Analysis of 2 Television Adverts
Evian Roller-Babies Advert
There are 2 lines of appeal clearly evident in this advert; dreams and fantasy and comedy and humour. The dreams and fantasy appeal is obvious in this advert, as it is unreal for a baby of around 9 months to be walking and dancing never mind rollerblading. This helps along side the comedy and humour factor as this is what makes the advert funny to watch. The un-realism of the advert makes the audience more intrigued as to what they are going to do next. The comedy and humour appeal makes the viewer want to watch the advert over and over again, therefore allowing Evian to broaden their brand and product awareness. This advert definitely makes the viewer want to go out and buy Evian water. If they were to be in a shop and had to choose, I believe that Evian would be the one as this advert automatically comes to mind when you see the Evian logo which would encourage the viewer to purchase their product over any others due to the fact that their advertisement had a real comedy factor and is very memorable. The target audience for this advert I believe is parents of young babies. This is because they are using young babies in their advertisement and with the use of technology are making them do things that are impossible. This makes the parents amazed as to what these babies on the advert are doing and what their own can not possibly do. I also believe that it’s targeted at a much younger audience; children aged 8-15. This type of advert would definitely attract them, the comedy and humour appeal would attract them most. Evian are encouraging more people to drink water and this advert could suggest that drinking Evian water will make you feel younger and be able to do the things the babies on the advert are doing. Therefore, targeting an advert like this to children around the ages of 8-15 will encourage them to buy their product to drink more water and become healthier.
In regards to the factors of persuasion, I think the one that is most evident is reward power. This isn’t obvious in the advert, however I think that Evian are trying to suggest that buying their product and drinking their water, you’re going to feel as young and fresh as the babies on the advert. As well as this, the fact that the babies are rollerblading which in real life is impossible, it suggests that they will be able to do the impossible also.
Pepsi Max – ‘Oh Africa’ Advert
Again, like the previous advert there are 2 lines of appeal in this advert; comedy and humour and dreams and fantasy. The comedy and humour in this advert are things such as when one of the football players gets lost in the African wilderness as well as when the players try to trick the African citizens who have all formed the man-made pitch; he stops so they stop and he pretends to go which makes them also move. The use of 3 world-class football players in this advert is one of the biggest key attractions to this advert, especially for any football fan. Without these in it, I believe that this advert would be less interesting to watch and wouldn’t have had the success it has without them. The dreams and fantasy appeal is evident as it is obviously every young child’s dream to play football with a world-class professional. This obviously wouldn’t happen in real life, but the fact that it has happened in this advert, suggests that Pepsi Max can make dreams come true. The target audience of this advert I believe is any football fan any age, but in particular boys around the age 10-13. This is because the young boys in this advert are of around that age therefore it makes the audience watching it aspire to be like them.
In regards to the factors of persuasion, I think that the most evident one is star power. This is when the use of a celebrity figure is associated with the product. This helps to create a bigger brand awareness for the product been advertised as they will recognize the product and associate it with the advert with the celebrity figures in it therefore encouraging the audience to buy the product. This advert has a massive star power with having some of the biggest names in football present in the advert, so close to the world cup, which is going to be held in Africa.
Task 2
Making Reference to a range of the narrative structures outlined above, write a detailed analysis of the different narrative structures employed and try to explain why they have been used to help sell the product.
Guinness – Evolution Advert
This advert is quite clearly one of a non-linear narrative as the story is going backwards through time as to how they got there through the evolution process. It is one big flashback which straight away tells you that the narrative is non-linear. This straight away grabs the attention of the viewer as they are seeing history revealed right in front of them and as to how life was formed. This makes them want to watch all the way to the end of the advert. The pattern of this narrative is definitely a journey as we see the journey taken from the start of evolution to the very end, however we see backwards. As well as this, the narrative is very anti-realist as it is suggesting that by drinking Guinness the viewer is going to go back into time t the beginning of evolution, however this is not going to happen and instead this is used simply for the entertainment of the audience. Lastly, most narratives link to both Propp and Todorov’s Theories however in this advert there are clearly no links to them. This is because they follow none of the conventions and this was likely to of been done on purpose to make their advert individual and different to others.
