Year 10 BTEC Miss Carden - Creative Advertising Techniques

Creative Advertising Techniques:

Advertising techniques are tools. The tools you use to attract attention, engage minds, trigger emotions, and change what people think. All of which can lead to sales. Or votes. Or clicks.

Make a metaphor

Create a symbolic representation of the key idea you want to communicate by using two images or statements that are completely different, but when placed together create a new idea.
You can use words. Or visuals. Or both. You can create a metaphor to represent a characteristic of the brand. Or a feature of the service. Or a benefit of the product.
To create a metaphor, use one thing - a vivid statement or dramatic visual - to suggest another thing - your company, product or service.

Promise a benefit

Promise readers a compelling benefit that the product or service can deliver.
A benefit is something of value to the target audience. Ask, “What can this product or service do for me?” And the answer is a benefit.
The persuasive energy in a benefit ad comes from two characteristics. First is the importance of the benefit to the reader. Second is the specificity of the benefit.
A good example, the headline, “Introducing a washer so gentle it can actually help your clothes last longer."

Mention a problem

Problems. Everyone has them. And some products solve them.
A TV commercial opens with the kids screaming, “We’re hungry, mom!”
A headline reads, “Do you have enough money for retirement?”
This is a technique to grab attention, to engage people who have the problem. Or people who want to avoid getting the problem.

Get really real

Show what people really think. About the opposite sex, their job, or relatives.
Show how people really feel. About money, their spouse, or financial security in old age.
How people really dress and act at home. What people really think about at work? Like sex and petty insults. Depict the attitudes, jealousies, and insecurities that rattle around inside us all.

Create a character

Create a character that adds interest, story value or recognition to your campaign.
Could be an actor playing a role. Or a cartoon character. Or a dead politician. He, she or they are all "created" characters because you define the role they play in the advertising.
While a brand character must represent a characteristic or the personality of the brand. An invented character does not.

Inject dramatic conflict

Create a campaign that uses drama to focus attention, to heighten interest in your message.
The essence of drama is conflict. And that conflict can be between:
Husband vs. wife.
Molly vs. insanity, a struggle with mental health.
Dog vs. mailman.
Teenager vs. her conscience.
Creative Director vs. client.
Your hero should have a goal, an objective, something she really really really wants to achieve. Or has to accomplish to save the planet.
And you might need bad guys, bad creatures, bad luck, bad weather, bad relatives or bad aliens. Come to think of it, bad relatives can be almost identical to bad aliens. But don't use bad politicians or bad lawyers. There are enough of them already.
It's always nice to have a resolution to the conflict, you know, like a happy ending in the movies. But it's not necessary. Because dramatic conflict is essentially a way to engage viewers in your ad.

Exaggerate

Take the basic idea you want to communicate, your concept, and then exaggerate it. Take it to extremes. Push it beyond reason, beyond reality. In the copy. With visuals. Or both.
Exaggerate the benefit. Exaggerate the problem. Exaggerate size, the physical appearance.
Just make sure to exaggerate your exaggeration. Because a BIG exaggeration is interesting, and a powerful way to get communicate your concept. A small exaggeration is simply a misleading ad.

Eye candy

Create a visual so luscious, unusual and striking that it leaps off the screen to grab attention.
Eye candy ads work the same way a Salvador Dali illustration works. These ads stop and engage readers with the look of "Wow. I've never seen anything like that."
Eye candy is the visual equivalent of "Let me show you something new and interesting."
Frequently, the product is the hero in an eye candy ad. But visually rich advertisements can communicate brand characteristics as well. Including a sense of style, an appreciation for fine design, that readers or viewers can associate with.

But usually the creative and persuasive energy lies in the look, the visual. Bang, it grabs and engages eyeballs.
The challenge here is not only creative, but you must also have a generous budget for photography, special effects or image editing.

Make it human

Give human characteristics to your product,
or to something that represents your service.
This technique - personification - can help you create ads that are more interesting, and relevant to viewers. More human and engaging.
You can literally turn the product into a person. Or give it human abilities, such as speech, thought or emotion.
Or go the other way, and blend something about the product into a real person. For example, to depict someone who is a heavy computer user or text message sender, you could show keypad letters embossed on finger tips - and fingertips in the concave shape of the keys.

Make an offer

Make the audience a compelling offer, and tell them exactly how to get it.
This is the essence of direct response advertising. "Hey, Mr. Viewer, Here's what you can get, and here's how to get it."
There are two characteristics that influence the effectiveness of your offer, strength and relevance.
Strength:
"25% off" is stronger than "10% off." "Win a new Toyota 4 Runner" is stronger than "Win a digital camera."
Relevance:
A free brochure offering "10 Ways to preserve the resale value of your new car" is more relevant to people shopping for automobile financing than, "10 ways to protect your good credit."
Be sure to get your offer up front - in the headline or subhead. Put it at the top of the mailer or email. And support it with photos and visuals.
You could save money

This is free.

Check here on the blog for the assessment task details.

Year 11 Exam Topics - Advertising: Coke Zero and Diet Coke

Advertising and Marketing - Audiences. The Coke Zero/Diet Coke thing.

