AS3: Task 4/5: Final Evaluation

The Product and the Aim of the advertisement 

The product my team and I chose to advertise was a unique and new milkshake company we branded as 'SmashShakes'. This milkshake combines all of the ingredients of a dessert such as waffles and ice cream, pecan pie and chocolate brownies into a small 250ml bottle full of flavour. The specific flavour we decided to focus on was the waffles and syrup flavour, as we thought it would be a basic and easy place to begin, being the least expensive and most widely recognised dessert. 
Individually, we were asked to create a survey in order to collect quantitative research on both who our target audience would be and their preferences for the new product; this included the price, some of the ingredients and how the advertisement would influence them to buy the product.
 Once gaining this information, we began to brainstorm different advertisement ideas, mainly focusing on the age group of 16-21. Taking into consideration the generations strong reliance on technology and joyous participation in social media such as Youtube, Facebook and Twitter, we decided as a starting point that we should integrate these aspects into our ad. 
We first began by looking at adverts other milkshake brands has created, such as Frijj and Yazoo, to see which style they took on. Both of these companies used a anti-realism style and included humour in order to make their ads more memorable and visually exciting; this is what we decided to do.  
As a team, we chose to do an advertisement based on a famous anonymous Youtube personality who posts under the user name HowToBasic. In all of his videos, he mocks the DIY community by creating loads of mess and strange noises to make even the most basic of things, like a piece of toast with jam. Using some of the aspects of his videos, minus the strange noises, in order to create something 'viral' and memorable. 

Method of audience feedback

The way in which I decided to collect audience feedback was through an intimate focus group of 3 people. At first I was going to use a bigger audience, however I wanted to collect qualitative feedback rather than quantitative, as a bigger group would've taken too much time to get decent opinions from everyone. Qualitative research is more important to me as I think as an aspiring director, gaining structured, well thought and elongated are really helpful when asking how to improve a piece of work. Also, hearing genuinely impressed feedback is also helpful, as it helps me to gain confidence in my work and to gain knowledge of my strong points.

I decided to ask quite open questions in order to allow the participants to have a structured opinion rather than a rushed and less thought out one. However, by asking quite direct questions at the same time, I was able to find out useful aspects of the advertisement, such as what rating it might get (Q6) and to see if it was worth it to use such a famous inspiration.

The feedback from the audience

The interview is on the previous blog post, so I will be quoting from the responses.

The overall response to the advertisement was mixed, however the overall response was positive. For the first question, the responses were exactly what I had hoped for, being 'interesting', 'humorous' and 'original'. The entire point of the advertisement was to take on a unique approach to a popular product in the most modern and humorous way, which was to use inspiration from one of the biggest modern websites ever;Youtube. For these aspects to be recognized without any doubts right down to the audio was definitely something to be proud of. 

Only William recognized the inspiration of HowToBasic unfortunately, as the others were not overly involved with the online world due to personal preferences. This was disappointing, but also worrying, as it could mean that very little of the teenager public might also be unfamiliar with the inspiration, therefore not understanding the humor of the video.

The most surprising response I got was that rating everyone scored for the last question. Everyone in the focus group rated 4-4.5 out of 5, which to me is impressive. This was either due to the humor of the advertisement, the construction of the editing or just the overall delivery of the product. However, all agreed that the product itself could've appeared less sloppy and rushed, as it should be the main focus; this was one of the reasons that the advertisement lost rates.

The most useful questions for me were the ones that offered a structured response of the clients own opinion, such as question 4. This gave me insight into how to be both a better creator and a director, as they could comment on both whether the product or the advert were unique, if not both. Also, question 3 to me is important too, as being a teenager in the digital age, I understand how frustrating it is to have to sit through boring advertisements before a video or a television program, so for me it's crucial that my advertisement would actually be something exciting enough to watch.

My views of the advertisement

I personally think the advertisement was successful in the fact we stuck to our inspiration accurately and produced exactly what our pitches, power points and overall ideas suggested. My favourite part of the advertisement was the idea overall, which was to show that making the milkshake is complicated, so the easier alternative is our product; Also, to show online inspiration which is humorous to our digital age. 

The main improvement I think needed to be focused on was the execution of the actual product itself, which was described as 'messy' by my focus group. The bottle needed to have a label on it, as well as show the product in a more poised and clean environment rather than among lots of mess. Also, I think that the use of a flashing screen should be re-thought, as it means our advertisement may not be suitable for epileptics or those with sensitivity to light.

