show, again making the advertisement a fail.
Task 8: Create a brief for your client covering the main aims of the advertisement.
Client Brief
Television advert for Pudsey Grangefield Schools’ Art and Design Department.
Sophie Dawson and Katrina Broadbent.
0113 2557421
K&S Marketing Ltd.
Mount Pleasant road, Pudsey, Leeds, LS28 7ND
Background / Overview
Pudsey Grangefield School has a brand new school and new technologies.
The ad will be aimed at year 6’s and their parents who are choosing their high school. The ad will also be aimed at year 9’s choosing their GCSE subjects.
What is the objective and purpose of the ad?
The ad must attract and impress potential students to the school and inform both the year 6’s parents and year 9 students of the technologies and work that can be produced at Pudsey Grangefield’s art department.
The ad also needs to give a good impression of the school as a whole. By showing the audience a good example of the art department it will reflect the rest of the school.
Target Audience. Who are we talking to?
The ad will be aimed at 10 and 11 year olds choosing their high school, their parents, and 13-14 year olds in year 9 choosing their GCSE subjects.
What’s the single most important thing to say?
Pudsey Grangefield’s art department is fun and has state of the art technology to give their existing pupils the best opportunities, and new students the best start to their future.
What are the supporting rational and emotional ‘reasons to buy?’
The school has some of the best exam results locally (72% A*-C grades for 2009) and the best reputation in surrounding areas. They also have a brand new school with state of the art technology and facilities. The school has been successfully run since 1904. It is a safe and friendly environment trying the newest teaching methods to ensure children are encouraged to achieve their best.
“Striving for excellence and daring to be different”.
Details that will assist the creative team…
Consumer insights:
Voice over of existing art students saying positive things about the art department.
Description of brand personality:
“Striving for excellence and daring to be different”.
(School moto)
Positioning Taglines:
Creativity at your fingertips…(coercive)
Creative thought starters:
Take the first steps to your future….
Create your future at Pudsey Grangefield…
Mandatory Details:
http://pudseygrangefield.leeds.sch.uk/
Pudsey Grangefield School
Maths and Computing College
Mount Pleasant Road
Pudsey
Leeds
LS28 7ND
Tel: 0113 3368700
Maths & Computing College.
Budget: £1030
This will cover…
Camera hire .
Panasonic Professional Camera (mini dv) = £70 per day (3 days) = £210
Microphones = Boom Mike + Boom Arm = £20 per day (2 days) =£40
MP3 Sound Recorders.
Edirol R-09h £30 per day (2 days) = £60
Recording Studio = £30 per hour (2 hours) = £60
Editing Suite = (imac) £10 per hour (10 hours) = £100
Technical Team = Sound Assistant = £10 per hour (6 hours) £60
Camera person £20 per hour = (10 hours) = £200
Actors= (voice over) £50 per hour (Std equity card) (2 for 3 hours) £300
Total £1030
Deadline: 18th May
Task 9
Task 10.
1) When choosing a high school, what elements would persuade you in your decision?
2) What characters do you like to see in advertisements?
3) What previous adverts have you found effective in the past and why?
4) What information do you think is necessary to be shown in relation to the department being advertised?
5) Do you think its important to hear real students opinions throughout the advert and why?
Leanne Frew. 17. Crawshaw student. Pudsey.
Regarding persuasive factors when choosing a high school Leanne said she would like to see that there is a good representation of the school as a whole and there is a good understanding of the organisation within the school. “I would also like to be shown that the methods of teaching are successful and modern”. When considering characters Leanne likes to see star vehicles. “I like to see celebrities endorsing the product as it is important to me to know that celebrities use the same products as me.” Leanne said the relatively new advert for Fergies’ new perfume “Outspoken” appealed to her. “I like this advert as the main character is Fergie, unlike the advert for Diesel which use a celebrity that is in no way linked to the fragrance. It also appeals to me as I am a huge black eyed peas fan and would love to be like Fergie.” Leanne claimed she thinks it is important to show work from the students in the department and real life footage from a lesson or of students working productively to give a good representation of the students already in the school. She also said she would like to see the facilities that would be available to her if she was to attend the school. Regarding the last question: Do you think it is important to hear real students opinions throughout the advert and why? Leanne thought it wasn’t necessary to hear their opinions through out the advert as they seem fake and often scripted. However she feels It would be important to be shown that they enjoy their work. She said she feels it would more important to be “told” about the schools exam results and achievements, as it would be important to her to go to a good school that will benefit her learning.
Dianne Platt. Mother of 2. Farsley. Sales Manager.
