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TASK 1 - TECHNIQUES IN ADVERTISEMENT
Advert Comparison
Advertising is what companies use to show people products, services or anything else they might be selling. Most companies use television adverts to advertise but adverts appear all around us, billboards, newspapers, radio, public transport, internet etc. Whilst they are usually annoying to see, they need to exist in order to keep companies alive and to ensure that we know about new products.
There are may different types of advertisements, ranging from colourful, happy, in your face children's toy adverts, to slow, dark expensive fragrance adverts. The type of advert depends on who it's aimed at, for example, the advert below is for NERF guns. NERF is a company that sells toy guns for kids. They use soft, harmless foam darts with rubber tips on the end to ensure it's safe for kids.
The advert shows the child having fun which is obviously very important. There's bright, eye-catching text written along the bottom “Make the mailman wish for dogs”, this makes it sound as if the NERF gun is annoying for adults but fun for children. The bright colours of the NERF gun make it clear that it's just a toy but it also looks aesthetically good with its bright blue and orange colour scheme, it will catch the eye of its audience.
The next advert shows an advert for Hugo Boss, a men's fragrance, this advert is the complete opposite of the previous advert. This advert is aimed for an older audience.
Advertising is what companies use to show people products, services or anything else they might be selling. Most companies use television adverts to advertise but adverts appear all around us, billboards, newspapers, radio, public transport, internet etc. Whilst they are usually annoying to see, they need to exist in order to keep companies alive and to ensure that we know about new products.
There are may different types of advertisements, ranging from colourful, happy, in your face children's toy adverts, to slow, dark expensive fragrance adverts. The type of advert depends on who it's aimed at, for example, the advert below is for NERF guns. NERF is a company that sells toy guns for kids. They use soft, harmless foam darts with rubber tips on the end to ensure it's safe for kids.
The advert shows the child having fun which is obviously very important. There's bright, eye-catching text written along the bottom “Make the mailman wish for dogs”, this makes it sound as if the NERF gun is annoying for adults but fun for children. The bright colours of the NERF gun make it clear that it's just a toy but it also looks aesthetically good with its bright blue and orange colour scheme, it will catch the eye of its audience.
The next advert shows an advert for Hugo Boss, a men's fragrance, this advert is the complete opposite of the previous advert. This advert is aimed for an older audience.
The advert is quite sexual, the male model is a handsome, muscular, bearded man with a (presumably) naked woman by his side, suggesting that if you wear the fragrance then you too are this attractive individual. The advert has no colour, it's in grey-scale, making it seem luxurious giving it a more expensive feel which people want. The woman by the man's side is presumably there because the man is wearing the Boss fragrance, and having her there is subtly telling you that 'this is what you could have if you wear it'.
One of the most common types of advert we see on the television is supermarket comparison adverts. These adverts will compare their prices with other supermarkets to try to convince you that they have the better deals. Whilst these adverts all have the same message, they do tell it in different ways, as shown below.
One of the most common types of advert we see on the television is supermarket comparison adverts. These adverts will compare their prices with other supermarkets to try to convince you that they have the better deals. Whilst these adverts all have the same message, they do tell it in different ways, as shown below.
Tesco's advert for example had a catchy song and lots of different products appear on screen, it's a short and hectic advert. It has catchy music so that it sticks in your head, every time you hear the song (or it pops up in your head) you think of the Tesco advert, this is deliberate. There is no voice-over for this advert, just the song and the pictures, this is because it doesn't need a voice-over, the message is obvious and doesn't need to be explained. Tesco's motto is 'Every Little Helps', in this advert Tesco replaces the word 'Little' with a small stack of pound coins - this implies that they are trying to save you money, whilst only a little it still helps, especially long term.
Aldi on the other hand, are much more calm with their advert, they have a calm 'straight to the point' approach', which doesn't force anything onto you and makes the overall message of the advert clear and simple.
This Aldi advert shows a simple price comparison of two boxes of fish fingers. One is cheaper than the other, that's all they want you to focus on. The basic message is 'why pay more?', they're both the same product with the same quantity, it seems common sense to buy the cheaper one and save money. There's no background music, the only sound is the fisherman's voice saying “I like these, and I like these, these ones are cheaper.”. It's a clever advert as the simplicity of it almost mocks the way other supermarkets advertise themselves, whilst all the other supermarkets are listing all the thousands of products that are cheaper here, Aldi is doing so in a much more relaxed way with a simple message that's straight to the point.
The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority)
Every advert must follow the rules and regulations of the ASA in order to broadcast on television. The ASA sets regulations for advertisements, if an advert doesn't meet these regulations then it's not allowed to be broadcast. Adverts can be taken down if they do not meet these regulations; a recent example of this was with an 'American Apparel' advertisement which removed for advertising a back to school range which was deemed inappropriate by many people as the advert had sexual hints in its photos.
Audience appropriateness
When a company wants to advertise to a certain audience it has to make sure their advert is suitable and appropriate for their target audience, for example, an advert advertising boys toys such as toy guns and remote-controlled cars will usually contain over the top heavy rock background music with an over-excited voice-over and some colourful effects, this is to make whatever's being advertised seem excitable and cool and it will draw kids in. Many of these are often shown during holidays like half terms and Christmas where kids can get bored and are expecting presents.
