Task 6 - Methods Of Research - AS1

Why is research important?

Before planning a new advertising campaign it is important to conduct research. This is because in order to advertise a new product, you are going to need to know what the audience are in need of or what their desires are so then you are able to provide the correct information that will help them understand your business and draw in customers. Doing research will also help you understand the audience as well as them understanding you. The understanding of your audience will include: their age, their interests, their living area. These are important so you know how to conduct your advert.
There are 4 main categories, them being: Primary research, secondary research, quantitative data and qualitative data and three different purposes of why the research is carried out, them being: audience research, market research and production research.

Primary Research

Primary research examples are: carrying out questionnaires, surveys, internet forums and interviews/group research. Primary research is when you carry one or more of them examples to find out specific issues from your target audience and all your research is original data personally produced by the researcher. Researchers might use primary research to ensure they can trust the information that they are given and so they personally can interact with the audience and come to their own conclusions. An example of when to use primary research would be if you are trying to find out how what sort of music 15-18 year olds listen to using a questionnaire/survey.

Advantages:
- Greater control on how the information is collected.
- Focus' on specific issues.
- Being able to explore secondary research.\

Disadvantages:
- Expensive because the information has to be independently collected without an insight of any data prior to their research.
- Time consuming due to the fact that primary researchers start with no existing data so they have to find everything out from scratch.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is data originally found by someone else that is usually used alongside primary research. Secondary research is usually published in pamphlets, newsletters, trade publications, magazines and newspapers. People may choose to use secondary research when trying to educate other people whereas primary research is when you are trying to find out research for yourself. An example of when secondary research is used would be in magazines when you read about celebrity lives and all the 'rumours' that are said about them; rumours are secondary research.

Advantages:
- Easy because you are using pre-existing information.
- Cheap because you don't have to pay to carry out your own research.
- Quick.

Disadvantages:
- You aren't aware of who did the research and how honest/accurate it is.
- The research could possibly be biased
- Inaccuracies cannot be checked

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is research that contains numbers and measurements. Quantitative data is usually shown as a set of numbers, displayed as charts/graphs and it can also be measured. This method of research is usually used to find out basic information about their targeted audience i.e questions such as: 'how old are you?' or 'how often...?' and these questions often feature in questionnaires. Quantitative research is useful for when you are trying to discover the number side of your research and because it is based on real data (facts) rather than opinions.

Advantages 
-Large samples, Large quantity of data.
-Easy to administer

Disadvantages 
-Difficult to design a suitable questionnaire that reveals the desires of your audience.
-Mostly get asked closed questions (yes/no questions)
-Not knowing whether the participant understands the questionnaire.
-Not knowing whether the participant is being honest.
-Closed questions cannot be adapted.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research helps you find out how people feel. They use open questions so they can elaborate their answers which makes their responses personal to the participant and they can't be measured. It's important to know what your audience is thinking. Qualitative surveys are usually in focus groups or could be a one-to-one interview.

Advantages
-You can ask subsidiary questions, to get in touch with your audience.
-Find out personal information about your audience.

Disadvantages
-Small sample
-Time consuming
-Not representative
-Based on opinions rather than facts

Purposes 

Audience Research 

Audience research is when the purpose of the research is solely to find out more about your audience. There are four basic types of audience research and they are: descriptive research; describes your audience and their characteristics, i.e how old they are etc, analytical research: seeks to know what motivates your audience, why that motivates you and how it motivates you i.e 'Why did you buy the last Justin Bieber album but not his latest?', predictive research; considers 'what if' situations, i.e 'if we changed the name of our company, in what way would that affect us?'
tracking research; long term research that monitors changes taking place over time i.e 'how has the pattern for subscription season ticket sales changed over the past three years?'. Audience research is useful because in order to have a successful poll you need to have an understanding of your audience in one way or another, it also makes the participant feel as if you care about them rather than just your data.

Market Research

Market research is when you gather information about consumers needs and preferences for a product. Questions they may ask are: 'What other products are on the market?' or 'What can be done to improve out product?' etc. Research made by companies to understand what is needed in the market, that when you may use market research, that way you can learn about how to adjust your product to your audiences preferences and you can get rid of any competition within the same market. They are useful because it helps both the consumer and the provider, the consumer because they are getting what they want/need and the provider because they are selling it to them.

Production Research

Production research is used to gather material to allow a company to develop new products and ensure the whole process will run smoothly. In order to do this they investigate the technology and personnel available.  You may use production research if the audience research goes well and the market analysis is favourable a media company may decide to launch a new product within that market. They are useful because they allow companies to develop new products.

