Research

Research

Target Audience

For several adverts there will be a dedicated audience that it will need to appeal to. For example a phone advert or new piece of technology advert will appeal to users and owners of these items or people who are in the need of them. To do this the advert will outline the best features and parts of that product. An example would be outlining the camera on a phone and its abilities.

Most TV commercials for smartphones, and many other pieces of modern technology, concentrate on pushing the “features and benefits” in an established, easy to understand way. Throw in a celebrity or two, an upbeat piece of music, and some monolithic shots of the device itself.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/agm-x2-tv-commercial-funny-news/

Above shows a valid reliable secondary source of data. In this quote they have spoken about outlining the features as well as benefits. This has to be easy to understand so all viewers can comprehend it. For me when featuring the phone I must talk about how the camera or screen size will benefit the user and cause no issues. It should be simple but if it turns boring it will be due to the lack of shots so I am going to have several shots to make sure I have variety.

 By doing this any people who are interested in better camera quality for photography will be more inlined to purchase this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rykmwn0SMWU - Google pixel advert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3mlX-9j-Vs - Samsung galaxy S7 and S7 edge advert.

As you can see both adverts focus mainly on how the features are 'new' and never seen before. This theme is prominent in the google pixel advert shown by the constant repetition of the word 'new'. It gives it the sense of a phone that can not compare to others because of its unique abilities. Samsung has the reputation of its camera quality and the narrative dedicates a large section of time to outline how it compares to professional cameras. It relies heavily on an audience who want the best out of their phone in regards to quality but also shows how it can be used in social encounters. This differs to the google pixel advert which shows original aspects and effectiveness in day to day life in contrast to Samsung's aim to appeal to those who take pictures and have several social encounters.

The age range for the Samsung would be early twenties shown by the actors in the advert and the activities featured. When showing the gear 360 camera we see three males on the horizon looking at the Eiffel Tower. This shows that these people have time on their hands and the most likely people to have this are students on a gap year or holiday.

For Google the age range would be adults and teens as it appeals to people who get the most out of technology and have most recollection of it.

You can see in this chart that late teens and young adults are the most common phone owners.










Mise-en-scene

The Samsung advert uses actors as well as the phone to promote itself whereas the google pixel is the dominant prop in the advert. The impact of having just the phone makes the audience have constant focus on it and are not drawn away by any other part of the advert. The advertisers wanted the google pixel to stick with the viewer and they did this really effectively. On the other hand Samsung combined the idea focus on the phone then drew it out to use in everyday life. The actors were shown wearing casual clothing which indicates the phone will has uses in practically all situations during every day life.

The colour scheme in the google pixel advert is very simplistic to make the phone feel easy to use and not very complicated. The use of White makes the viewer focus on the advert as it is very bright and can easily catch attention. The Samsung shows a lot of vibrancy and colour which I believe co insides with the camera of the phone to show its excellent capturing of colour.

Sound

In the Google Pixel advert we are given no dialogue through narration or speech but are given hard hitting music which the text reacts with. One sound effect of a man coughing in a suggestive way is used. This effect brings light to the advert in a way that it hadn't previously. By playing a song over the advert it will create a connection between that song and the advert so when a viewer ever hears that song again they will instantly think of the Google Pixel. The music feels very upbeat indicating the viewer will be feeling joyful and happy during the advert which strengthens that connection between the audience and the phone.

In the Samsung advert it is controlled by a calm voice over which thoroughly describes the phone without taking anything away from it. The voice-over is very key in this advert as due to its length it requires a narrative to keep your attention.

Content signs

Each advert promotes VR (Virtual Reality). The way they do them however conveys different emotions to the audience. In the google pixel advert we are given a shot in space. Space has connotations to freedom and awe. Its immensity from what we know can be displayed through a phone virtually which creates this sense of unbelievable exploration through a click of a button. To emphasise the idea of VR the text graphic 'Oooooooo' overlays it to show how interesting it is.

The VR in Samsung's case shows to rely on what others send to you due to the ability to share the 'gear 360' camera feature. This 'Cinema screen' ability really shows how you can expand how you speak to your friends. Although it doesn't give you this feel of exploration such as the Pixel it takes the route through cinematography and Social life. This combination acts as a tool to the audience to share their experiences in new innovative ways, quick and easy.

Shot Types

In both adverts the shot types vary largely. Close-ups, Big Close-ups and Extreme Close-ups can be seen to identify the phones features. The camera tends to zoom into the phone in the Samsung advert compared to the jumpy energetic flashes of the google pixel. During the scenes with actors in the Samsung advert we see mostly medium shots as it shows us people conversing and laughing.

