Research

Reception theory focuses on how an audience interprets the meaning of media messages, implying that the meaning of a text is not solely decided by the producer. The theory states that the way an audience interprets a message is influenced by their social, personal and cultural experiences. Reception theory says that there are 3 ways for media to be interpreted.

1. Dominant Reading

The audience fully agrees with the intended meaning of the media, as conveyed by the producer.

2. Negotiated Reading

The audience partially accepts the intended meaning but reject or alter parts based on their personal beliefs and background.

3. Oppositional Reading

The audience fully rejects the intended meaning usually because of different cultural, social or personal experiences.

An advertiser will aim to achieve a dominant reading and can learn to reach this goal by studying advertisements through the lens of reception theory. It'll also be beneficial in accentuating how different elements and media techniques can be perceived differently than planned. To procure a dominant reading, an advertiser can learn to understand different cultural beliefs and differences like religion, social status and nationality, when producing an advert for international market.

Learning to gain a dominant reading on an advert is viewed by some people as excessive as theres no way someone can decipher exactly how each person will react to the media.

While reception theory gives the opportunity to consider all the possible meanings that can be taken from a text, some people feel its overstating the role the audience plays in shaping perspective. There's so much planning and detail that goes into media and the theory underestimates the power the intended meaning has. But, taking it into consideration an advert can likely cater to a wider audience.

Reception Theory

There are multiple types of video advertising. Some of the main types are in-stream ads, out-stream ads, social media ads and native ads.

In-stream ads: Adverts that play before, during or after online media content.

Pros-

Easy access to analytics to see effectiveness of the ad.
Allows you to directly access your exact target audience.
Directly address the audience in an informal way to show your product or service in their language.

Cons-

An advert intruding on the user experience can cause people to gain negative feelings towards what's being advertised.
The ads are only displayed over on-page videos.

Out-stream ads: Adverts that play outside of online videos. They are seen in social media, websites or mobile apps.

Pros-

The adverts are optimised for mobile viewing making it a lot more accessible.
They are non-intrusive.
There's little limitations on duration of adverts.

Cons-

Difficult to measure the effectiveness of the ad.
Its harder to ensure campaigns are reaching the target audience.
The viewers may be less engaged with the content since they can scroll past it.

Social media ads: Adverts that appear on social media platforms.

Pros-

Allows to quickly spread a message to a specific audience.
Can reach any desired target audience.
Inexpensive.

Cons-

Makes spreading negativity about the company easier for people and risk negative publicity.
When multiple people are handling the social medias, their posts can create a loss of uniform brand voice.
May take a long time before seeing high numbers of engagement with advertising.

Native ads: Adverts online that blend in with the look and feel of the content around them but are paid for by an advertiser. These can be seen in videos or articles.

Pros-

Seamlessly integrated into the user experience so users are more likely to be engaged with the ad.
They relate to what the viewer is looking at so they are genuinely interested.
Can be more tailored to reach the interest of the target audience.

Cons-

Less transparent to the audience's since they're designed to blend in and can come across as misleading or untrustworthy.
No clear way to track engagement.
They require special attention to detail and a deep understanding of the target audience so they can be more time consuming to make.

Television ads: Adverts that play on TV channels during the ad breaks.

Pros-

Reaches a large and diverse audience so it can effectively build brand awareness.
The auditory and visual cues create an emotional response and make the advert more memorable.
TV adverts can be shown at certain times of day to target the right audience.

Cons-

Expensive to produce and distribute.
Less effective at reaching younger audiences that don't watch much TV.
No clear way to track engagement.

Due to the pros and cons of each type of advert, I think it makes the most sense for my advert to be shown on social media. One of the most important tasks for my advert is to build brand awareness with the right target audience. Its important to consider the rise in social media in all age groups. Creating a social media ad, according to my pros and cons, would help achieve my goals.

Types of Video Adverts

Youtube adverts

According to Youtube, creating an effective advertisement means using these four principles: Attention, Branding, Connection and Direction.

Social Media Adverts

A good advert requires in depth planning and development, considering if every detail of the plan is the best it can be.

