LO1: Analysis of the "It All Ends" Death Hallows Part 2 Campaign

The primary target audience of the “It All Ends” Deathly Hallows Part 2 advertising campaign is the children-turned-teens who grew up with the movies, with the teens-turned-adults who grew up with the books as a secondary target audience. This is because of the genre development from mystery-fantasy to war-fantasy, and the dark themes that come with that switch. Moreover, nostalgia serves as an appealing feature. The key message of this campaign is “watch the movie”, shown by the consistent promotion of the release date and repeated teasers throughout the campaigns run. Methods of advertising used are mostly traditional due to the time in which the campaign ran, however there are a few digital methods such as web banners and social media that can be found. These were sparse, though, and didn’t contribute greatly to the campaigns success. Most of the marketing was done through traditional methods, including posters, TV trailers and billboards. A lot of implication was used in the campaign, the repeated “It All Ends” phrase not only being a focal example of synergy, but moreover the actual title of the movie is rarely mentioned throughout all of the material. This not only creates a spectacle but also implies the iconic nature of the franchise – its size and success render the use of its name unnecessary when compared to its synergy through imagery and iconography.

The campaign was released with posters and trailers switching order depending on the country. However, as a general, it seems the posters were typically released before the trailers, which eventually lead o the actual release. This is effective as it induces hype and spectacle for the finale of the franchise. The campaign was produced in the early 2010s, around 10 years after the original release of the first movie. This is relevant as the primary target audience are those who were children watching the first movies – it implies an important milestone for the franchise and viewers with this time gap. Technological convergence has helped this campaign as it allowed for the beginning of the overarching Wizarding World brand to branch out to digital and viral marketing techniques that it used for later movies and still uses for products to this day. Some legal issues the campaign faced/could have faced are ensuring that the Warner Bros./JK Rowling contract wasn’t breached, as the franchise relies on this contract to exist in its current state. Some ethical issues the campaign faced/could have faced are ensuring all social and cultural groups represented in the advertising material were represented accurately and fairly so as to ensure the brand, franchise and all products did not fall out of public favour. This issue is confirmed to be founded after the Harry Potter brand wavered in popularity with JK Rowling’s exposure of transphobic behaviours. This reinforces the need for acknowledgement of these ethical issues.

LO1: Analysis of the "The Best Men Can Be" Gillette Campaign

The primary target audience of the “The Best Men Can Be” Gillette advertising campaign is men, with no age, race, political or class bias. This is because of the key messages of this campaign, which are consistent messages encouraging men to “be better”. Methods of advertising used are typical traditional methods, with a short film ad being released to encourage the dismantling of toxic masculinity and male violence. Other methods include viral marketing, the hashtag “#TheBestMenCanBe” being used in hopes of spurring a viral status from the campaign. Examples of synergy in the campaign are the same actors/models being used across the short film, Gillette official site and social media account, which all contribute to its themes of breaking down toxic masculinity, standing against sexual assault and supporting the #MeToo movement.

The campaign materials were all released simultaneously. This is effective as it prevents the push from seeming performative – the single release means that no spectacle was generated and the subject matter was not trivialised. The campaign was produced in late 2018 and released in early 2019 as a direct response to the #MeToo movement, essentially serving as a public statement from the Gillette brand that they stood with the motion. #MeToo was a movement that really blew up in 2017, and whilst this response may seem delayed it is likely that a lot of thought was put into handling this issue as it is a socially sensitive subject. Technological convergence has helped this campaign as it allows for the widespread nature of it, moreover the hashtag would not have been able to be released had it not been for the development of black box devices and web 2.0. Legal issues are a far minimal concern to this campaign than ethical, however some it could have faced are ensuring that all actors/models didn’t retire their contracts or violate them, especially considering the sensitivity of the topic. Along with this, ensuring that no content is copyrighted would be important as this may have on a knock-on effect to the credibility of the brand’s intention. Ethical issues the campaign could have faced are ensuring all groups represented in the campaign’s content are fairly represented, moreover that the #MeToo cause is truly represented and not slandered, especially due to its high regard in the public by the time of the campaign’s release.

