Advertising: Introduction to advertising

Our new topic is Advertising and Marketing and to start with we're going to look at how producers use narrative and persuasive techniques in advertising.

For example, you will need to be able to apply the four narrative theories we have studied previously to advertising texts (possibly an unseen text). You may also need to analyse persuasive techniques in unseen texts too.

Narrative theories: a reminder

You can find the original lesson notes on narrative here. To summarise each theory in a word or phrase:

• Todorov – Equilibrium
• Propp – Familiar character types
• Barthes – Enigma and action codes
• Levi-Strauss – Binary opposition

Narrative in advertising: Jonah Sachs

American writer Jonah Sachs has highlighted the importance of storytelling in advertising and marketing:

“The story wars are all around us. They are the struggle to be heard in a world of media noise and clamour. Today, most brand messages and mass appeals for causes are drowned out before they even reach us. But a few consistently break through the din, using the only tool that has ever moved minds and changed behaviour – great stories.”

Narrative in advertising: examples

There are a huge number of examples of adverts that use narrative. This marketing blogpost highlights 12 examples (including some we looked at in the lesson).

Airbnb: Breaking Down Walls




Persuasive techniques

Advertisements are generally trying to persuade their target audience to:

• Buy a product or service
• Believe something or act in a certain way
• Agree with a point of view

There are many persuasive techniques used in advertising. A selection include:

• Slogan – a catchy phrase or statement
• Repetition – constant reference to product name
• Bandwagon – everyone is buying it
• Testimonial/association – e.g. celebrity endorsement
• Emotional appeal – designed to create strong feelings
• Expert opinion – ‘4 out of 5 dentists…’

Examples:

• Slogan – Just Do It
• Repetition – Go Compare
• Bandwagon – Maybelline ‘America’s favourite mascara’
• Testimonial/association – Nespresso / George Clooney
• Emotional appeal – WaterAid ‘Dig toilets not graves’
• Expert opinion – Max Factor ‘The make-up of make-up artists’

Case study: Marmite

Marmite has a long history of unusual advertising based around the idea ‘You either love it or you hate it’. How many of the persuasive techniques can you spot in these adverts?







Introduction to advertising: blog tasks

Create a new blog post called 'Advertising: Introduction to advertising blog tasks'. Read ‘Marketing Marmite in the Postmodern age’ in MM54  (p62). You'll find our Media Magazine archive here - remember you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. You may also want to re-watch the Marmite Gene Project advert above.

Answer the following questions on your blog:

1) How does the Marmite Gene Project advert use narrative? Apply some narrative theories here.

2) What persuasive techniques are used by the Marmite advert?

3) Focusing specifically on the Media Magazine article, what does John Berger suggest about advertising in ‘Ways of Seeing’?

4) What is it psychologists refer to as referencing? Which persuasive techniques could you link this idea to?

5) How has Marmite marketing used intertextuality? Which of the persuasive techniques we’ve learned can this be linked to?

6) What is the difference between popular culture and high culture? How does Marmite play on this?

7) Why does Marmite position the audience as ‘enlightened, superior, knowing insiders’?

8) What examples does the writer provide of why Marmite advertising is a good example of postmodernism?

A/A* extension task

Read the marketing blog linked above on narrative in advertising. Which campaigns are particularly impressive in your opinion? How do they use narrative to connect with their audience?

Complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.

TV: Capital case study

Our first television close-study product is BBC state-of-the-nation drama Capital. 

We need to know everything about the programme - from textual analysis of key scenes to how it was funded, distributed and promoted. The key notes from the lesson are here: 

Novel adaptation

• Capital is a BBC TV drama series adapted from 2012 book by John Lanchester.
• The book was set in 2007-8 either side of the financial crisis but the TV drama updates it to 2015 and changes the location slightly (Clapham to Balham). 

Capital: a state-of-the-nation drama

• Capital is a ‘state-of-the-nation’ drama – designed to capture the issues facing the country at the time it is written and produced.
• In Capital, it focuses on the economy and the financial crash, immigration, London’s housing market and the incredible mix of people in a city of 8.5 million.

Reviews
Reviews of the Capital TV series drew attention to the state-of-the-nation aspect of the drama:

• Ben Lawrence in the Telegraph wrote: Capital shows “an eternal London, riven by inequality and quickened by diversity”.
• Ben Dowell in the Radio Times: “It shows Londoners trying to work out very real problems… there is a fierce intelligence at work here, a script which asks some very interesting and important questions but doesn’t force the answers down your throat.”

London 2009-15 

• Following the global financial crash in 2007-8, London was not expected to quickly recover economically. 
• However, house prices soared with some properties almost doubling in price in five years. By September 2015, the average London house price was £531,000.
• Traditionally working-class neighbourhoods in London suddenly had houses worth £1m+.