Cheryl Cole – L’Oreal Advert
This advert is most definitely a linear/sequential structure, as the information shown in the advert is in chronological order. The main reason for this is because an advert is anything from 30 seconds to a minute long which therefore doesn’t give enough time for an unconventional/non-linear structure. The narrative is also realist as the advert is based around a problem which occurs in a women’s day-to-day life of wanting the best hair they possibly can. As we see, the ending of the advert is what is called a closed ending as it makes the viewer feel that they should be rushing out to buy the product as the ending tells them exactly what is expected. The pattern of the narrative in this advert could be journey as it shows Cheryl Cole’s journey of using the product and her becoming healthier and better looking the more she uses it; however there is also an element of a search/investigation as it is showing Cheryl in her search for the best hair. In terms of Todorov and his theory I think that a resolution is evident as L’Oreal only name their product, instead of naming products that the viewer shouldn’t use, otherwise this would lead to confusion as to what is been advertised, therefore the resolution was to have all of the attention on the L’Oreal product and as to how good their product is. In terms of Propp’s Theory I think that Cheryl Cole plays the role of the damsel-in-distress. It’s almost as though she has been rescued by L’Oreal and their hair product and she no longer has bad hair. Finally, the advert does incorporate factors of mental subjectivity as you hear Cheryl’s thoughts and opinions on the product as to how she uses it and how it has helped her hair.
Task 3
Forms of Advertising
There are many different forms of advertising. Some of the most common forms are referred to as ‘Talking Heads’, ‘Documentary’ and ‘Animation’. The animation form of advertising can include things such as bringing cartoon characters to life by adding them into advertisements with real people and communicating as though they are real; using play-dough models such as ‘Wallace and Gromit’ or using technology that allows animation to produce something that is un-real such as the Evian roller-babies advert.
‘Surreal’ & ‘Parody’ are forms of advertising that are used less often. An e.g. of a surreal advert is the ‘Dell – Lollipop Advert’. Surreal is when we see things that are unlikely to happen which is why this type of advert entertains viewers somewhat more than others. This advert shows a bunch of factory workers singing and dancing whilst at work where the machines are doing extraordinary things that don’t happen in real life. The help of a well known music bed song also makes the audience watch and listen, if not sing along to this advert. This helps to create an awareness of the advert and the product been sold, therefore Dell are achieving their target; to create brand awareness. An example of an advert that using a parody advertising form is the ‘Head and Shoulders’ advert. Adverts that use this form are those that ‘mock’ a specific style of an advert and use this to sell their product.
The ‘Elnette Hairspray’ advert that Jennifer Aniston stars in, we see a mixture of these forms of advertising. Some advertisements take on more than one form to make them that little bit different to ones that stick to one form. In this advert we see a form of animation. This is because we see Jennifer Aniston floating in the air. This suggests that hairspray is nice and light on the hair which will encourage the viewers to purchase this product. As well as this; the ‘Talking Heads’ form is used as Jennifer speaks directly to the camera about the product. This allows the audience and Jennifer to create a more personal relationship and feel as though they have something in common when it comes to this hairspray which again will make the viewer want to go out and use this product. In this case, this advert is effective overall as the use of a well known celebrity and the multiple forms of advertising help to attract the attention of the audience and keep them intrigued.
The ‘Talking Heads’ form of advertising can be very effective, especially when a celebrity figure is used. As we see from the ‘Nike Football Advert’ this entire advert is based around talking heads, with different famous footballers speaking directly to the camera. They are asking questions which help the audience to feel as though the footballers are speaking directly to them. This makes the audience feel as though they are building a relationship with them and makes them want to answer what they are been asked. This works in the same as the Jennifer Aniston advert, in the sense that the creators want the celebrities in the advert to make relationships with the viewer as this helps to sell products. This is because the viewers think they will be like them if they use the same products and this is what I believe is the main reason behind this type of advertisement and this is what makes it the most effective.