When looking at high schools for my daughter I was interested to know about the way the school was ran, rewards and punishment schemes, the teaching methods and the previous exam results as my main priority was my daughters education. These would be the factors that would persuade me. In adverts Dianne said she likes to see a mixture but feels it is dependant on the genre to what characters are used. A previous advert that Dianne said caught her eye was the “Milka chocolate” advert. “I enjoyed watching this advert as although the characters were real life animals the comical element made the advert appeal to me. The fact that they were dressing the cows up as different animals was hilarious.” In relation the information that should be shown through the advert Dianne said she would like to see work that has been produced by the students and the facilities that would be available. As my main priority was my daughter’s education, the facilities that would there to benefit her learning and potential to get good grades was very important to be shown to me. In terms of the last question Dianne said she thought it was very important to be shown that the students at the school had something positive to say about it. “This would be important to me as it would suggest a good reputation and community with in the school, which is what I wanted my daughter to be a part of.”
Task 11: (P1, M1, D1)
Set up a focus group and document your results. Pick out some of the more relevant comments and explain how they will help inform your planning. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of running a focus group and how this can affect your results.
A focus group involves showing the programme, product or presenting your idea to a group of people who will fall into the chosen target audience and asking for their opinions.
Focus groups have many advantages. They are quick, cheap ways of collecting information and opinions. They obtain quality, qualitative data. To set up a focus group is relativley easy. Focus groups are better than one-to-one interviews or surveys as they can cause a "chain-reaction" effect, where one person may say something that sparks an idea off with somebody else they may not have thought of without the cue. Focus groups also allow the researcher to use primary data as focus groups are usually recorded. This allows the researcher to use quotes avoiding any manipulation of whats been said therefore making the research valid. A focus group also allows the researcher to accsess people of all ages as a young child may not respond to being in an unfamiliar environment such as an interview, or may not have the skills to succsefully fill out a survey.
However, focus groups also have limitations. One of which is that the participants may not want to express their true opinions or beliefs as they may fear being ridiculed or judged. In contrast to this their may be louder, stronger personalities within the group that may lead and steer the conversation their way. This would lead the other participants to conform and follow the "leaders" ideas. There is also a risk of demand characteristics whereby the participant will give statements they think the researcher is wanting to hear. Another way the results could be invalid is due to the risk of desirability bias, which the participants make themselves look better than they are in front of the researcher and the other participants. If this happened the answers they give would be affected.
The focus group we held consisted of 16-18 year olds of both sexes. We showed them three recent adverts and asked their opinions of them.
These adverts were:
Evian Babies
- 15% of the audience thought that this advert was effective.
- Some of the group found the comedy used in the advert pleasing.
- The audience agreed the music bed was catchy and upbeat to grab the audiences attention.
- Some of the audience were impressed by the use of technology used to create the advert. Whereas some of the focus group found it unrealistic and obviously fake.
- It was noted that the babies were associated with the tag line "Live Young" which also impressed some of the members of the focus group.
- The prosodic features of the adverts tag line "Live Young" are whispered and some of the audience realised that this connotes sophistication. However a member thought that this was contradicting against the upbeat, humourous style of the advert and did not work effectively.
- One member of the group thought that ethnic stereotyping was an issue as the babies from an ethnic minority were portrayed as part of a "gang" and used body language portraying intimidation.
Compare The Market Advert:
-About 75% of the participants thought that this was/is a succsessful advert.
-Some participants thought the advert was becoming overplayed and as a result they developed a negative attitude towards the advert.
-However the audience liked the play on words: 'market' and 'meerkat'.
-They also thought the tag line made the advert memorable.
John Lewis:
- 90% of the focus group thought this advert was effective.
- The viewers liked that the music bed was constant throughout and helped to portray each significant event of the woman's life.
- One of the participants said she liked that the advert had a narrative structure based around a journey.
- Members of the audience thought the transitions used to signify the change of age throughout the advert as it progressed were appropraite and effective.
Task 12:
Consider the advertising codes for TV and pick out one code that you think you must be conscious of when producing your advertisement. Explain why and explain how you will make sure that you do not contravene the code
The code I think we will need to be most conscious of in our advertisement would be Section 7 - Children. Especially the rules regarding pressure to purchase. As we will be using children/student actors in the advert and the primary target audience is children of a similar age.
7.1 Misleading advertising and children
7.2 Food and soft drink advertising and children
7.3.1 Direct exhortation - Advertisers must not directly tell the children to purchase the product or ask their parents to buy them it.
7.3.2 Unfair pressure - Advertisers must not convey a message that implies they will be inferior, dissloyal or will let some one down if they do not use their product.
7.3.3 Children as presenters - Children in adverts must not comment on the product if it is something their peers will not be interested in.
7.3.4 Direct response - Adverts that wish to sell products by mail, phone, e-mail, internet or other electronic media must not be aimed at children
We will avoid breaking these rules by ensuring the advert does not directly tell the audience to take art as their subject in school but encourages them by showing the work produced and the technology available to them. We will also have to ensure there isn't a message implying that any child that does not take art as a subject at the school will be inferior if they do not wish to take it. As we will be using a studnets voice as a voice over we will not have to be too carerfull with rule 7.3.3, but we will have to ensure the voice over is not dictating or does not appear to be forcing anybody to take the subject. As we are not trying to sell a product rule 7.3.4 does not apply to us.
