Planning my adverts

Now I have found a suitable brand to launch my product, I need to direct my focus back towards my adverts I am creating. I knew all along I wanted to do an advert which was sport related but I didn't know what sport I should feature. I therefore had to product a survey to see what my target audience believed was the best sport to feature in my adverts. I asked 32 people from school who have some sort of connection to sport and media. My results are shown below on this bar chart.

 

It is clear that football is the most popular sport in my results with 12 votes, so I will use football in one of my adverts to promote "Max Relax." I believe this is a good sport to use because it is the most popular sport and England's national game. Due to the fact I play football, I will be able to use members of my football team and suitable facilities to film my advert which will work in my favour because the advert will be more professional with football equipment. Lastly, because my results show football as the most popular, this sport must target my audience best, which is my main objective. 

The second most popular sport with 9 votes was Rugby. Although it shows that my target market think this is a good sport to use in my advertisement, I am not going to use it. This is because the nature of rugby is very similar to football in a sense that it involves running around and contact with other athletes. This may create the assumption to my audience that "Max Relax" only treats a certain type of sport such as contact sport which will narrow my potential target market. Also, I do not have enough knowledge of rugby and will struggle to find equipment to help improve the quality of the advertisement. 

Therefore I am going to use Golf, which was the third most popular with 5 votes. This is because Golf is a non-contact sport which doesn't involve cardiovascular activity so it is a totally different sport to football, denoting "Max Relax" treats any muscle injury. Furthermore, I play golf myself and therefore can shoot my advert at my golf club and use specialist equipment to help aid the quality of the advertisement.

My design and Logo

I sketched a variety of rough ideas for my spray can for Max Relax. Out of all of these ideas, I selected two I wanted to develop further, which are shown below. I followed some conventions of Deep Heat by using bright colours to make both designs look engaging Red and yellow are vibrant colours which help make the sprays look attractive and aesthetic to the eye. I believe that these were the best ideas I came up with because they relate to muscles and sport, because there shapes resemble the body which is used for sport. This makes them unique and bold, which I found in my research into a product, makes it sell better because it stands out to an audience over existing competitors.

This design is the shape of a knee joint. This is a part of the body amateur sportsman or women having trouble with. Therefore I used it because it relates to a sporting injury. However, I have decided not to use this idea because it focuses on one part of the body whereas my product is aimed at relaxing all muscles in the body, which may be deceiving to an audience.  

 

My next design resembles the upper half of the body. This gives the impression that the spray can be used on a wide area of the body compared with my other chosen design, because the upper half of the body has many muscles which is shown by the body next to the design on the image above. I have therefore decided to use this as my final design. 

I decided to produce the design such as the shape of my can before I designed the logo of my brand. This is because I felt if I designed the logo first, it may not fit properly with my can design. Now I have my design, I am going to do find some relevant information which will help my design a logo suitable for a muscle relief product.

"Before you design a logo, you must understand what a logo is, what it represents and what it is supposed to do. A logo is not just a mark – a logo reflects a business’s commercial brand via the use of shape, fonts, colour, and / or images." - http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/01/08/how-to-design-a-logo/

Taking this statement on board, I am going to design my logo around the representation of Max Relax, by trying to convey a muscle relief product which offers a big relaxation feel. This logo must reflect the brand through colour and shape. This could mean showing relaxation through an image or font style such as italics.

Here are some leading, most recognised logos:

  

All these logos use the colour to stand out and alos to create meaning. E.g using only black and white for the Wikipedia logo indicates sophitication which is a key theme for this brand as it provides in depth information about a wide range of subjects. I have also noticed that popular brands such as You Tube, Google, and Ebay focus their logo on colour and font rather than images. This could mean that for my logo to be a success, I need to relate my font and colour to Max Relax muscle spray and try not to use an image as part of my logo. This is because images may take the simplistic side off a logo and over complicate its audience.

Taking this information on board and studying some leading logos, Im going to focus my logo on colour and font. The word Max should convey something big so I should use a stand out colour with a larger font to illistrate this. Then with the word Relax, I could use a smaller font with italics. The italics would connote a laid back, chilled style similar to relaxation. With this word I would also use a calm colour that isn't bright and lary.

Finding my brand name - "Max Relax"

In order to find a name for my product, I need to come up with ideas. To do this effectively, I created a mind map of ideas related to my product - muscle relief and sport. I came up with random words related to muscle health and sport which would help me come up with words that I could use for a name to my brand.