...it's all in the acesulfame potassium. Ace-K, as it's known in the sweetening business, is an artificial sweetener found in Coke Zero, but not in Diet Coke, which is only sweetened with aspartame. And that's the difference, technically. A little variation in taste (due to the sweetener) and actually a tiny difference in the calories (Coke Zero has a little bit less) and you've got 2 drinks for the price of making one, and a diet drink without the word 'diet' - a whole new marketing possibility.

According to studies, men are reluctant to buy diet drinks, which are traditionally marketed at women and have all the associated diet and lifestyle connotations: something the marketers felt wasn't particularly a male thing. Men, though, were increasingly health-conscious; toning and working out in the gym, running and keeping fit, and needed an alternative to 'girly' Diet Coke or the sugar-loaded regular version.

Pepsi had actually stolen a march on Coke with Pepsi Max, launched in Europe in 1993, and aimed at an active, male market (sponsoring the rollercoaster at Blackpool was a good move in terms of reaching out to its target audience) but it was unavailable in the USA because of licensing problems over the ingredients, and so the Coca-Cola company had the opportunity to hit the global market with the same product, assuming that it passed food safety standards at home and abroad. Coke Zero was introduced to a global market in 2006.

Coke Zero advertising: Our Hero/A taste of life as it should be.

This advertising campaign is squarely aimed at a 20-something male audience (with a bit of movement either side of this demographic) through the linked strands of sex, action and explosions. Hitting the love/belonging and esteem needs on Maslow's Triangle (Hierarchy of Needs - see elsewhere on this blog) the ads present 'our hero' in a range of sticky situations (trapped in his girlfriend's apartment with her parents at the door, in a supermarket bumping into his ex and her massive new man, and in a roadside diner dealing with the tricky issue of how to manage the break-up) In each case the problem in the narrative is resolved thanks to Coke Zero: a swig of the cold, zero-sugar delight and the problem is tackled: SWAT teams, exotic new girlfriends, helicopters, pole dancers and the right words all swing into action once Coke Zero has been put into the mix. It is quite a catalyst.

Remember Todorov's theory of narrative from Year 10?

TODOROV’S THEORY – Todorov proposed a basic structure for all narratives. He stated that films and programmes begin with an equilibrium, a calm period. Then agents of disruption cause disequilibrium, a period of unsettlement and disquiet. This is then followed by a renewed state of peace and harmony for the protagonists and a new equilibrium brings the chaos to an end. The simplest form of narrative (sometimes referred to as ‘Classic’ or ‘Hollywood’ narrative).

Well, this fits in quite nicely, and you can apply this thinking to these ads. In each one, the equilibrium is established at the start of the advert, so we know where the ad is staring from and what the situation is. In 'The Morning After' we see 'our hero' in bed with an attractive female, who gets out of bed looking spectacularly glamorous, and goes off for a shower, leaving 'our hero' in bed and with the apartment to himself. This equilibrium is interrupted by a knock on the door and the arrival of 'the parents'. At a loss, and not wanting to be caught there by an increasingly angry father, he turns to Coke Zero for the answer, and drinking from the fortunately positioned bottle in the girl's fridge, sparks the reaction that restores the equilibruim through the intervention of a SWAT team complete with bed making guns and dog silencers! A new equilibrium is established as 'our hero' is swept away in the by a helicopters as huge fireballs explode into the sky.

The mise-en-scene in the opening is important for the message for the message of the advet. The room is messy, with clothes and cushions thrown around everywhere (the results of 'the night before' as suggested by 'the morning after' title of the text?) and plates and food containers and bottles and glasses all round. This sets the narrative up for the audience, and gives a lot of detail in the first ten seconds that place the action and establish the situation.

'Our Hero' is a 20-something man, representative of the target audience, (who are supposed to see themselves reflected here and identify with his situation) waking up in bed with an attractive woman, feeling pleased with himself and naturally drawn to the Coke Zero in the fridge. He is fit looking, (semi-clothed/in his vest) healthy and with just enough designer stubble to make it clear that he's not completely clean cut and perfect. In each of the adverts in this campaign, 'our hero' looks similar - a white male, 20-someting, with a little bit of stubble and messy dark hair, who is drawn like magic to the sugar-free powers of Coke Zero.

The Coke Zero effect is the catalyst that changes a difficult situation into one that can be managed by a swig of Coke Zero. In each advert the narrative pauses while we see the drink travelling into the body, into the bloodstream and sparking of a chain of internal combustions and explosions that shake the central character's world. This sequence is punctuated by a dramatic voiceover and captions explaining how Coke Zero presents 'Life As It Should Be', using film stock and skewed effects to make it clear that Coke Zero has ripped up the old story (film) and created something new, something dramatic, and something designed to appeal to men. 'Our Hero' wins, either escaping the tricky situation or having it change to his favour in front of him, because he has had a sip of a sugar-free drink. Exciting stuff!

There is nothing in the advertisements that promotes the health qualities of this drink, and in no way is it marketed as a diet product. Coke Zero will change your world, rescue you, make you feel good, special and wanted, and make spectacular women (including your ex) offer you no-strings sex. You could argue that this is a fairy simple way of advertising, but mix this up with high budget production and Hollywood style effects, and your audience sit up and take notice. Coke Zero sales have increased significantly (49 percent in 2008) as a result of some clever marketing and hitting the right audience.

