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?