Question 2 Evaluation.

1. How effective is the
combination of your main
product and ancillary texts?
Becky McManus

2. Inspiration
• Our biggest inspiration throughout this process was Charlie XCX. The
majority of her work is pink and feminine. She is an advocate for the
indie pop genre, which is the same as our music video.
• Charlie XCX’s music poster and album covers are similar to what we
were trying to achieve in our music promo. Her style of fashion is
what we tried to recreate in our music video, showing that being
funky and different is okay.
• In Charlie XCX’s music videos, she is always having fun, whether she is
by herself or in a group. We wanted to take the alone angle that you
can have fun, without being surrounded by people.

3. Charlie XCX vs. Our shots.

4. • Our aim throughout the process of creating the music video and
ancillary tasks was to ensure that the three are all linked and
synergise together. This way our audience can distinguish the artist
clearly.
• After the completion of the music video, I created two magazine
posters on Photoshop. I then conducted some audience research and
asked the rest of my group, and various other people, which of the
two adverts they thought was more effective. There was a unanimous
vote on the second magazine advert, and so we went with that one.
• Cross media convergence is used across all three materials in our
promotional package for an album release.

6. Other Artists
An example of an artist who has used a shot from their music
video for their digipak would be Cheryl Cole’s ‘Fight For This Love’.
This is a clever promotional tool because it means that her
audience will understand the correlation of the music video and
album cover, because of the synergy. Most people buy CDs for the
added features that you cannot get from a music video. Cheryl’s
CD could have a ‘behind the scenes’ filming extra, as fans know
that they cover is from the music video. The digipak denotes the
artist and helps them to promote their styles and their genre.

7. Synergy throughout our media package
• Actress: In all of our media texts, we have used the same female artist
throughout. This synergy means that is is easier for the audience to recognise her.
This shows the importance of the artist and how it connects them with their
audience. When all of the promotional packages are released, having the same
artist throughout will attract consumers more into buying the album. Using the
same female across all three texts means that a brand image, and a star persona,
has been created.
• Colour: We have used pink throughout our whole media package to ensure that
synergy is distributed throughout. The colour pink is linked to our chosen song
title ‘Reigning Pink Bananas’, and strenghtens the brand image of pink.
• Typography: We decided to use the same typography, all with uppercase
lettering, within the two ancillary tasks. This is so it is synergetic and our audience
can recognise one from the other. This is another way to strengthen brand image.

8. Brand Image and Brand Identity
• In order for the ancillary tasks and our music video to be successful, we needed to create a brand
image and keep it consistent throughout. It is vital that an artist has a brand image to ensure that
they are able to compete in the music industry.
• There are 8 known elements that need to be factored in when creating a brand identity.
-Brand essence
-Brand slogan
-Brand personality
-Brand values
-Brand appearance
-Brand heritage
-Hard benefits
-Emotional benefits.
These elements are crucial in many different aspects, for many different things. These 8 elements
are also used when creating a business’ brand identity, not just when it comes to music.

9. Our Brand Identity
• Our brand identity represents the hybrid genre of indie pop.
• Indie Pop music videos are always very simplistic, with only
one or two actors. Props are very common in indie music
videos, most typically cigarettes.
• Many indie pop music videos include a live performance of
the artists, as a way to make them more involved in the
video.
Live performances enhance the artists' song, and promote
the artists.
• Polly Money, according to her songs and social media, seems
to be very upbeat and fun. We wanted to incorporate this
into our music video, as we believe that if she made a video
for ‘Reigning Pink Bananas’, it would indeed be fun.
• Our brand identity is clearly shown through our music video,
as the character shown in our music video does not take life
too seriously.
• This is where our brand identity differs to other indie artists.
For example, Lana Del Rey is an indie artist, who is always
sombre in her music videos. The complete opposite of ours.

10. • For each of our media products, we needed to ensure that our brand
identity is prevalent. We created our brand identity through the use
of cinematography, mise-en-scene, lighting and editing.

11. Cinematography
• One convention of the indie pop genre
is the use of close-ups, typically
showing the artist’s face, or
instruments. For example, this close up
is used in Charlie XCX’s ‘Superlove’.
• Disjuncture is used in this music video,
as the lyrics do not correlate with the
music video.
• Close ups of the artist have been used
to introduce her to her audience, and
so they will recognise her on the media
texts.