London: immigration

The Oxford University Migration Observatory published a report in 2011 regarding migration to London. Key quotes:

• “One in three London residents was born abroad, and a quarter of these migrants arrived since 2006. Nearly a half of the UK’s migrants live in London.”
• “London’s population is characterised by rapid flux. Area stability – the proportion of a neighbourhood’s population remaining in place over time – is far lower in London than the rest of the UK.”
• “Some of the most deprived migrants in the country reside in London, and some of the most privileged too… vulnerable migrants in London include asylum-seekers with subsistence-only support.”

Capital screening

You can watch all three episodes of Capital using our school's copy via Google Drive here. You'll need your Greenford Google login to access this. 

Capital: Case study blog tasks

Work through the following tasks to build a detailed case study for Capital. This will give you plenty of background information to use in an exam question. Remember, for this CSP the question could be on any of the key concepts: language, industries, audiences or representations.

Reviews and features

Read the following review and feature on Capital:

Guardian review by Sam Wollaston
London Evening Standard: five things you need to know about Capital

1) What positive points does the review pick out about Capital? What criticisms are made - either of the TV drama or the original novel?

2) What references can you find in the reviews and feature to the idea Capital is a 'state-of-the-nation' drama? How does it capture modern-day London?


Trailer analysis

Watch the trailer for Capital:



1) How does the drama use camerawork to capture London life?

2) How does the trailer use mise-en-scene to capture the family element of the drama?

3) How does the trailer introduce narrative strands suggesting tension or enigma in the 40-second running time?


Representations: close-textual analysis

Capital offers a range of fascinating representations - from London and asylum seekers to capitalism and inequality. You need to be able to confidently discuss these issues in the context of 2015 London - with reference to key scenes from episode 1. Representations include: London, family, gender, ethnicity, religion, immigration, asylum, inequality, wealth, capitalism, aging and more.

These notes from a lesson analysing these clips will help with this element of the case study. You'll need your Greenford Google login to access the document.

1) Write an analysis of the representations in each of the key scenes from episode 1 we studied in the lesson:

Scene 1: opening sequence 00:30 – 4.49
Scene 2: work in the City 6.28 – 8.10
Scene 3: “Which of those isn’t absolutely essential?” 14.00 – 15.35
Scene 4: asylum 18.03 – 19.42 AND 31.10 – 32.40
Scene 5: “What use is 30 grand?” 36.40 – 39.00 
Scene 6: life at the corner shop 40.10 – 42.55

You can choose which aspects to focus on for each scene: e.g. London, family, gender, ethnicity, religion, immigration, asylum, inequality, wealth, aging etc. Feel free to use bullet points for each scene.

2) How does Capital use stereotypes? Do the characters and issues represented in Capital reinforce or subvert the stereotypes we typically see in the media?


Industries and production context

Capital was produced by independent production company Kudos for the BBC. Look at the Kudos website and also read the Kudos Wikipedia page.

1) Who is the parent company for Kudos?

2) What was the breakthrough show for Kudos in 2002?

3) Watch the showreel on the Kudos website. What other TV dramas have Kudos produced? What awards have they won?

4) What audience pleasures does the showreel suggest Kudos productions offer? 


Marketing and promotion

Read the BBC Press Pack for Capital.

1) How does the programme information on page 3 make Capital sound interesting to audiences?

2) Why does the programme information mention the other shows that the director and producer have worked on?

3) Who commissioned Capital for BBC?

4) Read the interview with Toby Jones. What does he say about the character of Roger?

5) Read the interview with Adeel Akhtar (page 10). What does he suggest Capital says about the fictional Pepys Road and the sense of community (or lack of it) in London?

6) Read the interview with Shabana Azmi (page 12). What does she say about Asian representations in Britain? 

7) Read the interview with Peter Bowker (who adapted Capital - page 14). What are his favourite scenes in the drama and why?

8) Read the interview with Derek Wax, the Executive Producer for Kudos (page 16). Why did he produce Capital and what does it say about the way we live now?




DVD packaging

Look at the DVD packaging for Capital. There are many marketing techniques employed here.

1) How does the packaging use other critically acclaimed TV dramas to promote Capital?

2) What does the use of design and images suggest to the audience about the drama?

3) How are review quotes used on the cover and what do they suggest to the audience about sub-genre, narrative and audience pleasures?

4) What representation of London does the DVD packaging offer?



There is a lot of work here - easily 3-4 hours in total if you do this in the depth required for the top grades at A Level. However, you will have more than two weeks to work on this.

STOP PRESS! Optional extension work - Capital in Media Magazine

The latest issue of Media Magazine MM83 has a feature exploring Capital as a media product. Read ‘We Want What You Have’ in MM83  (p10). You'll find our Media Magazine archive here - remember you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. Answer the following questions:

1) What does the article suggest about the 'state of the nation' genre and how Capital is an example of this?