This all contrasts nicely, then, with

Diet Coke advertising: 11:30/Diet Coke break

What we've actually studied in lessons is a hybrid of the original 1990s '11:30' Diet Coke ad and the updated version made for a more modern audience.

If the Coke Zero advertisements are aimed at men, then the Diet Coke ads are their polar opposites, aimed clearly and specifically at women. The narratives of the three adverts are very similar: women working in exclusively women-only environments (very empowering - they're not just seen as secretaries, and very different to the stay at home women represented in the Persil ads we have looked at) take a break at a particular time to enjoy and objectify the men on offer to them. From their (and the advertiser's) point of view, the men are there to be looked at and enjoyed, as a break from the cut and thrust of the working day.

The 1990s ad has a fairly straightforward narrative: women working in an office let each other know that it is the crucial time of the day: 11:30. This, however, is not time for an executive meeting, or a gossip session, or even a drinks break of their own to ease the stress of the morning. No, in this case 11:30 is the time the builders working outside take a break, and one in particular (and we are led to assume that this is a fairly regular thing) strips off his t-shirt to enjoy the cooling refreshment that is Diet Coke while the women look on, pressed against the window a few floors up, getting steamier by the minute. The music ('I Just Wanna Make Love to You' by Etta James) played over the video track is not particularly subtle, and gives the viewer a clear indication of how all of these women feel about the diet fizz swigging construction worker lingering over his break time refreshment. Interestingly the women themselves aren't seen enjoying Diet Coke - they enjoy it vicariously, which means through someone else, in this case the exhibitionist builder.

The target audience for this advert are supposed to see themselves in the representations of the working women on the screen - women with important jobs who aren't afraid to enjoy the physical appearance of the object of their collective desires...in the 1990s ad the man is purely objectified - there's no interaction with him, and we don't even know for certain if he knows he is being watched so closely!

In the 2008 update of this advert the same backing track is used, and the message is the same, but the women are much more in control of the situations they create to gaze longingly at whatever Diet Coke guy is featured. In 'Lift' the three women use the opportunity of a Diet Coke break (this time they actually get to drink it) to engineer a situation where, by stopping the lift and getting themselves stuck, they get to have a desirable engineer descend from the roof in front of their very eyes. They have made this happen - they are in charge of the situation and by pressing a button can make a man magically appear!

As repairman descends (dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, just enough stubble and a hint of bare skin above his waistband) the camera lingers on the three women in the lift as they suggestively bite lips, twist hair, run their fingers over their cans of Diet Coke and show quite clearly that they're enjoying the situation they've engineered for themselves. As the lift stops and they step out they put their empty cans in a bin containing nothing but empty cans, suggesting that this kind of Diet Coke lift action is not a one-off. This ad is obviously more subtle than the in-your-face punchiness of the Coke Zero ads, and doesn't suggest that the drink will get you the man, only get you the man to look at.

The final Diet Coke ad has the same sort of message and structure - the impending arrival of the Diet Coke delivery guy (working women can't exist without it) sends the office into a state of alert: buttons are undone, cleavage plumped up, legs extended, skirts shortened and photos of husbands unsubtly flipped face down as the jeans and white t-shirted delivery guy, hot and sweaty because of the hard manual task he has (carrying a couple of crates of Diet Coke up in a lift!) comes into the office, is stared at and lusted over by an all-woman office with electricity in the air, and, after he drains his can, one woman, obviously impressed, even runs her finger up and around the can where Diet Coke guy has been.

There is a sense of humour running through the ads: the delivery guy laughs when he realises just how much he is the centre of attention, and I'm sure that the intention of the adverts wasn't to suggest that no matter how powerful a woman's job, and how impressive her office is, a Diet Coke guy can still make her go weak at the knees. Remember, though, that the uses and gratifications theory suggests that not only can audiences choose how they receive a text, they can also choose what to make of it, and it is possible to read the advert this way.

Even though we're dealing with a couple of soft drinks, essentially the same, the way that they have been packaged, branded and marketed tells us a lot about the target audience the advertisers have focussed on. Sex still sells, in many different ways, and as Media students it's importance to notice the differences in how it does, depending on who you're selling to.

Mr G.



Coke Zero - Supermarket



Coke Zero - The Morning After



Diet Coke - Original '11:30 Diet Coke Break'



Diet Coke - 11:30

Year 11 Exam Topics - Advertising. 'A Woman Alone' [Persil]

'A Woman Alone' is a 1959 advert from Persil (produced by JWT advertising) from a simpler time, when there wasn't the multitude of products on offer, and the sole purpose of a washing powder was to get things white. In an age of black and white television (colour television broadcasts didn't start in Britain until 1967) there was no point in saying that a washing powder got things clean - you couldn't really demonstrate one red shirt being cleaner than another - so you had to sell a product on its whitening power. This you can see -look how the white in the advert stands out against the (untouched by Persil) greys of the shirts around it.

These are the kind of things you need to think about in your analysis, and when considering this advert as part of your case study:
Sound

The advert opens with emotional string music, the kind of thing you would find in a romantic drama, particularly in the 1950s. This is designed to tie in with the love the woman in the advert feels for her family, tied in with the care she shows for them by making sure they're Persil whitened.

The other non-diegetic (coming from outside the original recording) sound consists of a male voice over, speaking formal standard English using a RP accent (received pronounciation) This gives him authority, and is designed to make the audience for the advert believe in what he says. He is someone to trust, because he speaks well and is a man. All experts in advertising land at this time were men - this was where the power lay.

