MarkFletcherUni

Week 37

2008-04-14T09:35:12Z

Practice 17 (week 37)

Main aims:

Practice all the songs
Song writing session
Record Something to Nothing

Results:

All songs practiced
New Song
Something To Nothing Recorded

Practice Length:

4 hours

Reflection

The session was extremely successful. All songs were practiced and Something To Nothing Was recorded with Martin. As well as this, a new song called Night Day Then Night Again was written and two different versions were recorded. All three recordings are embedded below.

Something to Nothing

Night Day Then Night Again 1

Night Day Then Night Again 2

CD’s Sold Online:

Promotion:

Promotional package sent to record companies including:

A copy of the CD being sold

The promotional photographs taken at the completion of the CD

A letter, an example of which is shown below.

Letter:

47 Dark Lane

Backwell

Bristol

North Somerset

BS48 3NT

Pat Carr

Glaze Records
45 Poland St
London St
W1F 7NA

17/04/08

Thank you for showing interest,

Manilla Crescent are now assessing management options and recently came across Glaze Records. We have approximately thirty songs in addition to those on our self produced and recorded album Social Engineering, which we've enclosed. This album has been selling well through our rapidly growing myspace page (myspace.com/manillacrescent) as well as attracting mounting critical acclaim and strong reviews, especially from reviewers in the United States. Such positive reviews and increasing sales have brought attention from labels and agencies; whilst we need the wider exposure and guidance that they bring, we need to be sure that our management and label have the integrity and reputation to help us establish ourselves, as we know we can, in the current music scene. Glaze Records sound like just the label we're after, especially having followed the impressive work behind the band ‘The Five O’Clock Heros’

Our recent gig at the Louisiana in Bristol was well received, seeing us attract the largest following of the night and boosting sales of Social Engineering further still as well as prompting an invitation to return to the venue soon. The signs so far suggest that we could make a real impact if given enough exposure and we hope that Glaze Records will be the label to help us with that.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks again,

Mark and Martin

Manilla Crescent

ManillaCrescent@hotmail.co.uk

Total Week Time: 6 hours

markfletcheruni @ 2008-04-13T18:00:00

2008-04-13T17:04:02Z

Practice 16 (week 36)

Main aims:

Experiment with new songs live for up and coming gigs
Record a Demo of Something to Nothing.

Results:

New way of playing Who Are You Now discovered
Demo of Who Are You Now recorded

Practice Length:

4 hours

Reflection

Who Are You Now was played with distortion on the rhythm guitar which both band members felt was an improvement. This discovery led to the recording of Who Are You Now rather than Something to Nothing as a more advanced demo.

This demo is attached below:

CD’s Sold Online:

Promotion:

After a response to last weeks emails Nik Mercer wrote the below Manilla Crescent, which was placed on his blog. The link to his blog is:

http://www.bibabidi.com/2004_11_07_archive.html

Manilla Crescent

To me, there's always been something I can't quite place that makes British moody music different than the American counterpart. These are all guesses and assumptions, but I feel like British shoegaze and folksier stuff is tenser, more nervous and under spoken. That's not to say that Americans don't do it, too, but whenever I hear a British band play shoegaze, atmospheric, sad stuff ... I imagine the singer trying to look up from his shoes, trying to stop the warble. We just keep staring at the ground ...

Does that make any sense?
Manilla Crescent is one such U.K. group. Everything off their debut LP, Social Engineering, sounds as though it was recorded in a cold, dank room, a storm brewing up outside. The frail vocals matched with the Pixies-esque alternative rock-y sort of guitar work and grung-y framework ... make for really compelling songs that you can't help but feel are truly from the heart; terribly sincere ...

Check out some of the tracks below!