2) What does the article suggest regarding the setting of Capital?

3) What are the major themes in Capital and what does the article suggest regarding the impact of money on communities?

4) What different representations in Capital are discussed in the article?

5) What does the final section of the article suggest regarding genre and overall message of the drama?  

Due date: on Google Classroom.

MIGRAIN: Final index

We have now completed our mammoth MIGRAIN Introduction to Media unit. You've covered a huge amount of work since September and now have a grounding in all the key concepts of A Level Media - well done! 

We now need to update our MIGRAIN blog index (we last did this in the Autumn term) with all the work we've done since. As you know, it is important we are revising terminology and theory on an ongoing basis and making sure there are no gaps as the course continues. The vast majority of the course will be tested in an exam situation and there could easily be a question on a specific theory that we've covered in the last three half-terms. If you have missed any lessons or blog tasks this will significantly disadvantage you. 

MIGRAIN Final index

Keeping an index of all your work is extremely good practice from a revision perspective. Not only does this keep the concepts and media terminology fresh in your mind but it will also highlight if you've missed anything. Your final index should include the following:

1) Introduction to Media: 10 questions
2) Semiotics blog tasks - English analysis and Icon, Index, Symbol
3) Language: Reading an image - media codes

4) Media consumption audit

5) Reception theory - advert analyses
6) Genre: Factsheets and genre study questions
7) Narrative: Factsheet questions

8) Audience: classification - psychographics presentation notes

9) October assessment learner response
10) Audience theory 1 - Hypodermic needle/Two-step flow/U&G
11) Audience theory 2 - The effects debate - Bandura, Cohen 
12) Industries: Ownership and Control
13) Industries: Hesmondhalgh - The Cultural Industries

14) Industries: Public Service Broadcasting

15) Industries: Regulation

16) Representation: Introduction to Representation
17) Representation: Feminism - Everyday Sexism & Fourth Wave MM article

18) January assessment learner response
19) Representation: Feminist theory
20) Representing ourselves: Identity in the online age - MM article & Factsheet
21) Ideology: BBC Question Time analysis and MM articles

You'll have done some of this index already - a quick time-saving tip is to copy the HTML from your original index blogpost and paste it in your new index blogpost. This will give you most of the links and you can add to it from there. If you simply add to your previous index, make sure you change the date to today (use the 'Schedule' tab on the right-hand menu to do this). 

Remember, this is your index, so the text should link to your corresponding blogpost so you can access your work on each key concept quickly and easily. This also means you if you have missed anything you can now catch up with the work/notes and won't underperform in future assessments due to gaps in your knowledge.

MIGRAIN final assessment

You'll have a short assessment after half-term on the MIGRAIN introduction to Media unit. Use this index as the basis for your revision for your assessment. Your teacher will confirm the exact date of the assessment.

Due date: on Google Classroom (including any missing work the index has highlighted)

MIGRAIN: Ideology

The media's role in setting and reinforcing the dominant values and ideologies within society is a vital aspect of A Level Media Studies. 

The key notes from today's lesson on ideology and binary opposition:

Ideology

What is an ideology?
An ideology is a world view, a system of values, attitudes and beliefs which an individual, group or society holds to be true or important; these are shared by a culture or society about how that society should function.

Dominant ideologies

Ideologies that are told to us repeatedly by important social institutions such as the government or media are called dominant ideologies.

Dominant ideologies are ideologies or beliefs that we live by in our day-to-day lives and often do not question – they have become 'natural, common sense' things to do. This effectively dissuades people from rebelling against these beliefs, and keeps a sense of stability in society.

Why is ideology important in Media Studies?

Media texts always reflect certain values or ideologies though sometimes we may not be aware of this. When studying a media text you may look for the dominant ideology present and question whose world view is represented and perhaps which groups have not been represented.

Levi-Strauss: cultural codes

Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009) was a French philosopher and one of the most important cultural theorists of the 20th century.

He viewed culture as a system of codes through which we exchange messages. These cultural codes tend to reflect the dominant values and ideologies in society.   

Binary opposition

Levi-Strauss's theory of binary opposition is important for media students.

Levi-Strauss suggested everyone thinks of the world around them in terms of binary opposites such as up and down, life and death etc. and therefore every culture can be understood in these terms. 

Binary opposition in media

Binary opposition is used to create narrative and conflict in media. It is also used to simplify complex situations for easy consumption (e.g. TV news).

Along similar lines, if something is not easily reduced to binary opposites, it is far less likely to receive widespread media coverage.

Binary oppositions can be used to create stereotypes and promote certain ideologies or beliefs. Therefore we can find these cultural codes in all kinds of representations and stereotypes.

Blog tasks: Ideology

Part 1: BBC Question Time analysis

Watch this clip from BBC Question Time with Russell Brand and Nigel Farage. The BBC deliberately placed the two against each other and the episode resulted in far more people than usual watching and reacting on social media.

