We were given a brief saying we were to be responsible for a Christmas ad campaign for one of four local charities, the charity i have chosen was Canterbury Food Bank.
Written proposal
My first port of call was to make a written proposal, as seen here written-proposal
The charity I have chosen to create promotional material for is The Canterbury Food Bank as I feel like this is a worthwhile charity, and few people realise how common a problem hunger in the UK can be, especially as Christmas. So, I thought I could raise awareness of the issue without degrading those who must deal with it.
The approach and impact I want to go with my advertisements is to not talk down to my audience, or to make them think this concept is too far removed to them, I want to make clear that people having to use a food bank or get outside help in general isn’t abnormal, also, anyone who is using a food bank doesn’t feel ashamed of needing help, essentially the message I want to portray is, support the food bank for those who need it, as they are normal people in a rough patch and for people who are receiving help from a food bank that there is nothing to be ashamed about needing help.
My target audience will be parents, with their own families and working, as they will be the ones to empathize with those affected most, as they themselves have probably been in a similar situation themselves.’
Primary and Secondary research.
I also plan to bring in an anonymous survey in to the food bank to get some primary data, I say anonymous as I feel that is the best way to get any data, as a lot of people using food banks will not feel comfortable disclosing themselves. I feel like going straight to the food bank I am creating an ad campaign for will get me an honest consensus about what the place is like and will be a credit to my primary research. here is the survey I intend to use. questionnaire-for-food-bank.
When we arrived at the food bank, they explained to us they thought it was inappropriate for us to use questionnaires for the people who used the food bank, so instead we talked to a volunteer who was here, that being Paul Kentish. We found out their most busy time of the year is around December/January, which makes sense as this is when most people end up over spending for Christmas and other seasonal holidays, also, like my other research said, more people have been using the Canterbury food bank in recent years, in the last 12 months they have given out a total 2913 food parcels, with 1772 Adults, 1132 Children and 9 Discretionary. There is a limit for this food bank, as one person can only redeem 5 vouchers in a 12 month period and they normally won’t let people redeem vouchers for 3 consecutive weeks, but to help people,they also have people at the bank to give financial advice, courtesy of the church of England and in addition to the 3 food banks they run (2 in Canterbury, 1 in Herne) they also run a soup kitchen on a Wednesday in Whistable.
This information was useful to me as I can mention the statistics and the financial advice and soup kitchen points in my ad campaign.
I have also been watching documentaries and reading articles about the hunger in Britain and how food banks are coping with the mass influx of people now relying on them since the welfare cuts of 2014, through these I have learnt that it’s regular people who face theses issues, and that with all the bills they have to dedicate money towards to remain in their house so sometimes they will run out of money for basic foods, therefore have to go to food banks, something I have also noticed from these documentaries is that the people in food banks seems to think they are above those needing help from them. This is something I would like to address in my ads, that you aren’t above this issue and the issue is not above us, it’s an issue we all could face, especially with the economy as it is.
Research on pre-exsisting adverts
Seeing as I intend to create an A1 poster and a radio advert, I will be doing research on two examples from each and analyse them to see what techniques they used to give me ideas for my own.
Visual
This advert I’ve chosen uses visual manipulation to make the pineapple appear it’s been opened by a can opener, to make a point about the fact they don’t exclusively accept canned food at the foodbank, this is to make more people donate, as when it’s only specific foods people can or cannot donate, people will feel less obliged to donate, but with this advert, it shows people can donate any food, meaning they will feel like they have more to give and will not hold back, I like the visual manipulation of this photo tied with the message of the advert, I feel it’s effective in the message it wants to get out.
This advert also uses photo manipulation to show statistics in a literal pie chart, which shows the statistic underneath the pie. I like the visual pun of this, and I like the play on words at the top, the overall tone of this ad is rather lighthearted, which is actually a contrast to the main message of the advert, which is about children going hungry, it makes you smile and puts you at a feeling of calm then drops the fact on you, which, in my opinion, has more of an effect and takes you a back.