Manilla Crescent - By Yourself
Manilla Crescent - Gone
Manilla Crescent - Not Really Here

Labels: British, Grunge, Indie, International, Pop, Shoe Gaze

As well as this review the song By Yourself was played on BBC Radio Bristol on the Bristol Uncovered show. As well as this promotional work a Manilla Crescent phone screen saver was created that was distributed among as many fans as possible. The screen saver is embedded below:

Total Week Time: 6 hours

Week 35

2008-04-13T16:28:19Z

Practice 15 (week 35) Easter

Main aims:

Run through new set multiple times to prepare for gig 4 this week
Record a demo of Holes in the Smiles and Far Away

Results:

Complete confidence of the set gained
Two demos recorded

Practice Length:

7 hours

Reflection

A very successful session where two demos were recorded and roughly mixed using my MBox and SE2200A microphone. The practice part of the session left both members feeling confident going into the gig.

The Holes in the Smile recording is embedded below:

The Far Away recording is embedded below:

CD’s sold online:

2 CD’s

Promotion

Contact reviewers:

A number of emails were sent to reviewers whose email addresses were given to Martin by the head of Derby’s Snug Records. The results of these emails will be seen next week.

Gig 4 – 4^th April, The Louisiana, Bristol

Preparation:

Laptop

Laptop Stand

D.I box (for laptop)

iPod (back up)

Mini stereo jack to split mono cable for the laptops output to the desk.

3 electric guitars

Electro acoustic guitar

4 Guitar effect pedals

8 jack lead (2 spares)

2 guitar amps

Attendance (who came only to see Manilla Crescent):

45 people

Payment:

£45 (£1 per person)

Aims:

The main aim of this gig is to promote and sell the new album

Reflection:

Unfortunately, the attendance to this gig was considerably lower than the last. This was almost certainly due to the fact that most of our fan base had seen us the week before and so were not as keen to see us again so soon. This should be taken into consideration in future when booking gigs. On a more positive side, although CD sales dropped considerably as expects 4 CD’s were still sold showing some new interest. Another positive was a summer tour offer from the band we were playing with ‘Ultranova’. They suggested this both at the gig and through Myspace messages after shown below:

Total Week Time: 13 hours

Week 34

2008-04-13T15:28:10Z

Practice 14 (week 34) Easter

Main aims:

No Martin so play through the set for gig 4 a number of time
Song writing session

Results:

Songs practiced
No good song ideas created

Practice Length:

3 hours

Reflection

The songs were played through and greater familiarity of the set for the coming gig was achieved. The song writing session led to no ideas of merit.

Promotion

The Myspace ‘Space Station’ friend adding bot was used to add friends to the Manilla Crescent Myspace in an attempt to find more potential fans. The bot was set to people who were based in Bristol and who listened to Indie and Electronic music in order to increase the likelihood of the people found enjoying the music.

CD’s Sold Online:

Total Week Time: 4 hours

Week 33

2008-04-13T14:57:50Z

Practice 13 (week 33) Easter

Main aims:

Run through the set several times in preparation for the coming gig

Results:

Set played through and a feeling of confidence going into the gig

Practice Length:

4 hours

Reflection

The practice was successful and left the band feeling confident and well practiced going into the next gig. This was the most confident we had been going into a gig.

CD completion

(A copy of the CD will be included in the hand in)

The CD was completed on the date planned, 17^th of March. Completing the album meant printing the CD’s to Redbook standards and using Nero to print track title information onto the CD. The track names were also added to the iTunes database so that when it was inserted onto a computer connected to the internet using iTunes, the track titles were displayed.

The second stage after printing the audio to the CD was printing the images onto the CD using Light Scribe technology and printing the art which had been finalised in Photoshop. The printed booklet then had to be cut out and each one stapled together in a long process. In all 50 CD’s were created ready to be sold online and at the gig. 15 CD’s needed to be sold overall to cover costs.

The completed artwork is embedded below:

Booklet pages 1 and 2

Booklet 2 and 5

Booklet 3 and 3

Booklet Front and Back CD Case Back

The CD price was decided as £5. This undercut major artist CD costs considerably and represented the lowest value of note in English currency. It also keeps with George A. Millers best numbers to be dealt with by the short term memory making it simple to remember.

