TV Advert Production - Task 2

This is the advert I am analysing first. It is an advert for the energy drink ‘Red Bull’. 


Representation
‘Red Bull’ is the brand being represented in this advert.  It is represented by an animated portrayal of artist Leonardo Da Vinci. In the advert, Da Vinci paints the recognisable image of a Red Bull can, whilst explaining to his friend what it is and what it does. The friend is not enamoured with idea and claims that Da Vinci is going crazy, until the artist is swept off the floor by his drawing as it comes to life and flies up into the sky and out of shot.
It could  be represented in an animated way for a number of reasons. For a start, it is a cheap way of making an advert, as opposed to having to hire kit, locations and actors. Also, as the advert requires some sort of portrayal of someone flying, it is a lot easier to create this via animation rather than spending a lot of time and money creating a real life-looking flying effect. 
Another reason may be, the fact that the animation in this advert is very simple. The simplicity allows the focus of the advert to come out a lot clearer than if there was a lot more for the audience to look at. There is also a significant amount of dialogue on the advert, and this may be the main focus, therefore the animation may just be images to accompany what is being said, rather than being the main way of communication with the audience.
Another reason it could be represented in this way is because of the target audience. People in their late teens and early 20s will remember when cartoons and animation were made like this and it may catch their attention.


Audience
I believe that the target audience for this advert is late teens up to mid thirties. Red Bull is illegal to sell to anyone under 16 so that excludes them. However, I get the feeling that this product is aimed at young people. It is an energy drink so it is also aimed at active people who may need an energy boost.
I wouldn’t say that this advert is aimed at any particular class, however, with almost all products these days, there are cheaper alternatives. So it’s likely to be the slightly richer people who buy the actual Red Bull brand instead of cheaper energy drinks. Another thing is the fact that the advert uses Leonardo Da Vinci. This suggests that it may be aimed at the more sophisticated of people.
In terms of Young and Rubicam’s Four Consumers, I would say that this advert is aimed at the Mainstreamers and Aspirers. Red Bull is quite a well known and big brand, and so both the mainstreamers and aspirers would like this, because it is not only a drink, but also almost a fashion statement. It is also very popular and mainstreamers may see this as a positive.
In Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles, the advert in my opinion would be aimed at the Actualizers and possibly Achievers, but mostly Experiencers. Red Bull is an energy drink and this may appeal to the Experiencers because they are said to be Outgoing, Travellers, Impatient and Impulsive, which suggests that they are active. Therefore an energy drink would be useful.
The main and most important message of the advert is that ‘Red Bull gives you wings’. Obviously it does not literally give you wings, it simply means that it gives you energy. This would appeal to anyone active because they would need energy if they are doing a lot of active things such as physical work or sport. 
I am personally doubtful about whether the advert is very effective or not. The target audience appears to be young, active people, however they have used the image of a 1400s artist. This is not to say that the young and active people have not heard of Leonardo Da Vinci, it just doesn’t seem like the sort of topic they’d be particularly interested in, and may not grab their attention.


Institution
The advert is very successful when it comes to brand association. For a start, it is part of a group of adverts all made by the same company, which are all made in the same style,  and therefore just the start of the advert may be recognised just by specific style of animation that has been used. Then there is the fact that the logo (and drink can, the logo is on it) is very prominent and on show for the entire length of the advert, it is also the main focus of the shot throughout the advert.
On the rare occasion that someone may not have already seen a can of Red Bull and not know what it looks like, the advert changes that. There is a clear display of the product, and it appears for enough time for someone to be able to recognise it if they then saw it in a shop.


Language
The whole of the advert is animated, with one title at the end, which reads ‘Red Bull gives you wiiings.’ This title is small, in black, and at the bottom of the screen at the end, however being on a white background it does stand out quite well. It fades in quickly, stays on screen for 3 seconds, and then disappears 1 second before the end. 
The editing is incredibly simple, the advert stays on the same shot for most of the advert, only using a different shot at the very end for the last second. They are clean cuts, which suits the basic style of the advert. 
The sound is simple too. The main focus of the sound in this advert is the dialogue being said by the characters in the advert, however this is accompanied by some sort of wind instrument, perhaps a flute, doing a few single notes here and there. It is not full enough to be classed as music, and is not particularly noticeable unless you are  actually trying to listen for it. It does not do much for the advert or really affect it in any way.
The advert does not contain any intertextuality unless you count the fact that it has a similar theme to the other Red Bull commercials, regarding the ‘Gives you wings’ aspect. And obviously Leonardo Da Vinci wasn’t an original idea by the people who created the advert.


