Harry Gibbons

QUAKER OATS PORTFOLIO INTRODUCTION

My objective is to come up with an advertising idea whether it be a billboard, poster or a fil med advert. The company I am designing it for is Quaker Oats. I must also take in to consideration the history of the brand by looking at their previous advertising campaigns and also seeing who their target audience was. I will need to use semiotic and linguistic enquiry to breakdown past advertisements and comment on their layout, line of appeals and creative strategies whilst explaining their relevance and effect. I will also need to show initial ideas and how they got from sketches to a finished piece. After I have finished my adverts and chosen a final design, I will need to evaluate my work by writing about the finished advertisement in a short essay.

BRAND HISTORY

Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills. The company made oat cereal and also expanded to make other cereals and other food and drink products such as cereal bars. They also went into a random field of making toys. In 1969 Quaker owned Fisher Price but let go of it in 1991. In 1970 the film Charlie and the chocolate factory was funded by Quaker that gave them the rights to use the names of the candy bars in the film. In 2012 the Quaker man (Larry) was given a makeover, he now has more radiant and clear skin with a better shape to his body as well. As part of a deal between milk processors and Pepsi-co owned company Quaker, Larry or the Quaker man was going to have a milk moustache on the Quaker oats packaging. Milkpep or the milk processor education program has already partnered with celebrities and brands on the milk moustache campaign but this was the first time that the milk moustache would be on a product in a grocery/food store. In October 2014 the milk moustache Quaker was on canisters in stores. As part of teaming up with Milkpep, Quaker released an advert in People magazine with the strapline of "My outfit is from 1877. My moustache is from this morning."

This Quaker Oats advert is about giving you fuel to start the day well. The jetpack with the Quaker logo is a signifier and the signified is that it gives you a boost in the morning like jet fuel, making you go faster. The layout is arguably Ogilvy. The visual being the man with the jetpack, headline is ‘go humans go’, copy is at the bottom of the page and signature is the logo on the pack in the bottom right. The man is dressed in a suit that is a commodity code as it suggests that the advert may be aimed at the older audience and people that have less exiting jobs. This makes them think they will get through the day easier and may be a major selling point.

Harry Gibbons

PAST ADVERTISEMENTS

In this Quaker oats advert the Quaker has milk around his mouth which is a signifier and the signified is drinking milk in the morning with oats is healthy and good. This could be seen as a reason ad as it says the benefits of having a glass of milk with a bowl of Quaker Oats in the morning, which is a motive for purchase. This advert is short copy as apart from the description of what the benefits are there isn’t that much text. The Quaker man has a milk moustache and is happy, this connotation suggests that it’s good to eat Quaker Oats with milk and it puts you in a good mood for the rest of the day.

Harry Gibbons

PAST ADVERTISEMENTS

This is an old advert from Quaker Oats that pushed forward the fact that children love it and made kids stronger. The package with the Quaker oats logo on it is a signifier and the signified is the brands identity. The layout is Ogilvy as it has the headline, visual, copy and the signature. It says that ‘every mother knows there is no other cereal that can take its place as a food to build strong boys and girls’ and this is a hyperbole as in actually fact there are other cereals on the market so something could actually take its place. The boy and girl eating is a signifier and the signified is that they are eating Quaker Oats to get stronger.

This advert has a similar layout to the Ogilvy layout as it has the headline, visual, copy, signature. The packets of Quaker Oats surrounding the world in the image represent Quaker Oats being at all grocers. This advert is a soft sell ad as there isn’t much that stands out and grabs your attention immediately. A signifier is the Quaker Oats package and the signified is breakfast cereal. Another signifier is the image of the world; the signified is the fact that Quaker Oats is distributed all around the world. The colours used are the original colours used for the Quaker Oats logo.

Harry Gibbons

INITIAL IDEAS

This advert is for Quaker Oats and features a heart in a Christmas jumper surrounded by falling oats instead of snow. Quaker Oats is especially popular served hot because it heats up your body from the inside. The jumper on the heart is acting as the bowl of Quaker Oats keeping the heart warm and as it is coming up to Christmas, the jumper is obviously a festive sort. The dots on the page are oats acting as snow falling, again this is a festive aspect and combines both the brand and the season the advert is in. The logo is a signifier and the signified is the brands identity. The hot bowl is also a signifier and the signified is a warm bowl of Quaker Oats. ‘Keep your heart warm this Christmas with Quaker Oats’. I chose this strapline as it states one of the benefits of eating the product which is it gets your body warm. The fact it is Christmas is why I chose to put ‘this Christmas’ instead of just putting ‘in the morning’ or ‘today’.

