P1, M1, D1

Educate:

Dove self esteem project with Cartoon Network: Social Media

Audience: Kids / Teenagers

Purpose: Educate

Structure:

At the start of the promo, several characters from the animated Cartoon Network series Steven Universe were shown rehearsing for the ad (4th wall break within the animation to engage with audience). 2 of the characters are discussing what the promo is about, and explains how it discusses body image and how one views themselves. 2 of the other characters shown then begin to explain how both humans and gems (gems are a reference to Steven Universe - majority of the characters featured in Steven Universe are called gems). The promo then begins to show them start recording, and the characters start singing positive lyrics to reaffirm what the promo is about.

The following promo was created to educate a younger audience, rather than to promote a product, inform. or entertain. The promo features characters from a TV animated series called Steven Universe which was made to target a younger audience - the collaboration between Dove and Cartoon Network was a good way to promote the campaign to reach a better and broader audience, more specifically the target audience. this promo was broadcasted on Cartoon Network, a channel created to target and entertain a younger audience.

Approaches used:

Mise en scene - The background of the animation was made to look like a studio to bring the animated characters to life; presents them as real people that are perceived as actors with real lives. This was done to make the campaign appear as more serious rather than fictional.

Colour scheme - There is a mix of pink, purple and orange and sparkles in the background which creates a calm atmosphere to show the audience that the ad is there to promote a meaningful message in a calm mannerism.

Inform:

The new iPhone SE - Apple

Audience: Young adults

Purpose: Inform

Structure:

The main purpose of this promo is to mainly inform the audience about what the mobile phone is capable of doing. At the start of the promo, the background flashes and changes colours on beat to the music, a long with the iPhone SE (also changing colour in time with the background to match). The promo then briefly shows its branding on screen: iPhone SE.

After this segment, the promo then begins to showcase what the iPhone is capable of doing: The first thing it presents is its small 4.7" design, along with a clip of the iPhone SE in red in the background. It then showcases how the security of the iPhone SE works, presenting an example of how touch ID works. It then goes to explain how the camera on the phone works, and how it can be used for professional photography. It then repeats how the camera works, but this time it shows how the camera can also record in 4K quality.

It then returns to explaining the more unique features that the phone possesses, such as it being waterproof, having long lasting battery life, and its measures to protect your privacy. As for the final segment of the advert, it then showcases the phone's design once again, transitioning between the available colours.

This promo was created mainly to inform the target audience of its capabilities and features. The only purpose this promo served was advertising the product in a way that provides reasons as to why the audience should buy it, for example: touch ID, waterproof, small display etc. The promo reaches the needs of the target audience, as it shows off the uniqueness of the product in a way that is simplistic, professional and easy to follow for people to watch. Because of how easy the promo is to follow, it makes the requirements for the target audience broader, reaching audiences from different backgrounds, ages and genders.

Approaches used:

Cinematic camera angles, close ups of iPhone to show the significance of it (the main focus).

3D animated text that tracks background to look professional and sophisticated

Same 3 colours used - Red, black and white. Consistent theme and smart looking. (Connote 

AIDS project)

Entertain:

STEVE LACY - RYD / DARK RED

Audience: Young Adults

Purpose: Entertain

Structure:

This video, created by Steve Lacy, features 2 of his songs from STEVE LACY'S DEMO. At the start, the 2nd track from the album, Ryd, starts to play. The beginning of the music video is set with the protagonist inside a laundry shop and the secondary character waiting outside in a car. The camera progressively zooms into the protagonist, panning to the side where the secondary character is located in the car, keeping the same angle throughout. The camera then pans back to the main character and continues to zoom in. The camera frequently goes through the process of panning from character to character. The music then stops, and the camera continues to pan to show how both characters have suddenly disappeared - accompanied by the absence of the music. Keeping the same angle, the main character is shown being dragged into the back of the car by the secondary character.

The music video then transitions into the second song. The main character is shown at the beginning of this video in the back of the car with a lighter. The second shot is from the perspective of the passenger seat of the car: it shows the secondary character driving while singing to the music enthusiastically, as if it is a song playing from the radio. The shots transition between each other for majority of this segment of the video. After this segment plays, the main character realizes that the car has come to stop, and sees it as an opportunity to leave the back of the car. He then rolls out of the car in an exhausted state, the secondary character pushes him as he tries to stand up. Elements of abuse are shown. The last segment is a shot of the main character's face in a calm state, continuing to sing.

