HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR

MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

Alice Culham

Branding◦ A brand is a product /range of products that has a set of values associated with it that

are easily recognised by the consumer. Branding is the process of creating a unique name and image for a product (band/artist) in the consumers' mind. It is mainly achieved through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme and it aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal fans / customers.

◦ The brand image of an artist is important for their success especially if it is present in their music videos. An example could be Lady Gaga’s wacky sense of style; her uniqueness is now widely recognised and could attract some people to her music. Some bands/artists have particular motifs or logos which they use throughout their promotion such as on album covers, posters, websites, merchandise etc. which appear on every form so that they become identified with the band. An example of this is The Rolling Stones tongue logo which is now widely recognised associated with the band due to being repeated constantly. Promoting the brand image of a band or artist is important to build a fan base through promotional campaigns such as album releases and merchandise.

◦ When looking at ‘Peace of Lions’ as a consumer or audience of their music products we would associate the band with a laid back yet passionate style who love creating music. The band members are placed in natural environments and the band member’s friendship will be emphasised to show that they have not been constructed but actually enjoy working together. I feel I have demonstrated this sense of passion for music and artistic value across the three products by focusing on visuals linked to an urban theme rather than constantly reinforcing the band’s personal image through money shots.

Brand Image ◦ For our media A2 coursework we were asked to create a music video as well as produce two ancillary products

– a digipak and magazine advert for our constructed band. When combined with the finished video these two products would demonstrate a marketing campaign for the band ‘Peace of Lions’ new album ‘This is the Life’.

◦ When creating multiple media products, brand identity is very important in order to create a consistent campaign where audiences/consumers can recognise the links between the products. This has been evidenced by many artists and bands:

For example indie pop band ‘Bastille’ have showed links between their products for the album ‘Bad Blood’ by using similar imagery throughout e.g. car lights at night time and a sepia/vintage colour tone. This idea has then been carried through into their music videos of that album for instance ‘Pompeii’ which was the first song to be released features a similar dark setting while using shadows and lights to focus on the main singer of the band, which would engage the audience because although there is clear links between each of these products they are not so identical that consumers become uninterested and bored.

Brand ImageWhen constructing Peace of Lion’s brand image I took inspiration from Two Door

Cinema Club’s promotional images and their overall image which they have created and portrayed to their target audience. Considering their music genre is indie pop I feel that they have followed a quirky style for example the top image uses bright colours and the band members are not wearing mainstream clothing – they are dressed in jeans and suit jackets. What they are wearing is not necessarily demonstrating a sense of fashion or that they keep up with the latest trends, again this reflects the indie focus of their music rather than their personal image. However it does differ from aspects of research that I analysed where indie bands such as Bastille and The 1975 were represented as cool and rebellious individuals through wearing items like leather jackets and ripped jeans, which showed an alternate yet fashionable style which could attract certain audiences. This casual style of clothing would enable audiences to dress like them, this links to Dyer’s theoretical point “A star may initiate a fashion trend, with fans copying their hairstyle and clothing”. On the other hand, the second image of TDCC (third image down) does express an element of rebellion due to the band standing in front of a graffiti wall, wearing hoodies and having fairly stern facial expressions. The manipulation of the image making it black and white also instantly adds and element of moodiness and contrasts massively from the top image. This shows that indie pop bands are not set to a strict set of conventions and their styles and image can change throughout their albums, the bands are free to express whatever they feel. For instance the top image connotes elements of calm and happiness due to the bright colours, therefore the album being promoted may contain mainly upbeat songs. For my band I used two males and a female, the female band member has not been sexualised as I wanted to portray the band as equal and from my representation post which I completed for research into indie pop. I found that compared to other music genres, sexualisation of females is not commonly used. The band members are looking wistfully into the camera and this direct mode of address is very effective in catching and maintaining audience attention. The expression also lends the band to appearing as enigmatic and aloof leaving the audience intrigued.

Brand Image ◦ Compared to these two images of TDCC for the construction of my own band I wanted to

go somewhere in the middle in order for them to look cool and alternate to attract my target audience aged 16-24, but also approachable rather than rebellious/dangerous. I did this by having the band members wearing casual yet fashionable clothing e.g. ripped jeans, trainers and shirts. This would appeal to my target audience because they are likely to be a similar age to the band members and therefore they can relate to them and may look at them as fashion icons. I think that the costumes they are wearing represents them as laid back individuals and again reinforces common indie values that the music that they are promoting is much more important than their own personal image. This relates to Dyer’s ‘Star image’ theory which states that stars are constructed to represent ‘real people’ experiencing real emotions because as they are not wearing luxurious items of clothing it represents them as normal people and allows the fans to dress like them as well. Furthermore, the lighting is high key which is similar to the first TDCC club image but differs from the second which is a lot darker. The band only feature in the digipak as I wanted to enhance the idea of focusing on the music rather than the bands image as I felt this was the most important thing within the genre I chose. Furthermore, from looking at other bands digipaks and magazine adverts e.g. Imagine Dragons, Bastille, Foster the People and Two Door Cinema Club I found that it is fairly unconventional to feature the band on these materials and instead using artistic imagery which would engage and interest the audience is much more common. This is why I chose to use the hand drawn image of a lion for both my magazine advert and front panel of the digipak. Not only does this create consistency between the products but it also follows typical conventions of the genre by using abstract imagery rather than an image of the band.