LO1: Analysis of the "#EpicSquads" MoneySuperMarket Advertising Campaign

The primary target audience of the “#Epic Squads” MoneySuperMarket advertising campaign is 35+ adults and the secondary target audience is families with young children, both audiences being C2DE. This is because adults typically look for insurance when life changes happen (like marriage, the average age of which is over 35), children will be entertained by the content of the adverts and the parents will watch and C2DE audiences are more likely to go to budget insurance providers like MSM. The key message of this campaign is “buy our insurance”, shown by the “trendy”, positive people in the adverts who are claimed to feel so positively because of the content included. Methods of advertising used are viral marketing through hashtags (the titular #EpicSquads), audience involvement and a loose narrarive, which have the effect of encouraging sharing to bring the adverts to a viral status, offering a sense of community and empowerment in the audience having a say in the adverts’ content and a sense of familiarity is given from the presence of a typical “face off” trope over the course of the campaign (respectively). Examples of synergy in the campaign are the same characters and similar music being featured across all advertisings, which contribute to a theme of continuity and security that an insurance company, of all companies, will want to carry across.

The campaign was released in the order of introducing the two “protagonists” of Dave and Colin (the dancers), beginning their dance rivalry and adding on to their established dynamic. This is effective as it further appeals to the concepts of narrative strewn throughout the campaign, and provides a sense of comfort to audiences seeing a familiar story structure in the products they consume. The campaign was produced in 2015, which is relevant to certain stereotypes as the focal dancers are queer-coded, given stereotypically “gay” behaviours to some extent. This is important as gay marriage was only legalised a year or so before, something which heavily impacted LGBTQ+ stereotyping and public opinion, making these illusions more acceptable than they may have been beforehand. Technological convergence has helped this campaign as it allows for viral marketing methods to be used via viral marketing. The titular tag “#EpicSquads” is vital to the campaign, and would be impossible to occur without the development of black box devices and Web 2.0. Some legal issues the campaign could have faced are copyrighted music used in the background of these adverts; ensuring that all music was sourced in legal manners would’ve been vital. Moreover, ensuring the exposure of what was claimed to be “sexual content” to minors didn’t occur is extremely important. However, this was the eventually the downfall of the campaign, which was pulled from air after countless complaints that the adverts were “too provocative”. Some ethical issues the campaign faced/could have faced are the representations of groups in the campaign. As earlier stated, the two “protagonists” are gay-coded and ensuring that their behaviours are not trope-y and offensive in order to avoid falling out of public favour.

LO1: Analysis of the "Every Name's a Story" Starbucks Campaign

I believe the primary target audience for the #whatsyourname campaign is the transgender community. The campaign itself features several different stories from several different people, however their main advert (an award winning audio visual promotion) focuses around a man called James. Each story is portrayed realistically and many trans people agree that the representation is strongly appreciated. Each piece of advertising material features an authentic trans story and Starbucks’ own web article discussing the campaign links to their partnered charity for the promotions (Mermaids) and explains their connection and inclusivity of said organisation. There are no other restrictive factors to their audience as the campaign attempts to set up a self-proclaimed “safe space” for all people who identify as transgender within Starbucks locations and sets a basis of acceptance across all bases. Moreover, in terms of age, a younger adult audience is likely focal as this is the general Starbucks age group thanks to their modernised advertising.

The key message of this campaign is that Starbucks is a place where anyone can be whatever identity they feel and they are not restricted by judgement or what society intends for them. Their materials display many trans stories, all of which focus on the aspect of Starbucks being the first (or one of the first) places in which these people tested their selected names and how they felt valid and accepted in themselves in Starbucks shops. I believe Starbucks promote this so heavily as they want to be viewed as a popular and revolutionary brand, which by comparison to competitors they most certainly are. Despite being the most prominent coffee chain in the UK, contender Costa Coffee have only recently become an openly pro-LGBTQ+ company, even then they have no campaign and have simply released a line of cups with no promotion. Starbucks’ advertising dwarfs Costa’s attempts to do the same.