 

The mind map above shows the words I used to give me an idea of my products name. The ones circled were the ones I felt were most relevant yet creative, which would help the product sell to my target market. 

My favourite word was relax. I wanted to include this in my brands name because it links to its purpose and my audience. This is because my products purpose is to help muscle pain for amateur, low level competitors. Athletes at this level want to relax because sport isn't taken as seriously as it is at elite level, its more about being comfortable and enjoying yourself, so the word relax fitted with this theme. 

However, for my name to be effective it had to be catchy and relax on its on was too simplistic. Therefore, I took another word out of my mind map, which was max. Putting the two together, I came up with the name "Max Relax." I think this name would be successful because it denotes the optimum relaxation which a low level performer requires to help them become fit enough to take part in regular activity. Also, the two words rhyme together to help make the name catchy and enticing for my audience, which would make them favour my product over other competitors. 

Now I have the name "Max Relax", I have to come up with design ideas to show what my product will look like. 

Product name and logo

Now I am in the planning stage of my brief, I want to come up with design ideas for how my product will look. This is so I can progress further in the planning stage because I will be in the position to create my storyboard, which features all the shots I plan to use in my advert.
To design my product, I first need to come up with a suitable name and logo that connotes meaning behind my idea and attracts an audience. To do this, I am going to research existing muscle relief products to see if there is any pattern in their names, and also understand what these type of products have for their logo. Doing this will help me create a name and logo, which follows the conventions of the product I am creating.

The image above is the muscle relief spray from Astroplast. The name doesn't symbolise anything to do with muscles directly, which suggests that there is freedom to what the product is called. This tells me that when I choose the name for my product I can be creative and not worry too much about how it relates to muscle relief. This brand isn't the most popular for muscle relief. One reason may be due to the fact its name "astroplast" is in small font and the top of the can. This means it isn't centred and fairly difficult to notice, denoting people don't know what the product is. Therefore, with my spray I should think about placing the name in the centre of the can with a slightly larger font so it is easily recognisable. The design of Astroplast is simple but to some extent creative. It has an image at the bottom denoting what each spray does, e.g flames for hear spray. This makes the product simple to understand for the customer, increasing the chances of them buying it. Bright colours such as red and blue are used against white which makes the can stand out, because it isnt dull. This means to make my product stand out, it needs to be colourful and engaging. Also, for my own idea, I don't think I would use white for the base colour of the can like Astroplast have. This is because its a neutral colour which isn't the most creative.

  

The image above is the muscle relief spray from Deep Heat. Deep Heat is the most popular, recognisable muscle relief spray. One reason for this is the name. Heat is something commonly used to help relieve muscle aches, so deep heat denotes extra relief, connoting Deep Heat is an effective spray. Unlike Astroplast, Deep Heat's name refers directly to muscle relief which denotes that a customer is aware of its purpose more so than other sprays, just by its name. This means I should come up with a name that grabs my target audiences attention so it is more likely to be purchased. Furthermore, the name of the product is positioned in the centre with large font and capital letters. This means it can be seen from further away and shows clarity, because it isn't difficult to read. Also, the use of capital letters denotes it is significant, unlike Astroplast which uses lower case letters. Lastly, the design of Deep Heat makes it different to other products. Like Astroplast, Deep Heat uses bright colours so the can is recognised. However, red is used as the base colour for Deep Heat. This further makes Deep Heat stand out from other products because it is lairy and bold. As Deep Heat is the best selling muscle relief product and it is bold, this connotes that for a product to be successful, it has to break the mould and use new ideas and conventions for it to be better than existing products. This is what Deep Heat has done, which is something I need to think about when creating my own products design.

   

The image above is a muscle relief spray from Numark. The name is in extremely small font in the top left hand corner of the can. This is really hard to see at first and makes it hard for a potential buyer to see what brand the product is that they are looking at. Also, the title of the product "Muscle Spray" is in small white font against an orange back. The white on orange makes it hard to read because it blends in slightly, denoting a bad choice of colour for the font. Also, the name muscle spray it too vague and not very creative which is boring for a customer. The colour of the can like Deep Heat and Astroplast is bright and stands out to an onlooker. However, the design of the product is too simple and not creative, as there is only two different colours and small, lower case Times New Roman font. I believe this design is boring and lacks imagination. This is why it isn't a popular product as it doesn't take a bold approach to its design, meaning it isn't very appealing to its target audience, who are more likely to purchase Deep Heat.