The same font and colours have been used across these two products. E.g. the font ‘Georgina’ which I analysed in my font analysis post has been used for the band’s name, album title and the track listing. There is also a consistency in colours as ‘Peace of Lions’ has been written in white throughout, while the album title is in red.

For the additional pieces of text such as the quote and institutional information a different font has been used – Agency FB in order to differentiate between the band’s branding and make the products more interesting by using a variety of fonts rather than sticking to one across each product.

Continuity has been created across the products by using a similar style and set of colours – due to the video being filmed on the road I wanted to give the digipak a urban theme and keep to the road and brick style rather than changing the location to a studio or field. Therefore I have used images to suit this style – the band standing in front of a brick wall, sat on outdoor stairs and lastly an aesthetically image of a long empty road with the sun shining brightly. The colours of these pictures also match well together due to the use of yellows, oranges and a small proportion of greenery. The urban theme to the ancillary texts links well with the overall representation of the band and their image due to the simple yet effective images which look cool and unique. For instance the cd tray is an image of car lights but has been manipulated so that they appear blurry and out of focus. This also links to the music video because there is a shot of car lights in the bridge scene.

As these screenshots show, across the products I have tried to create links in order to have a clear and consistent promotional campaign which works to promote the new album. For example the lion image which reinforces the bands name has been used again on the back panel so that when looking at the digipak on the front you have the lions face and on the back is its back. This makes the digipak flow and the panels link together, while keeping the artistic and indie visual style. Furthermore, when looking at the digipak and the music video I have also used similar imagery to make the different aspects link together. For instance, the bottom left panel is a long empty road and this can be evidenced again in the video when we used external footage to break up the lip synching parts. Although they are different settings the images are very similar and hopefully audiences should be able to recognise these similarities between the products. This is the same case for the cd tray where I took inspiration from the bridge scene of the video which featured five different cars and their lights flashing in synchronisation. I thought that this image would be perfect for the cd as the bright colours against the black background stand out and look effective.

How will the promotional package appeal to the target market?

◦ As I have mentioned previously, due to the band appearing fairly ‘normal’ and not just being constructed into an image like a lot of pop stars, this makes it easier for the band’s fans to relate to them on a personal level rather than constantly looking up to them. The age of the band also helps to attract the suggested target audience of males and females aged 16-24 because the band members themselves fall within this category. This means that the target audience can again connect to the group because they will be at the same times of their lives and may be interested in the same things such as clothing styles and hobbies. On the back panel of the digipak and magazine advert the website for ‘Peace of Lions’ is also listed, this gives fans a chance to find out more about the band including personal information, tour dates, merchandise etc. From researching into my target audience I found that as my target audience are likely to be music lovers, the most suitable use of the gratifications theory would be entertainment. Audiences are likely to gain pleasure from watching the video and from the ancillary texts due to keeping up with the latest music releases. Furthermore, the song itself is upbeat and happy, while the music video is conceptual with elements comedy within it due to being unusual, this therefore could have a positive impact on consumers moods. Goodwin recognised that most artists/bands have a trend of repeating certain actions within music videos in order to make their style recognisable and create a consistent marketing campaign across each of their album or track releases. This theory can also be applied to genre and in terms of ‘Peace of Lion’s’ promotional package the use of an urban location is used to suggest the indie style and has been used by many other artists/bands of the same genre. Due to these locations being used frequently throughout the genre it suggests that it is a common convention and therefore would appeal to the target audience.

Urban locations – The 1975 and our music video.

(Continued)◦ On the magazine advert I decided to include a quote from ‘Q Magazine’ which is a popular music magazine in the UK.

Due to the quote being very positive ‘Prepare to be amazed’ this is likely to speak to the target audience who would be interested in the magazines opinion due to being reputable in the music industry. Again referring back to my research I found that my target market fitted into Channel 4’s tribes website in the ‘Young Alt’s’ section. These tribe members are passionate about music, motivated by a need to be themselves and are creative and unique. I believe that my three products adhere to these qualities in various ways, for instance the conceptual theme of the video e.g. the narrative is fairly loose and random, this is likely to appeal to a more alternate audience who are seeking something a bit different compared to a more mainstream group who may prefer a strong narrative which is easy to follow and makes complete sense. Furthermore, by using the lion image for the main feature of both the magazine advert and digipak it expresses the bands passion for music rather than promoting themselves. This is likely to attract the target audience who love music and creative art which the hand drawn lion would fit into. In the digipak, by placing the band in an urban environment it helps to establish the band as authentic and they are instantly more relatable to the audience due to being in this location which would be common to many people rather than a constructed studio. I think that the representation constructed within the promotional package is fairly conventional due to each of the ancillary texts featuring the common conventions such as record label information, a key image, the band’s name, album title etc. I think that the music video could be seen as quirky due to its conceptual themes and slightly unconventional due to not featuring the band themselves, as often within indie pop performance is a key part due to the emphasis on musical ability. However we considered this when constructing our music video and we felt that by using characters rather than the band this would keep the audience engaged and the video would differ from mainstream styles, which in turn would attract an audience looking for something unique.

◦ Overall, I feel there is a clear link between my three products through various elements such as consistent typography, imagery and the emphasis on artistic/conceptual visuals rather than promoting the band members personal image which is not usually conventional of the indie pop genre. Despite the music video being not directly linked to the ancillary texts because this is just one single from the album, I have still tried to create loose links between the main product and ancillary texts by keeping to an urban and outside location and using the idea of cars to form the basis for images, e.g. car lights and an empty road.