The actual words he speaks are:

"This woman is alone...yet not alone. Even though her family may be apart from her, they are still a part of her. Being judged by the care she takes of them. Being judged by how white she keeps their clothes. Being judged by the care she takes of them. Being judged by that same whiteness. So Persil is part of her strength, and their happiness. As a mother she uses Persil. As a wife, she uses Persil. Persil washes whiter."

There are some very interesting messages here: look at how the word 'judged' is used - the advert seems to suggest that she is failing in her duty as a wife and a mother if she doesn't use Persil - she will be letting herself down! The voiceover plays on a woman's guilt: only Persil can save her from the scornful looks of the world (and the other Persil mums who are smug in the knowledge that they 'wash whiter' and are looking after their families properly.

Mise-en-Scene

The physical context of the advertisement is clear: the woman is in a clearly ordered kitchen with neat cups and crockery arranged on the dresser, on the sink, and on the dining table where she is in the process of arranging her kitchen. The table is set, and the kitchen sink is clear in the background, firmly placing her as in role as a woman in her natural place - in the kitchen. Her hair and make up is simple and unfussy, and she is not made a sex object either by her make up or clothes: she is dressed in a unrevealing jumper and an apron - hardly the stuff of glamorous dreams! The product is featured in close up so it is foregrounded, but it isn't shown in use...the advert is not selling the practicalities of washing in Persil, but its results.
School and office locations are both represented as being ordered and calm environments. Colours are toned to allow the 'Persil whiteness' of the clothes highlighted to stand out.

Facial Expressions/Body Language

The central character is often shown looking downwards, either at the soft toy in her hands or in close up, making her drift off and think of her family with a dreamy smile on her face. She doesn't look at or challenge the camera, and she doesn't invite the camera to look directly at her. She is not provocative, but could be seen to be submissive, lowering her eyes, and knowing her place. Even though she is doing boring domestic tasks, the look on her face suggests that she enjoys this and enjoys fulfilling her role as a woman, wife and mother, and it is these last two (the wife and mother roles) that define her as a woman.

Sequence
1. Long shot of kitchen to show domestic setting. Woman clearing up breakfast table. She then picks up child's toy.
2. Cut to close up of her face as she thinks of her child.
3. Cut to close up of child's face with the same dreamy expression. Camera zooms out to show child is obviously in school, sat at a desk by a window. She seems to be wholesome, good, and well behaved, clean and attractive. She is sat next to another pupil whose shirt is noticeably less white. Shot ties in with the words of the voiceover 'being judged...'
4. Cut back to mother's face with loving/longing expression.
5. Cut to husband in an office behind a desk. Juxtaposed (put against) colleague wearing a shirt that is less than gleaming white. He notices this and looks concerned at the grey of his own sleeve in contrast to his colleague's
6. Cut to Persil product being put on a cupboard shelf by female hand. Camera pans to woman's contented and downward gazing face.
7. Zoom out to long shot showing the kitchen. Woman gazes lovingly at her husband and puts her arm through his. They smile at each other and wander over to well behaved and calm child who is playing with bricks on the table. Both parents add a brick and the child completes the pyramid, showing family unity. Child looks happy.
8. Cut to close up pack shot of product with bubbles in background, suggesting sparkle/cleanliness.

Narrative
The narrative or story of the advert is actually quite straightforward. The 'Woman Alone' of the title is not actually alone, because she is always with her family thanks to the magical properties of Persil. By dressing them in gleaming white she is showing her care for them. She is first shown alone, in the kitchen (is this a woman's place?) and then we see what her family are up to without her: her daughter is well behaved at school and rewarded for it, and her husband lights up the office (all thanks to her care). Back at home, the woman is joined by her husband, and then child, in building a pyramid of bricks that symbolise their family unity, and the glue that holds the family together and makes it so strong is the care she shows through the use of Persil.

Representation
This is the interesting one. For a modern audience this advert raises a lot of questions, and it is ripe for exploring. Does it reinforce the stereotype that a woman's place is in the home? Why? What is the woman's role here? How does this differ from that of her husband? Why does she keep looking down in such a submissive way? Is this all her life should revolve around, and should she be content with this? Is this the ideal woman, someone other women should aspire to be. Obviously this doesn't really fit with a modern view of the world, and a 1950s reading of the text would probably be much different, but are there echoes of this world view (and this hegemony) in the Persil advertising website? Bear all these questions in mind when you go into your exam, and you'll ace it!

Mr G.

Year 10 BTEC Homework - assessment task

BTEC Unit 7

Advertising promotion

Assignment 2

Analyse an existing Moving Image and Print advert for the same product. Go for a campaign and chose a TV ad and a print ad that are linked through the same campaign. Use the guidelines we worked through in class for the print ad analysis, (available on the blog – www.chorltonmediabox.blogspot.com) and then work through these similar criteria for the TV ad. There are lots of similarities, but obviously in moving image adverts Action, Narrative and Sound are crucial.

You need to present this as a PowerPoint presentation: your ICT skills will be crucial here. This is an important assessment for your BTEC unit and needs to be done to the best of your ability.

