Blog post 6 digipak advert research

1. Digipak:
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Advert Research

2. Analysis 1: Jessie J, Who You Are
Image
The main image in the centre of the frame features the
artist looking defiantly into the camera on a white
background. Her central framing to the advert highlights
her importance to the audience and creates and image
of power for fans might aspire to. The close up shot of
artists face allows the audience to focus in on her facial
expression and eyes. Her intense stare creating a level of
intimacy between her and the audience drawing them
into the product. This image allows the audience to
quickly identify the pop genre as it is a convention of
‘pop’ to feature the artist central to the marketing of the
album because they are instantly recognisable to their
fans. To further follow the convention the image has
been heavily airbrushed and the artist is wearing a lot of
make up. This promotes Jessie J’s brand image as a
strong, attractive, playful and confident artist for which
the fans admire her for. The golden typeface, whilst
being eye catching highlights her as a glamorous and
extravagant artist, coupled with the eye catching make-up
and costume the mise-en-scene portrays her as a
performer and a ‘diva’.
Layout
The advert itself follows the conventions of Album
advertising, featuring the artist name, album title,
website and record label logos. The artwork and imagery
is bold, and enticing, drawing audience members in. The
chunky sans serif font is easy to read and stands out well
against a black background. Important information is
highlighted in a golden colour similar to the artists
name, allowing for the audience to pick out vital pieces
of persuasive information quickly and at a
glance.
Promotional Text
The phrase “#1 international smash” will certainly
help to sell more copies of the album as this kind of
positive advertisement will help the audience
evaluate the quality of the product that they are about
to buy. Furthermore mentioning a popular song
within the advert will also help the audience to
purchase the product.

3. Analysis 2: Thirty Seconds to Mars, This is
War
Image
The advert relies heavily on an effective use of text. The
album title ‘This is War’ is the main focus of the advert,
white text on a black square, the contrast making for a
very bold and eye catching image. Incredibly crisp, the
font represents the serious tone of the bands music and
resembles old war propaganda posters such as the ‘keep
calm’ campaign. ‘War’ taking up most of the screen
makes for a very bold and image to draw the audience
in. By contrast red text has been used on white to the
bottom of the advert, red connoting danger and
excitement. Fitting with the theme of war, this entices
customers to the product and makes the advertisement
stand out. The bands logo can be seen in the
background, allowing the fans to quickly identify the
advertisement. Although bold and minimalistic this
design allows audiences to quickly recognise the album
title and artist.
Layout
Similarly to the Jessie J advert this also follows the
conventions of an album advertisement. However this
advert contains the words “OUT NOW” in bold red text.
This grabs the attention of the audience and increases
pressure on fans to go out and purchase the new album.
The advert states that the album includes exclusives
such as the DVD with behind the scenes footage with the
band allowing them further insight into how the band
works and live covers of songs. This adds extra value to
the product for fans, and can be seen as a collectable for
the most devoted of fans. It could also add extra value
for new customers who may not be looking to by the
album initially.

4. Analysis 3: MIKA, The Boy Who Knew
Too Much
Image
In contrast to the Thirty Seconds to Mars advert, this
advertisement is literally bursting with colour and
interesting visuals. This cluttered and chaotic design
reflects the artists brand image as being ‘zany’ and a bit
‘out there’ whilst connoting excitement and vibrancy of
the album to the audience. This cartoonish brand image
can be seen in most of his work, for example the music
video Lollipop
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6md5RSnVUuo )
and his previous album artwork Life in cartoon motion.
In contrast to this cartoonish explosion of colour the
advert is surrounded by black and white artwork
depicting stars and planets. This gives the image a
dream like quality as the stars could be representing the
night and sleeping whereas the colour, dreams and the
imagination. This idea reiterates the artists brand unique
brand image.
Layout
Again the advertisement conforms to the conventions
of album adverts the popular songs are advertised for
audience appeal . Against convention however is the
cluttered nature of the advert which could be argued
makes it difficult to quickly attain information. Yet it
does make for an interesting and eye catching
advertisement that will draw audiences in.

5. Overall Findings/Decisions
- It would seem that the most effective
adverts use minimalistic designs that are
bold and stand out.
- Common place is for there to be indication
for when the album is to be released to
generate hype.
- The image often advertises extra features
so that fans and the audience can find extra
value in the product.
-I think it would certainly be a good idea to
play to the conventional features of the
album advertisements. I realise now the
importance of creating a visually distinct
advertisement, be it with the artist, artwork
or typography.