I completely agree with the feedback from the audience reception, as I too think the advert needed to be executed a lot more neatly. However, I was disappointed to find that the inspiration may not be as widely recognized as I first thought, which is definitely a flaw in me assuming that everyone is a digital brain like myself and my team. 

The pros

I think the advertisement is technically good, and I don't think I could fault anything. The framing of all of the shots are focused and angle changes show continuity and flow throughout. Also, the camera, when set at an above shot, is steady and remains focused, despite the fact that the wind was causing a slight motion in the tripod. The only thing that flaws the advert is my editing. All of my associates editing is swift and skilled, whereas mine was nowhere near as professional due to my lack of know-how using premier pro.

Personally, the product is made very clear in the advertisement through the use of credits, showing the ingredients and using the logo at the end of the video to make the ad official. All of the ingredients display what the milkshake will taste like, and include the 'fresh' maple syrup ingredient. 

Personally, I think this would be successful to those who appreciate the humour, however some may not understand and therefore see the advert as 'messy' or even 'disgusting'. But, despite this, I think this advertisement would see the product, as it is memorable and funny.

The cons

The improvements I would make to the advertisement are mostly to do with the execution of the products itself, and the environment in which we chose to film.

Firstly, the ingredients had to be put into unmarked packaging at the risk of product placement, which made them look less appetizing, so the idea of 'fresh' was slightly defeated. This was the main reason people in my focus group were a little put off.

Secondly, we had to film in my garden due to the amount of mess, however to a viewer, this may seem sloppy and inappropriate for a food/drink product. However, the area is clean and well set out despite this.

Lastly, the presentation of the product was sloppy, and I don't think we planned out the presentation enough. The bottle should've been labeled, and the content should've been mixed more to create a more creamy rather than runny looking shake. 

In conclusion 

I personally think the advert was a success, as we met our aim which was to be humorous and memorable, and i'm happy with how it was filmed with the whole group pulling together. 

AS3: Task 3: Sources of Information

Brainstorming, market research and surveys

I personally found this part of the process the most difficult, as it was a challenge to find a product we all felt we could advertise effectively. After hours of brainstorming and considering all areas of advertisement, such as clothing, food, electronics and film, we had finally decided to go with food and begin the process of considering what area of food to focus on; again, this caused more decision making as a group. Finally, after having decided to create an advertisement for a milkshake, I was met with the task of researching other milkshake products to see which style their advertisements took, and whether i found this effective or not.

Having found most advertisements took on a humorous theme, and that this was the most effective to me, I decided the advert should contain some form of humour as an initial starting point. The rest of my group recognised this aspect during their market research, and it was relieving to know they all agreed. It was definitely worthwhile carrying out market research, as every advertisement needs a starting point, and I feel as though judging the success of a product based on it's advertisement offered a challenge for our group.  

When creating the survey to get a rough idea of what our client would want from the product, such as specifics in the flavouring, the price and the way in which an advertisement influences someones opinion of a product. This was incredibly helpful when considered with the previous market research, as it gave our group and overall idea of what genre of audience we were catering too, and how to reflect their needs in the advertisement, but still having some fun. The only downside to doing a survey was that some of the responses were equal to certain questions, for example some said their diet was relatively healthy, but others said they were not bothered, which gave us the task of taking these responses into consideration to cater equally for each.

Product logo and story boards

It is important that every product has a logo which offers an identity and insight into what the product offers. For example, the Apple company logo is an apple with a bite out of it, which the creators say is a biblical reference to Adam and Eve with the 'Tree of Knowledge', which suggests Apple products give uses power and knowledge. We decided that our logo needed to show how our milkshake combines lots of different gourmet ingredients into one, so our colour background is swirls of yellow and orange, representing the waffles and the syrup.

Story boarding was a process which I think could've been missed out. As a group, we commonly never follow story boarding as it limits impulse creativity. However, for the sake of the blog, I took on the task of story boarding as the director in order to ensure the task was set in stone and everyone knew exactly what it was I personally expected.