Deadlines: BTEC Diploma (MGA) Tues 15th Dec - you will be presenting them during the lesson.
BTEC Certificate (MGA) Thurs 18th Dec - you will be presenting them during the lesson.

Analysing Moving Image Adverts

Think about and discuss these areas:

Narrative – what is the story of the advert? Does it tell a story, or is it just a creative imaging of the product? (**it is unusual for there to be no story at all) How is this narrative designed to appeal to the audience?

Audience – what is the audience for the product? How do you know? Give as strong a picture of the audience as you can: age, sex, interests, social groups... Some adverts are targeted at a wide demographic, others are for niche products with a much narrower target audience.

Camera work and Editing – how is the advert edited? Does the audience see short, snappy shots, or does the camera linger? What kind of cuts and fades are used? How does the camera move in the advert? What angles and shot types do we see here? What is the effect on the audience?

Sound – what do we hear in the advertisement? Is it diegetic (actual sounds for filming, such as dialogue) or non-diegetic (sounds added in editing)? What is the effect of this on the audience? How does it link to the product?

Lighting – How is are the scenes lit? Is it bright? Dark? what are the meanings of this?

Colour – what is the significance of the colours used in the advert? (ie. red=danger/sex/passion, green=calm/peace, black=darkness/evil/mystery, white=good/peace, blue=cold/mystery, purple=passion/luxury/wealth, gold=rich/luxury...)

Representation – who or what is being represented in this advert? is this a fair and accurate representation? (based on what you know of the world)
Mise-en-scene – what props and other items are in the advert? what is their meaning? Why have they been put there?

and importantly...

What is the USP (unique selling point) of the advert? What’s special about what it’s selling?

Year 11 GCSE Exam - Persil Website

Persil Website

To go along with your own notes, I have annotated 5 pages from the site - use this as you revise to get your head round how Persil are advertising their products. We may have moved into the 21st century, but there are still clear similarities with their mum-focussed adverts of the 1950s and early 60s. Are Persil reinforcing traditional values and supporting women, or are they creating stereotypes and making a woman's place clear?

Mr G.

BTEC Unit 7 - Writing The Proposal

Unit 7: Advertising Production
Writing the Proposal

The proposal is a document in which you set out your ideas to sell to your client. This is your opportunity to show that you understand the product you are selling and the target audience this advert is being aimed at.

You should make sure your proposal covers these issues:

1. What is the advertisement for? In the introduction to your proposal, make sure that you show that you understand the product you are advertising, and give a brief description of it.

2. What shape will the campaign take? Explain the thinking behind producing the TV advert, magazine advert and billboard. Why is this the right choice for your client? What is the slogan for your advert? Remember that in this early stage you are persuading them.

3. Who is your target audience? How have you identified them? How will you make sure that your campaign gets the right audience for your client’s product?

4. What is the current market for this product? Who are the major competitors for this?

5. The TV advert. Give an outline of what you are going to show in the advert? What is the audience going to see and hear, and how is the advert going to sell the product to the target audience. You will need to describe the proposed advert in detail, along with your choice of music and any text planned to be shown. At this stage you don’t need a detailed storyboard/script, but you will need to make it clear that you know exactly what you are doing – your client will want lots of details during the pitch.

6. The magazine advert. Give an outline of what you are going to show in the magazine advert, and how this is going to persuade your client’s audience to buy their product. What is the main image of the advert, and how is this important? What text (copy) is there going to be on the advert, and how is this linked as a campaign to the TV ad? What does it have in common? What colours etc. are you going to use? Why?

7. The billboard advert. Give an outline of what you are going to show in the billboard advert, and how this is going to persuade your client’s audience to buy their product. What is the main image of the advert, and how is this important? What text (copy) is there going to be on the advert, and how is this linked as a campaign to the TV and magazine ad? What does it have in common? How does your campaign slogan fit in here? Remember that the billboard ad will need to be striking – people may not have the opportunity to stop and linger as they see the advert, so it will need to grab their attention instantly.

8. Placement. Explain to your client in the proposal where you are going to place the advertisements and why you have selected these platforms.

9. How you are going to do it. Make it clear to your client that you have a clear idea of how you are going to make the advertisements. Try and make this a ‘real world’ scenario, so this seems as real as possible.

10. Budget. Give your client an estimated budget – they need to know how much this is going to cost them.

11. Timescale. How long do you expect the production process to take? When are you going to have an artefact ready for your client to evaluate?

The proposal needs to be a detailed document, and you need to demonstrate that your advertising agency knows what it is doing, and is able to handle this kind of work. It is a big deal, and it is important that you get it right.

Year 11 GCSE Homework

Deadline: Monday 23rd November

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Using the notes I gave you in the lesson, and focussing on the triangle,

Watch a range of adverts on TV or online.

Think about how they fit the needs identified in Maslow's Hierarchy

Find an example advertisement for each level of need, and write a couple of paragraphs for each advert explaining how it meets this need.