1) What examples of binary opposition can you suggest from watching this clip?

2) What ideologies are on display in this clip?

Embed the video into your blog (as above) and answer these two questions in full paragraphs.


Part 2: Media Magazine reading

Media Magazine issue 52 has two good articles on Ideology. You need to read those articles (our Media Magazine archive is here) and complete a few short tasks linked to them. 

Page 34: The World Of Mockingjay: Ideology, Dystopia And Propaganda

1) Read the article and summarise it in one sentence.

2) What view of capitalist ideology is presented in the Hunger Games films?

3) What do the Hunger Games films suggest about the power of the media to shape and influence ideological beliefs?


Page 48: They Live - Understanding Ideology

1) What are the four accepted ideological beliefs in western societies highlighted by the article?

2) What does Gramsci's theory of hegemony suggest about power and ideology in society?

3) What does French theorist Louis Althusser suggest about ideology and consumerism?

4) Do YOU agree with the idea behind They Live - that we are unthinkingly controlled by the media which is run in the interests of the economic elite? These are the big questions of A Level Media!

Due date: on Google Classroom

TV: Introduction to TV Drama

Our TV Drama CSPs are BBC 'state of the nation' drama Capital and critically acclaimed German cold war spy thriller Deutschland 83. 

We need to make sure we are experts in television drama for this major section of Media Paper 2 - conventions, media language, notable successes and historical context.

TV Drama: key notes

Television drama is a hugely popular genre and a staple across schedules and streaming services. ‘Binge-watching’ is a relatively recent phenomenon while other dramas have built hugely loyal fanbases (e.g. Doctor Who, Game of Thrones).

There are many sub-genres and hybrid genres in TV drama from the costume drama to the hospital drama. 

Setting

TV dramas tend to take place in recognisable settings with regular locations that characters can inhabit.

Most dramas are defined by their location and the iconography (mise-en-scene) is vital for communicating the sub-genre and narrative expectations to the audience.

Even science-fiction family dramas such as Doctor Who feature regular settings such as the Tardis.


Character

Most TV dramas have a large ensemble cast – a range of characters. These characters are often stereotypical – communicating a lot to the audience quickly.

Often recognisable and relatable – giving audiences the pleasure of identification and an ongoing ‘relationship’: we keep watching to find out what happens to them. 

Characters often reflect the sub-genre (think police, hospital or period costume drama stock characters).


Narrative 

Most TV dramas have multi-strand narratives telling a range of interconnected storylines. An overall narrative arc often goes over the whole season or series. Others feature episodic narratives with storylines resolved in one episode. Flashbacks can also feature.

Many TV dramas now employ a ‘cold opening’ – the opening scene taking place before credits/titles – designed to create enigma and draw the audience in. Ultimately, it is the sub-genre of the TV drama that will help set narrative expectations for the audience.

Note: If you missed the initial lesson on TV Drama, we analysed a series of TV drama opening scenes to explore how the setting, character and narrative is established using technical codes (e.g. camerawork/editing/mise-en-scene) and audio codes (dialogue/voiceover/diegetic and non-diegetic sound). One of the opening sequences is (currently) available on YouTube:

Introduction to TV Drama: Blog tasks

Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) or on Google Drive here (you'll need your Greenford Google login) to find Media Factsheet #164 on Television Serial Drama. 

Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions to show your comprehensive knowledge of the television drama genre:

1) What is serial television drama? Write your own definition.

2) List five of the TV dramas discussed in the history of the genre on page 1 of the factsheet. How has the genre evolved over time?

3) List the sub-genres of TV drama featured in the factsheet. Come up with your own example of an existing TV drama to fit each category.

4) Why is setting so important for TV drama?

5) How do TV dramas typically use character? What audience pleasures can be linked to character in TV drama? (Hint: Uses & Gratifications theory!)

6) What is a multi-strand narrative? Give an example of a TV drama that features a multi-strand narrative.

7) What is a cold opening?

8) How can Todorov's theory of equilibrium be applied to TV drama serials?

9) What is the typical form for TV dramas and how are the programmes typically distributed to an audience?

10) How have subscription channels (such as HBO) and streaming services (such as Netflix and Amazon Prime) changed the form and content of TV dramas?

11) Choose a TV drama and do your own analysis of it using the SETTING / CHARACTERS / NARRATIVE / FORM headings as featured on page 3 of the factsheet.

12) How might the TV drama genre evolve in future?


A/A* extension task: TV Drama v Film

Building on question 12 above, read this fascinating extended article comparing TV drama to film. It will also help to bridge the gap between our work on the film industry and our new topic of TV drama. Where do you stand on the debate? Is TV drama the key medium of storytelling or will cinema always be king?

Complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.