On the other hand, if a company wanted to advertise something technical to the elderly they would do so slowly and in a way as to not confuse them, as the elderly often struggle with modern technology and can find it challenging and complicated. For example, Barclays recently released an advert advertising their 'Digital Eagles'. These Digital Eagles are set up to help the elderly with technology. The advert shows a Barclays Digital Eagle helping an elderly gentleman set up a Facebook page for his football team, he explains the process to him in a way that's simple and understandable. The advert as a whole was quite simple, the elderly gentleman was doing a voice-over explaining how the Digital Eagles helped him and how simple and easy it was.
BECTU
BECTU is a union for film and television crews. The union sets standards to the salary of which the members of the union should be payed. These unions can be joined if you subscribe to them. BECTU stands for Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union.
This Aldi advert shows a simple price comparison of two boxes of fish fingers. One is cheaper than the other, that's all they want you to focus on. The basic message is 'why pay more?', they're both the same product with the same quantity, it seems common sense to buy the cheaper one and save money. There's no background music, the only sound is the fisherman's voice saying “I like these, and I like these, these ones are cheaper.”. It's a clever advert as the simplicity of it almost mocks the way other supermarkets advertise themselves, whilst all the other supermarkets are listing all the thousands of products that are cheaper here, Aldi is doing so in a much more relaxed way with a simple message that's straight to the point.
The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority)
Every advert must follow the rules and regulations of the ASA in order to broadcast on television. The ASA sets regulations for advertisements, if an advert doesn't meet these regulations then it's not allowed to be broadcast. Adverts can be taken down if they do not meet these regulations; a recent example of this was with an 'American Apparel' advertisement which removed for advertising a back to school range which was deemed inappropriate by many people as the advert had sexual hints in its photos.
Audience appropriateness
When a company wants to advertise to a certain audience it has to make sure their advert is suitable and appropriate for their target audience, for example, an advert advertising boys toys such as toy guns and remote-controlled cars will usually contain over the top heavy rock background music with an over-excited voice-over and some colourful effects, this is to make whatever's being advertised seem excitable and cool and it will draw kids in. Many of these are often shown during holidays like half terms and Christmas where kids can get bored and are expecting presents.
On the other hand, if a company wanted to advertise something technical to the elderly they would do so slowly and in a way as to not confuse them, as the elderly often struggle with modern technology and can find it challenging and complicated. For example, Barclays recently released an advert advertising their 'Digital Eagles'. These Digital Eagles are set up to help the elderly with technology. The advert shows a Barclays Digital Eagle helping an elderly gentleman set up a Facebook page for his football team, he explains the process to him in a way that's simple and understandable. The advert as a whole was quite simple, the elderly gentleman was doing a voice-over explaining how the Digital Eagles helped him and how simple and easy it was.
BECTU
BECTU is a union for film and television crews. The union sets standards to the salary of which the members of the union should be payed. These unions can be joined if you subscribe to them. BECTU stands for Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union.
TASK 2 - RESEARCH/PREPRODUCTION
Advert ideas
Zombie Survival Kit - My first idea for an advert is the 'Zombie Survival Kit'. This advert will advertise a 'must-have' survival kit for a zombie apocalypse. The advert will feature the main protagonist - the survivor (you), and two other zombies trying to attack him. The survival kit contains weapons, first-aid and other important survival items, all these items will be shown in the advert. The advert will contain gore, violence and have slight comedic value. The advert starts with the survivor slowly pacing around as a zombie ambushes him from behind. The video then stops as the zombie attacks the survivor and big bold writing appears on the screen - 'tired of being eaten by zombies?'. The next two scenes will be presented in the same fashion, then the survival kit appears on the screen. The narrator tells the audience what the survival kit contains as we see the survivor using the items in the video. The advert will contain a variety of visual and sound effects and will be around 2-3 minutes long.
Zombie Survival Kit - My first idea for an advert is the 'Zombie Survival Kit'. This advert will advertise a 'must-have' survival kit for a zombie apocalypse. The advert will feature the main protagonist - the survivor (you), and two other zombies trying to attack him. The survival kit contains weapons, first-aid and other important survival items, all these items will be shown in the advert. The advert will contain gore, violence and have slight comedic value. The advert starts with the survivor slowly pacing around as a zombie ambushes him from behind. The video then stops as the zombie attacks the survivor and big bold writing appears on the screen - 'tired of being eaten by zombies?'. The next two scenes will be presented in the same fashion, then the survival kit appears on the screen. The narrator tells the audience what the survival kit contains as we see the survivor using the items in the video. The advert will contain a variety of visual and sound effects and will be around 2-3 minutes long.
Cycle Shop - My second idea for an advert is a cycle shop. This advert will advertise a sale at a new cycle shop. The advert will show the reduced prices on bikes, clothing and equipment. The advert will be colourful and have catchy background music. The advert will include an exciting voice-over to increase the drama. I will create a basic logo which I will use for the cycle shop. The cycle shop will be called 'B&R CYCLES' and the motto will be 'The cycle shop'. Putting the 'The' in bold gives it more emphasis and makes people think that it's the place to go if you want cycling gear. I will advertise four bikes and six cycling tops, along with more cycling accessories (helmets, shoes, water bottles etc.) and I will put the prices tags on the pictures because we want people to see how good the prices are.
TASK 3 - PRODUCTION
Production is the file at the bottom of the page marked 'Unit 37 - Task 3'.