Ideology
The ideology of this advert is simple and clear to understand. ‘Red Bull gives you wiiings.’ is a strong indication of what this commercial wants it’s audience to understand, however  it isn’t quite all black and white. Obviously an energy drink literally giving someone wings would be rather far fetched, but the advert expects their target market to understand this and not interpret the tag-line so literally. Of course what the advert is really trying to convey is the fact that Red Bull fills the drinker with energy, and possibly make them feel as if they are, or could be, flying. 


Narrative
The Red Bull advert is basically a small animated story in itself. There are two characters, one being Leonardo Da Vinci and the other being his sidekick or some sort of friend. Basically, Leonardo is painting something, and his sidekick is wondering what it is, and isn’t exactly enamoured with what he sees at first. Leonardo eventually finishes his painting, which happens to be of the product being advertised, and suddenly it comes alive, flying off the paper and carrying Da Vinci with it. The friend is in disbelief. 
I wouldn’t say that the story within this advert really conforms with Tordorov’s narrative theory, as it isn’t really long enough to be effectively structured, and the story doesn’t really end with an equilibrium, more like a miniature cliff hanger.


Genre
This advert would most probably be put into the humour genre because of the exaggerated accents and the unusually abnormal situation, it is also not very serious. Another genre that could it could be fitted 
into would be animation because it is purely animation based.
The iconography used in this advert would be the appearance of Leonardo Da Vinci, being a famous artist and an icon in today’s world. Another use of iconology could be the use of the Red Bull can image, a sight that is fairly common these days and is arguably the reprehensive of energy drinks as a whole today.


The advertising techniques here would be the use of Wit and Humour, simply because the advert is funny and the use of the visuals is amusing, especially when the can comes to life and flies away.
To conclude, I do not think that the advert in itself is very successful. It does not grab my attention particularly, it does not do anything to make the advert or product remain in my head (like adverts such as the ‘Go Compare’ commercial which repeats itself until you remember it). However, because it is one of many similar adverts advertising Red Bull, this gives it a slight head start, because people are likely to recognise it from one of the other Red Bull adverts they have seen and then watch it to see what happens. Another thing I would say is, I don’t think they have chosen the right characters (Leonardo Da Vinci and friend) because they are not the sort of people that the target audience are likely to relate to, or even know about.








This is the second advert I am analysing.


Representation.
In this advert, it is ‘Tango Clear’, a varation of the well known ‘Tango’ fizzy drink. Here, it is represented as the fruit ingredients it is made with, in this case, oranges, apples, lemons and melons, among others. It is being represented in this way to show the audience that the drinks have these ingredients in them, and possibly lead the audience into a false sense of thinking that this drink is healthier than it actually is. The drink is also fizzy, and the fact that the fruits are bouncing down the street may be an attempt to portray this. 


Audience
I feel that this advert is aimed at a very wide target audience. It is a spectacle which may attract the attention of someone very young, or equally someone rather old, and it is the kind of thing which would amaze both rich and poor people, so it is difficult to pinpoint an exact target audience for this specific advert.
I believe that this advert would appeal to many of  the VALs, such as Actualisers, Achievers, Experiencers, and Makers. I think this because all of these types do not have binds on trying new things. There are the Experiencers which may enjoy the advert because it is different and new and exciting, the Actualisers, Achievers and Makers who may see the advert and find it interesting, and then have enough money to try the product out because they were pulled in by it’s commercial.
In relation to Young and Rubicam’s four Consumers, I think that Mainstreamers and Aspirers would be the ones that this advert is aimed at. The Mainstreamers would want to try this new drink because everyone else is trying it and talking about the advert. The Aspirers would want to purchase the drink to show others that they are current and can afford to but all the latest products from the latest adverts.
Personally I believe that this advert is successful at attracting it’s target audience, and maybe even more than the target audience. It is quite amazing and could potentially become a talking point which may lead to more sales. Having an advert which is very vague on who it’s target audience is can sometimes be a very bad idea, however sometimes it can pull off really well. In the case of this advert, I think it’s the latter. 