Radio
This radio spot, for the Northern Illinois food bank, also seems to take the lighthearted approach, with cheery music in the background, it also caters to it’s audience well, that being people in it’s area, which is mostly farmland, hence them suggesting you grow you own food, this advert gives out the main points of contact and how you help in a concise manner. This is an essential element as they only have 30 seconds, this advert doesn’t try and shock you to get you to donate, it uses it’s upbeat tone to try and get you to donate, which I think is informative and effective.
This advert, for the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, goes for a more darker tone, this time it’s target audience is mothers, presumably with kids in primary/elementary school. This ad, unlike the other one, puts you in the shoes of the mother, trying to make their target audience relate to the people in need, again coming back to my point of how anyone can find themselves in this situation. This ad plays on peoples empathy to try and get them to donate.
Mood Board
I also decided to create a mood board, expressing the look and tone of the ad I have planned, which is to parody this year’s christmas ads.
I made a powerpoint showing my mood board and explaining my choices.
mood-board-for-christmas-charity
Treatment
A1 poster
We also were required to show the treatment for our adverts, to show the content, for my poster it was to be a sketch and for the radio advert, a script.
here is the sketch for the A1 poster
As you can see in these sketches, the idea I have for my poster is, like I said, to parody the pre existing Christmas but instead of having a full table, show a lack of food on the table and push people to donate.
Radio advert
for the radio ad, simply put, I had to write a script, here is the script for my radio ad, I got the idea through thinking ‘what can I do in 30 seconds?’ I then used that same thought to run my ad, and I think it works well.
ASA Restrictions
Advertising, like any media sector, is governed by a large body, which has certain rules about what is produced, like what can and can’t be done, the body for advertising is ASA. With rules, there of course this means restrictions to what I can do, for both my poster and radio, they are as follows.
General rules
No misleading, through confusion or other means, obvious exaggeration is allowed.
No unjust causing of fear or distress.
No condoning/encouraging violent/anti-social behaviors.
No inclusion of persons in ad without prior permission, with the exception of crowds or other situations where the identity will be obscured.
No causing of wide-spread offence.
Non broadcast advertising
Must name each charity that will benefit.
Don’t encourage/ extort children to raise funds.
Broadcast advertising
Don’t misrepresent the body of charity.
Don’t disrespect the dignity of those receiving help from the charity.
Don’t disrespect or discredit those who choose not to donate.
Health and Safety
health-and-safety I was also asked to fill out a form regarding health and safety, which I filled out in this document.
Production Schedule
here is the schedule, outlining what needs to be done and when i would prefer it done. production-schedule-new
Finished Radio Advert
Evaluation for radio advert
I’m rather happy with how my advert turned out, I feel like it got the message I wanted across and matches my original idea, I made the ad by first getting some Christmas music from Youtube (linked in references), then recording my lines with a Blue Snowball microphone
I used this because it was a microphone I myself had on hand and I’m comfortable with it’s performance, I then edited the Christmas music in Camtasia studio, a video and audio editing program I have access to and use at home, I slowed it down and cut it to 30 seconds then imported my audio in, this was rather difficult as I had do multiple takes and script changes for my ad to fit 30 seconds, even with the final recording, I had to cut my audio a fair bit.
(Screen grab of me editing the ad).
I feel like my advert follows professional conventions, and I feel like it is comparable to the two other adverts I analysed, matching more in tone to the second one, I managed to limit all background noise, to ensure professional quality.
I think I have gained more script writing and presenting skills, as I had to make my ad fit 30 seconds, so I learnt what needed to be cut and where to make it understandable and to the point without being rushed or dragging.
If I were to do this task again, I would think of a better script so I could fit in more information into the 30 seconds I was allotted.
My target audience was people in their late teens through to their early thirties, as I feel like this is the largest audience I can reach that will be inclined to donate.