Foot Notes.
1. http://bcap.org.uk/The-Codes/BCAP-Code/BCAP-TV-Code.aspx?q=BCAP Television Code_Section 7 - Children_7.3 Pressure to purchase
Task 13: What type of programme would your advert be placed in between?
To make our advert as sucsessful as possible we would place it between a programme that was aimed at children but one that adults may see aswell. If we wanted their parents to see it aswell it would have to put on at a time most parents would be arriving home from work, on a channel with programmes aimed at children, which would usually be about 5:30pm. This would mean that if we were to broadcast it on Channel 4 it would be between The simpsons and Hollyoaks. [1]
The demographic of the prmiary audience will be that of young and older teenagers, male and females from all over the United Kingdom. However as their parents may see the programme aswell the secondary target audience will be middle aged people, of both sexes again from all over the United Kingdom. The psychographics of the primary audience will show that the audience are mostly students, meaning they won't have any or much income, but as our advert is not trying to sell a product they need to purchase this will not make a difference. However as the primary target audience will include a range of different aged teenages there will be some teenagers watching that will be choosing their high school and some teenagers choosing their GCSE and A-level subjects. The psychographics of the secondary target audience will include traits such as; being parents so therefore want whats best for their children, and will have a house and possibly a mortgage but deffinately bills to pay so maybe not alot of spare income. According to Young and Rubicam's theory I would say the secondary target audience would fit into the succeeders and mainstream catergory and the primary target audience would fit into the explorers category.
[2]Foot Notes:
1. http://www.channel4.com/tv-listings
2. http://www.barb.co.uk/
Task 14 : Produce a record of your initial ideas.
In our production we are going to use the "art, culture and history, elite people or experts, and successful careers," lines of appeal in our advert as art, culture and history is something that will appeal to people who are passionate about art and that are going to be the people most likely to respond to our advert. We will use the "elite people or experts" line of appeal to show the audience the students in the school are hard working, which will appeal to the parents as they will want to know they are sending their children to a good school. We will incorporate the successful careers line of appeal into the advert through the script, by using the tag lines such as; "striving for excellence and daring to be different" and "Take the first steps to your future." The factors of persuasion we will include will be; reward power, referent power and expert power to a degree. Reward power will be used as the advert will promise/imply that the school and the particular department will have great benefits to the audience. Referent power will appeal more to the secondary target audience as ensuring their child goes to a good school that will ensure they have the best facilities and teachers will fit into their value system. Expert power will be used to a certain extent, clips of some of the best artists in the school will be used to signify the worked that is produced through out the department. The advert will not include a narrative as their isn't a story within the advert. Music we will use will be up beat with connotations of happiness, we will use music like this to create a link between enjoyment and art. Characters within our advert will be people who are in their art lessons, there will be shots of them creating their art work. There will be an informal style and mode of address through out the advert to make it more relatable and relaxed to appeal to the audience.
Task 15. Produce treatment for your product.
The advert will not include a narrative as their isn't a story within the advert. Music we will use will be up beat with connotations of happiness, we will use music like this to create a link between enjoyment and art. Characters within our advert will be people who are in their art lessons, there will be quick shots of them creating their art work. There will be an informal style and mode of address through out the advert to make it more relatable and relaxed to appeal to the audience. We will use a range of camera shots. We will use; panning shots, over the shoulder shots, close ups, long shots zooming to close ups and extreme close ups zooming out to mid-shots. Most of the advert will be made up of mid shots as we are going to use a range of still shots of art work. The editing in our advert will be quick, we will use a range of creative transitions such as cross disolve and fade in and fade out to again signify creativity.
Remarks:
Proposed sequence of events.
1. Image of the front of the school, merging to a "sketched" image.
2. Varied effects and shots of artwork and the department,
3. Medium shots and over the shoulder shots of the student completing their art work.
4. A painted version of the school logo again merging into a “sketched” image.
Task 16: Write a report with screen-shots, detailing the equipment and software you will be using and how you intend to use it.
To create our advert we will use a Panasonic DVX-100-B camera. We will capture our shots using a tripod to ensure they aren’t shaky to make the piece look professional and as there will be bright colours and lots of shapes to look at, I think using a shaky effect will make the advert confusing and won’t allow the audience to see the quality of the work being shown.
For the voice over we will use a voice recorder; Edirol R-09 voice recorder. This will make capturing the voice over easier and allow us to re-record it until it is right.
To create the “sketched” version of the front of the school and the logo we used photo shop.
To edit and create the advert we will use i-movie.