A definable method of advertising used would be the use of real stories and, for lack of a better term, “case studies”. On their website, Mermaids have a section dedicated to the stories of trans individuals, each including mention of the study Starbucks did in order to produce the campaign in which they asked trans customers for their stories entailing using their names at Starbucks. The brand used these stories as a catalyst of sorts to denote their support of the trans community, allowing actual trans voices to be heard through their campaign. Videos (two examples are here and here) from trans creators on YouTube evidence this as both claim that a realistic representation of a trans experience revolving around a name change, despite their experiences being diverse. There seems to be an overall acceptance of the realistic portrayal of trans life within the community, meaning the campaign struck well with their intended audience

The focal AV advert ("Every Name's a Story") has an individual theme to it, whereas the other AV materials in the campaign follow a typical “interview style” trend. Those in them are depicted as ideal selves – as evident through their use of close ups portraying personalised identifiers such as their jewellery or tattoos – which furthers the connotation that Starbucks is a positive environment as these individuals are denoted as content in their identity and the association with the brand promotes a positive image for them. Furthermore, in their promotions (such as them selling “Mermaid” biscuits) they include the notable iconography of the charity involved, ensuring that it is blatant the cause they are supporting whilst also selling their own products, each serving to boost one another.

Starbucks have posters of these advertisements up in their stores (or at least, they did at the time of the promotion), along with having the product promotion of the Mermaid biscuits they sold. This alone ensures that their promotion is distributed as they are a high street chain, meaning that the campaign is visible in the public eye and is made aware to patrons. Moreover, their AV are all available on video-streaming site Youtube on their UK promotional account, along with being aired pre-watershed on sponsored TV channels. This aspect ensures a mass audience is reached as there are no restrictions in how they are advertised (such as being regarded as “post-watershed material” by ASA) and are promoted on a mass platform that will reach most if not all possible audiences. Thirdly, they also feature promotional material on their website and that of Mermaids, meaning that any more specific and niche audiences visiting such sites (for example, the trans community) are also on the receiving end of the promotions

Starbucks pride themselves on being “LGBTQ+ inclusive for over three decades” and feature a timeline of support on their website, in which they list the earliest date of inclusion as 1988. The earliest mention of support for specifically transgender individuals is in 2006, in which they began a new legislation within their company to support those transitioning, or considering it. Typically depicted as a brand of younger groups, it is unsurprising that they promote themselves in such a PC manner to align with the beliefs and psychographics of this age range. Furthermore, Mermaids, the collaborative charity, was founded in 1995. They have remained in public regard as a reputable charity that represents the trans community well, despite backlash they have faced from anti-trans activists such as Graham Linehan, and advised on transgender-representative drama Butterfly in 2018. With two companies of strong support and representation of the trans community, this is undoubtedly a contribution to the regard and popularity as a campaign #whatsyourname has received

As with a heavy majority of campaigns in the last decade, a good portion of advertising material contributing to the Every Name’s a Story campaign are reliant on technological convergence. For example, much like seen in the CN/Dove campaign, most of the AV materials were produced for digital distribution (and were originally published in such a manner) and only went on to be aired on TV after the fact. This was the best way to target their audience as their audience is made up of a large group of younger age groups, who are digital natives and therefore more savvy with digital interactions and are more likely to be the receivers of digital distribution. Furthermore, viral marketing specifically is also used with the generation of the hashtag #WhatsYourName. Whilst this isn’t a tag that is dedicated directly to the Starbucks campaign a simple scroll through its content on social media provides extreme praise of the advertising, along with people utilising the tag to extend the purpose of the advert and enact “second-hand advertising” by sharing their own experiences with trialling their new names in Starbucks.

