2. CAMPAIGN
OVERVIEW:
This advertising campaign was made with the aim of educating people on
driving and as a result keeping Britain's roads safer. Unlike many advertising
campaigns,its purpose was not to sell a product that would provide profit, but
to sell an idea that would (hopefully) save lives in the future.
The campaign was created by adam&eveDDB, a media communications
company made up of people from advertising, design, digital and technical
backgrounds.
The campaign won the Aerial award (a celebration of British radio advertising)
in January 2019, and has been widely successful in reaching its intended
audience and conveying its important message about driving safely.
3. Speaking in a very broad sense, I believe the target
audience for the "Don't be a space invader campaign" is
anyone who drives, as it is an advertising campaign
designed to educate people on road safety. Because of the
vast number of people who drive in the UK, I think the
campaign was targeted towards both genders, all races,
most, if not all, classes (i.e. D-A on the NRS Social
Demographic Scale), with age being the only factor that
might've been especially thought about; in the TV ad, the
man driving the car is probably in his late 20s-mid 30s,
suggesting that perhaps this is the age group that the
campaign is targeting, however I think that really the
campaign is looking to reach a broad age group (from 17-
70) as tailgating is an issue that transcends ages.
In terms of Young and Rubicam's 4C's scale, I would say
The Aspirer and The Explorer could've have been target
due to their eager nature, a quality that could perhaps link
to tailgating (although only very tenuously).
TARGET AUDIENCE:
4. CAMPAIGN MESSAGE AND
HOW IT WAS PRESENTED:
The campaign message- which is, essentially, don't tailgate because it
can be fatal- is presented seriously, factually and efficiently, despite the
central appearance of a space invader, a character from the iconic 80s
arcade game of the same name. Instead of adding humour to a serious
subject, the space invader serves as a simple but effective metaphor for
the dangers of tailgating, highlighting how it often proves to be fatal and
ensuring the anti-tailgating message stays in the audience's memory for
a long time after they've heard the advert. The campaign was made up
of a series of adverts across television, radio and print, all of a similar
nature.
5. PRINT ADVERT
ANALYSIS:
By having a physical space invader tailgate the car ahead,
the print advert (here dispalyed on a billbard) cacthes the
audiences attention instantly and engages them with the
important subject, something that is especially useful if the
audience are in a hurry or only mamnage to get a fleeting
glance, which is the case with this example, where the advert
is displayed on a billboard on a road.
By displaying the billboard on a road, the advert has
reached it's target audience and hopefully made them
think, as it's target audience is anyoe who drives (so
everyone on the road) and it's likely that, if anobe was
tailgating, they might stop after seeing the advert.
6. AUDIO ADVERT ANALYIS:
The audio advert for this campaign is brilliantly simple and extremely effective. It
consists of space invader sound effects, like retro bleeps, which over score the sound
of a car being driven on a main road. These sound effects get increasing fast as the
advert progresses, while a male voice over starts speaking in the adverts final stages,
saying: "If you tailgate the car in front, the closer you get the less time you'll have to
react". Then,as the sound effect of the space invader/ car crashing is heard, the voice
over says "Don't be a space invader. Stay safe. Stay back" drawing the advert to a
close. The simplicity of this advert is what strikes me the most, and what makes it so
effective; there aren't loads of facts and figures and too much talking, just the
ominous, memorable sound of the space invader getting nearer, and the informative
and clear voice over to consolidate the adverts message. When we make our audio
advert, I will try to imitate the success of this advert,as I think going for a clear and
simplistc style is memorable and effcetive.
7. TV ADVERT ANALYSIS:
Much like the print advert, the TV advert for the Don't be a Space Invader
campaign uses the physical Space Invader to highlight the dangers of tailgating,
as the Space Invader is instantly captivating and stays in people's memories for a
long time. The shots showing the worry on the man's face who's being tailgated is
effective as it makes the audience realise that when they tailgate, they are
putting pressure and worry on the person driving the car in front, making them
lose concentration and increasing the chance of a crash.
The inclusion of sub-
titles which read
what the narrator is
saying reinfocres the
adverts vital,
potentially life-
saving message.
8. REGULATORY BODIES :
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent organisation of
the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. They apply the Advertising
Codes ,which are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), to
all media, and have the ability to ban adverts if they don't follow the rules set
out by the ASA.
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the UK
government-approved but independent regulatory and competition authority for
broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries in the United Kingdom.
Ofcom take into consideration complaints the public sometimes make about
various forms of media, including adverts, and often investigate these
complaints further, sometimes leading to Ofcom finding broadcasters in breach
of their rules.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental
organisation, founded by the film industry in 1912 and responsible for the
national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video
works released on physical media within the United Kingdom. However, BBFC
doesn't deal with advertising so much; this is handled predominately by the
authorities mentioned above, as well as the Cinema Advertising Association
(CAA).
9. LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES:
The UK code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code) is a set of
rules that apply to all advertisements and program sponsorship
credits on radio and television services liscened by Ofcom. If
any advertisment is deemed unsuitable, offensive or recieves
complaints for any of the above, it is often investigated by
Ofcom or another similar agency, and sometimes this can resukt
in the advert being banned.
