1. Question 2: How effective is
the combination of your
main products and the two
ancillary texts?
2. Consistenc
yWhen creating any music video it is extremely important that both the
ancillary texts fit the same theme as the music video, this is so the
audience can create a visual image in their mind which will match
the narrative of the main media text, which in this case is the music
video. It is important to do this so that you capture the audience’s
attention and not to throw them off and confuse them into thinking
whether or not the ancillary texts match the music video. In some
cases, artists like to do so to create a different vibe, but in most cases
artists prefer their ancillary texts to match their music video and most
producers/editors will prefer to work this way too.
Throughout our A2 coursework, both myself and Kiera have ensured
that all the elements of our media work have clear visual and design
features which are captivating to the audience, especially the target
audience that will link both the advert and digipak with the music
video. Therefore we used the same font, colour and visual techniques
throughout our music video, digipak and advert.
3. Symbiotic Connection
The effectiveness of the symbiotic connection between the 2
ancillary texts and the music video holds great importance to the
concept of commodification in music videos. It relates to the way in
which music doesn’t have to be produced for its own sake, or
because people require the music, but as a lucrative commodity or a
product that can be packaged and sold onto the public.
To the right is an example of a
symbiotic connection. The same font
is used throughout the digipak for
both the title and then the sub-texts
as well which is the track list and the
name on the album under the artist
name. Additionally, the same girl is
in each picture of the digipak, which
gives the audience an idea of who
will be in the music video, linking
them together.
4. Star Image
To be able to identify the artists work and understand the image that
they are trying to portray and to create a cohesive promotional
package the artists star image relies on the audience. This means
that each of the pieces of work they create will have something
similar in each of them to link them together in a cohesive way, this
also creates a more effective piece of work which is recognisable to
the audience, especially the target audience. An example of this is
Westlife, they use the same font on each of their albums, and also
use an image of themselves which is recognisable in each of their
albums..
5. At the beginning of this project we were introduced and told that we
were going to create 1 main product and 2 ancillary texts, there was a
particular emphasis placed on the 3 parts of the promo package
being sold as a campaign. Therefore we had to seriously consider the
colours, logo, iconic images and design features we used in all 3
elements so that they had a clear symbiotic link between them all.
Symbiotically marketing the product through synergy was a key
process we had to consider to ensure the product would sell as a
campaign rather than just the individual components themselves. We
needed to take into account that each product needed to have
something that matched the same all the way through so that it is
easily recogniseble and noticeable within a shop.
6. Our Work
When looking through all three parts of my promotional package I can
see elements linking all three together. One of the main ideas of this
linking between the three is my colour choice. I chose to link all three
texts together with the use of black and white colour so that there could
be a clear theme to all the texts and together they could be seen as a
working promotional package. I think that the use of the black and white
in all of my work highlights my need for all three to come together to
make a strong image and brand for the artist. The clear black and white
theme in all three of the texts is appealing to the audience as they can
tell that they are linked and all heading or aiming for the same idea and
image promoting the band further.
9. I think that the use of our one character of Hayley being used in our video,
advert and digipak allows the audience to see the combination quite clearly. It
means that they can link them together through star image and will always link
the sight of Hayley to our video and therefore The XX. I think the image that we
have used for the front of our digipak is also quite significant and is a link
between all three of the texts. By having Hayley from the nose down to her
shoulders as our front cover image on the digipak layered on top of each other
three times and having the same sort of image but changed slightly on our
advert. It means that the audience can see that the two are linked and connect
them visually reminding them of each other. I also think that this image of
Hayley links into the video as well, because even though it isn’t layered you can
still see Hayley from this image and angle in the video lip syncing to some of
the words. This means that as the audience all three are linked to that particular
image and there is a combination between them. The audience can therefore
find an easier link to them all and hopefully boost the
bands image and music. I think that both the colours
that I have used in the theme of my video, digipak and
advert and the use of the star image making her an
iconic image or character creates a brand which
could be easily marketed to the intended subculture of
The XX.