My Brand

What product am I promoting?
I am promoting a product which helps relieve muscle pain. It is a product related to sport because it helps someone participate, who can be at any level in sport. It will be similar to Deep Heat which will be a competitor to the product I am advertising because it is for the same purpose. To make it better than my competitor, I will look at existing Deep Heat adverts, so that mine is better and stands out from the crowd. Like Deep Heat,  I want my product to be in a can format. Therefore, I need to sketch a variety of can designs so I can come up with an idea for how my product will look. This will help make my adverts successful because the product needs to be styled well so that it captures an audiences attention. I want the style to be modern as it is a new product which isn't often advertised on television.

Why am I promoting this product?
As I enjoy sport, I knew I was going to come with an idea which related to sport. I wanted to promote something which isn't a very popular product to be advertised, but one that is commonly used by people I can easily target. A product which relieves muscle pain isn't a popular form of advertising seen of television. This suggests there is a gap in the market, which will favour my product over existing ones such as Deep Heat who rarely use any form of broadcast advertisements to sell themselves to their audience.


Who is my target audience?
My target audience is going to be aimed at the general public who take part in low levels of sport. I decided this would be my target audience because the product I am promoting doesn't necessarily improve a players performance, but allows them to take part. This is a common problem at low level of sport because people are not physically fir enough to play sport. Also, having my target market set at a low level performer will increase the popularity of my product because there are more low level athletes than athletes at a high level in sport. Moreover, professional performers are harder to target because they do not mix with the public and are not as likely to buy a product which a lower class in there field use. Lastly, producing an advert aimed at a professional competitor wouldn't be realistic due to the fact that the sporting performance I want to show in my video would have to be flawless, and I wouldn't be able to find an athlete capable.

What next?
Now I have the foundations for my idea laid down, I now need to progress with the design of my product and how it will appear in my advert. This is because I can then create my storyboard and anamatic which will feature sketches of the product. This will help me push on with my project so I have an idea of how my adverts will flow.

Branding

Branding is a way of clearly highlighting what makes your product or service different to, and more attractive than your competitors.

1) "Successful branding is about promoting your strengths. You need to be sure that you can always deliver your promises using these strengths, sometimes referred to as 'brand values'. You can start by thinking about what your business is good at and what you believe in as a business. For example:


- the particular skills your business has
- your high-quality customer service
- the best value for money you provide in your marketplace
- your innovative approach"

A strong brand can make your business stand out from the crowd, particularly in competitive markets."

1) http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/

My progress slide show

I was given a task to create a presentation about the progress I have made so far in terms of my research. Therefore, in my presentation I covered some of the important aspects which has helped me to improve my knowledge and push my idea for an advert further.

View more presentations from 05reillyt.

I believe my presentation was successful in the way that it has outlined  the main areas I have covered so far in my research and what this has taught me. However, It has made me realise that I have fallen behind slightly. This is because reviewing my presentation to the class it doesn't give much insight into what my idea is and how my advert will be constructed. I have focused too much on analysing a variety of adverts rather than narrowing my research down and finding relevant information for a particular product. 

Therefore, when I next present to my class next month, I hope to have shown a clear idea I wish to take forward in my research and effective planning showing how my idea has developed through different stages. Doing this will ensure I am fully caught up so I can then concentrate on the production of my campaign.

Planning - Dove Evolution

This advert by dove is very unique, which will help me research more into the planning of my advert, because it goes through stages an advert will take, from a directors point of view.

The message in the advert shows how the media uses advertisement to manipulate its audience by using Photoshop to make the women's face aesthetically pleasing. A technique called stop motion is used in this advert. This is a form of editing which allows the director to take a huge amount of shots and put them together to make something fluent. However, advertisements do not usually show this side of production to the audience, which makes the advert stand out to me. This is because most adverts manipulate its audience by using these tools to create an image, but letting the audience assume this was the image all along so they are more likely to buy a product.

Therefore, looking at this advertisement has helped me. This is because it shows me as a director of an advert that I need to plan my advert in a way that captures my audience, without the message being strictly true. This is so my audience is manipulated in the same way, so my advert is successful because the idea of an advert is to portray a message to an audience that they want to see.

My Progress

After researching into sporting adverts, I began to think about what I want my advert to be like. My initial thought was to do an advert which advertised a performance enhancing product to improve an athletes performance. Therefore I began researching into these type of adverts and planning my own idea around them.