Lastly, an advertisement that uses a form of animation is the ‘Irn-Bru Snowman Advert’. This type of animation is different to that of the hairspray advert as it uses cartoon characters instead of animating real people with the use of technology. This advert is effective as it is a twist on the film ‘The Snowman’ however it changes the words in the song to fit with the advertisement of Irn-Bru. This type of product is aimed mostly at young teen/children; therefore the use of characters and adding humour to it will appeal to them more. It will attract their attention and leave them intrigued as to what is going to happen. The added humour will make conversation as they will want to talk to their friends about ‘the new funny advert on TV’ which will encourage them to purchase this product. This is also because it will increase the product awareness of Irn-Bru. Just like the Jennifer Aniston hairspray advert, this advert is effective as viewers like to see advertisements with a difference to them and animation allows this difference to be bigger and more interesting, keeping the viewer more intrigued.
Task 4
Codes and Conventions of Advertising
Music beds, lines of appeal, female and male actors, factors of persuasion and the uses of gratification theory are all the common codes and conventions that can be found in advertising. These are the things that the make the viewer want and feel as though they need the product that is been advertised.
Task 6
ASA
The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media types including the Internet, TV, direct marketing and sales promotions. Their role is to ensure that all adverts are legal, truthful and of decent context by following the ‘Advertising Codes’.
Last year the ASA received just over 26,000 complaints, each that were all thoroughly investigated as to how they breached the rules. As a result of this 2,500 ads were changed or withdrawn in the year 2008 due to the co-operation of advertisers and the ASA.
Anyone can complain about a particular advertisement and the ASA will aim to deal with these concerns as quickly and fairly as possible. When a complaint is received, the ASA will assess it against their ‘Codes’. If there is no case under the Codes then the complainant will be contacted and explained why further action will not be needed, however if the complaint does go against the Codes then depending on the nature of objection, the ASA will then decide how best to resolve the complaint.
The following are some examples of the Codes that the ASA use to compare complaints against:
*Section 5 – Misleading Advertising
Example: Accurate pricing – ‘Indications of actual or comparative prices, or the manner in which a price is to be calculated, must be accurate and must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion’.
*Section 6 – Harm and Offence
Example: Use of animals in filming – ‘Where the behaviour of animals has been controlled for the purpose of making an advertisement, licensees must not show it without satisfactory evidence that the animals were not killed or caused pain or distress’.
*Section 7 – Children
Example: Expensive toys – ‘Except in the case of television services carrying advertising directed exclusively at non-UK audiences, advertisements for expensive toys, games and comparable children’s products must include an indication of their price’.
Task 7
This can be powerful to advertisers as this classification table is very specific to the needs of different types of viewers, which means it allows the advertisers to target their audience more specifically. This table determines the type of advertisement style used.
Task 8
Brief
Create a Questionnaire
Primary Research Questionnaire
Please circle the appropriate answer, thank-you
1) Which, out of the following adverts, is your favourite?
*Evian Roller Babies
*Hovis – Go On Lad
*Compare The Market
*Cadbury – Gorilla
*Pepsi Max – Oh Africa
2) Do you like adverts to have a narrative?
*Yes *No
3) Which, out of the following genres, do you find to be the most memorable adverts?
*Romance
*Comedy
*Action
*Sport
4) In your opinion, are taglines an important factor in advertisements?
*Yes *No
5) How long do you think an advert should last?
*20-30 Seconds
*30-40 Seconds
*40+ Seconds
6) Do you think celebrity figures play an important role in adverts been more effective?
Put your answers into a table:
Task 10
Interview 3 Friends & Document your findings:
Which advert has caught your attention most recently that you enjoy watching?
Elliot, 18, 6th Form Student, Bramley: It would have to be the 'Pepsi Max - Oh Africa' advert. It has a real upbeat tempo, lots of action going on, with a very catchy tune and the fact that the world cup is approaching and this advert is based in South Africa and is a football themed advert helps to build up the tension and excitement for the big event.