10. Target Audience
When I thought about the intended target audience of my promotional package
I thought that branding to them was going to be the most difficult aspect of the
texts. I wanted to ensure that I appealed to everyone in that subculture but have
a brand that could also be appealing and engaging to others outside of the
subculture. My main focus for the branding was the image of Hayley. The star
image was the brand for my promotional package and the way in which I
wanted my target audience to link all three of my texts together. By looking
around at other digipaks and music videos of a similar genre to mine I also saw
quite a lot of dark colours and some black and white. This was a clear way to
brand my package as a marketable image and appeal to them as I was fitting in
with existing packages in the market at the time. I think that branding my
package and making it more marketable as a combination of all three means
that it makes it a commodified product and uses symbiotic marketing to do so.
The use of the branding allows the video and digipack to establish its place in
the market and become a working package to be sold to consumers. The
synergy of all three of the texts linking together means that they can all be
linked and joined together to make a promotional package. All three texts could
work on their own but the synergy of them working together means that they
can become an established brand in the existing market becoming a working
product.
11. Branding
By branding all three of the products separately at the point where the public will
have contact with them it meant that all of them could work on their own and sell
part of the band to consumers. All three of the products work in terms of ideology
and genre to create emotions and immersive elements for the audience however
together they create a package drawing consumers in and forcing them to see the
bands new album. When I designed all three of my texts I always ensured that I
had my target audience in mind and wanted to allow them to be the focus
throughout, therefore i involved the use of social networking sites within my
advertisement so that the users could use social networking sites to provide access
and accessibility to the bands website, or to find out more information about the
artist.
I thought a lot about the genre paradigms and the effect they will have on the
audience. I chose to subvert a few so that all three of the texts linked and created a
stronger brand for my audience. My audience were targeted in terms of what I
thought they wanted to see and the theme of the song overall. I targeted them in
terms of my narrative structure as it is a typical convention of the genre that I chose
to work in, I also targeted them through my use of black and white colours as it
meant that I could link all three texts while creating a brand which would fit in as it is
similar to those in the existing market. Overall I think that my audience were
targeted through a choice of cultural signifiers and choices made by me which I
thought would create the best final product. all three of my texts are linked in terms
of colour and image making them relatable to the audience and force them to see
the link between the two. I believe that I have created a working product which
12. Questionnaire:To further our understanding of the extent of how effecting the combination of our main product and the 2 ancillary texts which we
created are, we carried out some primary research on audience feedback through a questionnaire. Within sixth form and main
school (aged 15-19) we asked 10 people from each year group from 10-13. This gave us a large variety of different age groups
and genders, in which all have different tastes in different genres and music videos, which really helped us see the difference in
ages and how our product and 2 ancillary texts was understood by them. Below is the questionnaire we created.
1. Can you see a clear link between the music video and the 2 ancillary texts (digipak and advertisement)? If so, how?
Extremely clear connection
Can see a slight connection, needs improving a little to gain fuller understanding
Unclear
No connection
2. What connections can you see through the 2 ancillary texts and the music video?
...........................
3. On a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest, 1 being the lowest) how effective do you feel our product are when considering that all 3
texts need to work together as a campaign to then be sold?
1-2 not effective enough and there isn't a clear link which users/viewers would be able to instantly recognise
2-4 clear, you be able to somewhat work out that the 3 link together and that this is the purpose
5, very effective, all 3 products have a really effective symbiotic link visually and there is no doubtt that each product will be noticed
and recognised in shops due to the link being so strong.
13. Results
Once we had collected in the filled in questionnaires we were able to
create graphs/charts to show the answers to these questions more
effectively. We were able to easily produce a chart for question 1 and
3, however as question 2 is such an open question and we received a
range of results, we were unable to turn this into a graph. However,
95% of the responses to question 2 was the clear link of the female
character and the black and white effect. The other two questions
responses are as showed below.
As you can see from the successful questionnaire on the next 2 slides
the results overall are positive and those within the sample felt the
combination of our main product and the 2 ancillary texts were very
effective as a promo package/campaign.