Deadline - Monday 23rd November

Social Value Groups Scale - Year 11 GCSE

Based on Maslow's Heirarchy of needs (see earlier post), this scale identifies social groups that exist in the UK - these groups form useful consumer groups for advertisers to target, alongside the NRS groups.

insight social value groups (uk)

The insight Value Group Ltd carried out a vast study of UK social values and change, and upon its findings established this social value scale. It draws heavily from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. This is the Insight Value Group scale, which claims to be an accurate representation of the groups that exist in the UK today.

social value group characteristics

self actualisers

focused on people and relationships, individualistic and creative, enthusiastically exploring change, 'in a framework of non-prescriptive consideration for others'

innovators

self-confident risk-takers, seeking new and different things, setting their own targets to achieve

esteem seekers

acquisitive and materialistic, aspiring to what they see are symbols of success, including things and experiences

strivers

attaching importance to image and status, as a means of enabling acceptance by their peer group, at the same time holding onto traditional values

contented conformers

wanting to be 'normal', so follow the herd, accepting of their circumstances, they are contented and comfortable in the security of their own making

traditionalists

averse to risk, guided by traditional behaviours and values, quiet and reserved, hanging back and blending in with the crowd

disconnected

detached and resentful, embittered and apathetic, tending to live in the 'ever-present now'

It is unlikely that advertisers will specifically target the disconnected group, who don't show much interest in...well, anything, but all the other groups should be identifable in the target audiences for the adverts you are studying. Being able to talk about the insight Scale will boost your chances of getting good grades in the advertising exam.

NRS Social Demographics GCSE Year 11

The NRS grades are a useful tool to use when analysing advertising, particularly when focussing on audiences, and deciding which group is being targeted by a particular advertiser. You will need to know these catergories when going into your exams - this kind of stuff gets you grades!

NRS social grade

The NRS social grades are a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom. They were originally developed by the National Readership Survey in order to classify readers, but are now used by many other organisations for wider applications and have become a standard for market research.

The grades

The classifications are based on the occupation of the head of the household

Grade - Social class - Chief Income Earner's Occupation

A - upper middle class
Higher managerial, administrative or professional.

B - middle class
Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional

C1 - lower middle class
Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional

C2 - skilled working class
Skilled manual workers

D - working class
Semi and unskilled manual workers

E - Those at the lowest levels of subsistence
Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the welfare state for their income

The grades are often grouped into ABC1 and C2DE and these are taken to equate to middle class and working class respectively. Only around 2% of the UK population identifies as upper class, and this group is not included in the classification scheme

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - GCSE Year 11

One of the important theories that you need to get your head round for your advertising exam is Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs.

Abraham Maslow was a psychologist that came up with a theory dealing with the hierarchy of human needs. Advertisers are aware of this theory, and the products that they offer can be shown to meet one of the categories Maslow has listed in his hierarchy of needs: there is no point trying to appeal to an audience and persuade them that they should buy the product if it does not fulfil one (or possibly more) of these needs. And if advertisers know which need they should appeal to, it will be that much easier to market to their target consumers.

The first level on Maslow's hierarchy deals with physiological needs. These are the most basic necessities that humans require to survive. Food, water, shelter, and oxygen all fall into this category, along with sleep, activity and other inevitable human functions.

If the product or service has to do with a basic need, your main problem is getting the customer to buy from you instead of your competitors. Everybody needs food, so why would potential customers be more inclined to buy lunch at your restaurant instead of the burger bar across the street? Perhaps you have lower prices, better quality, faster service, or a more comfortable environment than they do. It is important to stress that what YOU offer holds certain advantages over the customers' other choices.

The next stage of human need deals with safety and security. Turn the TV on for five minutes, and see how many ads about insurance, retirement plans, banking, investment or home alarm systems play during the ad break. Advertisers need to think how would the use of their product initiate feelings of safety and stability in their customers' lives? These factors would be the main selling points.

The third tier of Maslow's hierarchy is the love and belonging step. We have all felt the desire to be closer to our families, to have more friends, or to find a significant other.

Appealing to these desires is useful if you run a personals web page or a own a club. Tell your prospects about the great interactions they will have if they try your service, and use testimonials from customers past. Hearing about great results from former clients is a great way to get new buyers. Look at the number of ads you see for dating websites, for phone companies promoting staying in touch or for products that will bring you friends. These all fall into the third level of need.

Maslow's next area of human need deals with esteem. One area of esteem needs calls for recognition from others, status, attention, and recognition. The other area hits a little closer to the self, involving self respect, confidence, competence, independence and achievement.

I am reminded of a shampoo commercial in which the lead actress walks through an office building with the admiring eyes of many workers following her around. At the end, she walks into a board meeting and states that she doesn't even work for the company, and all the attention must be the result of her shampoo.

The last tier of Maslow's hierarchy is called the self actualisation level. Ever heard the army slogan "Be all that you can be"? This is an appeal to the self actualisation needs of human beings. Approaching people at this level of the hierarchy involves inviting them to live up to their full potential as a hard working, motivated member of society. You can become a better person, and make the world (or your world) a better place because of this.

Think of the adverts you see on TV, and come up with an example for each level of need. Write a couple of paragraphs about how this advertisement fits into the hierarchy and meets its particular need.

Reading an Advert: Detailed Analysis

Head and Shoulders - Yearbook

The main image is a 1960s yearbook or school photo, tied in with the ‘since 1961’
slogan displayed with the product [Head and Shoulders shampoo]

The image is distressed, possibly using image editing software, and looks old, with white flecks over the central image of the young man. The fact there is a strong possibility that this is a modern image created especially for this advert means that the distressed effect is significant here, and is important for the overall message of this advertisement.