Niamh, 17, 6th Form Student, Pudsey: I currently enjoy the 'Dell Laptop - Lollipop' advert. It is a very happy advert that puts a smile on your face because of the jolly beat and song that it has playing throughout. It's also quite comical with the factory workers singing along with each other whilst at work.
Holly, 18, 6th Form Student, Pudsey: I really like the 'Evian Roller Babies' advert. It catches your eye and attention immediately because of the music and the fact that there are babies roller-blading and break-dancing which is very surreal. This helps to make it very comical and I think it's a very effective advert.
If you were to watch an advert that was promoting 'Drama' what would you like to see?
Elliot: I think that to make an advert for this type of subject there would need to be a lot of different drama scenes and example work to show what the school is capable of producing. By showing previous work/productions will help to persuade the student to choose to take this subject.
Niamh: I think that it should be quite dramatic with the use of a dramatic music bed to help build the tension through the advert. Also the use of dramatic voiceovers or quotes making up different clips would work quite well.
Holly: Because you're making this advert to help persuade the younger year groups to choose this subject at GCSE you need to show the different types of things that they will be doing therefore I think the advert should be based within one of the drama studios, there should be people with the drama masks on and also have different clips of previous productions that have taken place within school.
Do you like to see celebrities in adverts?
Elliot: I don't think celebrities should be used in adverts. An advert can be just as effective without them and I get the feeling that some producers use celebrities because they are unable to create something effective without them. I see it as an easy way of getting out of creating something original and effective.
Niamh: Definately. I think celebrities play a massive role in creating an effective advert. This is because if they are advertising a particular product then obviously the audience will think 'god if they use that I'm going to use it'. This is most definately the case and I much prefer to see celebrities in adverts. It's also nice to see them doing something different to what they may already be known for.
Holly: I personally don't think it matters. Celebrity or no celebrity; adverts are just as effective with or without.
Task 11
Set up a focus group and document your results. Pick out some of the more relevant comments and explain how they will help inform your planning. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of running a focus group and how this can affect your results.
On the other hand, there are several disadvantages of focus groups. One of these is that the participants within the group may not want to express their opinions or views as they may feel that they may be judged or may feel intimidated by others in the group. As well as this, there may be several others that have a louder personality and therefore may control the conversation of the group, not allowing the others to have their say. At times, they may also show demand characteristics, which means instead of saying their true feelings just because they are saying what they believe the moderator would like to hear. Not only this, but the participants may want to make themselves look good in front of the moderator and the other participants which may have effect on the answers they give as they may not be genuine answers.
We held a focus group of 16-18 year olds both male and female and showed them 3 adverts that have being aired on television more recently and then asked for their opinions.
Evian Babies
The feedback we received from this advert was quite split as there was a mixture of opinions within the group. We found that 15% of the audience found it generally an effective advert as the music bed was said to be upbeat and catchy which helped to grab their attention. We also found that the comical element of the advert helped to please a small percentage of the group and that the use of technology used to create the advert was found to be impressive to some of the focus group, however others said that they found it unrealistic and very obviously fake. It was also noted that the babies were associated with the tag line ‘Live Young’ which impressed some of the focus group and that because this line was whispered it helped to connote sophistication. Lastly, we found that one member picked up on an ethnic stereotyping issue in which when the babies appeared on the advert from an ethnic minority, they were featured as part of a ‘gang’ which almost suggested intimidation from this group.
John Lewis
From this avert, we found that 90% of the group thought this was an effective advert and that the majority of the viewers liked that the music bed was constant throughout the clip which helped to portray each significant event of the female’s life. The focus group also said that the transitions used signified her change of age throughout the advert as it progressed through the clip and her life. Lastly, we found that one of the participants in the focus group liked the fact that the advert had a narrative as it had a structure based around a journey.
Compare The Market
The feedback we received from our focus group about this advert was the approximately 75% of the audience thought the advert was a good example of successful advertising. Some of the audience did think that the advert was starting to become slightly irritating and overplayed which resulted in their opinions changing into a more negative attitude. However, on a whole the audience generally liked the play on words of ‘market’ and ‘meerkat’ and the tag line to the advert made more memorable.
