The document summarizes a promotional package created for a band that includes a music video, digipak, and magazine advertisement. It discusses how the products are linked through a grayscale color scheme and similar photography style. While there is an effective overall connection between the products, the document notes one small inconsistency between the use of bright colors in the ad but not on the digipak. It also reflects on how the narrative of the music video and images in the digipak were designed to give fans a sense of accessing the band's personal lives and creative process.

1. How Effective is the Combination of
Your Main Product and Ancillary
Texts?
Sarah Green

2. Music
Video
Magazine
Advert
Digipak
Promotional PackageWe created a promotional package that
includes a magazine advertisement, digipak,
and music video. The latter is the main
product in the package and it is linked to the
other products through the grayscale
colouring and filmography and photography
style. The ancillary texts; the digipak and
magazine advertisement are the supportive
structures of the promotional package with
the music video being the apex.

3. The house style we designed was the fundamental link throughout the promotional package.
The grayscale colouring of our main product and ancillary texts related our products to the rock
music genre as the dark colours have connotations of rebellion, which is a common aspect of the
music genre and audience. The house style has been applied to both ancillary texts completely
as well as the live performance scenes of the music video. We decided to only apply the colour
effect to those particular sections of the video as they were purely about the music. The
principal focus of our promotional package was to advertise the music and not the brand. The
connection between the products by the use of colour aids this.
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4. However, there is a small inconsistency in our promotional package. As stated in an early
post, we had decided to include bright orange or red alongside the dark colours. We
succeeded in this with the magazine advertisement as we included the social media
information in orange. This worked well as it clearly stood out. Despite this, we did not
repeat this on the digipak. Therefore, this caused a slight lack in synergy and connection
between the main product and ancillary texts.
A small link between the products was the identical record label logo on the digipak and
the magazine advertisement. We felt it was important to include as it creates a clear
connection to which record label the band belongs to and the audience is able to
recognise the band from the well-known label.

5. Our initial research into our chosen band
Paramore revealed that the band was
known for being very close and open to
their fans. A way we decided to replicate
this was to open the creation of the album
up to the fans. We did this by having the
narrative of the music video as the band
going to band practice, where in the video
they are seen travelling to the studio. The
connection between the music video and
the digipak was the collage of images of the
recording day in the shape of the Paramore
symbol. I believe our whole package is
effective in promoting our chosen band,
Paramore. This is due to the synergy linking
all three of our products together.

6. We did this as a way of
appealing to our target
audience who from our
research we discovered are
keen to keep in touch with
the band, whether through
social media, published
media, and the band’s own
products.
The idea of a collage in
a digipak has occurred
a number of times.
For example the 5
Seconds Of Summer
digipak.

7. In the first year of Media Studies we were taught about Henry Jenkins’ theory of
entry points. We wished to replicate this idea, as it would cause our product to
be more accessible from different angles. To create this we decided to make the
image of the amp on the front of the digipak the magazine advert. This would
make the album easier to identify when advertised and more accessible to
perspective audiences. We also thought to include the music video on the
digipak as an extra video to further the link between our main product and
ancillary texts. The video contains shots of amps however it is not the one
identified on the other products.

8. We did not plan our magazine advert as closely as the other two products.
As a result of this there is not the personal connection feel that is present in
the other two products. As there are no pictures of the band on the
magazine advertisement there is not a strong of a link creating a sense of
discontinuity.
In reflection, if we were to do this task again synergy between the products
would be central to our planning. We would also spend more time planning
the magazine advertisement as our main priority this year was the music
video followed by the digipak. I would have liked to look more closely at
other rock genre advertisements to find the key conventions and applied
them to our design.
Overall, there is a clear connection in the promotional package between the
main product and ancillary texts. Although some aspects have a stronger
link whether it is through identical image or entry points into the band’s
personal lives.