Evaluation

Lockdown Advertising Project Evaluation

Answer the following set questions. Write 300 words for each question as a minimum response. Add images, links and references to your blog where needed to support your response.

1. Explain through evaluating how you developed the task you were set. Discuss the ideas you had. Refer to examples you looked at on the website (minimum 3 including client and competitors) and indicate who you initially thought the target Audience would be for the Advert based on the Lockdown / Covid situation.

When we were first set the task, I had a lot to think about, because when we first started the project I thought initially that we’d advertising something we’d get to choose and while that was the case we had a criteria to meet, the project was based around doing something in Lockdown and being honest, with this criteria to meet I though this would be a very difficult project to work on but as time went on, I began thinking this project was getting easier. We were all then given a specific type of product to work on for our advert and I wanted to work on a Streaming service since I felt that was something I could apply myself to, but I did get something I was interested in, a board game criteria.

 

The game I chose was a Card game called Cards Against Humanity and it’s not suitable for children, initially I came up with my own Board game called “2020” but I thought it sounded boring so I moved on to Cards Against Humanity, I also researched two of the game’s competitors that being Muffin Time and Blockbuster, Muffin time was a Card game that got released in July 2020 and was developed over the course of a year by Thomas Ridgewell, Elliot Gough and Eddie Bowley, the game is based on the popular web series “asdfmovie” created by Ridgewell, the cards in said game are based on multiple gags from the first 12 episodes. Blockbuster was released by Big Potato games who also distributed Muffin Time, the basic premise of the game is you’re given a specific movie category or criteria such as “movies with talking animals” or “Horror Movies” and you have a set time limit to name as many as you can. Both of them had a somewhat similar format to Cards Against Humanity that being both competitors were both Card Games. After this, I looked at the games Target Audience as well which I determined to be young adults as the game is not suitable for Children despite the fact there’s a “Family” version of the game which I researched for the advert.

 

2. Explain and evaluate what type of film, images, graphics and sound were selected as being suitable for the advert and why they were important.

I used some interesting techniques with this project, because the previous Project Id completed was advertorial based and didn’t involve any filming or editing work, this gave me the chance to express my creative side with my work, So I utilised my skills as an animator for the project, now despite what you may think animation is actually very time consuming, because a large animation project like “Into the Spider-Verse” for example took years to make, but if you’re animating something like a short advert it should only take upwards of a few days if you include the time needed to gather resources and create any new models you might need, this also included using Green Screen for the first time which I used a separate application for. The animation was important because it made the advert stand out and look better amongst its competitors.

 

The images I used were pictures of the many variants of Cards Against Humanity which you can find in my advert which included the family version, the absurd version along with the Green, Red and Blue Variants of the game. The images were especially important for the advert because people need to see the product and what this advert is actually about and without the images then people would be asking “wait, what’s this advert about?” and that’s why the images of the game were important for the advert.

 

Graphics and sound played an important role, the main graphics you see in the advert are the text fields displayed on the host and the text labelling the various versions of the Card game and the reason this was important was because without any of the text, then people would think the advert is boring and they’d very quickly lose interest.

 

The second part of the graphics side of things was Green Screen which played a pretty important role, I wanted the advert to have a s sense of realism, after finishing the pieces of animation with green backgrounds, I then took these into my Green Screen App and added the background in, now adding in a background image can be done in the animation software I was using but I wanted to use the Green Screen app to add some complexity to the process, I chose the background of a TV Studio because I felt that would be the best place to advertise it from within the world of the advert. The Green Screen was important because without it, the advert would look very bland and unfinished which would turn viewers of the advert off of the idea of buying the project.

The sound was an important part of the advert because I wanted to have some music in there to make the advert sound better. So in order to find the right music, I went to my editing software on my Tablet which has a music function built in and I found some Non-Copyright music I could put into the Project and once that was done the Advert would sound better than it looks, I felt that adding music was especially important because if I decided not to put music in it then it would just be bland and forgettable but with the music people will remember the tune in their heads.

Explain how you thought they would inform and develop the Advert. Describe the films narrative and say how you thought the Advert would function in promoting the product / service

When working on the Advert I went through several narratives, the first of these was two teenagers at home watching TV and then the advert comes on and the two become very intrigued at the game seen in the advert, following this the advert would then cut to being interrupted by a sponsor of Raid: Shadow Legends and would then cut to black.

The second narrative I came up with was the final version of the advert, originally I intended to just produce the advert itself but then I had the idea to edit together an actual TV programme and put my advert in-between it to act as part of a TV ad break, the programme was made using some left over footage from a previous film shoot I was a part of, this included some minimal work to complete including some screen recording and producing some graphic cards.

 

The Advert however on its own had a narrative as well, it opens on a TV interruption with the colour bars and shows the Shopping Channel and cuts to a shot of the TV studio with my animated host and then to the shots of the various variants of the game itself which I already listed.