Task 12
Consider the advertising codes for TV and pick out one code that you think you must be conscious of when producing your advertisement. Explain why and explain how you will make sure that you do not contravene the code.
Task 13
Which type of programme would your advert be placed in between?
I believe our advert should be placed between programmes such as ‘Glee’ which is shown on E4, or in between different talent shows such as the ones seen on BBC 1 such as ‘Over the Rainbow’ where they try to find the next lead role in a west end musical. The reason for this is because the audience watching these shows is the type of audience we want to aim our advert at and because they are watching these types of programmes, they are most likely to be interested in the subject we are advertising. Also, the timing of when our advert would be broadcasted is important, as we need to ensure that it would be shown at a time where our target audience will be watching. These programmes are broadcasted at teatime or on the weekend, which fits in well, as our target audience will not be at school at these specific times.
Task 14
Mind Map
Task 15
Produce a Treatment for your Advert
Our advert will support the reward power in the factors of persuasion created by Hermeren Lars. This is because we are advertising a subject for a school and by doing so we are offering the children taking their GCSE’s a great experience of performing arts, drama studies and also a great education as an outcome.
Lines of Appeal
When thinking of the lines of appeal present within our advert there will be various ones in which we will apply. Lines of appeals such as, Dreams and Fantasy, Art, culture and History and also successful careers will be able to be applied to our advert. As the style of our piece is slightly abstract and dramatic then these lines of appeal will fit the purpose brilliantly. As abstract art is now seen as slightly artistic now this is where Art, culture and history comes in, along side dreams and fantasies. Being an actor or being involved in drama in some way is a lot of people’s dreams the advert will be aimed to satisfy their desire to have a successful career in this chosen subject.
Narrative
The advert has to have a realistic narrative as it has to show what these students would be doing if they took the subject, however you could argue that parts are slightly anti realistic as drama isn’t always filled with suspense and dramatic abstract art but is sometimes completely the opposite. Our advert will also have a linear narrative structure as there are no flashbacks or change in time happening at any point within the advertisement. The pattern of narrative which we will be including within our film is that of a climax. This is because as the advert draws nearer to the ending which is that of a closed one, it builds up and the transitions between shots will speed up and the climax will build up.
Information Provided
The type of information given to the target audience within our advert will be that of restricted as information is given and shown as the advert progresses to its finish. We will be using slightly exaggerated dramatic characters; we will make them wear masks along with the Pudsey Grangefield School uniform. The connotations of the mask along side the school uniform signifies that it is in a learning environment and can imply that they will be getting a good education and a great qualification as an end product, signifying to parents that the subject is that of a genuine trustworthy one. As abstract drama is now possibly one of the most popular styles of drama within educational courses, we decided to keep the actions of the characters simplistic but un-naturalistic; the connotations behind the masks will also play a big part in keep that style present throughout the piece.
Camera Shots
We will be using various camera shots in our advert, we will vary between close ups, medium shots and long shots. These transitions between the camera shots will also be fast to suit a loud dramatic piece of music. The change in camera shots will reflect the creativity of the subject of performing arts and drama; this is because the shots will be showing key things to help keep the chosen style throughout the advert. The editing of the piece will significantly help to keep the abstract and dramatic style alive, we will be adding titles to the advert with rhetorical questions and statements on to give the advert that direct mod of address for the audience, along with the characters looking directly into the camera. We will also be speed clips up and slowing clips down to give connotations of a climax and suspense building up but to also suit the chosen music.
The music we will be using will be am original piece, which we will create on the editing software call garageband.
Task 16
Write a report with screen-shots detailing the equipment and software you will be using and how you intend to use it.
Equipment
To film our advert we will use a flip camera. The particular flip camera in which we plan to use is that of a high definition which can pick up both sound and moving image. High definition appears to be something which is becoming ever more popular and shows real technological advance. This means it will look better on screen, which will appeal more to our audience. Flip cameras also have built in USB stick which makes it much easier to import straight onto the computer and into our editing software.
