1. 2. How effective is the
combination of your main
product and ancillary texts?
2. Synergy
The main focus of the documentary itself was on micro-blogging website
Tumblr, so it was only natural that my ancillary pieces focused on the same
topic, partly so they were clearly interlinked and partly so that when looking
at my ancillary texts (3 adverts and a magazine article) they would get some
sort of a feel for the film. Because of this, I used the login page of Tumblr as
the background image for my adverts, and as the main picture on one page of
the article. This created a brand identity, as all aspects of my ancillary tasks
were similar and could be linked to one another.
3. Channel 4
Since the documentary would be shown on Channel 4, I researched some
Channel 4 advertising campaigns, so that I could create mine to be similar in
design and layout, so that it could be recognisable as a Channel 4
documentary. Most of the Channel 4 adverts that I saw consisted of a single
simple background image, the name of the show, the date and time it would
air and the Channel 4 logo. Due tot this research, I decided to follow the
same design scheme when creating my advertising campaign, so that it would
fit in with other Channel 4 adverts.
4. Were they successful?
I believe that the combination of my ancillary tasks and my main task was
successful, as it creates a brand identity and contains a level of consistency
which will allow the audience to link them together. They also fit in with the
conventions and expectations of the industry and institution, the film itself
meeting the conventions of the documentary industry, with the ancillary tasks
(the adverts and the magazine article) matching the conventions of previous
adverts and articles respectively, as well as fitting in with the expectations of
Channel 4, in terms of the layout and content of the adverts and article, so
that it fits in with their existing repertoire.