These white flecks are quite cleverly used to represent dandruff – important for an anti-dandruff shampoo, although their original reading would be as signs of photo age.

His hair, however, is glossy, shiny, healthy looking and free of white flakes, showing how effective the product is at clearing dandruff.

This advert suggests that Head and Shoulders has been clearing dandruff since 1961, and is still doing so effectively now, so the product has the benefit of being proved to work historically.

The lighting is subdued and represents studio lighting as it would appear at the time – the light is coming from the left, and the subject is clearly lit.

The colours are given a washed out, aged effect, to make the ad seem as if it is using an authentic 1960s picture. There is no way of knowing if this is the case, but it what they want us to believe.

The subject is dressed in 1960s school or college uniform: navy blazer, light blue shirt (with massive collars!) and dark blue tie, making it feel authentic.

In terms of mise-en-scene, there is nothing added to the picture apart from the studio backdrop to make it clear that this is a studio portrait.

The representation here is of someone who has dandruff/flake free hair. Whether this is actually true or not is open to interpretation, but that is what the advertisers want us to believe, and this is due to using ‘Head and Shoulders’(although it doesn’t actually say it - we have to read the connotations of the advert to work this out)

The USP (unique selling point) is obviously that Head and Shoulders keeps your hair flake-free, and has been doing so since 1961, meaning that it is a tried and tested product, and one that you can believe in and trust in to do the same for your hair.

Task - Apply the same techniques of analysis to your own print advertisement. Use the guidelines (available on this blog) to annotate your own advert, then turn your findings into a 500 word written analysis of your advertisement.

Analysing Adverts

Kelloggs Bran Flakes - Chris Hoy

Following on from his Olympic success, triple gold medal winning cyclist Chris Hoy was used by Kelloggs to advertise their Bran Flakes breakfast cereal. He promotes a healthy, successful lifestyle, and is ideally placed to be an aspirational figure: if you eat Bran Flakes, you’ll be just like him, the way he is standing emphasises his muscular physique, and the Union Jack background suggests that British is best, and that a healthy British breakfast is the breakfast of champions.

The copy ‘I believe The French have pastries for breakfast’ is used to suggest that the British way is Better, and uses patriotism to promote the product. The slogan ‘Are you built on Bran Flakes?’ is aimed directly at the audience, suggesting that if they eat Bran Flakes they could be like this.

Hoy is the central figure in this piece, and is looking directly at the camera (and at the audience) while the product itself is in the key bottom right Corner. Hoy’s signature suggests that he personally endorses the product.

Persil - Terrifying Tiger

Persil adverts are especially well known for targeting women as consumers: they know that women do most of the washing in the home, and that if anyone is likely to buy cleaning products it will be them.

This advert uses the central image of a happy, crawling child to grab the audience’s attention, and appeal to the maternal instincts. The child is reaching out of the image towards the viewer, and the shot is angles slightly to make the child appear more balanced. He is in bright, clean clothes, even when crawling around the garden,
suggesting that the product (Persil) will be able to deal with the stains.

The slogan at the bottom; 'Tough on stains. Sensitive on skin.’ reinforces this and suggests that the child’s skin will be safe with Persil, an idea backed up by the copy at the top of the page designed to promote an emotional reaction from the audience (awwww!). The colours orange and black tie in with the tiger theme: the advert uses metaphorical language (he’s not really a tiger!) to make the child seem strong, healthy, clean and safe (all thanks to Persil!)

Disneyland - Escape

This is a very clever advert, as it’s aimed at parents but shows an active child doing what it wants – wrapping up the monster under the bed! She is in charge of her own actions, and what she clearly wants, shown by her looking directly at the camera in a challenging way, is to go to Disneyland, where she can escape the bad dreams and swap them for good ones. Disney are using the guilt factor here, as well as pushing the idea of escape. The blue light coming through the window gives a magical, dreamy quality, just like Disneyland!

Allure Homme Sport - Sailing

65-70% of all men’s fragrances are bought by women, and 30% claim to buy it for their own use, according to a recent survey! This means that the majority of men’s fragrance ads are aimed at women, as they are the target consumer, and not the men the product is designed for.

Women buy these products for many reasons: to get their men to smell nice is one of them but the main one may well be that if they buy (in this case) Allure Homme Sport and spray it on their man, they may well end up looking like this.

Here the man is framed in a close up shot, with his hair messed up and his eyes hidden behind his fringe. He is looking directly at the camera and is holding the gaze of the audience (or the female consumer, who is thinking about getting some for her man, or for her) The shadows falling across his face give him a look of mystery or ‘allure’, and he is shirtless, adding to his sex appeal. The picture is in black and white, which makes it seem arty and sophisticated, promoting the idea that this is a ‘classy’ product. The product itself is in the key position at the bottom right of the advert, and is copy in itself – there is no other text needed.

Lynx - Get Dirty

The central image of this advert is very significant in terms of the message behind the product: a shower gel aimed at men. The woman is faceless, meaning that the audience’s view is on her body, which fills the whole frame.

She is covered in mud, with the words ‘wash me’ written on her stomach, and she is suggestively standing with her hand in the waistband of her underwear.

This is a product aimed at men, and yet we don’t see the product in use as it is designed, suggesting another purpose for this! The soft blue lighting is designed to make the image seem more alluring, tempting the (male) audience to wash her to see what happens. The product itself is featured in the key position, and is accompanied by the slogan ‘Get Dirty’ which in this case has obvious connotations.