Institution
This advert isn’t very successful when it comes to promoting the brand. For the majority of the advert, all that is seen is apples, lemons and oranges bouncing and rolling down the street. The one thing which could be argued is the fact that Tango have always used fruits, especially oranges, in their advertising, and so that could be a hint to the audience that this is a Tango advert. Saying that, it is not a very effective technique to make people guess what you are advertising because a lot of them may not get the message. However, the advert could be considered mesmorising, and may compel people to watch it until the end, by which time we finally find out what is being advertised.
Still, it is not particularly effective, as the brand name is not said or even written in a clear text on the screen, the only thing the audience gets to point them in the right direction is the bottle of drink that the woman is holding at the end, which says the product name on the bottle.


Language
The locations for this advert have been chosen very carefully in order to get the effect that the direction envisaged.  They have chosen a picturesque street in Swansea, which obviously needed to be on a hill in order for the fruits to roll down it. They have chosen a pretty place in order to make the shots worthwhile and nice on the eye, it also makes the advert more pleasant to watch. All the houses on either side of the street are painted in different colours, which also makes the advert more beautiful. 
Most of the advert is filmed on this street except for a few shots, like the small alleyway with old cracked steps, the initial establishing shot which shows the many rows of houses, in which this street is one of, and the corner of the street where there is a bike, leant against a lamp post. 
A lot of the shots are wide shots of all the fruit travelling through the air or down the street, however there are a few close up shots on things which are happening, such as some of the fruits hitting cars and smashing, or a frog jumping out of a drain pipe in amongst all the fruits. These shots mix in well with the wider shots and break the advert down a little bit, making it more interesting to watch. 
The only real way that this advert has been edited is the fact that it has all been slowed down. This has been done so the audience are able to capture more of the action, also less shots are needed because the shots which are there, last longer. It also appears to be more impressive in slow motion, the audience may notice things which they would miss if the shots were at normal speed. Another thing to consider is that this whole advert may have been shot with a heightened frame rate to keep the detail.
There is definitely some intertextuality in this advert. The whole advert is a parody of Sony Bravia’s ‘Bouncing Balls’ advert to promote their new LCD TV. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMl5l6mOySU&feature=related)
The Tango advert copies the Sony advert in such detail, the music is the same, the idea about the bouncing balls (in this case fruit) is the same, the frog jumping out of the drain is the same, and so is the bike on the corner of the street. The differences are the location, and the main focus which are fruits instead of bouncing balls.
The Tango advert was eventually banned for being too much like the Sony Bravia one.


Ideology
It is difficult to pinpoint the exact ideologies of this advert. Because it is a parody, it has not been designed from scratch and therefore the ideologies were not discussed at the point of having these ideas. Obviously with the Sony Bravia advert, the coloured balls bouncing down the street were attempting to convey that the TV which was being advertised can produce beautiful colour and movement to provide  better and more enjoyable viewing experience. Because the Tango advert have simply copied this idea, it doesn’t really work in the same way. The only real thing which I can think of is again the fact that it is advertising a fruity fizzy drink. The advert clearly shows fruit, which immediately lets the viewer know what type of drink it is advertising. The fact that the fruits are bouncing and rolling could be interpreted as the fizziness of the drink, however this does not clearly represent Tango as a brand.
As I have mentioned already, Tango often uses the fruits which flavour the drinks in their advertising campaigns, and so this could also be an ideology of the brand.


Narrative
This advert has no characters or a particular storyline, and is purely concept based. Again, the concepts in this advert would stem back from those in the Sony Bravia advert, and as this is simply a copy, there may not be any particular reasons for advertising the Tango Clear drink in this way other than to parody the advert produced by Sony. 
‘Tango Clear’ is the same as normal Tango except the liquid is clear. This may be the reason why they chose to copy the Sony Bravia advert, because is also is trying to convey to the audience that the TV being advertised is clear to watch.


