Qualitative Research

The data attained from these interviews is the personal opinion of each interviewee, and it further stresses that TV advertisements find it easier to leave a lasting impression on their audience than Radio advertisements.

The responses tell us that adverts are often remembered either for being poor and disliked, 'funny' but in a cynical respect, i.e Envirofone again "...because it is shocking!", or for being funny and having a catchy catchphrase or jingle, that is easy to relate to and, particularly effective with Compare The Market's 'Meerkat' campaign, one that can be repeated in diverse contexts in day to day life, further embedding it its manufacturer into the subconscious of yourself and others, "Simples".
The idea that "shocking" adverts live longer in the memory doesn't mean to say that you should create a deliberately bad advert, (although I think it would be an interesting concept) its just one way that an advert can stand out; an successful advert must stand out.

When quizzed on Radio advertising it was relayed to us that the purpose of Radio adverts is understood and accepted "I believe they are effective if they are targeted at and audience that the producers know are going to be listening to the radio, and if advertising things that they know radio listeners will be attracted to."

That being said it was apparent in both interviews, as well as in the results from our questionnaires that Radio adverts are less appreciated (in many cases complete unappreciated) and more annoying that Television Adverts.

The ideology that Radio adverts can be harder to understand was realised in the second interview, which indicates to us we must be extra careful in making our own Radio advert as clear as possible.

We have discovered through this research that we must create an advert that its funny and memorable to our audience, without being funny for its annoyance.

Whilst on the BCAP website I took a closer look at the things that CAN'T be advertised and arranged them into a chart...

Research - TV Advertising Standards Codes... Boring, but important.

The Advertising Codes lay down rules for advertisers, agencies and media owners to follow. The Advertising Standards Codes are separated out into codes for TV, radio and all other types of ads (‘non-broadcast advertising’). There are also rules for Teletext ads, interactive ads and the scheduling of television ads.

Having decided we were going to produce and advertise a confectionery product I visited the 'Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice' website to find the government regulations on advertising food.

Below is what I found. I have only included passages that concern us, and have highlighted parts that are particularly key to our own project...

The BCAP Television Advertising Code - 8.3 food and dietary supplements

8.3.1 Accuracy in food advertising

8.3.1(a)
Nutrition claims (e.g. “high in vitamin C”) or health claims (e.g. “aids a healthy digestion”) must be supported by sound scientific evidence. Advertising must not give a misleading impression of the nutritional or health benefits of the product as a whole and factual nutrition statements should not imply a nutritional or health claim that cannot be supported. Ambiguous wording that could be understood as a health claim must be avoided. For example, “goodness” should not be used as a synonym for “wholesomeness” and, if a claim relates to taste, that should be made clear, e.g. “It tastes good”, not “It is good”. The scientific meaning of the word “energy”, i.e. calorific value, should not be confused with its colloquial meaning of physical vigour

8.3.1(b)
Nutritional claims and health claims should relate to benefits that are significant. Claims should be presented clearly and without exaggeration

8.3.1(c)
No nutritional or health claim may be used in HFSS product advertisements targeted directly at pre-school or primary school children

Note:

(1) Advertisements targeted directly at pre-school or primary school children are advertisements that directly target pre-school or primary school children through their content as opposed to their scheduling. For rules on the scheduling of HFSS product advertisements, please see the BCAP Rules on the Scheduling of Television Advertisements.

8.3.1(d)
The fact that a food product is a good source of certain nutrients does not justify generalised claims of a wider nutritional benefit

Note:

(1) Claims of nutritional or health benefits should be considered in the context of a balanced diet or lifestyle or both. For the avoidance of doubt, HFSS product advertisements may make nutritional or health claims in accordance with 8.3.1.



8.3.2 Excessive consumption

8.3.2

Advertisements must not encourage or condone excessive consumption of any food

Notes:

(1) Interpretation of this rule should be by reference to generally accepted nutritional advice. It would clearly not be inconsistent with shots of someone enjoying a chocolate bar; it would, however, preclude someone being shown eating whole boxes of chocolates in one sitting.

(2) Portion sizes or quantities of food shown should be suitable for the occasion and the people portrayed, especially if children are involved. Advertisements should not suggest that a portion intended for more than one person is to be consumed by a single individual or an adult’s portion, by a small child.

(3) If they feature large pack sizes or promotional offers, e.g. ”3 for the price of 2”, advertisements should not encourage people to eat more than they otherwise would.

(4) The notion of excessive consumption relates to the frequency of consumption as well as the amount consumed.

Concern about the issue of childhood obesity has led to a tightening of the riles on advertising food, and on television, specifically foods high in fat or sugar.