3. Discuss and evaluate the types of research / investigation you used for your investigation. Say how you applied this to your idea and used it to validate, develop and profile your target audience.

You should look at the Market segmentation / target audience handout and use the language (demographic, Psychographic, geographic, behavioural, AIO).

I undertook quite a lot of research for the advert, firstly I researched some potential competitors for the game which were Muffin Time and Blockbuster and I also researched how popular the two were along with providing information about the 2 competitors.

I also researched some advertising terms as well to make sure I knew everything about the advertising information I’d possibly need for my project, these included Brand Identity and Cross Platform marketing, but I also researched some advertising strategies and these included

 

·         Avante Garde

The suggestion that using this product puts the user ahead of the times. For example, a toy manufacturer encourages kids to be the first on their block to have a new toy.

·         Weasel Words

“Weasel words” are used to suggest a positive meaning without really making any guarantee. Let’s say that a scientist says that a diet product might help you to lose weight the way it helped him to lose weight or a new brand of dish soap leaves dishes virtually spotless.

·         Magic Ingredients

The suggestion that some almost miraculous discovery makes the product exceptionally effective like a pharmaceutical manufacturer describing a special coating that makes their pain reliever less irritating to the stomach than a competitor’s.

·         Transfer

Positive words, images, and ideas are used to suggest that the product being sold is also positive, perhaps a textile manufacturer wants people to wear their product to stay cool during the summer and shows people wearing fashions made from their cloth at a sunny seaside setting where there is a cool breeze.

·         Plain Folks

The suggestion that the product is a practical product of good value for ordinary people, for example a cereal manufacturer shows an ordinary family sitting down to breakfast and enjoying their product.

·         Snob Appeal

The suggestion that the use of the product makes the customer part of an elite group with a luxurious and glamorous lifestyle. A coffee manufacturer shows people dressed in formal gowns and tuxedos drinking their brand at an art gallery.

·         Bribery

Bribery offers you something “extra.” Buy a burger; get free fries.

·         Bandwagon

The suggestion that you should join the crowd or be on the winning side by using a product—you don’t want to be the only person without it!

Then, I conducted some research into Target Audience as that is an important factor in the world of advertising, Target Audience by definition is the main audience or demographic that your product or service is mainly aimed at, my advertising project that being an adult-rated Card game is aimed at young adults because I feel that the young crowd or as the public deems them ‘millennials’ would be attracted to a game like this.

 

I also researched market segmentation as well, by definition Market Segmentation is exactly what it sounds like because when someone is developing a new product, they divide the market into certain sectors based on many things which can include gender, age or ethnicity. For example, Contraceptive Pills might be aimed at women while something like Durex Condoms will be aimed at men, then there’s a toy train that might be aimed at younger children.

 

4. Evaluate overall how plausible the final Advert was as a Lockdown / Covid positioned promotion and evaluate if it would attract you target audience / user.

 

Overall, I felt that my advert would be entirely plausible in Lockdown for at least a few reasons, the first reason being that everywhere is closed like shops and restaurants (excluding Supermarkets) and most people including families will need something to do since they can’t really go out anywhere, sure they can go out for a walk and to the Supermarkets but that’s very much it.

 

Secondly, the game itself is very enjoyable and as someone who’s also played the game I can say that a lot of people especially older kids will really enjoy this, though the only downside is that most households that have younger kids won’t be able to play it.

 

I also feel that the game and the advert would attract the target audience simply because of its unique playability and difference to generic Card games.

Write five strengths of why the Advert would work well in Lockdown in promoting the clients product / service (key points in your design, production, relevance to the target user / audience).

There were a few strengths that the advert had for being advertised during lockdown

1. ·         The game is unique
2. ·         It’s different to normal Card games
3. ·         It stands out due to it’s playability much like a video game
4. ·         There are many other variants of the game allowing for better experiences
5. ·         The game’s playability and the advert itself will attract people to it and make them want to buy the product.

Then write five points for improvement for your Advert saying why they could be important to improve your advert based on market impact for your target audience / user.

However, I do feel that there were some areas for improvement in the advert that could’ve used some work. Firstly, I felt I could’ve managed my time better because the Advert I ended up at least the final product wasn’t really that impressive.

Then, I felt that the animation I made for the project was significantly under my own skill level, but then again I’m mainly used to animating action stuff like Gun fights and car chases which this advert didn’t have and it didn’t need.

Also, I felt that the editing process didn’t really go the way I’d initially intended because when I came up with the idea to incorporate the advert into a TV show format I felt that process was somewhat rushed along with the main editing for the advert itself.

And I did also feel that the research I undertook could have used a bit more work and that research could’ve helped me make the advert better than what I’ve already got now, I also felt that maybe if I’d put more time into writing the advert then maybe I wouldn’t have ended up with something so rushed like what I got with the end result.

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I confirm that the work submitted for assessment is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself and sources have been appropriately referenced.

Albie Devanche Drew 21/05/2021