For the music bed we downloaded it from a website with professionally produced music. http://www.freeplaymusic.com/
The people involved are students doing their artwork.
Task 17: create a shooting script for you drama and make sure everyone in your production team has a copy.
Task 18: You must create a production schedule, this will help you set some targets and will also keep everybody who is in the production, informed of what is happening when.
Production Schedule.
Filming.
Date Of Shoot. | Comment. | Captured by. | |
4/06/2010 | Establishing shot, panning shots of work on exam boards, and still images; close ups and mid-shots of art work. | 4/06/2010 | |
8/06/2010 | Over the shoulder shots and mid-shots of students doing work. | 8/06/2010 | |
8/06/2010 | Image of front of school. Image of school logo. And create the "sketched" images to overlap. | 8/06/2010 | |
8/06/2010 | Voice over script and record it. | 8/06/2010 | |
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Editing.
Date | Description | Completed | |
11/06/2010 | Upload all clips/sound onto i-movie, and put into sequence, delete unnecessary clips. | 11/06/2010 | |
11/06/2010 | Choose neccessary transitions; fade in, fade out, overlap, cross dissolve and cross fade. Order Voice over. | 11/06/2010 | |
15/06/2010 | Find or create suitable music, adjust sound levels. | 15/06/2010 | |
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Task 20: Complete version of your TV Advert
Task 21. Evaluation.
Audience:
After showing the advert to a group of people we gathered alot of positive feedback. The audience seemed to enjoy the advert, as they all payed attention and did not appear bored or unsatisfied. They all got the preffered reading; "Wow there really is some good art work produced here" and "The voice over works really well as we can see the department being advertised but are also told about the school as a whole and what it has to offer us, which would be a main feature to attract people to the school."
The advert gave positive messages as the music was upbeat and worked well with the transitions. The music bed was cheerful which linked enjoyment with art. Over all I believe the advert wasn't biased as the school, not just the department was represented in a positive way and we did not use any negative sematic fields to put down any other school. The video included both boys and girls, however there weren't any ethnic groups in the advert, this was due to the sample of students we were available to film. The students within our advert were all already in the art rooms, doing their work and were happy to let us film them. The location was very appropriate to the piece as it was set with in the art department of our school.The language we used was informal and basic, to ensure the audience could both relate to it and understand it.
Throughout the process of making the advert we did not come across any technical issues, all the sound levels are accurate and the editing is seemless. The camerawork was ok, however there would be room for improvement, were we to do the task again. As most of the shots were filmed using a tripod the camera wasn't shakey, however some of the shots could not be captured using the tripod and we had to hand hold the camera, these shots aren't completely sterdy. We over came this by rearranging the artwork were possible to capture the shot with the tripod, we also got about 200 shots of different work so we could chose from the best shots. The camera angles and shots vary throughout the advert we used; Extreme close ups zooming out, long shots zooming into extreme close ups, un-focussed images turning to focussed ones, mid shots, long shots, and establishing shots. We also used moving shots; panning and tracking shots to add movement to the advert. When filming the "characters" we used a mid shot, over the shoulder shot and a close up. These all added variety to the advert which kept the audiences attention. We didn't use a microphone as we did not use an interview or any sound, however we used an external voice recorder when recording the voice over.
The fonts and titles in the advert are suitable, the opening images are that of a still image of the front of the school which then is overlapped by the same image with a sketch effect on to create an "art" feel. We also did this on the closing images with the school logo. This created a sense of clarity and continuity. The "sketch effect" also related to the theme of the advert. The title; "art department" also related well to the theme as we created it online with a software that enabled us to write the title using clippings of letters from newspapers, which made it more creative than a font.
The conventions of a genre like this would include; art work, interviews, images of what is being sold/advertised, persuading lexis with in the voice over, people creating art work, teachers teaching a lesson. In a similar product to our own i think the style and mode of address would be the same, I also think the style of music would be similar. I think maybe in a proessional product they would use a narrative, however I believe our advert to be succsesful although it does not include a narrative. The only advantages over us they would have is a bigger team including different people for the different jobs, as we worked in a pair the worked was as evenly distributed between the both of us as we could make it. This ment there was alot of worked to be completed that may not have been one of our strong points. They would also more professional equipment, lighting and refelctors etc. They would also have more time and proffesional actors.
Self evaluation:
In making this product I learnt to work effectively to deadlines and work closely with another person. I also learnt what my strengths and weaknesses are such as; I believe I am better at editing and filming than coming up with the ideas, I also feel I am better at organising work and meeting deadlines after doing this task. I believe I was a good team member as I could help my partner if she had any questions in any of the work she didn't understand and she did the same for me if a subject was her strong point. We also worked well together as we can listen to each other and give positive and negative critiscm to each other. We also used both of our ideas rather than just going with one persons ideas.
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