12. Mise-en-scene
• The main props we used in our music video were the inflatable banana and
the pink smoke flares. We used these to keep the iconography of the song
‘Reigning Pink Bananas’. This allows the audience to make connections
between the song, the music video and our media package.
• Pink is the main colour which is featured on the magazine. This is to adhere
to our target audiences’ psychographics of the colour pink. We tried to find
pink background which would look effective for our video. An example of a
pink background we found would be the birdcage in St. Pancras. This would
effective because it represented the artist; fun, colour and care free. The
singer can be seen ‘breaking out’ of the bird cage when she mimes “f***
yeah”. This strengthens the point that she is care-free and young.

13. Editing
• We used minimalistic editing to
adhere to the simplistic
convention of indie pop.
• This way, we could focus on the
artist and what emotions we
wanted to come across to our
audience.
• Our brand image can be seen
through this minimal approach,
as we have kept it simple, eye-
catching and fun.

14. Synergy in the Digipak
• In our digipak, we used lots of bright colours, which also featured in our
music video. This is so that our products stand out and adhere to our target
audiences’ psychographics of bright colours.
• I included a list of all the songs on Polly Money’s EP as it makes our digipak
seem more authentic and gives it a sense of realism.
• We decided to use white typography so that the writing will stand out
against the bright colours, and it also looks more realistic and professional.
• We used pictures of myself, the acting artist, so that it is directly related to
our music video. This means that all our media products are all synergised
and contain the same style of images and themes.
• In the digipak and magazine advert, the two images are both from the
same shoot. This makes it easier for our audience to distinguish the two
and be able to tell straight away that they are related.

15. Andrew Goodwin
• Andrew Goodwin says that, when it comes to music videos, there are
certain conventions which define them. We used indie pop
conventions throughout our media package and in our music video.
• There should always be a link between the lyrics and the visuals. The
visuals need to illustrate or contradict the lyrics.
• He also states that there should be a link between the visuals and the
music. The visuals need to illustrate, amplify or contradict the music.
• The need to sell the artist is another convention that Andrew
Goodwin talks about. He says that the artist must develop their image
throughout the products, and therefore star persona must be visible
throughout.

16. Traditional Media
• There are two different types of media which can be used to promote a product;
traditional media and new media.
• A few examples of traditional media is music channels, music magazines and record
stores.
• A few examples of new media would be YouTube, iTunes and the internet.
• Traditional media has been used in the marketing and advertising world for decades.
Traditional media encompasses that of television, music, newspaper, radio and
magazine ads. When using traditional methods to advertise our music video, we
could use HMV. HMV is a music and games shop, where all genres and styles of music
are sold.
• Another method of traditional marketing which we could use is a music channel. We
believe that airing our music video on E4 would be most beneficial, as the target
audience for E4 is the same as ours. This would generate thousands of views to age-
relevant consumers. E4 host many different events that adhere to the psychographics
of our target audience, like music festivals and TV shows. The majority of E4’s viewers
are females in their early 20s, and therefore this channel would be the most suitable
to exhibit our music video, as it is easily accessible and targets a mass audience.

17. New Media
• New media is the present and future of marketing and advertising. As time progresses, businesses
rely more and more on new media marketing to promote their products. It is easier for
consumers to find what they are looking for on new media, as sources are readily available in
seconds thanks to the internet.
• New media can reach a larger audience in a shorter amount of time, compared to traditional
media marketing. New media gives everybody an equal voice. This correlates to the Blumer and
Katz ‘Uses and Gratifications’ theory and also the hypodermic needle theory.
• One positive of new media is that creators of media text can receive instant feedback from
consumers, and so it is easier for them to adapt their media to the needs and wants of their
target market.
• Another positive is that creators can direct their work to the appropriate audience with ease.
Whereas, traditional media is just on one platform e.g. television and people outside their target
audience can see it.
• YouTube would be the most suitable place for ‘Reigning Pink Bananas’ to be exhibited because it
is free to post videos on there, and millions of views could be achieved per day. YouTube
advertising is free, until a viewer clicks on the advert. For example, Polly Money could advertise
the music video on YouTube for free, each person that clicks on the video costs £1.