The main purpose of this video was to entertain and tell a story for the audience. In contrast to the other promo's explained, this one does not advertise any kind of product: it is simply an audio-visual video made to entertain Steve Lacy fans.

Approaches:

Name of one of the songs - "Dark Red". Has connotations of rage, anger, evil and energy

Camera angles - Ryd only had one shot (camera pans throughout)  

Promote:

Innova Digital Group - The Creative Ad Agency (Promo Video)

Audience: Adults

Purpose: Promote

Structure:

This promotional video was created to advertise the way it can support other small media businesses. The entire advert consists of many heavily edited visual effects and transitions, with fitting professional background music. The advert starts off by questioning the viewer by asking if they are "hungry for more traffic? Engagement? Customers?". After this, the visuals become increasingly lighter, and at this point the video promotes the company with text that says "this is your chance to promote.." and transitions into a segment of several online social media platforms that can be used for advertising. The promotional video continues with similar segments like this (promoting what they can provide for businesses) and shows examples of companies and businesses they have helped successfully. The promo ends with the Innova logo branding and its website link.

This video advertisement includes several approaches to meet the aim of the promo: One of them being the fact that the promo is heavily edited, which is a good way to advertise a company that provides support for media businesses (it shows skill in their ability to help in the media sector).

Comparing Promos

After analysing the structure of these promos and observing what advertising techniques were used, they all clearly use different approaches to meet the requirements of their target audience. Based on promos that inform, educate, entertain and promote, it can easily be identified what each promo is trying to achieve.

Educate and Entertain:

I observed 2 promos that use different approaches to meet their aim: for entertain, I chose Steve Lacy's Ryd / Dark Red. As for Educate, I chose the Dove self esteem project with Cartoon Network (We Deserve to Shine).

As mentioned earlier, Steve Lacy's Ryd / Dark Red was created to entertain the audio, as it is a 6 minute long music video containing a meaningful visual that tells a story and invests the audience. The approach of this promo was not to advertise anything or any kind of product - The video was made solely as a piece of media created by Steve Lacy. When looking at other promos, many of them do not attempt to convey a strong message. Majority of them are made to advertise a product of some kind.

As for educate, the promo I decided to research was created by a company called Dove in collaboration with Cartoon Network. Despite Dove being a company that sells beauty products, none of their products wear advertised or even presented in the ad - The only thing Dove related visually presented was the branding at the end. The advert was advertised on a channel that targets children and teenagers, Cartoon Network, and the main element of the ad even features a program that is broadcasted on this channel. This was a good approach when attempting to meet the target audience, as the channel viewers (and the audience most likely to see this ad) are children and teenagers.

Furthermore, the promo is an animated piece, which means there were many heavy edits and visually appealing assets that would attract the target audience, especially fans of the TV show Steven Universe. The advert does extremely well in meeting the target audience, as none of Dove's products are shown (as stated earlier) as showing a product like this may target an entirely different audience. Cartoon Network and Dove's aim were to educate their audience but in a way that does not include the promotion of any products - This was executed well, as both Dove and Cartoon Network were credited at the end of the promo (for viewers that are interested to learn more about).

Inform and Promote

When researching these 4 promotional videos, 2 of them were created to inform and promote their audiences. For inform, I chose an advert that promotes the iPhone SE created by Apple, and for promote, I chose an ad from Innova Digital Group.

As for the Apple iPhone SE advert, it does a good job at reaching the target audience's needs: it shows off all of the mobile's features and abilities

D1: Comparing approaches

Entertain: VALORANT - WARM UP Cinematic

Educate: Cartoon Network, Don't deny it - defy it

WARM UP:

I researched 2 more videos and decided to compare videos that educate and entertain. I chose 2 animated promos to watch and compare their differences and see how one entertains and the other educates.

The first video I chose to research was the Warm Up cinematic created by Valorant (entertain). The main noticeable thing is the animation style: In comparison to the animation made by Cartoon Network, the animation here is semi-realistic and extremely detailed, whereas the other is simplistic and uses basic lighting. This should be considered important because the detailed and well animated cinematic was made to entertain and promote their game to their target audience by doing this, whereas the other is only trying to deliver a message in a simplistic manner.

In terms of video length, Warm Up is under 5 minutes long, whereas Don't Deny It is only 1 minute and 25 seconds long.