Software
The software we used to edit our footage was ‘iMovie’. This is a piece of software that allowed us to import and edit our footage to that of a professional level.
We want the genre of our advert to be dramatic and create an intense and eerie atmosphere so therefore we wanted to create a non-diagetic music bed of a dramatic piece of music. To create this we will use a piece of software called ‘GarageBand’ which is an Apple Mac piece of software. This allows us to overlay different styles of music and add various instruments to create our desired piece.
People
For our advert, we are going to use obviously ourselves to create this production; this is myself, Niamh, Elliot and Holly. Within our advert, we are going to use a number of younger students within the school to show the different talents the students have within the Drama department.
Props, Costume & Locations
We will use props and costumes that will suit our advert most appropriate. Things such as letters to spell out ‘Drama’ and the drama masks will be the main props used within our advert. The costumes we will use are simply school uniform as we are advertising something for the school. Lastly, the location of our advert will take place within the drama studio. This is the most appropriate location as this is the department we are advertising.
Task 17
Storyboard
Task 18
Production Schedule
Task 20
Our Advert - The Final Product
Task 21
Evaluation
Purpose
When making our advert, our primary purpose was to persuade. Our secondary purpose was to entertain. I think that when creating an advert it needs to be entertaining in order to be persuasive, particularly when aiming towards a younger audience, which applies to our advert. Therefore, I think we achieved both of our purposes as the audience were entertained by what they said was an enigmatic style.
Audience
The feedback we received after asking our target audience about our advert was that they found the advert strange, but powerful. This is because the start of the film starts with a rhetorical question, which straight away draws them into the advert making them want to watch the rest. We found that 60% of the audience asked said that they would consider taking drama after watching our advert as they thought it looked like an abstract yet fun environment to be involved in. This suggests that our video is successful in advertising the drama department as we managed to persuade over half of our audience.
Representation Issues
We had both males and females in our advert, to show that drama isn’t just for one particular gender. We could also show more with a range of people, different age groups etc. When relating to the uses and gratification theory, the advert would have fallen under the personal relationships category, which allows the audience to put themselves into the position of the people in the advert. We had a backing tracking that played throughout the whole advert, which was both edgy and dramatic. This fit in very well with the genre, narrative and scenes that were displayed in our advert. The locations in our film were just the drama studio and the main hall of the school which shows the audience how drama makes use of all school facilities in order to make the subject seem better. The film suited the genre in that it was abstract and enigmatic which is what most modern dramas are like today.
Technical Issues
The levels of music and voice in our film worked well together as the music was loud throughout the advert when there were no voices at these stages. The loud music was also juxtaposed against the slowed down sequences within our piece, which worked well with our dramatic genre. At the end we did have a voice over telling the audience what courses were available in drama. This meant that we had to turn te music down and turn the voice over up so the audience could understand the voice and listen to what is been said. The camera we used to film our advert was a ‘flip camera’. This is HD and meant that the picture quality was of a high standard. They also pick up the sound so we used this to film the last scene with the voice over as it allowed us to edit quicker instead of recording the voice separately and then inserting it separately. In some of the scenes we did use a tripod to allow us to have a steadier shot. There were a variety of shots used; long shots, close ups, medium shots all in order to keep our audience interested in our film as we were aiming our advert at a younger audience. It’s important to keep them intrigued by using a range of shots otherwise they will become bored easily, which will suggest to them that the subject we are advertising is also boring.
Conventions/Narrative
In our film, we used a constant enigma which was used to keep our audience interested in what was been said. This was similar to that of a professional product as enigmas are constantly used in today’s dramas. We used some typical conventions, which were:
*Loud Music
*Shouting Voice Over
*Dark Lighting
*Enigma
Our advert used a single stranded narrative as we only showed things from the drama department and advertise one simple thing.
Own Performance
I believe I played a good role in this team as I ensured that I helped out within the production and gave my ideas and opinions on different things. As a team we worked well together, listened to one another and took each others ideas into consideration.
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