Adverts that were considered irresponsible included;

- An advert in October 2008 for 'Oasis', a drink that contains sugar, which was suggested could be a replacement for water.

- A 'Maltesers' advert in which the words "less than 11 calories each" gave the misleading impression that 'Maltesers' were a low energy food.

-The 'Ferrero' advert which neglected to mention the high sugar and fat content, instead focusing on hazelnuts, cocoa powder and skimmed milk, therefore giving the impression the product was healthy.

For more information on the ASA guidelines on 'Food and Children' you can click, right, HERE

Research Institutional Values

Thinkbox

A company producing Television advertisements for different brands in order to advertise their products. They can create any type of advert for TV. For example, sponsorship sequences, red button ads, ads that are not for profit and conventional television adverts. They will create adverts for any company but they have to follow the criteria of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) run by the government, for example, they are not allowed to include explicit footage within their adverts. As they are a popular professional advertising company they aim to help advertisers get the best out of modern television.

Thinkbox About Us Page - http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.748

Radioville

They claim that they are the UK's biggest and best radio advertising agency. In looking at what they actually do they start all their sentences with the word 'We.' This shows that they are a company that will actively pursue the clients desired final advert and complete to fit the clients objectives. They state that they make 10% of all UK radio ads. Considering the size and population of the UK this percentage is quite large. Listening to a few of their adverts that they have featured on their site you can hear that each advert has been professionally made and fully advertises the product.

Radioville Website - http://www.radioville.co.uk/

Questionnaire & Results

The Questionnaire
Below is the Questionnaire I asked 40 people of mixed ages and both genders to fill out. You can click on it and then magnify to see its format.

The questionnaire features mainly questions based on TV and Radio advertising because these are more important to my research, based on our brief. The questions revolve around what forms of media people expose themselves to, and how often they do it. There is an abundance of girls at our college, therefore I have had more questionnaires filled in by girls than boys. This however should not make the results bias or unfair as we are merely asking if people can remember TV or Radio adverts, not seeking to compare the differences between males and females. In hindsight it was not even particularly important peoples gender, however it was important to ask peoples ages which we also did.


The Results

I asked 17 males and 23 females of a variety of ages.
The graph below details this and shows the age range of the participants;



The general consensus of the results is that a lot more people watch TV than listen to the radio. This was to be expected, in fact all 40 participants when asked if they watch commercial television answered 'Yes', where only 70% of them would say they listen to the radio.

Worthy of note also is that everybody was able to recall a television advert they had seen recently. The most commonly mentioned were the 'Go Compare' advert, 'Compare The Market/Meerkat' advert, and various adverts for Cadbury Dairy Milk, with a few people recalling the 'Envirofone' advert. When asked why these particular adverts stood out, positive feedback came back for the Cadbury and Compare the Market/Meerkat adverts, as people found them 'clever', 'funny', 'original', and importantly not too 'cheesey' or 'annoying' which sadly is all people had to say for 'Go Compare' . Go Compare was the most commonly recalled advert but it became apparent it people only remembered it out of a hostility towards it. They hated it, yet at the same time Go Compare have succeeded in producing an advert that will plant the name of their service firmly in the brains of their audience. It is a shame for them that comparethemarket.com have fared equally as well, and have managed to remain favourable at the same time. Envirofone appeared to only be recalled through the poor quality of the acting it showcases, respondents said it was"cringeworthy and laughable", and therefore memorable. The poor quality of the advert has been ripped to shreds by spoofs and comic remixes on YouTube, below is one example from hundreds. As with Go Compare though, the name 'Envirofone' was not one to soon be forgotten so they have prevailed in a sense.






Other television adverts people recalled included: Adverts for the most recent series of 'Skins', Rimmel London (because of the model with the massive gap in her teeth), Specsavers 'girls on the beach' Ad, B&Q, Persil, Moonpig and Autoglass ( both, like Go Compare, for their annoyingly memorable jingles), Hovis, and Morrisons.

In complete contrast out of those who said they listen to the radio, only 25% of them were able to recall a radio advert. This demonstrates that radio adverts with the visual backing are easier to forget, and therefore not as successful.



In fact, sadly, when asked what their thoughts on radio advertising were, the most common response i got was that radio adverts are plain 'annoying'. There was a lot of negative response, including; "it tends to get ignored", "not good", "boring", "rubbish", some people even got explicit in their distaste.
A few respondents made the fair point that "it is not effective with TV in comparison, but it still reaches its' target audience" and one man wrote "it is cheap, and therefore probably worth it".
Amidst all the negativity and indifference there were one or two positive reviews;
"Catchy and sticks in my head"
and
"It's clear and interesting"

My questionnaire was very helpful in discovering what the public believe to be the best and most effective form of advertising and the majority gave the answer that I suspected would be the most popular. From the results I have also learned what needs to be done to ensure that a radio advert is successful and the target audience don't instantly dismiss it when they hear it. The sponsorship sequence needs to be entertaining and memorable so that it stays with the target audience long after the sequence has finished. Remembering the findings from my questionnaire will ensure that I create entertaining adverts that will help to effectively promote our product in a successful advertising campaign.