Promotion of CD

The first stage in promoting the CD was by making it available online. To do this a Paypal account was created so that safe online transactions could take place. A button which linked to the information needed by Paypal to complete the purchase of the CD was embedded on the Manilla Crescent Myspace. As well as this, images of CD cover were added to the Myspace which also acted as buttons by which you could buy the CD.

As well as embedding these buttons, images from the booklet were added so that when a track is selected the image shows next to the track. Further updates on the page included creating a button using HTML which linked the Facebook and Myspace groups. This is posted below; it links to the Facebook group but needs membership to enter:

To complete the promotional campaign a large number of messages, comments and bulletins were sent to friends with the Myspace player and Facebook group button embedded.

Photo shoot

A photo shoot was arranged with Andy to create a collection of promotional photographs representing the band in a variety of environments. These pictures are in the picture section of the Manilla Crescent Myspace and on the Facebook page both of which are inaccessible without membership. Because of this, they are embedded below:

CD’s Sold online:

3 CD’s

Gig 3 – 22^nd March, The Fleece and Firkin, Bristol

Preparation:

Equipment list:

Laptop

D.I box (for laptop)

iPod (back up)

Mini stereo jack to split mono cable for the laptops output to the desk.

3 electric guitars

Electro acoustic guitar

4 Guitar effect pedals

8 jack lead (2 spares)

2 guitar amps

Attendance (who came only to see Manilla Crescent):

80 people

Payment:

£80 (£1 per person) - £3 for people who got in free as part of the ‘bring 4 friends’ scheme.

Total payment: £77

Aims:

To promote and sell the newly completed album

Reflection:

15 CD’s were sold which was better than was expected. Overall, the gig was a large success with an excellent attendance. All of the songs appeared to go down really well and only positive feedback was given.

Total Week Time: 20 hours

Week 32

2008-04-13T13:35:15Z

Practice 12 (week 32)

Main aims:

Play through new songs
Confirm set for gig 3 and gig 4
Practice sets

Results:

One new song played through
Set confirmed
Sets practiced

Practice Length:

4 hours

Reflection

‘Holes in the Smiles’ was played live but it didn’t work was expected and therefore it was not added to the set list. Unfortunately, there was no time to play through Something to Nothing but the two sets were played and confirmed for the next two gigs.

Confirmed new Set for Gig 3

By Yourself
Night Day Then Night Again
Who Are You Now?
Gone
Not Really Here
Moving Inside
Far Away

Confirmed Set for Gig 4

By Yourself
Night Day Then Night Again
Who Are You Now?
Gone
Not Really Here
Something To Nothing
Moving Inside
Far Away

Final Mixing session

There are only two tracks remaining to be mixed, both of which again purposely sound very different from each other.

Stop Dreaming

The Vocal has a delay and reverb but with a short pre-delay to help it sound close and personal to the listener.

The Backing Vocal has been purposely moved out of time with the main vocal so that it responds to it. I has also been used back very far in the mix using a large church style reverb and long decay time.

The Rhythm guitar is panned 40% left in the mix to give space for the vocal but to still keep the performance sounding close and personal to the listener.

The Lead guitar has been left as it has been recorded because I was so happy with its sound. It has been panned 40% right to balance the mix with the rhythm guitar.

The Drums have been treated individually with an E.Q added to the toms to increase the power in the low end. They have been panned to either side of the listen to give more impact. The snare has a large reverb with quite a short decay time to make it sound big and increase its impact.

The Bass was mixed in the same was as on other tracks panned centrally but with a slightly smaller boost to the low end so that it sits further back in the mix.

Reverb has been added to the master to push all of the instruments slightly back in the mix and give a dreamier feel.

