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Section B - Question 5 - 10 marks

Choice of: Music video, Magazine, Advertisements

Section B - Question 6 -

Analyse unseen text. Could be an advertisement. You could be asked to compare it to one of the set texts.

The set texts:

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What are the different purposes of advertising?

Commercial and mainstream (consumer)

• Create brand identity
• Promote positive associations with the brand
• Differentiate the brand from other brands
• Reassure existing users
• Persuade new users

Charity

• Raise awareness of charity
• Build brand image and create positive associations
• Reassure existing supporters
• Persuade new supporters to donate

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Genre- AIDA model

Summary of desired effect:

Attention- use of language

Interest- issues the reader could face

Desire- to be helped or help

Action- buy/donate

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Advertising techniques 

USP- Unique Selling Proposition - concentrate on a product and reasons why

Brand image advertising

Lifestyle advertising - suggests lifestyle of consumers (aspirational or empathetic)

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Analysing print adverts

Media language:

• Colour
• Type of shot
• Angle
• Focus
  Depth of field
• Mise-en-scene
• Realism?
• Narrative?
• Use of text
• Font design/size
• Layout
• Pack shot
• Rule of Z

Audience

• Who is the target audience for this advertisement?
• How do we know?
• What might other audiences make of it?
• How is the audience addressed/attracted?
• How are values transferred?

Representation

• Who is seen?
• How are they represented?

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DOVE

THE PERSONAL CARE INDUSTRY

MACRO

• The personal care industry is worth $520 billion, with projections of this rising to $900 billion by 2030.
• Dove is present in 150/195 countries
• Dove was established in 1950
• Dove distinguishes itself by promoting 'real beauty', a campaign that was launched in 2004 bucking the traditional stereotypes of beauty pedaled by the media.

2017 focus: Real Moms campaign to celebrate the uniqueness of motherhood.

Above the line marketing- billboards, physical adverts

Below the line marketing- social media posts

Unilever owns Dove

What were Dove's objectives?

Product competitiveness- Compete in a market dominates by Johnson & Johnson baby products

Empowerment- Empower mothers by uniting them in shared experiences

Representation- Feature 'real people' to reflect the target audience

Challenging perfection- Showing the uniqueness of motherhood

Media Language

• Shot type- wide shot with deep focus places the audience in the mothers environment, adding emotional appeal
• Slogan- 'REAL LIFE REAL BEAUTY' reinforces the campaigns focus on realism, moving away from celebrity culture
• Location and costume- set in kitchen, reinforcing idea of everyday life and the domestic role of mothers with natural, relatable clothing and no makeup
• Logo and typeface- Dove logo is widely recognised

Media Representation

• Shows mums how it is normal to not be perfect, and it shows the reality

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RIVER ISLAND

• Inclusivity- ethnic minorities, non-white people, disabilities such as prosthetic leg and down syndrome

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UNSEEN ADVERTS

Things to consider when analysing an unseen product

Intro – how do charity ads convey messages typically, what are those messages, and why is it important to elicit sympathy in the viewer?​ Logo/ typeface/ font – what does it look like? What do the fonts suggest?​ Product/ composition/ rule of thirds – where is it? How big is it? Conventially it will be in the bottom right, and your eye should be drawn there by the image. ​ Colour palette - which colours are used? Which colours stand out?​ Photo manipulation - does it look real? If not, why not? ​ Props - what are they? What is the suggestion here?​ Costume/ make up/ body language – sexualised? Challenging? Alluring? All three?​ Mode of address - formal, informal? Does this reflect the brand?​ Intertextuality – are there references to other media products within the image?​ Does the advert work? What interpretations could the audience have? Think of a polysemic reading using Hall? ​

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POTENTIAL QUESTIONS - SHELTER

• Explain how and why particular social groups, in a national and global context, my be under-represented or misrepresented in the Shelter advert that you have studied
• Explain how the combination of elements of media language influence meaning in the Shelter advert that you have studied

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PRACTICE QUESTION

With 300,000 homeless people in the UK, many advertising companies aim to spread the word about homelessness. Charities such as Shelter aim to allow people in struggling situations to reach out for help, and for others to donate. 

As seen in the Shelter advert, the charity aims to make the audience aware that it could happen to anyone at any time. By using close up shots of people, they aim to make people aware of the fact that it happens to ordinary people. Shelter have not used any Photoshop on the model's faces to make the advert appear more realistic. They have used a range of ages and genders to appeal to a wider audience and make it clear that homelessness doesn't just happen to a specific stereotype, meaning that it is systemic.

Shelter has tried to challenge the stereotypes of homelessness and humanise the homeless by making it clear that they are ordinary people. The use of the different phrases such as "I can't face it" makes it obvious that these are current issues and anyone that relates to them can contact the charity for help or advice. This font has been made in a bright red colour in order for it to stand out and be readable from far away. The red colour could have connotations of danger, therefore making people fearful of what could happen and possibly make them want to make a change.

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PRACTICE QUESTION - UNSEEN ADVERT

Explore how the combination of media language elements influences meaning

Within the beauty industry, Dove's goals are to subvert stereotypical conventions of women, and replace them with natural beauty. This is shown by how Dove previously used photoshopped, conventionally attractive women to advertise their products, however they now use more natural looking women as this is what their audience likes to see (they like to feel represented).

In the Dove advert, the model is an older woman with grey hair. The casting of this model shows representation through age, and makes older women feel seen. It is also taken with a close up shot, which allows the audience to clearly see her hair and her face. Dove has made the advert feel real by their lack of editing on the woman's face, as we can clearly see her wrinkles. The happy expression on her face reveals confidence, and spreads the message to other women that they should feel confident with grey hair. She is also making direct eye contact with the camera, which makes the audience feel like the advert is grabbing their attention. This is also done through the use of rhetorical questions such as "grey? gorgeous?". The lack of celebrity endorsement influences meaning because it shows that anyone can embrace their natural hair, and that it doesn't need to be hidden. The use of the plain white background makes the model stand out and puts all of the focus onto her. This advert is a commercial advert, and the purpose of it is to make women feel confident with grey hair. The model's costume is a plain black jumper which allows the focus to be brought back to her, instead of her clothing.

In conclusion, the Dove advert focuses of making older women feel confident and represented with their hair colour, and aims to promote the fact that grey hair is gorgeous.