Feedback
‘Very well edited, sounded quite professional and clear, no background noise.’ Alex Reeve, 18
‘Very well voiced – clear, Good background music – perfect volume’ Maddy Curtis, 16
‘Everything is said clearly. Good use of tone. Music at a good volume/ not to loud very effective’ Shannon McLeod 16
The general consensus is that my advert is well edited and it effective in it’s tone, and is well edited, so I know I have succeeded in my goal, as my target audience accepts my advert.
Finished Charity Poster
Now at first this poster may seem a bit sarcastic and a bit inappropriate, but it’s the effect i’m going for, it starts off being all lighthearted, then you think about the real issue at hand, and it makes it hit harder as you gave them a sense of security with the original levity, I was also trying to emulate other posters, such as this:
As you can see in this one, it uses a slightly cynical manner in itself, getting across the same message, also, with my poster, I tried to emulate the style of existing Christmas adverts, such as those by M&S:
I think my poster meets the standards set by others in the industry, and, similar to the other two I analysed, I made my poster more minimalist and simplistic, which is my usual editing style to begin with.
Upon further analysis, I realized that my advert could be too easily taken the wrong way, so I tweaked the poster a bit and produced this.
This one now invokes the similar passive aggressive nature of my first, but also encourages though who already do donate, also those who don’t. This works better because at least in this advert the message is clear, and can’t be seen as a dig to those using the food bank. I took away the filters I had to take away the parody element, as it is not the message I am going for anymore.
I made the poster by first taking a photograph of the subject, I draped a cloth over a footstool to emulate a table and then took a few pictures of the subject until I got to the one I wanted.
I then added a warm light filter onto the photo.
I then edited the brightness and contrast of the photo.
I then added the logo of the charity in the left hand corner and the text regarding the charity
and then I had my finished poster, my original idea was changed but I feel like my message still comes across, luckily I can think on the spot and create a new slogan and poster.
My target audience was people in their late teens through to their early thirties, as I feel like this is the largest audience I can reach that will be inclined to donate.
Feedback
‘It definitely works as a Christmas advert and it’s message is clear’ – Shannon , 16
‘The quality of the image is good and the poster is appealing to the eye‘ – Amber, 16
‘The poster is clear and makes you think‘- Alex, 18
This feedback calms my concerns about the message being changed in the final product, and it’s clear the poster works in it’s message.
Extension
For an extension task, we had to create a poster advertisement for
Cliftonville Community Singers, here is mine.
References
2014. ‘Breadline Britain – An Investigation into Food Banks and Poverty‘. Youtube [online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIeVGSotMXE [accessed 23/11/16]
2013. ‘Britain’s Hidden Hungry (full episode)’. Youtube [online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iskVBOYfOU [accessed 23/11/16]
2015. UK foodbank use still at record levels as hunger remains major concern for low income families. The Trussell Trust [online]. Available at: 2014. https://www.trusselltrust.org/2015/11/18/uk- foodbank-use-still-at-record-levels-as-hunger-remains-major-concern-for-low-income-families/ [Accessed 28/11/16]
2015. Pinterest [Accessed 28/11/16]
2016. Amber Arezes [Accessed 28/11/16]
2014. ‘Northern Illinois Food Bank Summer 2014 Radio Spot’. Youtube [online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ElDXA1B5E [Accessed 28/11/16]
2016. ‘Community FoodBank of New Jersey “Forgotten Lunch” Radio :30’. Youtube [online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S3Qks2JGvM [Accessed 28/11/16]
2016. Industry.ASA [online].Available at: https://www.asa.org.uk/Industry-advertisers.aspx [Accessed 29/11/16]
2011. ’12 Days Of Christmas – Music Box Style’. Youtube [online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55KkuvK8CjY [Accessed 29/11/16]
2014. IncomeActivator.com [Accessed 30/11/16]
2015. Pinterest [Accessed 06/12/16]
2014. Daily Mail [Accessed 06/12/16]
Michael Elliott Media Production 
Leave a comment