Genre
The genre of this advert has to be parody, because obviously that is what it is, but speaking about the advert in itself, it could possibly be classed as Innovative. It’s a new and interesting idea that people may not have seen before and brings a fresh insight into making adverts as a whole.


Overall I don’t think that this advert is particularly successful. As a parody it worked really well, and as a short film it was very impressive, but it doesn’t really work as an advert, because as it’s a parody, the style of advert is not geared up for the advertising the drink, because it was originally created to advertise a television.

TV Advert Production - Task 1

See Advert here



This is a still from what is probably one of the best known commercials in the history of fizzy drinks. Everyone knows the Coca Cola lorries. This particular commercial is a Christmas one. It encompasses the true excitement of Christmas, and to a lot of people, marks the start of this particular festive season (when they ‘see it on the telly!’) It’s safe to say that Coca Cola have pretty much hit the nail on the head with this one.
The advert demands quite a wide target audience, however being an advert related to Christmas time, this does exclude some religions, and may not have the same effect on a person who does not celebrate Christmas. But a wide amount of people become excited around this particular time of year regardless of age or sex, and this advert is aimed at them. I wouldn’t say that this advert is aimed at any particular class, since Coca Cola is a widely bought product, (the company owns just over 40% of the soft-drink industry). 
At Christmas time, people often spend a bit more than they can usually afford to make the whole experience that much more enjoyable. Lower class people such as D & E classes may usually buy cheaper brands of Cola, however seeing the advert might prompt them to buy the real stuff just for this once.
Thinking in terms of Young and Rubicam’s four consumers, I would imagine that this advert is aimed at all of them except the Reformers, who may refuse to buy Coca Cola simply because everyone else does, and they do not need to rely on big brands such as this to please them.
Because Coca Cola is such a widely known brand, the commercial doesn’t need to be too specific. Seeing a lorry all lit up with the Coca Cola logo on the side is enough, everyone who hasn’t been locked up with no form of communication for years knows exactly what is supposedly inside those lorries. This is why there is no need for this commercial to offer the consumers offers with bigger pack sizes and cheaper prices, because all it needs to do is remind the viewers about Coca Cola. 
The tool for doing this is the logo.  There are not many people with access to this advert who do not know what Coca Cola is or could not recognise it’s logo. They use the standard red and white colours for every time that logo appears, it is the same every time. There is even a certain shade of red which is used for every time the logo appears, with the unimaginatively yet to-the-point name of ’Coca Cola Red’. Using the same colours and logos is a vital thing for audience familiarity, it makes it quick and easy to identify, so when consumers are out shopping and they see that logo, they may (hopefully) see it and buy it.
These adverts are shown on the TV around Christmas time, often in the prime family viewing hours which are usually around 6.30pm - 9pm. They are often shown in between big, famous films with high viewing ratings, which is the ideal (and invariably most expensive) time to advertise on the TV.
Unlike a lot of adverts, this one does not have a voice over, simply a song. The different variations of this classic advert have slightly different songs, however they are all rather similar; a choir of vocals with a lead, Coca Cola is mentioned, and very Christmassy instruments are used. Again this is another illustration of how well known the brand is, they do not need to tell the audience how much it is, or where they can buy it, or even why they should buy it. It is simply a reminder.
A lot of people believe that Coca Cola formed the Santa Claus (or Father Christmas) image of today, and it has become a widely known myth. However it is false. They simply saw it as a great marketing campaign when realising that Santa himself wore the same colours as the Coca Cola logo, and so they took advantage.

The reason Coca Cola's logo is so successful is because it is identical on every advertising platform. (Coca Cola's logo has varied and been updated through the years but these have been minor changes, or simple changes to make the logo seem less dated.) It uses the same unique typeface each time and the same combination of red and white every time.





Coca Cola have had many different slogans over the years. One of the more recent and popular ones has been simply the word 'Enjoy'. Of course it's a very short and sweet logo, but it's simple, to the point, and easy to remember. It's saying 'buy Coca Cola and enjoy it'. However only including the 'enjoy' and the 'Coca Cola', because they are the key words in that message.