Radio Adverts Research

Jaffa Cakes - Pack your Bags Radio Advert

The target audience for this advert would appear to be all fans of football, and not even necessarily hardcore committed fans because the advert clearly provides references to the FIFA Wold Cup and the England football team, and many people who would not otherwise boast a great interest in club football become patriotic and show and interest in England around World Cup.
I personally am not a fan of this advert, however using football and footballers to advertise a product is often successful, and on television in particular creates memorable adverts. The recognisable voice of Steven Gerrard - an England midfielder - helps in this advert to enforce the links to the World Cup and his endorsement will help sell the product. His voice is used at the end to recite the slogan of the advert "of course it's every cakes' dream to go to the world cup". The use of a well known football player's voice helps to influence an audience, which works particularly well in this instance as he is advertising an already well known and popular product.

Three voices feature within the advert;

• The first is a quiet Japanese female voice that we hear after a dialing tone, she is answering the phone. The dialing tone lets us know she is on the opposite end of the phone, and being recorded through it. It becomes apparent through "ENGLAND HOTEL!" (spoken by the booming male voice on our end of the phone) that she is an employee at said hotel, that the hotel is in Japan, and it is supposedly the hotel the English squad stayed in during the 2002 world cup. She is seems a little slow, and confused throughout, obviously because the call is presumably random, and it is likely there is a bit of a language barrier as well.
• The second voice you hear is the booming male voice aforementioned, reminiscent deliberately of Channel 4 reality show 'Big Brother'. He calls himself 'Davina' (this is not funny!) but instead of straight referring to 'Big Brother' the radio advert equivalent is called 'Jaffa Cakes'. Again, not funny.
• Lastly at the end of the advert you hear the voice of Steven Gerrard who delivers the line albeit nervously (to the point i question if it is truely his voice... However i also don't see why it wouldn't be) linking the World Cup and Jaffa Cakes.

The advert is designed to be funny and the use of these popular elements from modern culture help sell the product.

The advert features in the YouTube video at the end of this post.


Marmite - Our Tune

This advert was designed to be funny and has a comical element to it. There is only one voice present within the advert and that voice is from a male. The voice tells a sad story of two people who fell in love and lived horribly but happy lives together until the female he is describing discovers that her husband doesn't like the product that is being advertised. In the final seconds of the advert there is the theme tune 'My Mate Marmite' that is associated with the product. The jolly tune creates a contrast to the sad non-diegetic background music and this contrast helps to create a comical element that will entertain listeners and encourage them to buy the product. This advert is aimed at anyone who enjoys Marmite as the product is famous for it's 'You either Love it or Hate it' slogan. You can also say that the product is aimed at the people who do the weekly shop as it is a product that you would find people buying when they shop. Others who could also buy this product could be people who have never actually tried the product and are curious as to which side of the slogan they fall in.

Marmite - Our Tune Radio Advert
http://www.aerialsfoundation.co.uk/hof/HallOfFame.xml - Go to number 17 to find the radio advert.


Alton Towers - Job Vacancies

This advert made obvious from the offset is set on a rollercoaster at Alton Towers. An excited

mans voice (not too dissimilar to Peter Dickson, the 'voice of E4') introduces us to the theme park - "At Alton Towers..." - so we immediately associate the dominant sound effects with a rollercoaster. The mans voice seeks to sell the park to us, "...we are serious about ... FUUNNNN!", and it becomes obvious that he himself is on the roller-coaster it is effecting his speech, he pauses as the carriage evidently reaches the apex of a climb, before screaming and almost laughing the word 'fun' as it rushes into its descent. This pattern continues through the advert, and added to the sound effects is the screams of other passengers on the roller-coaster. The advert ends when the ride ends, and the man gives details of how to get in touch if you are interested in a career at Alton Towers, before exclaiming "I think i need to lie down for a bit!" obviously because the ride was so exhilarating. The use of an older mans voice (i would hazard a guess that voiceover is a man in his 50's-60's, possibly older) is a subversive one for a theme park, which would usually be made more appealing to kids and younger generations by a younger sounding voice. I think this is partly because the primary objective for the advert is to advertise job opportunities, and partly to highlight to potential custom that theme parks are not just for younger people, anyone can visit and anyone can have fun.