A Face to Hide the Doubt

This mix was very simple with the bass mixed as on most tracks with a low end boost to add power. All other parts were left as recorded apart from the vocals which had a delay and reverb added to make them stand out from the rest of the mix.

The mix of A Face to Hide the Doubt is embedded below:

Track testing:

Upon the completion of the mixing stage each of the tracks were tested in a variety of environments listed below:

Monitors in T202
Monitors in Markeaton Street studio 1
Headphones
Earphones
Car Stereo
5 home Stereos

Testing over such a large number of systems allowed me to ensure that any listener would hear a high quality mix.

Myspace Promotion:

Upon completing the mixing and testing stage, 4 tracks were posted on Myspace to promote the new album. The tracks used were By Yourself, Moving Inside, Gone and Not Really Here. These tracks were all potential singles but sounded different enough to show the different sides of the band. The Myspace page can be viewed at:

http://www.myspace.com/manillacrescent

As well as posting these tracks, bulletins and messages were posted which had the myspace player embedded on them as below:

Note: The Myspace player will constantly be updated as the songs are updated on the Manilla Crescent page so if viewed at a later date may not contain all the songs listed.

The code was also placed separately on the page so that fans could place it on their pages. One example
of a fan that has the player on her page is below:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?
fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=119769280&MyToken=566f8691-8dd6-4167-8b44-3bb9c1ad6174

As well as this a Myspace promoter conducted an interview which was posted online as part of the promotional campaign. A link to this is provided below:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=262647315&blogID=341426676

Note: An error occurred on Myspace with the date placing the interview in December.

Gig Promotion

In an attempt to encourage more people to come to the next gig Myspace bulletins, messages and comments were sent out stating that anyone who brings 4 friends to the next gig gets in free. This is possible for putting them on the guest list. The number 4 was chosen as it is achievable but still a challenge, also it costs £5 to get in so if the group go together they can all save £1 each.

Total Week Time: 14 hours

Week 31

2008-04-13T11:25:22Z

Practice 11 (week 31)

Main aims:

No Martin so practice alone
Run through songs and come up with set suggestions for gigs 3 and 4 over Easter
Song writing session

Results:

New set suggestions
New songs ‘Something To Nothing’

Practice Length:

2 hours

Reflection

New set suggestions made for gigs 3 and for over Easter at The Louisiana and The Fleece and Firkin; Dreary Pale Shadow has been dropped due to negative feedback at both practice 9 and gig 2. A new song has been written which seems set to be one of the best yet and will be presented to Martin in the next practice.

Week 30

2008-03-02T17:38:42Z

Practice 10 (week 30)

Main aims:

Play the set through several times in preparation for the gig this week.

Results:

A feel of confidence going into the second gig.

Practice Length:

3 hours

Reflection

After playing the set through several times both band members felt confident and ready for the gig. The levels of apprehension before this gig were far lower than for gig one and promotional efforts appeared to be much more successful.

Gig 2 - 29^th February, The Louisiana, Bristol

Preparation:

Like for gig one the main preparation considerations were to ensure that transport to the gig for the 7 o’clock sound check was available and that all the equipment being used was fully tested and put on a check list. As a result of the buzzing sound from the laptop at the last gig, a D.I box has been added to the equipment list to avoid the issue reoccurring. A run through of the set for a final time on the day of the gig was also done to help build confidence.

Equipment list:

Laptop

D.I box (for laptop)

iPod (back up)

Mini stereo jack to split mono cable for the laptops output to the desk.

3 electric guitars

Electro acoustic guitar

4 Guitar effect pedals

8 jack lead (2 spares)

2 guitar amps

Attendance (who came only to see Manilla Crescent):

60 people

Payment:

£60 (£1 per person)

Aims:

The main aim of this gig is to promote the coming album aimed to be completed by the 17^th of March (week 33).

Reflection:

When speaking to audience members after a gig some repeated the feedback from practice 9, that Dreary Pale shadow was the weakest track. This will have to be considered when selecting the next set list.