Task 5 - Regulation - AS1

Advertising needs to be regulated. Regulation takes place through two main bodies, the ASA and Ofcom. The ASA stands for advertising standard authority which was established back in 1962 by the advertising industry as a response to the complains about non-broadcast advertising. The ASA are responsible for 3 things, them being: the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK, they ensure the advertising standard remain high by administering the Advertising Codes. The ASA are there in order to respond to public complaints of advertisements that may be misleading, harmful or offensive; they also conduct surveys of sensitive sectors. ASA cover all media advertisements. The second form of regulation for advertising is Ofcom and they are the commutations regulator which means they cover TV, radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. Ofcom duties are to ensure that the UK have a wide range of communicational services including high speed broadband, a variety of genres in association with high quality TV and radio programmes to appeal to a range of tastes and interests, they deal with offensive/harmful content and make sure that people who watch TV and listen to the radio are protected from this content, they protect people from discrimination in TV and radio programmes and from having their privacy invaded i.e when peoples faces are blurred in a documentary. Ofcom respond to complaints by reviewing it against the criteria (code of conduct) to ensure the complaint is valid. Any adverts that breach these codes will have to be amended or withdrawn and the advertiser will not be allowed to use this approach again. An example of codes for TV advertising would be environmental claims, they need to be up to date and not false information this also leads into another code which would be misleading the audience and prohibited advertising.

          An example of particularly controversial advertisement would be the Maria Stopes abortion advert. The advert was deemed inappropriate because the audience interpreted the video as a promotion for abortion which is a sensitive subject for many viewers. As a result of this there were 1.088 complaints which was then dealt with by the ASA who then thought it was clear that the advertisers were promoting their post-conception service and offering advice on their hotline. It was ruled that the advert was neither advocating one course of action over another. However, in addition to the complaints there were over 3,600 other objections received some prior to the broadcast and some via petitions. As a result the complaints were not upheld.  

          An example of a recent that has been removed from the air would be the 'Beach Body Ready' advert. This advert was deemed unsuitable because it gives off the impression that in order to have a 'beach body' you have to look like like the model in the advert and this made women feel uncomfortable with their bodies and due to the concerns over its weight loss claim. There were over 360 complaints mostly because it was said that the advert objectified women. The ASA met with the company to discuss its health concerns and decided that the advert would be down within 3 days. The advert is shown below:

Task 4 - Analysing A Television Advertisement In Detail - AS1

Apple Music Advertisement

The apple music advertisement is in the style of famous faces due to it using celebrity endorsement and featuring faces such as Taraji P Henson, Mary J Blige and Kerry Washington. Due to the nature of this advert being a music advertisement i would say the target audience would be teenagers and young adults as they are the people that often interact with music the most in this generation; also, they are the people that are most likely to know the people in the advert because cinemas target audience is, although more broad, still for the younger generation more than the older generation. In an emotional sense, this advert triggers excitement because you see the people in the advert having fun, laughing, listening to music; as if the music is bringing them together which makes the audience want to purchase the app because you can listen to anything at anytime with anyone and have a good time. This advert uses a brand identity and this would be 'Apple'. Throughout the advert it shows various Apple products such as the Macbook,iPhone and Dr Dre Beats which encourages the audience to buy some of their other products too; you won't find a Samsung in this advert because it is specifically for Apple. There aren't any persuasive devices used in this advert.

There aren't any special effects in this advert however, in relation to the camera work the director has used he uses a lot of long and wide shots. He uses long and medium shots as well, only close ups on the actual product to focus specifically on what they're trying to sell and its associates because usually apple music is complimentary to the apple iPhone so therefore they would be selling more than 1 product within 1 advert.

Initially the advert begins in the form of an eye line match because the camera is showing what she is looking at which is the Apple Macbook. Straight cuts are used throughout the entire advert, the sound computer graphics have been used to enhance the music in the background that all of the women are dancing to. There is bright lightening throughout the advert due to the natural source of light used.                                                            

Task 3 - Styles Of Advertising - AS1

Advertisers are carefully when they make adverts. They choose their target audience carefully and styles that would appeal to different people.

Humour

An example of a humorous advert would be this Pepsi advert. This advert is based around the Pepsi can and its content; throughout the advert the main monk has a sign on his forehead that seems to make him significant over all the other training monks. Towards the end of the video we find out that the Pepsi can is imprinted on the main monks forehead, so when you bow down to the Pepsi can after you drink it thats when you are marked with the amazing mark of the 'all powerful Pepsi'. The humour found in this advert would be at the start of the video where he is just a young boy trying to do all of these adult activities but he is failing because he isn't as strong as the others. The humour is also found at the end of the advert when he gets an imprint on his forehead because the way he earned it was funny. The advert is memorable because of the effect of the advert and the imprint of the can it is as if you are now imprinted with the advert and you won't forget it. This advert is appropriate for the product because drinks are seen as a source of energy so if you have been given that much strength and power after being given a can of Pepsi, they will buy it. Which will also explain why the device is successful - other than it being a popular brand, they are also creative when it comes to their advertisements.