To widen my freedom of choice for my advert I produced a brainstorm which revolved around sport as a whole. However, doing this, and reflecting back on the adverts I had analysed made me change my idea. This is because producing a product for a professional athlete didn't seem feasible. This is because the performance in my advert would have to be almost perfect which wasn't realistic as I wouldn't be able to find a performer capable enough. Also, as I did my brainstorm on sport as a whole, I realised I can come up with other ideas which still focus on sport, but which are realistic.

Therefore, I am now going to come up with ideas which advertise a sporting product for people of any sporting level. This means the performer in the video doesn't need to be perfect, as I can use codes and conventions to create meaning. Furthermore, it means I can include comedy into my advert because the performance in the advert will not be as professional.

To make sure I continue to progress with my work, I need to be well organised. This means creating a list of things I need to complete every few weeks to keep me motivated so I achieve the best grade possible.

Brainstorming my initial ideas

As I want to produce an advert related to sport, I need to come up with some ideas to help get me started so that I can plan my idea to make it a success. Therefore I have brainstormed in detail, a range of ideas/topics to think about before I make a final decision on my advert idea.

The list below is the main points I wish to consider from my brainstorm for my advert I am producing.


Advert
- Type
   - Traditional
      - Sport Advert
         - Audience = Low level performers
         - Football/golf advert
         - Comedy = low level performers
            - Linking sport with comedy
               - Product to help weak performers
                  - Larger target audience
                   
       

   

My to do list...

I have no covered all the main areas of my research, so its now time for me to push on with the planning stage of my work. This means I need to organise myself well, so that I can make the best use of the time available, to make my planning effective.

Therefore I need to create a to do list to kick start my work

- Brainstorm ideas

- Produce mock-ups

- Practice filming a variety of shots

- Storyboards

Research - Summary of Analysis

Why is research important?
Research is a key part of my project because it has helped me gain an understanding of my topic to help ensure my finished project is successful.
It has also helped me to come up with new ideas and and answer key questions related to advertising I otherwise, wouldn't have been able to answer.
Lastly, carrying out my research on advertising has helped me to come up with numerous ideas to plan and present my work to meet my brief as best as possible.

What have I learned from my research?
I have now finished my research and in doing so, I feel I have gained relevant information into the advertising sector and the many ways adverts can be structured. This has helped me to decide what type of advert I wish to produce, which is a traditional advert, because it gives me a lot more freedom of choice. Knowing this has helped me to develop an idea, relating to sport. Therefore I analysed a variety of sporting related adverts which feature different scenarios, connoting that this area gives me a broad range to explore.
 Another important aspect of my research was to understand who my target audience is. After watching adverts on sport and receiving feedback from my peers, I am aware that the target audience for these types of advertisements are professional athletes. This made me slightly tweak my idea as I want the advert to relate to people who are interested in sport who play at any level, meaning I have learnt comedy would be a good factor to add to my project, making the sport less professional. Therefore, my research has led me on to my next step which is to research a more specific target audience.
Sponsorship research has also greatly improved the clarity of my task. This is because I was unsure of the real difference between adverts and sponsorships seen on television. I now know that sponsorship is a group that supports a group or individual but does not prophet financially in doing this.

Now I need to put my research into practice as I move towards the planning of my idea. I need to take into consideration how the adverts I am targeting appear, meaning mock ups of a variety of shots need to be completed. I also need to specifically capture an audience who play sport at lower levels and create an idea of what message I can create in my advert to portray this.

Past student work

To push myself further to gain a better understanding of advertising, I am going to look at past students who also chose advertising for their brief. This will help me as I can see what is good and bad about this students work, so that I can take this into consideration for my advert, to make my idea better.




This is a final advert by a past student, who chose to advertise perfume. Although this is hugely different to the idea I want to carry out, it will help me understand more of the basics i need.

What is TV sponsorship

Part of my brief is to come up with a TV sponsorship sequence to go with my finished adverts. Therefore, to help my understand what these are, I am going to research a bit about them so that when I have to produce one, I will have a clear understanding of the task which will improve the quality of my work.

A sponsor is a group or an individual that supports anything from an event to an individual financially or through provision.

1) "Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically in sports, arts, entertainment or causes) in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property, according to IEG.

While the sponsee (property being sponsored) may be nonprofit, unlike philanthropy, sponsorship is done with the expectation of a commercial return.

