Advertising

BTEC MEDIAAdvertisement Production for Television

Types of ads: Narrative ads

These use a story of some sort to engage the audience

http://btectvadverts.blogspot.com/

Narratives can be LINEAR or NON-LINEAR. We might see techniques like flash backs, flash-forwards, multiple points of view and so on.

Usually, the narratives in ads are very simple.There are some THEORIES we can use to talk

about narratives

Narrative Theories• THREE ACT STRUCTURE -SETUP,

CONFRONTATION, RESOLUTION

• BINARY OPPOSITION - Narratives rely on CONFLICT

• ENIGMA CODE - Narratives rely on setting and answering questions

• PROPP’S THEORY - Narratives must have a hero, a villain, a damsel in distress.

Example

Good things come to those who wait

Guinness ad, 2001, directed by Jonathan Glazer

Is there ENIGMA in this narrative? (Barthes)

Is there a HERO? (Propps)

Is there OPPOSITION? (Levi Strauss)

Non-narrative

Ads that rely on things other than story. They can be quite EXPRESSIONISTIC or even SURREAL.

Example: Cadbury’s ad

2007, directed by Juan Cabrol

Talking heads

The use of people to talk directly to camera (‘direct address’)

Example: Mac vs PC

Codes and Conventions:The Rules

What do we expect to see in an ad?

Example: Pringles addir. Lawrence Bridges

Heavy editing: ramping: bright palette: low angle shots: ‘positive’ iconography: upbeat visual and aural tempo: ambient

and foley sound: pack shot: flattering lighting: graphics

Is this ‘typical’?

Techniques

Example: Pringles addir. Lawrence Bridges

DENOTATION and CONNOTATIONSTAR APPEAL

EMOTIONAL APPEALLINE OF APPEAL

L’Oreal AdDir. Jake Nava

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Example: Thai Life Insurance

Characteristics of Product

1.Mac vs PC2.Ladbrokes

3.Whopper Virgins……and the website…

…and the controversy.

What ‘personality’ is given to the product? What characteristics are

associated with it?

Regulation: The Law

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

Office of Communications (OFCOM)

Advertisers often court controversy, so obviously there are laws and regulations which they must follow. In the UK, there are two main

bodies who enforce the law. The ASA is the professional body made up of people from the

industry. OFCOM is the government’s organisation who decide the laws.

ASA Code - Summary

The BCAP Code (Broadcast Code of Advertising and Production)

Sections:01 Compliance

02 Recognition of advertising03 Misleading advertising

04 Harm and offence05 Children06 Privacy

07 Political and controversial matters08 Distance selling

09 Environmental claims

BCAP Code

Example: 05 Children

The actual ‘rules’ are here

Example: 06 PrivacyAnd the rules

Remember, the ads YOU make must pass the BCAP code!

Banned Ads

Mazuma Mobile… and the story

Ladbrokes… and the story

Yves Saint Laurent… and the story

For merit or distinction… find your own examples!

Audiences

WHO are the audience?

Advertisers need to know as much about their TARGET AUDIENCE as possible if they

are going to accurately ‘reach’ them.We can divide audiences by age, gender,

race, income, attitude, location, behaviour, expectations…

BMW ad – who is it for? How do you know?

What about this Mini ad?

Demographics

ATop management, bankers, lawyers, doctors and other

professionals

BMiddle management,

teachers, many 'creatives' eg graphic designers etc

C1Office supervisors, junior

managers, nurses, specialist clerical staff etc

C2Skilled workers,

tradespersons (white collar)

DSemi-skilled and unskilled

manual workers (blue collar)

EUnemployed, students,

pensioners, casual workers

Classifying people according to job and income

AldiMarks and Spencers

Rolex

Psychographics

Classifying people according to their

attitude or psychological profile

Blue de ChanelWoman’s World CupSave the Children

Geodemographics

Classifying people according to where they live

London mapped by crime, income, property price

etc…

What would you advertise in

TST? In Central? In Sai Kung?

Audience Research

HOW do we find out about the audience?

There are many ways to conduct research. All of these can be divided into two types:

QUALITATIVE and QUANTITATIVE

Quantitative Research

This is research which generates precise, numerical data.

How much do you earn?What sex are you?

How many films did you watch last year?

This data is usually presented in the form of charts, graphs and so on.

Quantitative Research

Methods of Quantitative Research

Questionnaires – CLOSED questions with exact answersSurveys

Desk research – find out about companies, costs etc

Qualitative Research

This is research which finds out about opinions, feelings, ideas etc.

Do you like Mac or PC? Why?What’s your favourite colour?

Which of these two ads do you like?

This data can be presented as charts and graphs but sometimes we need to use transcripts and summaries of what was

said.

Qualitative Research

Questionnaires with OPEN questionsInterviews

Video responsesFocus groups

Test screeningsLog Books

Observations

Methods of Qualitative Research

The Golden Rule

TRIANGULATE YOUR RESEARCH

All forms of research have strengths and weaknesses. You must do BOTH qualitative

and quantitative research and you should aim to have THREE forms as a minimum.

So – do a questionnaire, a focus group AND a test screening.

Audience Theory

WHAT do the audience want?

Intro to Audience theory

Hypodermic Needle

There is a direct flow of information between the media institution and the (passive)

audience.

Lombard Direct

Two Step Flow

Media messages are targeted at OPINION LEADERS. The general population follow their

leadMalcolm Gladwell’s ‘Law

of the Few’:

20% of the people do 80% of the work

Best Buy ad – music by Skrillex

Uses and Gratifications

The audience receive pleasures from the text or use it for some purpose. The usual purposes

are DIVERSION (this is fun!)

SURVEILLANCE (this teaches me about the world)

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS (my friends are watching this)

PERSONAL IDENTITY (this helps me express and learn about myself)

Uses and Gratifications

Nolan’s Cheddar

Nike

Barnardo’s

Old Spice

Can we use Uses and Gratifications to explain

the appeal of these ads?

- DIVERSION - SURVEILLANCE

- PERSONAL IDENTITY - PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS