Research

Introduction

TV adverts are played on a regular basis to fill gaps/ breaks between shows. It is important that these ads are entertaining and engaging as the TV producers and manufacturers do not want their audience to become bored and turn over the channel. Adverts are also a necessary tool as the company who made the advert are also looking to make money from their screen and view time to be able to make their products and potentially make newer, up-to date and expectation, products. Television adverts are powerful as they can change an audiences view-point, for example, people who know little about the conditions in different countries may see an ActionAid advert and be compelled to support that charity.

In this essay I will be conducting both primary and secondary research that will help me in my Advertising Project.

Nikon and Canon Advert Comparison

The target audience appears to be both male and female between the age 25-40 - this is because the advert seems to have mainly professional photographers but there is also family photos which suggests to me that this product can be used for memorial reasons too. The plot of this advert is to make the audience aware of the high quality and functions of the new Nikon Coolpix camera. There isn't much narrative in the advert, the only dialogue is actually text that is shown on screen - this consists of quote beginning with "I am...". 

Setting: Through showing places and family orientated photographs, the advert has a sense of Pathos to it. This is because the colours (such as light blues, oranges and yellows) make the audience feel relaxed. 

Logos: This advert has an aspect of Logos in it as the dialogue is stating things similar to facts ("similar" as they are not percentages and it is unlikely they have used a questionnaire to discover these statements). The statements consist of "I am Marco Polo", "I am a beauty queen" and "I am Alive".

Props: There isn't many props in this advert as the main focus is of the camera and how it works, however we do get to see the camera in use through actors travelling and taking photos.

From this advert, I would like to take a few aspects and use them in my own advert. These things where:

1) Continuum of the "I am..." quote, I could use this in my advert to convey emotions to the audience and also to describe the camera itself. For example by saying "I am the future" or "I am advance technology" etc.. 

 2) Both filming and taking photos of sunsets and locations but also family shenanigans (with permission of course) to show the diversity of this product. 

The target audience in this advert is easy to see, especially from the first impression of the camera. The camera is sleek but has complicated - which suggests that it is aimed at professional photographers or people with experience. From the advert I can identify that the target audience is male 20-30 year old's (as the product is new and complicated) who are looking to explore or take extraordinary photographs for a hobby. There isn't any narrative as no one speaks nor is there lyrics in the music playing in the background but there is a plot. From what I have gathered, the plot is to show how to use the camera and for the Canon company to show their advanced technology. The advert is filled with facts and statistics such as "the world's lightest" camera, "approx 26.2 mega pixels", "new imaging processor" and "cross-type 45-point AF sensor". Between the both adverts, the target audience is relatively the same, I believe this is because the two products are aimed at the new generation that I was introduced to this new technology and to people who are most likely to use products like this - also at people who are most likely to travel to places/ want to remember the sights they see. The plot is also similar, as the product is used by males who are travelling whilst taking photographs of eye-catching or beautiful places/ things. The adverts also have their difference too. The Nikon advert is more of an advertising through Pathos as there is an emotional song through the entire advert. There is also an element of Ethos in the advert towards the end when the collage of consumers is shown with the quote "I am part of the world" and at the end when they are holding their product with a smile on their faces in unison. Whereas, the Canon advert shows signs of Pathos, Ethos and Logos. This advert shows Pathos through the use of the male smiling and being happy whilst taking his photos which influences the viewer into thinking that the product will bring them happiness. It shows Ethos through

Foxy's Lesson on Adverts & Geo-Demographics

 What I remembered from the advert Foxy played: Bass, PlayStation, some guy in a hallway, the overall pace of the footage was extremely fast - the duration of the clips where fast. How does it make me feel? It makes me feel on-edge as the music was fast and loud and slightly annoyed because I don't like loud noises. The age restriction for this advert is 13+. I think that the age of someone watching this will be around 17-18 and I think they'll be in a part-time job and most likely single. I also think they'll be male as the advert had very masculine overtones. What Socio Economic Group is this person? C2 to B most likely as they are more likely to play video games. He also wanted us to think of education and race. I think that the race of the person most likely to play this is White-British or White-American. Per-Anum, I think the person earns around £15,000 (minimum wage per year). Mobility - either public transport like a bus or train, or they have at least their first car. Where are they? In England, specifically Norfolk/ London.

Geo-Demographic

When making a product you need to aim at the single Geo-demographic profile for that product. A Geo-demographic consists of age, gender, income, race and ethnicity. This is also known as the buyer persona. 

You can promote your product in many ways, these ways are: Advert (Commercial), Mail, Show Exhibit, Web Promo, Email and Social Medias such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and FaceBook. When you promote a product you need to bare in mind the Buyer Persona - keeping the Buyer Persona the same through the entirety of the products existence. The Buyer Persona is the audience.

To provide a more detailed example I will use the Nikon advert that I used earlier to apply these questions too.

What is the age restriction and the target audience? The age restriction is 15+ as it is expensive technology that require basic understanding and care to make sure the camera is safe and works correctly. The target audience is (mainly) male; females may use this product too. I presume that this product is aimed at males more than females as there are more males shown handling the camera than  females.

Socio Economic Group? I believe the SEG would be people between C1 and above as the product is expensive - which may deter people who don't own much to buy it as they need their money for more appropriate and helpful things (unless they save up).

What is there Education? I assume that their education is at least college level or above and guessing that they are doing a course along the lines of Photography, Art or Media.

Race: White-British or White-American.

Mobility: As this product is about photography, I assume that the person buying this product travels a lot which means they have to have access to money for plane tickets and other means of transport like a car/ drivers licence.

Analysis of Two Print Adverts

 As Polaroid is an old product, the target audience for this print advert is significantly older than the Canon print advert. Arguably, it could also be aimed at people who like to make scrapbooks - this can be people of all ages but most likely female as they are more stereotyped as creative. Controversially, the Canon camera can also apply to creative target audiences as it is new and more complicated than the "World's simplest" Polaroid camera - however, the target audience for the Canon cameras is more aimed at professional male photographers and not females creating scrapbooks.