And, while sponsorship can deliver increased awareness, brand building and propensity to purchase, it is different than advertising. Unlike advertising, sponsorship can not communicate specific product attributes. Nor can it stand alone. Sponsorship requires support elements. And, while advertising messages are controlled by the advertiser, sponsors do not control the message that is communicated. Consumers decide what a sponsorship means."

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponsor_(commercial)

Below is an example of a sponsorship seen on television. No profit is made for the sponsor, only for the cause which is the puppy appeal for the blind. So although is seems similar to an advertisement, adverts make a profit for their product whereas a sponsorship raise money for another cause.

Radio advert - McDonalds "I'm lovin' it"

 

The radio advertisement above is by McDonalds. The sound is upbeat as the narrator is singing a song rather than talking. This denotes that he is happy, connoting a McDonalds breakfast gives out a feel good feeling. This would therefore entice an audience to purchase one, which shows a good piece of advertisement.

Also, due to it being radio meaning the audience can only be targeted through sound and not visually, in this advert, the narrator explains in more detail than what you would expect to see in a TV advertisement. He states that he hates getting out of bed, but then shares to the audience at the end that he has a McDonalds breakfast from monday to friday. This denotes that he does infact get out of bed, only to get a breakfast from McDonalds. This then connotes that the breakfast is worth sacraficing something you don't want to, indicating to the audience that they should try a McDonalds breakfast.
Furthermore, the narrator says towards the end of the video "there's no better way to start my day" which boosts the status of McDonalds in the advert which will then heighten the listeners interest.

At the every end of the advert, McDonalds slogan "im lovin' it" is used. This shows McDonalds is a well recognised brand. This is because they only say the word 'McDonalds' once throughout the whole advert and just use their slogan to inform the audience the advert is by McDonalds. This denotes they are a well known company, connoting that their adverts can be trusted, so the audience is likely to but something from McDonalds such as a breakfast being advertised in this radio advert.

Radio Advertising

Part of my brief was to produce not only a TV advertisement, but to produce a radio advertisement as well. Although this part of the brief isn't as crucial as my Television advertisement, I need to research into radio advertising in order to deepen my knowledge so I can make a successful advert.

1) "While many people may view radio as a less popular medium than the Internet or television, the truth is that radio still manages to penetrate areas of our daily lives still off-limits to other media. Consumers can listen to radio in their vehicles, in waiting rooms, in many restaurants and a number of grocery stores. Radio advertising targets that captive audience through a series of 30 second or 60 second spots which promote products or services in a memorable way.

Radio advertising is based on the idea of creating an audio-only environment and placing the listener inside of it. A typical radio spot features a professional voice-over artist reading descriptive copy over an appropriate bed of background music. Important information may be repeated several times over the course of the spot, such as contact phone numbers, addresses, website URLs, or a geographical reference. As one spot of radio advertising ends, another spot begins and the process continues until the program resumes."

1) http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-radio-advertising.htm

Because radio station managers have a limited number of minutes available for advertisingduring an average hour, radio spots tend to last either 30 or 60 seconds. A station may build in several scheduled breaks during an hour, typically at twenty minutes or so after the top of the hour and twenty minutes before the top of the next hour. If there is enough radio advertisingspots available, additional breaks at ten minutes before the hour and ten minutes after the hours may be added. Each break may have two to three minutes allotted for spots, which can be introduced with a station jingle or a longer promotion called a sweep.

Who are my target audience?

After analysing some adverts related to sport which I wish to do with my final project, I now understand my target audience has to be related to sport. This is because these type of adverts are always advertising some sort of sporting equipment to aid an athletes performance. This denotes that people who do not take part in any pyhsical activity, sporting adverts are not likely to appeal to them for obvious reasons. The age for sporting adverts would generally be teenagers to young adults, but can also apply to older adults who enjoy keeping fit. However, the adverts I have analysed relate to athletes who are at a high performance level shown by using professional athletes such as Wayne Rooney, denoting a more specific target audience of athletes who perform at professional standards. This reduces the audience I can target my product at. Therefore, with my own advert, I am going to change the idea so it can relate to an audience who may be at a low level in sport.

As I have a good understanding of the type of audience I need to target for my audience, I now need to produce a questionnaire for people who take part in sport at low levels. This will help me gain a deeper insight into what these type of people wish to see in their adverts. Doing this will make my final advert more of a success because the people who it is meant for will enjoy it.