Parody
An advert in the style of a parody would be the John Lewis Advert. Though there isn't anything being advertised, it is as if they are advertising the penguin, Monty. The style make the audience feel a sympathy emotion for the penguin because he wants to find love and he's seeing couples everywhere and that is the thing he most desires. This makes the advert memorable because when you have an emotional connection with anything, you don't ever forget it. I think this style is appropriate because it is promoting christmas and christmas is all about love, family and desires. Therefore it makes this device successful because it spreads emotion around the audience.

Shock
An example of a shock advert would be the St Johns Ambulance Advert. The style of the advert makes the audience feel sympathy and sadness because it is as if the advert built up hope that the woman in the window was the little boys mother so she could help him after he fell out of the tree but in reality she was running outside to get her washing. However, if the father knew first aid he wouldn't have to rely on other people he could have saved his son himself. Makes the audience cautious for the near future and aware that it doesn't take long to learn first aid so that makes them eager to learn first aid so they are able to help anyone in any situation. That also explains why the advert is memorable because if you do take the advice into action then you will remember the reason as to why you chose to do so. This is appropriate for the service being advertised because ambulances are always a matter of life or death and in this case the little boy faced his death. In conclusion, this device is successful because it shows the worst possible scenario that is very likely to happen with young children and it tells you how you could avoid it.

Surrealism
An example of a surrealism advert would be the Terry Crews Odour Blocking. Surrealism isn't the only style that has been used in this advert; the other ones would be famous faces and humour. However, in this case i will only be focussing on the surreal element of the advert. Due to the surreal nature of the advert it may make the audience react in a different way that they would have aimed to - because the advert is so unrealistic they may think it is a good advert but the product won't live up to it's expectations. The style makes the advert memorable because it would get people talking about how funny, unrealistic it is featuring Terry Crews. The memorability might change if it was a random person. The style is most appropriate for the service it is trying to sell because it does refer back to the purpose of the product throughout the entire advert. Whether it is successful or not would depend on the person watching it, some people may buy it because Terry Crews uses it and the emphasis on 'Odour Blocker' has an impact on the product. However, some people may think the reasons i discussed earlier about it the product not living up to its expectation.

Famous Faces
An example of an advert which features famous faces would be the Iceland's advert with Peter Andre. Within this advert, they also use humour within this advert, however like i said before i will only focus on the initial one being famous faces. The fact that this advert uses famous faces to sell their product would make the audience feel as if it is a good place before it is being promoted by a famous person; as if Peter Andre himself actually shops there. They may also think they may see him in the supermarket like they did in the advert; they are perceived as being as normal as we are. Using famous faces makes the advert memorable because the face is a familiar face to everyone so people will discuss things like "oh did you see that advert featuring Peter Andre" - it gets the audience talking. This style is appropriate within the supermarket industry because like i said it is as if they are normal people, everyone needs to buy their food from somewhere, everyone goes to the supermarket - including celebrities. The advert and its style of famous faces is successful because it makes people want to shop at Iceland's if someone like Peter Andre shops there too.

Intertextuality
An example of an advert in the style which includes intertextuality would be the Sony advert. The style used makes the audience feel as if they're watching a movie rather than watching a an advert and where James Bond is a very popular movie, the audience will enjoy it because who doesn't love James Bond? - This is also the reason why the advert it memorable because it links in with features of a movie as well as selling its product. It's appropriate for the product being sold because James Bond is becoming a more technical movie so if it was being advertised by a technical franchise it just makes perfect sense. The device is successful because both James Bond and Sony are popular so them working together to make an advert is destined for success.

Repetition
An example of an advert that uses the style of repetition would be the Hastings Direct Advert. The repetition used makes the audience feel moved by the melody so therefore if they remember the number of '0800001066' then they are more likely to call them for their car insurance when in an emergency. Thats how it makes the advert memorable, the style used is the most appropriate for the car insurance because all you need to memorise is either the number or the email to be able to get a hold of cheap car insurance. Thats how they sell the device and thats how its successful.

Sex
An example of an advert that uses the style of sex would be the Lynx advert. The style being used gives the advertisement a sexual emotion to the audience because it is as if the man is attracting all these beautiful angels and turning them into bad girls. This advert is memorable because it uses the style of sex and in this generation that style is very popular amongst teenagers and young adults; it's a very popular thing therefore it is easy for people to remember because they are interested in that style. The style is appropriate for the product because it is said that 'If a person smells nice it automatically makes them more attractive' therefore if you wear their product then you will attract all the beautiful girls. Therefore, it makes the device successful because it makes the boys want to attract a lot of women.