Mixing (part 1):

The tracks were mixed in this order because they sound very different from each other. This helps reduce the problems associated with hearing tracks many times as the tracks don’t use the same tones. A minimum of an hour’s break was taken after the mixing of each track to avoid ear fatigue and the tracks were listen to in as close to a 60 degree triangle shape – with the listener at one point and the speakers at each of the others – as possible so that the stereo field was perceived as accurately as possible.

By Yourself

Vocals – Both a lead and backing vocal have been recorded for this track, creating a chorus like doubling sound in selected parts. A slight reverb placed in a medium sized room has been put on both of the vocals but is automated so that it is bypassed in the middle 8. In the middle 8 the backing vocal moves hard left in the stereo field and the lead vocal hard right, their dry signal makes them feel closer and more urgent and they couple to make a bigger sounding vocal. Compression has also been added to both of the vocal tracks to keep them comfortably audible throughout the track.

Clean Guitar with delay – This guitar has a small amount of reverb added so thatit is pushed back slightly in the mix compared to the acoustic guitar; giving it more space. It has been panned 40% to the left of the mix, the reverse of the panning of the acoustic guitar.

Heavy guitar (middle 8) – Panned 40% to the left to take the place of the clean guitar which doesn’t play in this section. No reverb has been added to help bring everything closer to the listener in this section.

Acoustic Guitar – A high pass filter at 100Hz has been added to this track to stop it interfering with the low end of the mix. It has been panned 40% to the right of the mix contrary to the guitar which also plays throughout the track. Otherwise it has been left as recorded.

MIDI Piano (middle 8 and end) – This part was recorded on two stereo tracks. One contained the piano melody which has a slight E.Q boost of around 3dB to help sweeten the sound and brighten it in the mix. The second track contains the chords and has a slight E.Q boost at 500Hz to bring out the mid range and add more depth to the part.

Bass – The bass has a reasonably heavy compression with a ratio of 2.50:1 to keep it tight with the kick drums and so that it doesn’t invade but instead reinforces the mix. An E.Q boost has also been added at 150Hz to help give the bass a full sound and fill the low end of the mix.

Dr-Rex Drums – many different loops have been used and these have been cut up to add small fills in certain parts of the drum track. Different loops are used at different sections and several loops play at the same time for the middle 8. A high pass E.Q has been added to some of the more bass heavy drum loops to gain control of the low end.

Overdriven Guitars (feedback) - When mixing the 3 feedback channels together each of the 3 tracks was set to slowly fade in sequentially until all channels were at there full volume for the track. One channel then has Tremolo added through the volume fader to add interest to the sound. Another of the tracks has a reverb which slowly fades in and the third pans from one side to the other. While this is happening both the other feedback channels are quickly moving from left to right in the stereo field.

Embedded below is the mix of By Yourself:

Dreary Pale Shadow

Screenshot of the Dreary Pale Shadow Protools Session:

Vocals and main backing vocals – The main vocals use a fast delay to help bring them to the front of the mix and give them a distinctive sound. They are compressed to stay clearly audible at all times. They use the same reverb as the lead and acoustic guitars, which helps to create a solid trinity of instruments with the vocal filling the centre of the stereo field. The backing vocals use the same reverb as the main vocal but to a larger degree making it feel like the backing vocal is coming from behind the vocalist. There is no delay on the backing vocal to help give it definition from the lead part.

Backing vocals – As there were so many backing vocal tracks which make up the vocal soundscape, it had to be created on a separate session in order to save processing power and tracks. The sound has been created by recording 15 different vocal parts singing different vowel sounds in harmony. A church style reverb has then been added to each vocal via an auxiliary track and each has been placed in approximately 13% intervals across the stereo field. The vocals don’t all come in at the same time allowing the listener to try to gain localisation on some of the vocals which then becomes overwhelmed. This sound was faded during each of the chorus’ so that they had a feeling of the track becoming clearer, helping define the different sections.

