Advertising & Marketing: Final Index

1) Advertising: Key Conventions

2) Advertising: Gender Representations

3) Advertising: OMO Advert CSP

4) Advertising: Galaxy Advert CSP

5) Media Assessment 2 Learner Response

6) Advertising: Represent NHS Blood Campaign

Advertising: Represent NHS Blood Campaign

1) What is an advertising campaign?

An advertising campaign is a series of advertisements that share a singular theme, message or idea. It is used to raise awareness of an issue or of the brand itself - the best campaigns will have an emotional impact.

2) What is the objective of the NHS Represent campaign?

The objective of the NHS Represent campaign is to encourage people of Black and Asian ethnicities to become blood and organ donors, as there is a shortage of specific blood types needed to treat specific diseases and illnesses that mostly affect Black and Asian people, such as sickle cell disease, and more organs are needed to save lives.

3) What does this advert want people to do once they've seen it (the 'call to action')?

To become blood and organ donors, and encourage other people of Black and Asian heritage to do the same, in order to save lives.

4) Why is the advert called 'Represent'?

The advert is called 'Represent' to reflect the lack of representation of blood donors of BAME communities, and encourage others to 'represent' that minority demographic by becoming blood donors themselves. Perhaps, it also references the celebrities in the advert who 'represent' BAME communities. In the advert, Lady Leshurr also names professions, then states that people of Black and Asian heritage aren't "representing in other ways, like giving blood."

5) Why have the producers chosen celebrities to feature in the advert? Give an example of three well-known people who appear in the advert and why they are famous - make sure you write their names and spell them accurately.

Some of the celebrities featured are:

• Lady Leshurr - British rapper, singer, songwriter and producer - known for her 'Queen's Speech' series of freestyles, which went viral on social media. She is the main performer in the advert.

• Nicola Adams - British former professional boxer (competed from 2017 - 19), holding the World Boxing Organisation female flyweight title in 2019 and retiring with an undefeated record. She features in a boxing ring in the advert.

• Ade Adepitan - Nigerian-born British television presenter and wheelchair basketball player. He is a disability advocate. In the advert, he is featured in front of the London stadium, staring down the camera.

• Chuka Umunna - British businessman and former politician serving as MP for Streatham (2010 - 19). He was a former member of the Labour party, leaving in 2019 and later on joining the Liberal Democrats. He subsequently failed to be re-elected. In the advert, he is featured in front of the Houses of Parliament.

• Kanya King - British entrepreneur who founded the MOBO Awards, "an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in "music of black origin". MOBO partnered with NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to create the 'Represent' campaign. In the advert, she is featured in an office-style building, acting as the CEO.

6) What are the connotations of the slow-paced long shot of empty chairs at the end of the advert?

The empty blood donor chairs could be indicative of the fact that not enough people of BAME communities are signing up to be blood donors, as it is paired with the statistic that "only 3% of blood donors are Black or Asian". Therefore, the chairs are empty, as that demographic is not present. The empty chairs may also connote the idea that the people who needed specific blood types to treat their diseases did not receive it, and therefore passed away.

7) How does the advert match the key conventions of a typical urban music video?

The advert matches key conventions of an urban music video through the settings it is filmed in. For example, Lady Leshurr is featured on a car park roof at the beginning of the video, and most other scenes are filmed at other locations in London. The costumes are also quite casual, and there are many sports scenes, reflecting typical urban conventions. In addition, the music itself is of the rap or grime genre, which commonly uses an urban-style music video.

8) How does the advert subvert stereotypes? Give three examples (e.g. ethnicity, masculinity, femininity, age, class, disability/ability etc.)

The advert subverts gender stereotypes by using Kanya King to represent female CEOs/businesswomen (subverting the stereotype that women cannot work in positions of higher power), using Nicola Adams to represent female boxers, and women in sports in general (subverting the stereotype that women are not able to compete with men in sports), and showing two Black, female scientists working in a lab (subverting stereotype that women are not 'smart' enough to find professions in STEM).

The advert subverts ethnicity stereotypes through, once again, showing two Black, female scientists (subverting stereotype that people of ethnic minorities are not able to work in STEM), and featuring mostly Black people in general (dismantling the 'white default' stereotype).

The advert subverts stereotypes of place by featuring Black and Asian people in areas where they would not usually be portrayed - a lab, in front of the Houses of Parliament, etc. Usually, these minorities are featured in more urban areas associated with 'hip-hop' and 'rap' (which this advert also does). 

9) How does the advert reinforce certain stereotypes? Could there be an oppositional reading where some audiences would find this advert offensive or reinforcing negative stereotypes?

As said before, the advert reinforces stereotypes of place by featuring people of BAME communities in urban locations (such as the car park roof at the beginning of the advert), which they are stereotypically associated with ('gangster', 'ghetto' stereotypes).

The advert reinforces stereotypes of age by featuring older, middle-aged people in positions of power (CEO/businesswoman, MP, etc.) instead of young people (reinforcing stereotype that young people are not 'smart' enough to be in more powerful roles).