Another less well known Coca Cola slogan is 'Open Happiness'. It uses the same short, to-the-point description as 'Enjoy'. I believe that this slogan is particulary effective because it gives the consumer the thought of opening a bottle or can (more likely to be a bottle, because of the imagary on the advert) and accessing the cool, fresh taste of Coca Cola. Obviously for this to work, the consumer would have to either already have a liking for Coca Cola, or to not have tried it. 
In all the Coca Cola logos and images above, 









The 'Red Bull' tent at Download Festival





Coca Cola stage at the Calgary Stampede







If you compare the above Pepsi stage with the one below, it is clear to see that Pepsi have paid a lot less money and in return, been given a lot less advertising space. However, despite the size, it is just as clear, if not clearer, that Pepsi is sponsoring the above stage, because the advert is bold and obvious. In the below image, Pepsi have used their logo numerous times yet have only had the word ‘Pepsi’ written once, at the top. This is not exactly clear in the picture, but even so, it is rather high up, higher up than most people would be looking. And although many people may recognise the circular Pepsi logo, it is no where near as obvious as the picture above which cuts straight to the point with ’Pepsi’ written clearly and boldly in the space provided.  This is a prime example of how advertising space can be used and misused.







A lot of fizzy drinks companies have teamed up with various music festivals around the world to help pay for a certain stage/event in return for prime advertising space. Festivals are perfect places for advertising drinks. Invariably they are held during the summer months so the weather is hot, and what more does a boiling hot festival goer need after they’ve sang their heart out to their favourite band? You guessed it. The only real competitor for soft drink brands at these type of events are the alcoholic drinks, but often a lot of young, underage people attend festivals, so there is still a large market.


Obviously, the target market for these types of promotions are festival goers.  The average festival goer is around age 16-30 and so this would also be the age of the target audience. There is also an even spread of females and males at concerts, and since large brands of fizzy drink such as ‘Pepsi’ have no real masculine nor feminine approach in the image above, I would assume that the advertising is for both genders. These people would generally be described as ‘Experiencers’, the fact that they are attending an event such as a music festival suggests this. The LifeMatrix system would name these people as ‘Fun/Atics’, the description to this being ‘Aspirational, fun-seeking, active young people.’


When advertising on the framework of a stage, there is only a limited amount of space that can be used, and the distance consumers will be away from the stage also has to be taken into consideration. This means that companies have to choose carefully how they will use their space. Anything they do has to be a large size, else it wont be seen by the entire target audience, just the few who are close enough to the front to be able to see it. So this suggests that the content of the advert needs to be big, bold, and make a statement. It’s no good having lots and lots of small writing that no one can read, because it’s not going to make anyone want to buy the product. That is why the companies which advertise via sponsoring a stage often use their logo and/or the name of their product as the centrepiece of their advert. Sometimes with smaller adverts the name and/or logo is the only thing used, but with more advertising space, there is more room for other things, for example, the second image of the Pepsi stage has used artwork of festival goers down the sides, and their logo is repeated, leading up to the centre where the name and logo come together.
This, like the Coca Cola advert discussed previously, is the use of the recognition and familiarity techniques. The brand’s logo and name has to be recognisable because there is no room for any explanation about what the brand is, or how much it costs, or where to get it.   


This, like the Coca Cola advert discussed previously, is the use of the recognition technique. The brand’s logo and name has to be recognisable because there is no room for any explanation about what the brand is, or how much it costs, or where to get it. A small brand which no one knows would not be able to use this type of advertising because people simply wouldn’t know what it was. The reason this sort of advertising is so suited to big brands like the ones above (Red Bull, Coca Cola, Pepsi) is because most, if not all of the people attending the festival know what they are and know their logo.

This isn't an advert specifically for Coca Cola, however it was the only magazine advert I could find advertising fizzy drinks. (A lot of alcoholic drinks and soft drinks such as J20, but no fizzy drinks)


I got this advert from a Morrisons magazine, it is part of their 'Magical Moments' range. It is aimed at whoever does the food shopping, which is usually an adult. It also offers a prize of going to Disney Land, so this suggests that it may be aimed specifically at parents. 
They have used Bribery as a method of drawing the target audience in, consumers get free 'Disney Magical Moments Cards' and with these cards come a chance to win a trip to Disney Land.
The advert is very bright and sparkly and the circle draws the eyes in to look at the centre, the sparkles are also very bright and eye catching.