1. The Brief
We chose BRUT splash-on because we all (Alex, George and I) thought that it should be rebranded. Brut has been on sale since 1964. In its almost 50 year existence, it has become a recognizable brand. BRUT has always established itself as a brand for strong men of 30-60 years old. We wanted to get people to see this product in a different light. We determined a new target group of people whose needs will match the product and to whom this product will be marketed. We hope it can increase sales. We focused on the younger male audience in the age 15-29 demographic. It is an audience that has just entered the market of lotions, deodorants and eau de toilettes, it is an undecided public, since it seeks no specific product. This is the time to take them away from competitors. They are young men and impressionable teenagers who are seeking social recognition among women and distinction within the young of the same age. Therefore BRUT is appropriate for this audience. The idea of becoming a gentleman should haunt them. Moreover, BRUT is affordable to reach customers who cannot afford more expensive lines. We decided to attract our target audience by showing what effect the BRUT will have on them when applying it. Our advert is aimed at younger men who are passionate in sophistication, energetic in life, confident in attitude and modern in style (psychographics) - those who wish to get confidence and look like real gentlemen. The ad's underlying idea is that the product will bring about self-confidence to a man if he simply uses it. The objective of this ad is to get the audience to understand that BRUT brings out the gentleman in them. The audience has to experience what it feels like to wear this smell. The secondary target group could be young females who would buy BRUT for their boyfriends and husbands. Women in our target selection could buy mainly for their special someone.
2. The finished product & feedback
The production of the advert took place in Lucia's house in December 2013. We chose to set the film in a real environment to give this advert the feel of a realist narrative film.
We used a low angle panning shot looking up stairs as a scene-setting (or establishing) shot to introduce the audience to a new location. It produces a mobile framing which scans the space horizontally. Shooting a staircase from below gives it the impression of being larger and makes it look more colossal.
We used the typical mise-en-scene of a realist film that keeps the audience in interest. Apart from the added realism, colour is also used to create aesthetic patterns and to establish character or emotion in narrative ad. Yellow colour suggests warmth, happiness and joy. The artificial lighting gives the lifelike feel. It is a medium shot . The setting of a bedroom immediately makes the character seems closer to reality. It is also a typical place for an event in a realist film.
The costume of the main character is a formal suit. The man is shown to be caring about his hygiene.
Close up shots were used to focus on the main character.The lighting seems brighter on the face. This enables viewers to understand the actor's emotions. He looks and behaves a little nervous and not confident.
Editing was a very significant part of our production. We used the 16-Point Matte editing technique in Premiere Pro. It was a really useful tool for leaving the bottle of BRUT at the end of the ad green and the rest of the shot black and white. We also used a slow motion effect ( time appears to be slowed down in the episode when the main character is going down the stairs). We used it for artistic effect, to create a romantic aura.
After we made the advert we had to collect feedback to see if the advert message is working. We discussed the video in class and got constructive criticism. We also created an online survey with a link to the video placed on YouTube.
We collected a fair amount of results.
As you can see from this graph, 50% of all respondents were teenagers of 15-19 years old. However, the rest 50% were shared between young adults of 20-24 years old and 25-29 years old. In my opinion, our BRUT advert did succeed in the appropriateness to audience.
A half of the respondents have heard about BRUT for the first time.
When we asked people '
What was your favourite part of the ad?', most people mentioned the colour correction of the "Brut" bottle at the end, and the episode when the main actor slapped the product into his skin.Some people said that the advert made them laugh and the slogan was great. Most people seemed to like 'gentle music'.
As it can be seen from this graph, the majority of respondents said that they would definitely or most likely watch the advert for its whole duration if they saw it aired on TV.
This graph ''Do you think you could be more of a 'gentleman' like our protagonist in the advert if you wanted?'' shows that our advert was persuasive. As you can see from the graph, most people said that they could be more of a 'gentleman' like our protagonist in the advert if they use BRUT.
Persuasive Techniques
We used
persuasive techniques in our ad to appeal specifically to the product’s target audience.