The target audience for this advert is 'enthusiastic' and 'dedicated' people who are 'cool headed'; "if you think yo can keep your head when everyone else is losing theirs...".

The Alton Towers Website (http://www.altontowers-jobs.com/about-us) informs there are positions for all ages and backgrounds so their target audience apart from the charismatic personality desired is a broad one...

"Some of our employees are sixteen and have just left school; some are over eighty. Some come from just around the corner; some from halfway round the world. Something for everyone indeed."

Besides prospective employees the advert is definitely designed to make the Staffordshire theme park attractive and appear fun to anyone who listens, and entice people to visit the park as customers as well.

This radio advert can be heard below.

Guinness

This advert features a female voice telling us every single thing she did on a certain day, her voice is sped up effectively to emphasise just how many things she is fitting into her speech, it sounds like a busy day.
The advert, being for an alcoholic product is aimed first and foremost at people aged 18 and over, however because of the apparent age and situation of the voice heard it is suggestable it would appeal more so to people of similar ages and in similar situations.

Judging by the dialogue, tone, and accent, the mentioning of a gun, and then paying attention to particular lines i.e "Took the kids to school...Played with the kids....Read them a story", i can tell the woman is married, and would guess she is middle class and lives rurally based on her accent and the connatations of having a gun in England. I would suggest she is her 30's, no older than 40's judging by the assumed ages of her kids. Therefore it can be said the advert would appeal strongly to anyone in a similar situation and who possesses the ablilty to empathise.

The broader and likely intended target audience is really anybody (over the age of 18) who works hard, whether it be at home or not, and who would appreciate putting their feet up and having a relaxing drink after a long hard day. It is promoted that Guinness is the perfect drink for this; [sighs] "Oohh, lovely it was my lord!"

This woman's speech takes place in a Court Room, we know this from "well my lord" and "as far as i remember my lord", but it only becomes apparent why she is there and that she herself is the one on trial at the adverts' very comic ending... We are told that after her long and stressful day her partner, Fred, has come home and jibed that she is lucky she doesn't have to work...
"And that's why i shot him!"

It is also worth noting that amongst her rambling "Fed the toucan" is one of the errands she completed that day. The Toucan is a recognised symbol for Guinness, almost as famous for the Irish stout as the harp that features so prominently nowerdays. Anybody old enough to remember this might well make the link to Guinness before the adverts end.

Galaxy Chocolate Adverts

Galaxy is consistent in promoting is chocolate for women (but obviously it is ok for men to eat it as well). In the 5 years leading upto 2007 the brand was the leading block confectionery and the fastest growing, with a staggering 18% year on year growth to the end of 2006. This goes to show that they clearly succeeded in reaching their target audience.


Most of their adverts show a woman at home alone, usually at night, about to sit down with a bar of Galaxy chocolate. The ideology that Galaxy is that special it is necessary to hide it is promoted, obviously suggesting that if you were to leave your bar of Galaxy in plain sight the experience would be too tempting to others. In the advert above these 'others' are pointed out to us to also be female (evidently the leading characters friends and house-mates) by the photo on a cupboard door). It is also suggested that nobody is exempt from this temptation, as the lead character cannot determine which one of her house-mates ate the Galaxy from the fridge; "who was it this time?" which highlights to us it is something they have each done before.
The impression is also given in Galaxy's advertisements, that eating the chocolate is not something you do as a side-task to something else, i.e consume it while you watch TV, it is promoted as a primary objective and in fact, if anything, you would be watching a bit of TV as an accompaniment to eating the chocolate, focusing more on the chocolate.
Galaxy like Cadbury is advertised to offer an emotional experience; the lead woman is happy and relieved when she discovers her other hiding place has not been compromised. Galaxy however unlike Cadbury is given a bit of a sex appeal firstly in its association with women, but secondly and more obviously in that it is shown being eaten in a slow, sensual, methodic, savouring way.

It is arguable that a lot of people might prefer the taste of Galaxy to its rival Cadbury, but it is clear in research that Cadbury have created better and longer remembered adverts than Galaxy; http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid19475236001?bctid=1815800170




In recent years, with the concern over healthy eating, organic food, global warming, fair trade/child labour, wildlife and rainforest preservation and other such issues, many firms are adapting their demographic to make a difference, particularly those who actively would effect it if not. Galaxy is one of these brands, and in its new advert focuses on the fact they are now part of the 'Rainforest Alliance' to help support cocoa growing communities in Africa. "So not only does Galaxy taste good, it does good". The advert manages to focus on this without distracting too much from their iconic idea of a female alone at home, about to sit down especially to enjoy a bar of galaxy.