Next moves on to extensive research, discovering all the principles and techniques that will help create the best possible version of the concept. Without reason to back up the decisions made in a project, its not going to do the most efficient job at achieving the goals and creating a good advert. Its important to research the target audience and figure out what route the advert should take to reach the audience most effectively. These are the core values of what sets up a project for doing the best it can and making something of high quality. The length of a typicl social media advert should be from 30 seconds to 2 minutes, its best to keep the adverts short as possible to not lose peoples attention. I plan to make my video be 1 minute and 30 seconds for enough time to show the narrative but not too long people get bored or distracted.

Advertising has some principles to follow to create a compelling and persuasive message that resonates with customers.

Attention

An advert should grab a viewers attention and make them want to learn more about the product or service being advertised.

Interest

The ad should highlight its unique features to create an interest in the product or service.

Desire

The ad should make viewers feel like they need a product or service by showing the improvements it can make on their life.

Action

Including a clear call to action such as 'buy now!' will encourage the viewer to take the action and make a purchase.

Branding

An advert should reinforce the brand's identity and create a strong connection with the brand and the product or service.

Targeting

It should target a specific audience based on important factors like age, gender or interests.

Principles of Advertising

Contextual Influences

Contextual influences help me take into consideration what i've learnt and the media concepts I've used in previous projects. By going back over this knowledge and considering how it can be included in my FMP, it gives me the opportunity to utilise what I've learnt and create the best project I'm capable of making.

For the location of my advert I've considered using different beaches across Pembrokeshire, for example Whitesands, Broad Haven and Newgale. In the end, I have decided to use Newgale Beach, since the surf lessons seem to usually take place here. While some options may be more physically appealing or closer to myself and the actors, Newgale is the most balanced option since its convenient for everyone involved to travel to and is most true to the company.

Location Search

Colours play an important role semiotically, giving the audience an impression of what characters are feeling or just sets the atmosphere of a film. Theres many different ways to include colour theory in a project such as the props, costumes, colour grading and more. Analysing typical associated emotions with certain colours gives me an idea of what colours to include in my project to create my intended mood and atmosphere of excitement and joy.

Colour theory

Generally, most research shows most warm colours to create the feeling of

excitement but more specifically yellow.

Looking at photos from the 60s surf scene, the colours tend to be teal and orange or quite golden. The reason the images tend to be these colours is from the film cameras used and the natural teal and goldness from the oceans and sand. This can also happen over time as old photos ink colours tend to shift.

Colour grading

The 60s shows and movies will a lot of the time come across as very theatrical, with acting thats slightly more exaggerated with its gestures, reactions and emotions. The delivery was influenced by theatrical traditions and is a reflection of artistic trends used to elicit a strong emotional response from the audience, creating media that can be more entertaining and addictive. I'll be mimicking the theatrical style in the delivery of emotions from my actors. Like my aims and objectives state, I plan to show lots of smiling and happiness from the actors, overemphasising these emotions will hopefully show the audience that Barefoot Boardriders is the most enjoyable surf school around. This is also a great method to incorporate more of a 60s ambience.

60's Styled Acting

Key Practitioner in Advertising

David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy was known for his influential approach to advertising, with his methods stating that research can foretell the success of a product before it is marketed. The research comes down to understanding what smells, colours and flavours will be the most popular, what features consumers think are most important, attention grabbing packaging and what types of products are declining in popularity. His work lays the foundation for principles still used today, securing him a place as a very important figure in the history of advertising.

Through my work I will continue to consider the importance of small details to determine the success of my project, helping me to produce an advert my target audience will enjoy and find relevant.

Analysis of Surf4 You advertisement

Analysing a surf school advert to discover the techniques and codes and conventions used.

Duration: 2:43

Opens with establishing shot, showcasing the beauty of the schools location and enticing tourists to travel to the school. (0:00-0:03)

AIM1 + AIM4

Students excited and happy about their surf lesson (0:04-0:05)

AIM3

Close up shots of happy people (0:15-0:22) as a voiceover begins (0:17~) . The voiceover highlights the benefits of learning with Surf4 You and encourages people to join.