Official documents

These documents included risk assessments, call sheets, content rules and copyright issues. For me, this took a lot of time to complete, as there's so many risk content rules enforced which are easily broken and need to be avoided, especially within advertisements for food. If we were accused of giving false representation of our product, risky content within the advert or product placement, then unnecessary trouble would've occurred, which means looking at advertisement guidelines is incredibly important to any project which could be viewed by the public. The rest of these documents, such as call sheets and risk assessments were important, however in my personal opinion they did not need to be completed. I understand that every project needs to have cautions enforced and specific documents for legal reasons as well as to inform a team, however it seemed pointless to our group on such a small scale production. As I mentioned, I respect this opinion can be argued, but i don't think a shooting schedule and shot list were really needed here.

AS3: Task 2: Screening/Focus Group

Questions for a focus group

1. In one word, describe what you thought of the advertisement? Why?
2. Did you recognise the HowToBasic inspiration? How?
3. Would you watch the advertisement or skip it/fast forward it? Why?
4. Was the advert unique? Why?
5. Would you buy the product based on this advert? Why?
6. How would you rate this advert out of 5, 5 being highest 1 being lowest? Why?

The Focus Group
Participants: Satveer, Alegria and William.

Question 1
J: In one word, describe what you thought of the advertisement
W: Original.
J: Why was that?
W: Because i’ve never really seen a milkshake advert like that before, usually they’re quite generic and this one was a lot different and original.

J And what would you say, Satveer?
S: Interesting.

J: Why?
S:Because of the fact that you used different types of music and it was effective.

J: Finally, Alegria what would you say?
A: Humourous.
J: Why?
A: Because in the first scene you made it seem like you didn’t know what you were doing and then I guess the product is an easier alternative to making this milkshake.

Question 2

J: Will, did you recognise the inspiration? It was inspired by HowToBasic, he’s a Youtuber.
W: I did, yes.
J: Any specific ways you recognised this?

W: I found him on Youtube a while ago and got to know his videos, so yes.

J:Did you both recognise it, Satveer and Alegria? He’s famous for making mess.
Both: No.

J: Is it because you’ve not heard of him or not seen the videos?
Both: Not seen or heard of him.

Question 3

J:Will, if you were watching TV and this came on during a break, or you were watching a video online, would you stay to watch the advertisement or skip it?
W: Probably watch it, just because it’s quick, to the point, and it sort’ve sticks in your head, and I wouldn’t skip it for that reason.

J: Would you skip it at all, Satveer?
S: No, I agree with William, I think because if the fact that it’s short.

J: Would you skip it or watch it, Alegria?
A: No, I would watch it too because it’s quite short and the audio made it more interesting to watch.

S: Also, because it’s something brand new, every new advertisement you would want to see.

Question 4

J: So, the aim of our advert was to be as unique as possible, and to sort of take on like a viral stance. So something that is viral goes around the internet very quickly and is easily recognised. So Willm would you say it’s unique?
W: Yeah, I would say it is, and if you do recognise HowToBasic inspiration, it does make it a bit more enjoyable in that sense and you can sort of recognise the humour , which makes it better that way.

J: Would you say it’s unique, Satveer?
S: I would say exactly the same as William.

J: Alegria, how would you say it’s unique?
A: I don’t really know how to answer.

J: Okay, would you say if you showed it to friends it would sort of spread around and become like a viral thing because of the inspiration or…
A: Yeah. And like the humour behind it I think is quite good.

Question 5

J: So, would you buy the product based on this advertisement, Will?

W: Yeah, I mean if you are a fan of milkshake or sort of interested in a quick treat, this would encourage you to try something new.

J: Satveer, would you buy the product based on the advert?
S: I’m in the middle. So, yes because it’s unique the way you’ve put everything togetherto make it your own, but no because of the way the ingredients haven’t properly mixed.
J: Yeah, I agree it looks a bit messy.

J: Alegria, what would you say?

A: I would buy it because I’m a milkshake lover, and yeah….

Question 6

J: And so for the final question, how would you rate this advert out of 5? 5 being highest 1 being the lowest?
W: 4. Because it’s still really enjoyable, and it has encouraged me to sort of buy it. I guess it is really good, but I don’t know.

J: What does it lack?

W: It lacks, I don’t know, fluidity I think.

J: And what would you say, Satveer?

S:3.5. I liked it because it was humorous but other than that no.

J: Do you think it’s a bit too disgusting? And would you mark it down on that?