Voices – Although several conversations were recorded only a very small amount of these recordings were used. One conversation has been distorted a great deal and plays behind the second verse. Of the other 4 takes certain words have been selected and reversed for use in the build up section. These come in progressively more through the build up from varying places in the stereo field to create confusion. These come to a climax after just before the final chorus.

Signal Generator – A signal generator has been bussed to an audio track and recorded quickly changing the frequency of a pure tone sine wave. This creates a very robotic sound which has been placed alongside the reversed voices coming from varying points in the stereo field in the build up. This further adds to the feeling of confusion before everything clears for the final chorus.

Distorted Lead Guitar – This was left as recorded but with a slight reverb so that it sits in the mix without sounding muddy. In the context,
despite the reverb, it sounds very forward in the mix. It has been panned 40% right contrary to the acoustic which also plays through the whole track.

Acoustic guitar – Panned 40% left contrary to the lead guitar. This track has been compressed slightly so that it can be heard at all times. This is particularly important in this track as the acoustic guitar has a rhythm which really drives the track. It uses the same reverb as the lead guitar so that it is in the same position on the opposite side of the stereo field, helping the mix feel balanced.

Bass – The feature of the bass on this track which makes it different from other tracks, is that it uses the same reverb as the backing vocals. This is to a lesser degree but pushes the bass back in the mix to allow space for the vocals and lead guitar which are both quite near the front.

Drums (scored on Cubase) –like with the backing vocals, because they had so much treatment they had to be edited differently to the rest of the track. As mixing the drum sounds would have been less effective in isolation the mix was done in the same session but when the desired sound was reached the effect was processed onto the track to save processing power. Each of the drums used a heavily amount of E.Q to create a unique sound which was far removed from the original. Doing this helped achieve a more distinctive drum sound than that which would have been created if a standard sound had been found. After applying E.Q the kick, snare and hi-hat were gated to make them sound more defined and a reverb was then added to give them a unified artificial space of a medium sized room. Once the drum sounds had been created, the kick sound was copied to another track and reversed. A large amount of delay with a huge 99% feedback was added so that once it was triggered it kept going for the duration of the track. This was then faded in and out in selected sections -the first being the start of the second verse – to add interest to the track.

Embedded below is the mix of Dreary Pale Shadow:

Moving Inside

Vocals – Mixed in the style of John Lennon on the track Instant Karma, with a pronounced delay and slight reverb. This helps give the vocal a recognisable edge and brings it to the front of the mix. Compression has also been used to stop the vocal being swallowed by the track at certain points.

Rhythm Distorted Guitar – This guitar has no additional effects and processors added to it in the mix. It has been double tracked and panned hard left and right to give a chorus like effect with helps give the guitar character.

Lead Distorted Guitar – This has again been left as it was recorded to retain the rough edged sound. It has been left panned in the centre of the mix as the rhythm guitar is hard left and right.

Overdriven Guitar (volume swirls, two tracks) – These were again left the same as recorded but panned 50% left and right to separate the two similar sounds.

Bass – A slight 2dB E.Q boost was done at 200Hz so that the bass was not quite as deep as on tracks like By Yourself but still had a low end presence in the mix. To make the bass sound as full as on tracks like By Yourself and Dreary Pale Shadow would have taken away from the rocky/punky feel of the recording.

Dr-Rex/ Audio Sample Drums – After cutting several Dr-Rex loops to create the drums for the verses, audio samples were taken from the Stop Dreaming recording session. There was a very specific idea of what was to be achieved in a thumping kick drum and tom sound building progressively with 2 hits for every beat. To do this Re-Drum was first used to map the timing with a kick drum. This was then recorded to an audio track so that the correct timing could be viewed. Samples of the Stop Dreaming tom and kick hits were then imported onto the session and pulled in time with the Re-Drum audio track. They were chosen so that the intensity increased with the build up in two waves with the tom tracks only coming in on the second bar of each wave. Each of the 3 tom tracks build in through this bar. The Re-Drum audio track was then deleted leaving just the audio samples. The samples were manipulated slightly with an E.Q boost at 100Hz for the kick and a boost at 150Hz for the toms to add low end power.