A legal issue that would have to be considered by the campaign’s creators would be the consent and release forms of the actors involved. As the roles are of self portrayal it is vital to ensure that full consent for their personal experiences and identities to be revealed to the public as part of the campaign. This is particularly prevalent since the subject matter is quite sensitive and protect of those involved is imperative. Should this fail to be 100% secured the threat of lawsuit for the exposure of personal data is a very real possibility for the brand. Another legality that would have to be addressed would be the collaboration with the Mermaids charity and ensuring that no terms are breached on either side of the agreement. If this agreement wasn’t met to an appropriate standard, either party could cut ties and withdraw from the project. This would mean that all related materials would need to be purged from the public eye. Furthermore, ethical considerations would also have to be taken, especially considering the sensitive content within the campaign. The representation of transgender people within the campaign is vital to public reception and will be necessary to credibility from not only the trans community but also the general public as a result of the reaction of that community. If this reception is negative, then the campaign can be easily disregarded. Finally, as another ethical consideration, a variety of diverse figures should be presented so as to represent the diverse population and audience. Whilst there is a diverse representation in terms of gender, as the very subject requires it, there is little in terms of POC representation within the advertising. This has little to no effect on the overall success of the campaign, however, as it has still been praised by most if not all audiences.

LO1: Analysis of the Cartoon Network x Dove Self-Esteem Project Campaign

I believe the primary target audience for the Cartoon Network x Dove Self Esteem Project is a mixed gender audience between the ages of 8 and 21 who struggle with body confidence issues and enjoy cartoons. The campaign itself features well known characters from the Steven Universe franchise who are easily identifiable to those who enjoy the animation genre, meaning that the adverts would be more appealing to this audience as they feature recognisable and collectively enjoyed figures. Moreover, the audience of the franchise is 8-15 year olds, meaning that this fraction of the audience will likely be exposed to the campaign through this association. As for the upper bracket of my theorised target audience, I believe 16-21 year olds will be in the target demographic for this campaign as they are the age group who, statistically, suffer the most from low self esteem. Also, 16-25 year olds claim that body image issues are the third most prominent issues causing harm to young people. As a large portion of the demographic fit into this section, I believe that this contributes to their targetting for the campaign. Whilst I believe the target audience of the project is a mixed gender one, I do think it has a more female lean. This is due to the context that 46% of girls in the age bracket admit to having a negative body image, compared to the 25% of boys who admit the same. Furthermore, only a diverse range of women are present within most of the promotional material, evidencing that the campaign was created with them in mind since it gives girls of all ages in the target frame a point of representation. Countering this, the Steven Universe franchise garners a dominantly male audience, which is likely the cause of the push for mixed gender marketing.

The key message of the campaign is to promote a healthy, positive body image to the audience by discussing topics such as bullying, media influence and self image. They cover how one views their own body, how others view their bodies and how everyone can affect one another with body image. It pushes a heavy “be you” mentality. I think the project set up this campaign in order to correctly target the audience they believe is most in need of it – the 8-15 year old demographic – whilst still leaving it open to the possibility of reaching other audiences. The campaign itself is an attempt to promote and almost rebrand tackling mental health and body image discussion in a way that a younger age group can comprehend.

Celebrity endorsement is amongst the methods of advertising used. Whilst no celebrities are physically present in the campaign, voice actors of the series are present in all video “episodes” of the campaign along with the coupling music video. This makes the project appeal more to the audience of the original cartoon in the collaboration, which is the intended audience that Dove wishes to support, as it denotes iconic characters that are known to appeal to them. They use these characters, who are pre-established as role models (in spite of their established imperfections), to encourage the audience garnered from the cartoon to aspire to the messages that they share, portraying them as ideal selves/partners since they’re heroic protagonists (or antiheros, however they are all still connoted to be fighters for “good”). Moreover, the combination of characters and cast denoted in the campaign are all a diverse range of ethnicities, body types and identities, which ensures that everyone is included and has a representation within the campaign. Whilst there is no specific slogan or tagline for the project, a music video was released alongside the campaign called We Deserve to Shine which a song about body confidence. This song includes references to all topics discussed over the campaign and also features hit artist Estelle singing, alongside her speaking roles in the rest of the episodic adverts.

Each advert has a different visual theme, with every episode having a different colour scheme depending on the character featured. However, each one is bright and vibrant, connoting that the issues discussed within the video should be seen as a positive and freeing topic instead of something demonised in the way it typically is by the media. It strives to break the stigmatising mould that has been set by other productions as can be connoted by the challenged stereotypes (such as women and characters of colour in idealistic self/partner roles).