A and S: Yeah.

J: What would you say, Alegria?
A:4. Maybe if the packaging was shown on the product it would've looked better.

J: Okay, thanks everyone!

AS3: Task 1: Final Product

AS2: Task 6: Pre-production

AS2: Task 5: Pitch

Before production can begin, a pitch must be given to market investors in order to gain support, awareness and funds for the new product. This requires creating an informative power point giving the investor insight into details of the product and its advertisement, such as production value and the unique selling point.  After the pitch, questions are asked concerning the issues raised, and the team or individual are expected to tackle these questions professionally and appropriately. If the pitch is successful, then production for the advertisement and the making of the product can begin, hopefully with some extra funding.




Above are some screenshots of my powerpoint pitch. As you can see, the information on them is basic, yet hits the requirements of information as well as being visually appealing with animations and images. The amount of bullet points are limited deliberately to avoid the pitch including repeated ideas and reading directly from the power point, as I will elaborate on ideas in my pitch.

 Click here for full presentation.

AS2: Task 4: Legal Issues

Before the advertisement is created, as a group we must consider issues which could arise with copyright and legal issues, such as inappropriate content and stolen ideas and audio copyright. If we break any of the guidelines associated with advertising enforced by industries such as ASA and OfCom, we are at risk of legal issues.

Legal and Ethical Issues:

• Copyright music:  The music which we use in the background of our advertisement, if any is used at all, will either have to be free to use for everyone and not under any form of copyright. For example, if a song is used by a particular artist and the owner doesn't give permission, it breaks the rules of 'prohibiting the copying of material without the permission of the copyright owner' (ASA copyright 2011). This could lead to consequences as minor as the video audio being removed by youtube, the video being flagged altogether so publication is no longer a right, or as major as being taken to court. So, to avoid these issues, we will either have to use generic background music which is built into most modern apple softwares, or ask permission from the audio copyrighter to use their song. 
• Copyright of ideas:  The idea that we have, as I stated in a previous blog post (AS2:T2) is based around the Youtube personality HowToBasic's quirky videos. According to Admedia.com,  a creator of a video likes to 'identify as the creator', meaning that 'proper credit' and recognition' is ensured. So if our group takes full responsibility for our concept, it could be flagged again by Youtube and cause some uproar from viewers claiming copying. This means at the end of our advertisement or in the description below, as well as on my blog post, I will haver to offer some credit to HowToBasic for inspiring the advert.

Codes of practice:

• Risky Content: Before an advertisement is published, it must be authorised by advertisement agencies and legal authority. If an advertisement is released that contains threatening or inappropriate messages or behaviour, it is at risk of being removed, and even the creators being sued. So when we are creating our advertisement, we have to ensure that there is nothing which a child or an adult could disagree with, as well as report. Our concept is humorous in my opinion, and the only aspect I think we need to be cautious with is the amount of mess made, and the way in which we mix the ingredients together. For example, no punching or throwing aggressively to encourage violence, or showing images which could accidentally seem suggestive, like HowToBasic himself. Anything can be a problem if it's offensive to someone, for example a Gucci advertisement was reported to the ASA in 2015 for showing a perfume model as 'dangerously thin'. From here, an assessment had to be carried out and concluded with the advert being prohibited from publication in it's current form. 

• False Advertisement:  When an advertisement is published, it must be ensured that claims aren't being made that won't actually come from the product, especially if it's set from a realist narrative. If the advertisement is made in a surrealism style, then it is hoped that people won't take the motives seriously, for example: 'Redbull gives you wings'. However, in October 2014 a man from America actually sued Red Bull and took them to court, as he didn't get the wings he was promised. According to newspaper The Telegraph, the conclusion was for red bull to either pay $13 million, or give each consumer $10 as an apology. After reading this article, I think we need to be incredibly careful with our advertisement, ensuring not to make any false claims such as 'Organic' or 'Healthy', as the product isn't either of those. Also, we can't include anything in our advertisement that isn't in the product itself, or write anything on the label that could be taken as deceiving.

• Product placement:  It is essential that when an advertisement is filmed, any props or extras have no logos on them that represent another product unless permission is given. However, product placement is given with permission when a company wants to gain popularity. If the product is included in a programme or an advertisement, it has to be mark with a specific logo created by the ASA, otherwise legal issues could arise.