Lynx have been quite clear in their advertising strategy, targeting the 15-35 age group almost exclusively through advertisements promoting action and sex.

GCSE Year 10 Media - Film Posters

Film Promotion 1

Film Posters

Posters and trailers have been used to promote films for many years, but the nature of film marketing and promotion has changed rapidly in recent years. Posters are a vital part of the marketing process, and appear in magazines, newspapers, on bus shelters and buses, and on billboards for big releases.

Film poster conventions:

• An eye catching image or images – often related to characters (and the stars of the film) or the setting of the film

• The title of the film carefully constructed in terms of font style, colour, size and placement. A lot of thought goes into the title – it is meant to be memorable and suggest the genre of the film.

• A tagline for the film – like a catchy slogan of an advertisement – offering another clue to the genre and main themes or content of the film.

• The names of well known or key people connected to the film. These are usually actors but may be the director or the producer if they are significant enough to deserve it.

• Endorsements from other media productions (such as Empire Magazine) giving their comments…’5 stars…Unmissable!’

• Details of any award nominations or awards that it has already won. These will be placed clearly on the poster

• The production blurb – info in tiny print that lists the production and distribution companies as well as other information.

BTEC Unit 7 Task 1 (Certificate and Diploma)

This is the first homework task (already set for MGA groups - LCA group watch this space...)

You are going to be able to access the higher levels by going into lots of detail - use as much technical advertising language and examples as you can.

Assessment Task 1

Consider the following 3 advertising scenarios and answer the questions (a) to (d) below.

1. A company has developed a hand held console that can be linked to two or more other consoles. It has been designed for high speed gaming and will be sold at low cost.

2. A low cost airline wants to develop their market in fun holidays designed to appeal to the young adult market. One of the key features of the holidays is late night partying in bars and clubs.

3. A toy company wants its talking robot to become the top toy this Christmas. The toy is priced at more than £200.


(a) Describe the target audience for each of the three products.
(b) Discuss the most effective form of advertising for each product
(c) Produce an initial outline of the advertising techniques you would use to advertise each of these products.
(d) Explain why you chose these techniques.

Assessment evidence

P: Describe the kind of advertisements and advertising techniques you would use

M: Discuss the kinds of advertisements and advertising techniques that you would use, using appropriate examples

D: Critically discuss the kinds of advertisements and advertising techniques you would use.

GCSE Year 11 Advertising: analysis

This is pretty much the same as some of the BTEC groups have been doing for their Advertising Production module, but this is a useful way of checking what you should be looking at when you are deconstructing and decoding adverts, especially print ones...

Analysing Adverts
There are many factors to consider when analysing an advertisement :

Image – what is the central image of the advert. What does it make you think? How has it been framed, edited and cropped?

Text – what words are used in the advertisement? Do they anchor the image (give meaning to it)? What effect do they have on the audience?

Lighting – How is the image lit? Is it bright? Dark? what are the meanings of this?

Colour – what is the significance of the colours used in the advert? (ie. red=danger/sex/passion, green=calm/peace, black=darkness/evil/mystery, white=good/peace, blue=cold/mystery, purple=passion/luxury/wealth, gold=rich/luxury...)

Audience – what is the target audience for this advert? how do you know?

Representation – who or what is being represented in this advert? is this a fair and accurate representation? (based on what you know of the world)

Mise-en-scene – what props and other items are in the advert? what is their meaning? Why have they been put there?

and importantly...

What is the USP (unique selling point) of the advert? What’s special about what it’s selling?

GCSE Year 10 Coursework 1 - Music Videos

The first GCSE coursework task for this year is on Music Videos - you need to use your lesson notes to (a) create a storyboard and outline for a new music video for a genre of your choice, and (b) write an analysis of a music video. The coursework sheet I gave you is reproduced here, so make sure you go through it carefully.

May the Force be with you.

Mr G.

GCSE Media Coursework 1

The Coursework consists of two tasks:

• Analyse a music video. How does it appeal to its target audience? (500-700 words)

• Present you own ideas for a music video for a song aimed at a specific audience. Ideas should be presented in storyboard form using drawings and writing to represent what is seen on screen. It is important that this is a detailed and clear piece of work.

• Basic Details. Who is the artist/band, what is the name of the song, and when was it released? Who directed the video?

• What type of video is it? Illustration, Amplification or Disjuncture? How do you know? Explain, using examples.

• What is the narrative of the story? Give a brief summary of what you see on the screen. Don’t write too much here – your task is not to tell the story, but to analyse the video.

• What genre is the video? How do you know? What features make it fit into this genre?

• How does the camera work make the video appeal to the audience? What shots are used? What impact does this have on the viewer?

• How is the video edited? Is there lip synching/performance happening, or is there a completely separate audio track? What impact does this have on the video, and how does an audience respond to this?

• How important are the lyrics to the video? Print a copy of the lyrics to help with your analysis. Does the video relate to the lyrics directly or indirectly?

• Is there any intertextuality? (This means that the video refers to another video – perhaps taking ideas from a film or similar video)

• Your overall interpretation. What is your response to the video? How does it appeal to you? Do you think this is a successful video, and why?