Cartoon Network airs all of the episodes of the project in-between their ident and general advertisements, alongside their sponsors. Whilst this is an effective distribution method for the message they wish to carry, they also have set up a website alongside this on which an interactive and self-inserting short story can be formed. This immersive method of promotion is extremely effective, especially when used on the younger, more impressionable 8-15 year old bracket as this group has a statistically broader imagination and will therefore greater appreciate fictional content in which they are involved. Using this way of advertisement also contributes to a typical use and gratification of media products, providing a realm of escapism.

The Dove Self-Esteem Project has been in service since 2004, however this collaboration occurred in early-to-mid 2018. In the year prior to this time, CN premiered several new shows that remain popular to this day and are actually some of their most popular. Moreover, body confidence had cropped up to be a hot topic over the course of 2017 and 2018, with celebrities such as Kelly Clarkson, P!nk and Zendaya clapping back against stigmas with their own statements and inputs on the matter. Body confidence and self image is deemed a topic that has only been truly discussed in the past few years and CN/Dove were at the forefront of this fight in terms of the younger and more easily influenced audience. Moreover, each episode includes a link to the “Self-Esteem Guide” that is actually being promoted, using only up to date research from within the last decade. The evidence described above not only evidences the need for the project they are advertising but also that they are greatly knowledgeable on what needs to be done.

The vitality of the campaign heavily relies on the development of technological convergence as every method of distribution is digital. The only traditionally distributed portion of the campaign would be the episodes of each topic which, whilst formatted and created for online viewing, have been converted to TV adverts and aired on Cartoon Network’s live broadcasts. This way of distributing the promotions is vital in the attraction of the target audience, but also ensures that a general mass audience is reached as they share an important message. However, Cartoon Network’s target audience is boys under 13, furthering the concept that the campaign is required to be shown to a younger group. Moreover, males are not typically brought into body confidence discussion and so this further proves the need for a challenged audience type with this campaign. The fact that the majority of materials from the promotions that were only accessible digitally (the Self-Esteem Guide, the We Deserve to Shine music video and the create your own story website) connotes that, whilst meant to be aimed at an international audience, the project is aimed at a specific audience that can be easily targetted through digital marketing. Furthermore, viral marketing aspects are also used through evidence of a hashtag (#ConfidentGirl) being created in order to garner a larger audience via sharing of the hashtag and banking on it falling into public favour. Another reason for which digital marketing is used is that, whilst specified that parents should be present during interaction, the majority of the target audience are digital natives and so a digitally marketed project is more likely to appeal.

A legal issue that the producers of the campaign would have to consider during production would be the copyright ties and consent forms surrounding the usage of an exterior company’s characters. Should Cartoon Network no longer wish to be associated with the Dove brand, the producers would have to ensure that they had physical evidence that CN had allowed for Dove to use the characters as a face for their project and when the permissions for this usage expired. They would have to ensure that new marketing materials could be created by this deadline or the threat of fines would be issued. Another legality that Dove and CN would have to make sure was secured would be that of the GDPR and making sure that specifically their website conformed to the requirements of this regulation. Since the website collects any extent of personal data, they would need to be certain this data was private and protected, only used for the purposes stated on the site. Should they violate these requirements, more fines and even requests for court appearance could be issued, depending on the severity of their violation. Moving on, an ethical issue in need of consideration would be ensuring representation is equal, fair and accurate. In the promotional material, photos denote girls of a range of races, which supports that they have considered this aspect, however there is a distinct lack of male representation throughout all of their advertising. As males are rarely presented in body positivity topics, this connotes that the producers favoured following stereotypes in this aspect, possibly to “play it safe” when discussing a theme that is quite taboo when talking to younger audience. Though, if their use of representation was deemed unsatisfactory by the public, this could easily result a loss of favour amongst the public and would be a sure way to a road to having their promotional campaign removed. Moreover, the entire discussion of body positivity aimed at a younger audience in itself would be another ethical issue for consideration. Ensuring that all topics covered were of acceptable standard and fact level would be vital for Dove and CN, otherwise their important and necessary points may be disregarded due a loss of credibility as a result of a poor standard of discussion and getting their message across.