- Appeal to emotion - We attempted to evoke an emotional response in the viewers. It is a positive emotion such as happiness: an image of a person enjoying his confidence while wearing BRUT. Positive images, and ideas are used to suggest that the product being sold is also positive.
- Attractive personality - The actor who appears in the ad reflects the target audience. He is a person just like the audience-young and caring about his hygiene.The target audience is likely to admire this person in the ad. Usually people like people who are like them. In our case, the ad is clearly speaking to young men and teenagers who are seeking social recognition among girls and young women and distinction within the young of the same age. The actor is an attractive person, and as we know, it is a scientifically proven fact that attractive people are better liked and more persuasive, as compared to people with average appearances.
- Plain folk - An ordinary family is shown in the ad.This suggests that the product is a product of good value for ordinary people.
- Memorable slogan - We also tried to appeal to logic and reason. Our advertisement uses a slogan that gives the audience the evidence they need to fully understand what the product does: BRUT brings out the gentleman in you. The slogan is memorable and creates a positive feeling for the brand.
- Brand name in big, bold capital letters
I think the real purpose of any ad is to motivate purchase. It should be funny and entertaining. Consumers will remember the ad and associate their positive feelings with Brut. We used the technique of humour to attract audience (the moment when the actor is applying the product slapping his neck and armpits with BRUT). We also enhanced the sound to increase the effect. Most respondents found this part of the ad amusing. However, our teacher (Sean) did not like it due to aesthetic reasons. Of course, the sounds do not add to the beauty of our advertisement. There is probably the need to make use of good and attractive sound.
The persuasion techniques we used were rather effective because 40% of respondents answered that they would buy our product after watching the advert. However, a big percentage still said 'No' or 'less likely' which means the persuasion techniques could be more persuasive. I think nowadays it is difficult to persuade people even if the advert is good because they are being bombarded with lots of ads per day. Nevertheless, I believe that the advert has impacted people's interest in the product or at least created awareness about BRUT, entertained and maybe even inspired.
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| 40% of respondents would buy our product from watching the advert. However, a big percentage still said 'No' or 'less likely' which means there could have been some bad points in our advert. |
The aesthetic elements (sound, music, character, colour, etc) are very important in television advertising because they contribute in persuading people to buy advertised products. The appearance of the actor is very important. The character we used is attractive enough. The character was able to depict exactly what the advertisement is saying. What this signifies is that the consumers who see the advertisement will assume that as soon as they use the product, they will look like this character used to advertise the product.
Music in advertising influences emotional responses towards products. We found music on Incompetech. The piece of music helps build and maintain the mood.The sound used draws attention to the commercial. Wherever you are and you hear the sound, you are bound to be attracted to the advertisement. The use of colour is also very important in any ad production.The main colour in our ad is green which makes sense as it is the brand's logo colour so we tried to keep the style flowing through all the ad to increase brand identity. Green suggests growth, hope and promise.
Compliance with the code helps our advertising stay within the law:
3. Personal reflection
I think that we managed to make the advert appropriate for the target audience, and that the message was clear and effective. I think that the whole group did a really good job as the advert has proved to be a good one. The final advert idea changed a little from George's original idea. However, the structure of the ad has not changed. We tried to stick to the storyboard, although some shots were slightly changed. I think that our pre-production documentation (a shot list, storyboard, production schedule) was well done, therefore our shooting was a lot more organized.
Overall, I am satisfied with our final advert. I feel our ad is fit for purpose and complies with advertising regulations. I do not think the advert looks fully professional due to some errors with the shots and lack of actors appropriate to the age (the actors playing parents should be older). If I were to undertake the task again, I would use some special equipment to film the scene when the main character goes downstairs. Then it would not be shaky and look more professional. We should have used more close up shots to show more details and show off the product, as the advert uses a lot of wide and distant shots which tend to focus more on the characters.
I believe that I contributed to the group, as I helped as much as I could with the pre-production, shooting, and editing. However, I feel that I would like to create something special in the future, not trivial. I would like to create something original and innovative.
