Rachel Bull BTEC Media Blog: March 2017

The brief was to re brand a Unilever product to a new target audience. Our chosen product was Ben and Jerry's because we felt that it was the most versatile brand to work with and, collectively, liked the advert synopsis which Alannah created. Ben and Jerry's current target market is males aged between 18-25, therefore we decided to re-brand this product to females between the ages of 15-25. We done this because we felt that within popular culture and society, Ben and Jerry's had a strong presents among this demographic- the cult film franchise 'Bridget Jones Diary' has helped this.

The final advertisement has some elements of my original intentions but many aspects were changed- we kept the original story line, although the locations in which we used changed drastically from our initial meeting about our advert. During the edit of our advert, we were advised to re-film a few shots by our tutor because our story line lacked narrative, This was quickly amended although very few shots which we filmed during this second session were used in the final cut of our advert. This is because we felt that these clips were not an adequate standard. I am not very satisfied with my final advert, although I did try to make the best out of the situation by using various effects during the editing process; for example, the use of 'RGB Curves' to correct colour difference. If I was to do this task again, I would make sure that the DSLR was on full HD settings before filming as this gives a better quality recording. I would also make sure that we record extra shots during the same time of day we did before because this effects the lighting of the shot. I was involved the most in this project as I edited the whole advert by myself and showed the most interest in getting the task in hand completed. Although, I have learnt a lot about editing by completing this aspect of our project by myself, for example: using 'Adobe After Effects' to a basic level and how to colour correct clips. These skills will be useful in the next task we do as I will be working by myself.

We collected feedback by surveying a group of females between the ages of 15-25 because this is our target audience. I think we managed to get the main message to our target audience we specified in pre-production because we included an audio narration which emphasized our story line and engaged our viewers.
We included a range of technical and atheistic qualities in our advert, shots which we included were: medium shots, close ups and extreme close ups. These were used to create atmosphere within the shot and give the viewer visual indications as to what the advert is advertising. Our mise- en - scene was the local park and shop. We felt that these locations fitted in with our storyline because we wanted to create a character and setting which our target audience will be able to relate to. We used a 7500 DSLR camera on the regular filming setting. We used many editing techniques due to various complications we had whilst filming on set- we tried to amend these the best we could but they are still noticeable when watching our advert. We used 'Adobe Premier Pro' to edit our advert and used tools/ techniques such as: RGB Curves, still frames, overlays and putting clips in slow motion. In terms of sound, we used a continuous track ('Morning Walk') layered underneath an audio narration. We recorded diegetic sound whilst on set but when we came to editing, we decided that a continuous music track would be more appropriate. I feel that the effectiveness of content in our advert is adequate because, although it is stated that this is an advert for Ben and Jerry's, without the narration and end still frame it is not clear what the product is. Therefore I don't think that our finished advert effectively sells the product through storyline.
I think we managed to get the main message to our target audience by explicitly using an example in our voice over which they would be able to relate to. I think it will have the appropriate impact on them because our narrative explains that Ben and Jerry's brings people together and boosts peoples mood.
I think the effectiveness of our content is good because it effectively sells the product to the specified audience though the visual and audio narrative.
I don't think the persuasion technique we used was very effective because although we state that 'what you need is Ben and Jerry's', we don't explain though our narrative why the consumer needs our product.
I wanted to tell females who where going through a brake- up that eating Ben and Jerry's will cheer them up and bring friends together so I used a shot of a friend joining the girl on the park bench. This will hopefully inspire friends to hang out together.
I don't think our advert is fit for purpose because I feel that it is not professional enough due to the poor sound quality and amateur looking shots. I think our advert complies with the BCAP regulations of 1.3.1 'Advertisements must not state or imply that a product can legally be sold if it cannot'.