The use of Extreme close-ups give the phone a connection between it and that audience as you are beginning to understand the fundamentals and what it looks like. We now have knowledge of how it functions and have great detail of what it looks like we are able to decide quickly whether we want to phone.

The medium shot is effective in allowing the audience to see two characters having a conversation without interrupting their personal space. From this shot we are able to see the actors gestures and expressions. In the advert they seem happy and excited. This makes the audience want the product to relate with the actors as they will be content if they own it which is what the advert portrays.

Main advertising techniques

The google pixel advert aims towards those who want something new and refreshing. The repetition of 'new' is a technique as this concept of it being 'new' will stick with you. By repeating it the advertiser wants you to remember this so when seeing another phone advert you realise how they copy several other features and are not 'new'. It builds an identity of the google pixel which doesn't compare to others.

Samsung make a lot of claims in the advert such as when describing the screen size saying its 'the way you like it'. It gives the sense that the advertiser is in control of this subjective idea. This is the use of the technique logos where facts are given about the camera and internals. By giving facts and figures the viewer has more trust towards the advertiser as they are honest. There are hints of the use of pathos in the Samsung advert as it shows people having a joyful time. It conveys the feeling that the phone will provide happiness and comfort.

I believe Google take an ethos approach as they build this identity of 'new' which sets them apart from other brands as others will now seem old and recycled. By building this identity the company now is in its own lane in terms of their technological advancements.

Neither advert features a celebrity in their advert, I believe the reason for this is because both adverts are introducing the phone and don't want a character to take away from it due to distraction.


Demographic and geodemographic

I looked at an advert showing a Playstation Video game. In the advert the atmosphere is very chaotic and energetic. The Target audience to me seems that it is aimed at late teens. The themes seem that they remain in a older age group. The product being advertised is play station games or possibly the console.

Below is the character profile and it shows the people who are most likely to consume the product;

Age - 17-23
Gender - Male
Ethnicity - White British
Income - £21,000
Mobility - Car
Education - Graduates
Home - Flat

Demographic - A population based around a certain subject

S.E.S. (socio economic status) - measurement of a persons work experience based from a group (family), income, occupation, etc play are role in this.

Geodemographic - Study of a population based around a certain region

Cluster - an area where people are located (London, Lincoln, etc)




From this graph taken from a reliable source it shows that iPhone owners skew more towards the Males. The skew however is very minimal and shows that aiming at both genders will be successful due to the variation in percentage.



Review upon Google pixel ad and Samsung ad.
Reliable = repeatable
Observers (several)
Valid = Believable
Trust source?
Internal validity
Example;
Murder photos > focus group > very upsetting
photos may have very good internal validity as stress produced
       
external validity
Example;
History exam (cramming last minute
                       |                 or
                       (Over several weeks

Has external validity e.g can be applied to French revision


Posters

Two poster shows below are what I am going to use to develop my own poster:

                   


The iPhone X poster seems to outline the white with multiple colours in contrast to the simple white background. By using a white outline it brings the phone to life as it is prominent. Compared to the Samsung GALAXY S5 poster which uses shadows to bring the phone to life giving it the sense of an object protruding through the poster paper. Similar to the iPhone poster the Samsung phone has a wide range of primary colours in contrast to a simplistic uneventful background. The iPhone's Font is very simplistic to stick to the theme of the overall poster. 'Say hello to the future' gives this sense of technological advancement as future has connotations to the new and unimaginable. By doing this Apple are saying that their phone is something never seen before.

In the Samsung poster there are multiple fonts each with different sizes. It conveys that the phone has several features as the fonts range from blocky to stylish. It possibly shows multiple functions to entice the person viewing. Also with multiple fonts it drawn attention as the viewer is viewing many things on one piece of paper. With the prominent '5' it is the main attention grabber.

Target audience

For each poster I feel that they are appealing to people in need of newer technology and they are in the age range of early teens to adults as the phones are flexible in terms of uses for all ages. The ability to change and use the phone like you want makes it appeal to lots of people.

Regarding  posters I looked at the most common sizes of posters

For a phone advert the most appropriate poster size would be A4 paper to 18'' x 24''. A large poster size would cause a lot of stretching of the image of the phone and would create a lot of empty space. I will be using sizes around this range and vary between horizontal and vertical designs. With posters the appeal is in the boldness of the poster. Brighter colours, larger fonts and bigger pictures will create that initial attention grabbing from people walking by.

A key to poster creating is that you need to use the most common techniques such as alliteration, rhetorical questions, facts etc. When approaching with a logos technique facts are key in appealing to the audience.