RESEARCH & PLANNING- ADVERT: IDENTIFYING CONVENTIONS AND ANALYSING EXISTING ADVERTS

RESEARCH AND PLANNING ADVERT: GENERIC CONVENTIONS AND ANALYSING EXISTING ADVERTS

Purpose 

• ·         Includes key information such as release dates for the audience to be aware of
• ·         Promotes the album for the artist
• ·         A form of synergy to promote the artist and album
• ·         Reminds the audience of the artist’s existence and the album, especially if they are an artist who is not regularly in the public eye, for example, Michael Buble, who only creates an album every Christmas, therefore the advert is a reminder for the audience. 

What are the generic conventions? 

• ·         Album title 
• ·         Artist name 
• ·         Release date
• ·         Key singles
• ·         Where you can buy and stream 
• ·         artist image 
• ·         parental advisory logo if required. 

Analysing Existing Adverts

Kasabian

• ·         Main Artist: Despite promoting their debut album the band uses a simple image to advertise their music, instead of showing their own faces. This doesn’t allow the audience to familiarise with the band but puts them in apprehension. This shows that the band doesn’t try to glamourize themselves or their image for money but instead focus on their music. The simple main image portrays a male figure with a covered face which further conveys the sense of mystery and intrigues the audience. This is conventional of an indie rock band as they don’t try to sell their music through looks but the actual content of their products.
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• ·         Lighting and Colour: The black and white are binary opposites and propose themes of ‘Good VS Evil’ or ‘Light VS Dark’ which could possibly pass a subtle message to the audience about the album or the band. Rock genre is known for controversial or original morals. In addition, black is a common colour associated with rock due to its connotations of evil and darkness. The simple use of colour allows the audience to draw individualistic connotations and possibly feel somewhat familiar with the poster which can intrigue them.
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• ·         Typography: The bold and heavy typography compliments the genre of the product. Rock is associated with heavy and loud sounds. The simplicity of the typography compliments the overall image of the product and allows the audience to explore the product and decode the poster for themselves, basing on personal memories or experiences.
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• ·         Information: The advert has relevant information about their album which notifies the audience about the product. It tells the audience that it is a debut which can intrigue them because they could look for new music.
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• ·         Layout: The layout of the advert is clear. It gives the consumer some ‘room to breathe’ and isn’t overcrowded with unnecessary information or images which could scare the audience away. It is clear that this helps to give a sense of mystery for the audience and intrigue them into the product.
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• ·         Hebdige’s Subcultures: The subcultures are likely to enjoy this product due to its vague presentation which would allow them to decode the product individually and draw own responses. This is appealing to subcultures who have an original style of thinking and are not afraid of responding to media text in their own way.

Muse

• ·         Overall layout: The layout is neat and the information is placed onto the page in a structured manner, with the band name placed onto the top of the page advert. The main information is allocated at the bottom of the advert which is conventional as the advert should have a neat look to appeal to a mainstream audience.
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• ·         Star Motif and Popular Culture/ Hebdige Subculture: Within this advert, the band is promoting their values and believes through their image.  This is evident through the picture, portraying the two side of their persona due to the black and white image. This can make the audience feel curious about the bands values and beliefs. The image is also professionally edited, as it divides the bands picture into two. The white side representing the good and joyful side, whereas the black representing the band as powerful and determinate.
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• ·         Typography: The typography used is simple and bold. The title is large in black colour with a white background, which stands out. Whereas the information is in white colour with a black background at the bottom of the advert which emphasises the importance of the band’s name without too much glamorisation, conventional of indie.
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• ·         Information: The information included in the advert is conventional as it includes the artist band name, and the name of the album, with the key singles and small print regarding the production company. This information is vital as it is the main factors that draws the audience in allowing them to decide on whether or not to purchase the album.
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• ·         Main Image/ Artist: The main image portrays the band playing instruments which is conventional as the audience can relate to them as well as make a realistic assumption about their skills and taste in music. When looking at this image the artist’s face cannot be seen, making the audience feel curious and wanting to find out more about the genre and type of band are they.
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• ·         Lighting and Colour: The colours used in the advert are black and white which connotes to the mysterious nature of the band and their music by also creating excitement making the audience have mixed emotions. This can provoke the audience curiosity which is common for indie.
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What we plan to do:

• ·         We would like to utilize a simple and clear layout which will informal our audience and not overthrow them. The easy layout will also allow for individualistic responses and personal decoding of our product
• ·         We would like to use one image, without sub images, in order to avoid overcrowding.
• ·         The typography will be bold and easy to read in order to grab the viewers’ attention but at the same time it will be easy to read.
• ·         The star will be evident on the advert but will not be too glamorized or seek too much attention. Instead we will try to have an equal distribution of the artist and information which is conventional of indie.