This advert for Quaker Oats is based around how much energy the product gives you to help you get through your day. The advert features a jerry can spilling oats into a bowl. A jerry can is used to store petrol or fuel. The jerry can is metaphorically the Quaker Oats cereal box as well as the oats metaphorically being represented as fuel. The headline I chose is short and sweet containing only three words.

‘Fueling’ relates to the function that a bowl of Quaker Oats has, which is giving your body energy to surpass the day ahead. The word ‘your’ is a possessive pronoun and is a direct line of appeal to the target audience as it’s saying that having a bowl of Quaker Oats can make the day belong to you because you will feel so good and energised. The word ‘day’ reinforces the fact that Quaker Oats keeps you going all day and not just till lunchtime.

Harry Gibbons

INITIAL IDEAS

This Quaker Oats advert promotes how globally known the brand is. The advert has a hand holding a snow globe. In the globe are oats witch metaphorically act as the snow. The hand is of a child’s. This is because I feel that Quaker Oats target market would be a parent that wants their children to be healthy and have a lot of energy during the colder months. There is the logo in the bottom right of the advert which simply shows the brands identity. It is Christmas themed, as you would usually have a little village or a snowman in a snow globe.

This one is exceptionally festive with a Christmas tree, presents and a fireplace all in the same advert. There is a box of Quaker Oats under the Christmas tree and in the person’s hand that is representing a present. The message that is being sent in this advert is that Quaker Oats is a gift like any other present except it is good for your health and body. There is a logo in the bottom right corner of the advert to show the brands identity. There is a Quakers hat on top of the Christmas tree instead of a star. I did this because at Christmas the most iconic object on a tree is the angel or star so I put the most iconic piece of clothing on the Quaker logo on top of the tree.

Harry Gibbons

Harry Gibbons

EVALUATION ON FINAL DESIGN

My final Quaker Oats advert is extremely simple but I am confident that it works effectively and gives of a strong message. The layout isn’t Ogilvy as I didn’t want any copy on my advert. I wanted it to be simple, clean yet still attract customers. The jerry can is a signifier and the signified is that Quaker Oats is being represented as fuel. Fuel makes a car start and drive, when you wake up in the morning you want something that will help you start the day off great but also will keep you going till lunch time or even further. I think using a jerry can and calling Quaker Oats fuel is a strong message and straight to the point. The logo in the bottom right of the advert is a signifier and the signified is the brands identity so the consumer knows who the advert belongs to and what product it is for. The line of appeal for this advert isn’t really specific but however I think it appeals well to men and people with manual labour jobs such as builders, mechanics and farmers. The reason for this is because a jerry can is usually associated with cars and vehicles and in a way symbolises the jobs that involve the person to get hands on and really put a shift in. I would also consider it to be a representative of men as stereotypically they are the ones doing these hard manual labour jobs. ‘Fueling your day’ points out to the consumer that not only does it help you have a good start to your day but also you will have energy and feel good all day long. This will be a vital selling point for some consumers. This advert is soft sell as it isn’t loud or in your face it just carries one message which is ‘fueling your day’. I got inspiration from several other Quaker Oats adverts including one of a man with a Quaker Oats jetpack on dressed in a suit flying away. This advert inspired me to make mine simple but effective. I got the idea of having a completely white background from this advert and it also helped me determine where to put the headline and logo. Having white space surround an image allows it to stand out and be focused on instead of having things around it just making it harder to look at. The bowl is a signifier and the signified is breakfast and starting your day. During the process of creating this advert I came across many things which left me stumped and unable to figure out a way around for example my original advert included snow in their background but I was unable to find the correct photo on the internet and unfortunately I wasn’t able to take it myself because there was not any snow in my area. I tried different pictures but nothing would fit in well with the other images and logo. Eventually I left it white and realised it look of an ok standard. I then tweaked certain aspects i.e. moved things around and resized things to the point I felt it was of a high quality and ready to submit. The jerry can is metaphorically the Quaker Oats cereal box as well as the oats metaphorically being represented as fuel. The headline I chose is short and sweet containing only three words. ‘Fueling’ relates to the function that a bowl of Quaker Oats has, which is giving your body energy to surpass the day ahead. The word ‘your’ is a possessive pronoun and is a direct line of appeal to the target audience as it’s saying that having a bowl of Quaker Oats can make the day belong to you because you will feel so good and energised. The word ‘day’ reinforces the fact that Quaker Oats keeps you going all day and not just till lunchtime. Overall this advert is simple and clean but carries a strong message which the target audience will take into consideration when buying the product. For those reasons I believe it would be a successful advertisement.