Task 2 - Forms of Television Advertising - AS1

Adverts can take place in many different forms, these include:

• Realist Narrative
• Anti-Realist Narrative
• Animation
• Documentary
• Talking Heads
• Stand Alone
• Series

Each form of advertising have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Realist narrative: An advantage to realist narrative advertisement is that the whole point of the advert is to apply to real life. I believe this is an advantage within itself because people can relate to it due to it applying to their lives and they understand that the issue is very likely to happen or to be present within their daily routine. However, the disadvantage to realist narrative is that majority of life's occurrences are depressing therefore it's likely to distress the viewer. An example of this form of advertising an 'Anti-Smoking Commercial'. This advert is effective for both teenagers and adults because it shows the teenager that you should learn to think for yourself instead of just follow what your friends are doing, it's effective from the realist narrative perspective because it showed an innocent boy, following the girl that he likes, which is often the case and vice versa for the sexes. This advert also shows adults how teenagers think and act nowadays, making them more aware of their children or the younger generation in general.

Anti-Realist Narrative: An advantage to anti-realist narrative is that due to the impractical nature of the actual advert; people are more likely to remember it or discuss it with their families/friends. On the other hand the disadvantage to the advantage would be people will be unable to take it seriously because the unfeasible nature doesn't apply to peoples lives leading them to make fun of the advert instead. An example for this form of advertisement would be the 'Skittles' advert. This is effective because the old saying of "Everything i touch, turns to gold" is changed to say "Everything i touch turns to skittles". Gold is seen as a very prestigous element therefore they are making skittles equivalent in value and making it seem as if skittles are everything that everyone wants to have. It's the new gold.

Animation: Animation has grown from a child's perspective making the advert easy and fun in order to engage their target audience. However, over the years animation has gone from being just for children to also adapting to adult behaviour but still being easy and fun. Therefore the advantage to animation is that it is a simple way of engaging to to their audience. On the contrary, animations still don't apply to everyone, a lot of adults feel as if they are being patronised due to the original heritage of the animation and it's purpose being for a child therefore it fails to cater for everyone. An advantage of this form of advertising is the 'National Accident Helpline' ad. This advert is effective because of the theme tune. It's a remix of 'I heard it through the grapevine' - a popular song from the 1960's, also, the advert is fun and in the same animation of 'Wallace and Gromit' a beloved, British favourite that is enjoyed by both adults and children.

Documentary: People don't tend to believe things without proof any more, humans as a species aren't as naive as we used to be therefore the advantage to documentary would be that it offers facts and figures which people like as it provides evidence to the cause/matter that they are trying to reveal. In contrast a disadvantage for documentaries would be not everyone enjoys statistics so they might end up finding the advert boring. An example for this type of advertisement would be the 'Water Aid' advert. This advert is effective because like I said it provides statistics and provides graphic images and information that would made the viewer feel sympathy for the children therefore making them think and process the information of the advertisement and helping them remember it.

Talking Heads: An advantage for talking heads would be that because the visual of the shot is a close up it's as if the person is talking directly to the viewer so there's eye contact involved which engages the viewer and in a way makes them feel special because of the effect of the non-verbal communication. Also, advertisers tend to use a well known celebrity a lot of the time to make it seem as if they are supporting the cause or using the product to encourage you to mimic them in their actions or people that have used their product. A disadvantage of talking heads would be like i said before, people aren't as naive and they used to be so they would believe that the celebrity/person that used the product are just promoting the product instead of being genuine. An example for talking heads would be the 'Money.co.uk' advert. This video isn't that effective because it doesn't have anything else to it besides the persons head and them holding up a banner or something, it doesn't directly engage with the viewer excluding the fact that there is a lot of eye contact in this advert, there's nothing that would make the viewer remember the video.

Stand Alone: An advantage of a stand alone advert would be they are known to be unique due to how they get their message across. They get their message across by bringing a new advert our every year, similarly like a series advert. The disadvantage of a stand alone is that people would expect more from the company every year. An example of this type of advertisement is the 'Honda - The Cog'. This advertisement is effective because it anticipates the entire purpose which engages the viewer to want to carry on watching to see the end result.

Series: An advantage of a series advert is they tend to become popular and they reach high levels of success. But a disadvantage is they create high expectations every year then if they fail to meet them expectations they can make the viewer unhappy, however that in a way is also an advantage because they still get people talking about it. An example for this type of advertisement would be 'Farmers Commercial'. This is effective because it tells a story in the actual advert, therefore the viewer is as engaged as they would be while they would be watching a movie for example.

Task 1 - Welcome Post

Welcome to ‘An Introduction to Advertising’. A blog designed to tell you everything you need to know to be successful in the world of advertising!” This blog will provide you with details of: 

• Different formats of advertising
• Different purposes of advertising
• Examples of effective/ineffective advertising campaigns
• Examples of controversial advertising campaigns
• Different styles of television advertisements
• How television adverts are researched and designed
• How television adverts are produced
• Common Codes and Conventions
• How advertising is regulated