AIM3

Students are shown using the school equipment which will encourage beginners with no equipment of their own to join. (0:37-0:47)

AIM4

Establishing shot (0:47-0:49)

AIM1 + AIM4

Speed ramping makes the shot of people learning to surf more exciting, displaying the thrill of learning to surf. (1:00-1:03) (1:12-1:17)

AIM2 + AIM3

Instructor shown giving learners individual attention, showing the benefits of a small group. (1:26-1:31)

AIM2 + AIM3 + AIM4

Close up shots show the group for the last time, leaving the beach happier than ever and displaying the positive impact surf lessons can have on people. (2:12-2:18)

AIM3

The advert ends with the customers leaving a positive review, showing their proof of other positive reviews and the company name. Affirming to the audience the experience is worth trying and tells you how to find them. (2:18-2:33)

AIM1

Finally, a quote reassuring the viewers of the attention that will be given to them in the surf lessons is displayed. To help possible customers contact and research the company, an end card with all the relevant information appears to close the video, leaving their name and information as the final thought in viewers minds. (2:33-2:43)

AIM1

Analysis of Port Macquarie Surf School Advertisement

Analysing a surf school advert to discover the techniques and codes and conventions used.

Duration: 0:15

Opens with an exciting wide shot of a child surfing and includes the name of the surf school. The low angle of the students makes them appear confident and capable, telling the audience they can feel the same after lessons from the surf school. (0:00-0:01)

AO3

A similar shot to the first s used to display the length of the lessons. (0:01-0:03)

AO3

Another wide shot is used to show off the equipment the company has available to its students. (0:03-0:04)

AO4

The instructor is teaching a small group, highlighting the opportunity for focussed individual attention from the instructors which gives a better chance to learn. (0:05-0:06)

AO4

The wide shot shows the instructor cheering on a student as they're smiling, catching a wave. The audience can see the development of the students and the attentiveness of the instructor, two extremely important factors to consider when deciding what school to attend. (0:07-0:09)

AO2+AO3

Lastly, the ad presents the important information a customer may need to know in an end card. Inserting the name and website gives the customer the chance to look into the surf school and easily book their session. (0:10-0:15)

Analysis of Coca Cola Advertisement

Analysing a 60s surf themed Coca Cola advert to understand the style and emulate it in my advert.

Duration: 0:50

The ad begins with an extreme wide shot showing a skilled surfer. (0:00-0:10)

AO3

A wide shot tracks another person as they surf. (0:12-0:15)

AO3

The camera tracks two people as they walk out the sea with the camera panning up. The camera techniques make the advert feel natural and energetic. The man is carrying a surf board, adding to the mise-en-scene and the woman carrying the coke bottles doesn't just advertise the drink, but ads to the 60s mise-en-scene. (0:21-0:25)

The close up shot of a man smiling symbolises the happiness brought from the brand, leading the audience to believe buying their product will make them just as happy. (0:26-0:28)

AO3

This close up, backlight shot enforces the feeling of bliss created by the product. The low angle makes the subject appear powerful and on top of the world, reaffirming the positive emotions the product will bring the consumer. (0:32-0:41)

A03

The advert closes with the brands slogan which confirms what they've been conveying in their camera techniques throughout. The slogan leaves the audience with an optimistic viewpoint on the company, encouraging them to purchase the product. (0:48-0:50)

Feedback from Target Audience

To measure the effectiveness of my advert according to my target audience I have created a google form to gather the audience's opinions and see if they align with the message I tried to convey.

The survey questions aim to collect peoples thoughts on surf lessons before watching their advert and assess if watching the advert had an impact on their view towards Barefoot Boardriders and surfing lessons in general. The questions also help me to understand if the themes I aimed to portray were communicated efficiently.

I sent the survey out to 15 people aged (something). Unfortunately I only received 3 responses which is a much smaller fraction than anticipated but nevertheless gave me enough to assess the opinion of my target audience.

Majority of respondents were interested in taking surf lessons before watching my advert and all respondents were unaware of the company Barefoot Boardriders.

After the respondents viewed my advert, the opinion of the person uninterested in surf lessons had been changed which is evidence of the effectiveness of the ad being able to get the target audience interested in surf lessons. Furthermore, we can see the viewers all gained a positive opinion of Barefoot Boardriders and noted the fun mood of the advert. Finally, the respondents picked up on the 60s theme and the exciting atmosphere I aimed to create.

Out of the three respondents, all were positively influenced to try surfing lessons and picked up on the mood of the ad, created with different film techniques and ultimately persuading them to see Barefoot Boardrider's surf lessons as a fun and exciting environment just as intended.