Market ResearchAbigail Kernaghan

Example 1 – Stereophonics

Interesting use of location, the water gives a depth of spaceThe juxtaposition of the props and

the setting; café table and ocean is unique

The expressions are effective, all members looking in different directions, the lead singer looks straight to the audience

Colour scheme portrays negative emotions, the stormy sky contradicts the name of the album, as it is the opposite of ‘calm’

The white writing clashes with the reflections of the water in certain places, I would ensure that each word was easy to read

The simplistic font means there is more emphasis on the images used, rather than the text

The costume is mainly black, and always dark, this reinforces the negative atmosphere – but also keeps it simplistic rather than loud and confusing This is likely to be an abstract portrayal and

not a reference to a particular song or title

There are many aspects to the image that cause discomfort, however, the pop of colour in the centre draws the reader to the only element that is not distressing, and the only form of realism

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Example 2 – Olly Murs

Repeated colour scheme in the text and suspenders

Childish writing, in large font conveys the upbeat and insincere tone of the content of the album and artist

Expression of artist can be interpreted, but the eyes are easily seen, and creates a depth to the image

Little amount of information keeps the page simplistic and interesting

The costume of the artist shows the cheeky nature of his persona

The inclusion of the names of number one singles, also strikes the interest of the reader, as they will not be purchasing something blindly, without knowing anything of the success and content

It is unusual for an advert in a magazine to be showing something that is ‘out now’ as opposed to a set date, but is also a successful marketing plan

The whole page has high-key lighting, there is no severity to the image or text, which makes it appropriate for all readers and an uplifting aesthetic

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Example 3 – Plan BThere is a clear colour scheme of red, white and black. This is a common theme in the marketing of music products. It is classy and bold, and while effective – is fairly cliché. The image included of the artist is a

greyscale photograph, which adds such atmosphere, as his expression is serious, and it matches the feel of the whole page.

The costume included gives the vocalist a suave, gentlemanly look.

The use of reviews is a clever way to encourage people to buy the album, and also the stars suit the classy theme very well.

The inclusion of the image of the album cover in the bottom corner of the page is something I am going to put into the magazine advert for my digipak. This example is brilliant as it matches the whole scheme of the page but is not an exact duplicate of the cover, unlike the Olly Murs advertisement.

The font is simplistic, and all-caps, which is something I hadn’t considered using, however in this case is very effective and gives a uniformed and structured aesthetic. The album title being written in white makes it stand out more than any other text on the page.

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Collecting IdeasColours Structure Content

Text Costume/Character

From the examples of media advertisements I have researched, I will use their features in the following ways…

Although the black, white and red colour scheme of the Plan B advert is bold and eye-catching, for my particular piece I would prefer to use lighter shades. As well as this, I would try to set it in a realistic/natural location such as the ocean used in the stereophonics advert, as opposed to the studio colour screen used for the Olly Murs one. I will apply these features through a natural tone of greens, oranges and greys with the background image, with an image of the vocalist with costume colours that contrast well. However, I will in a way use the dark scheme, by including my initial idea of silhouettes between the foreground and background.

The proportion of images is clearly very important when structuring the layout of my magazine advert. In terms of emphasis, some key features will be the album name, artist’s name, and an image of at least one band member. Although I will not necessarily decrease the size of the other elements, I can make them less prominent by increasing how much the other images stand out from them, to convey depth of space. In relation to the advertisements I researched, I will be combining the elements of text from the Plan B album, as all text being structured to one side is very appealing, as well as the image idea from the stereophonics ad, as it portrays very deep focus of a large landscape – for me it is most likely to be a hall/studio, in which the vocalist is isolated.

As mentioned in my initial idea, the content of my magazine advert will be based around the release of the album, with inclusion of the other incentives of the promotional package (the DVD) – which is similar to the concept of the stereophonics ad. Therefore I would clearly like to insert an image of the Digipak that I have designed, along with a short summary of what can be expected through purchase of the album. I will also take further inspiration from the Plan B page, and include a single ‘review’ of the album from a made up newspaper or record company. In addition to this, I think a simplistic way of advertising the product is through naming a successful single that is included in the album, as shown in the Olly Murs advert.

I would like the images to represent the tone of the album name, as well as an image of the lead vocalist to give the audience context to what they are purchasing. The placement of the images will be central, therefore most like the stereophonics advertisement, but the sizing of the vocalist within the frame will be similar to that of the Plan B page, as there is only one of him and therefore he should be larger to attract attention and fill the space. The images I would like to include are, a long shot of the vocalist as the foreground, the background being two female silhouettes, with a depth of space in between, and a fairly small representation of the Digipak in the bottom left corner.

ImagesThe text included will be very simplistic and minimalistic, as shown in all of the magazine adverts that I researched. Therefore by taking elements of each and combining it with a simple yet effective font, I will be able to summarise what is included in the album well, without making it boring.

Although only one official character will be included and recognisable (the vocalist), I also need to consider the characteristics of the women who will be poised for the silhouette in the backdrop. Given that the album that I am marketing will be called ‘rituals’, I would like their body language to portray the elegance of a ritual, with the uniform of symmetry – therefore it is two women, as opposed to an odd number. As for the vocalist’s emotion, I would like for his expression to be differently interpretable, much like the expression of Olly Murs on his page. Also I would like the costume to be fairly vibrant and individual to contrast the darkness of the silhouettes but still realistic for a character his age, also inspired by the Olly Murs advertisement.

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