The advert does reinforce some stereotypes of gender by featuring more men in sports locations than women (male footballer and Ade Adepitan, versus Nicola Adams), reinforcing the stereotype that men are 'inherently better' than women at sports. 

10) Choose one key moment from the advert and write an analysis of the connotations of camera shots and mise-en-scene (CLAMPS).

At 0:56 in the advert, Lady Leshurr is shown from a subtle low-angled over-the-shoulder shot, creating connotations of power and allowing us to 'sympathise'/connect with her in a way (through the over-the-shoulder shot). Her raised fist connotes strong, extreme feelings of power and is a call to action for those of BAME communities to represent themselves as blood donors (it possibly also references the Black Lives Matter movement). She also has a quite casual costume, helping reinforce the 'rap/grime' genre through the stereotype. The blue sky also connotes freedom and opportunity, perhaps referencing the opportunities and freedom the BAME communities should give other people by becoming blood donors and saving their lives. The fast-paced transition is a key convention of music videos, as it is edited and 'cuts' along with the beat of the song.

Media Assessment 2 Learner Response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

Total: 30 / Grade: 8

WWW: Another superb assessment: well done! Excellent knowledge shown throughout.

EBI: It is difficult to find fault but in the 20-mark essay it is vital to stay sharply focused on the question. The conclusion you have at the end does this but ideally we want to bring each paragraph clearly back to the question. AQA A-Level presents this as PEEL.

2) Read the mark scheme for this assessment carefully (you'll need your Greenford Google login to access this). Write down the mark you achieved for each question:

Q1: 1/1 

Q2: 1/1

Q3: 7/8

Q4: 2/2

Q5: 2/2

Q6: 17/20

Where you didn't achieve full marks, write WHY you think you missed out on the extra marks. Use the indicative content suggestions in the mark scheme to help with this. If you got any media terminology wrong in the assessment you can make a note of it here.

Q3: I think I should've considered the patriotic aspect of the advert by analysing the colour scheme, and how that can influence the preferred and oppositional readings. I should also mention for the oppositional reading, how women are still held to a certain standard through how the woman is still wearing make-up.

Q6: I should have tried to link each paragraph back to the question (therefore...), by following the PEEL structure. I feel I should've had a more nuanced, sophisticated opinion by showing that I don't fully agree or disagree, and I missed out on including the Covid-19 factor for Black Widow, and using that as a counter-argument to show that it's possible to disagree as well.

3) Look specifically at question 3 - did you successfully write about both the preferred and oppositional readings? Did your answers match any in the mark scheme? Copy in one answer from the mark scheme that you could have used.

"This is an empowering image as she is looking directly at the target audience (women) with a strong face so they can relate to her power and resilience and aspire to be similar / mobilise into action."

"The target audience might find the image patronising because it uses the word ‘We’ and suggests that the only way a woman can be successful in the work place is by appropriating male characteristics / changing."

"Women may be insulted by the lack of femininity in the advert or find the image derogatory. They may think that the woman does not promote working because to do so means looking like a man, wearing work clothes and covering your hair."

4) Now look at question 4. Write a definition of vertical integration plus the benefits of it listed in the mark scheme to revise this key industry terminology. You may find the blogpost on ownership and control helpful here.

Vertical integration is when one conglomerate owns different companies in the same chain of production, such as how Disney owns film studios, CGI specialists, film distributors, TV channels and streaming service Disney+.

Benefits include:

• Greater control over every stage of production
• Increasing profits
• Having complete ownership of creative products

5) Finally, look at your 20-mark essay - question 6. Read this exemplar answer to help give you an idea of what a top-level response looks like. Then, write five points from either the exemplar answer or the mark scheme that you could have used in your answer. This will be excellent revision for a future film industry exam question.

• "It could be argued that low-budget films such as Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake are not attempting to compete with Disney and Marvel and instead are trying to exist on their own terms." / "It is therefore important to judge the success of the films in different ways – they are competing for very different audiences and with totally different success criteria."
   > Mention that they cannot actually be compared 

• "It had already won the prestigious Palm D'or at the Cannes Film Festival which generated a lot of publicity and this was then supported with viral social media campaigns using #WeAreAllDanielBlake. > Mentioning marketing methods used by I, Daniel Blake 

• "Unfortunately, the film was hit hard by the global Covid-19 pandemic and therefore made much less at the box office than other Marvel releases." > Mentioning the impact Covid-19 had on the film

• "The $389m worldwide box office figure will have been helped slightly by the Disney+ premium streaming release..."  > Mentioning the Disney+ hybrid release 

• "This was despite Marvel’s marketing machine using every trick available – the star power of Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh, interviews with TV shows around the world, social media promotion, Marvel website features, IMAX-exclusive footage, billboard advertising and much more." > Mentioning as many marketing methods used by Black Widow as possible to gain marks