Embedded below is the mix of Moving Inside:

Not Really Here

Screenshot of the Not Really Here Protools Session:

Vocals – One lead and two backing vocal tracks. The lead vocal has a 15% wet large church reverb to set it back into the dreamy feel of the mix. The first backing vocal (singing on the bridge and chorus sections) has the same reverb but to a lesser 7% degree so that when it comes in the vocal appears to move forward in the mix. Both the lead and first backing vocal are panned centrally to create a strong unity between them when they are both singing. The second backing vocal (which only sings the last phrase of the chorus) is double tracked and panned hard left and right to create a thicker sound. This also separates them from the lead and first backing vocal creating a large amount of emphasis for this part of the chorus. Each of the vocals uses a compressor, like on all tracks, so that no words are lost in the mix.

Clean Guitars with delay – These two tracks were panned hard left and right to give maximum separation between them and also to help create a more full sounding mix. Both of the tracks have a large hall reverb to help emphasis the dreamy feel of the mix but aren’t so heavily affected as to make them muddy the mix.

Distorted Rhythm Guitar- This track has been left as it was recorded and has been panned 50% left contrary to the guitar to create fullness and balance across the stereo field.

Acoustic Guitar –Like the distorted guitar this has been left as it was recorded and panned 50% right contrary to the distorted rhythm guitar.

Bass –This has been done in the same way as many of the tracks, including By Yourself, to create a full sound.

Dr-Rex Drums –Again, like By Yourself, these were multiple Dr-Rex drum loops edited together. The only difference with this track is that in the middle 8 they have a large hall reverb applied to them to further emphasise the dreamy Shoegaze feel.

Embedded below is the mix of Not Really Here:

Mastering

After all tracks were mixed to standard that was felt satisfactory an L2 ultramaximizer was added to the master fader and the threshold set to get the optimum level from the track.

Overall Reflection:

This was the hardest week so far and it took careful organisation to complete all parts of the task. It would be very hard to find this many hours every week but is worth while for the two weeks while mixing so that the goal of having the CD ready by March 17^th can be reached.

Total week time: 29 hours

Week 29

2008-02-29T22:14:38Z

Practice 9 (week 29)

Main aims:

Create a backing track for Who Are You Now
Play the updated set in front of an audience to get feedback

Results:

Backing track for Who Are You Now completed
Some interesting and unexpected feedback

Practice Length:

4 hours

Reflection

After playing Who Are You Now through several times to confirm each part, a backing track was created on Protools with Bass and drums. The bass was recorded through D.I and Protools Mbox pre-amp. The drums were created using a programme not used before called ‘Fruity Loops’. This was available through re-wire so could be synchronised with Protools. This use of a new programme helped set the new track apart from the rest of the set.

After completing the backing track and playing through the new set once - with Who Are You Now being played twice as it was a new track – a similar collection of people were invited to listen to it being played and asked to comment. Who Are You Now received very positive feedback which was pleasing but Dreary Pale Shadow was picked out as being a weaker track by two people, which was unexpected. This would have to be kept in mind and some feedback from audience members at the gig about this track may be useful.

Gig promotion

As the gig is next week flyer have been posted online as with gig one and messages and comments have been left.

Final Recording Session:

Unfinished
Moving Inside
Dreary Pale Shadow
Common Sense
Stop Dreaming

The reasons for selecting these tracks for this recording session were as follows: Unfinished was felt to be a good first track as, although it isn’t massively urgent until the end, it still has a driving feel which helps get the performer into the mood and mindset which best suits the faster more urgent ‘Moving Inside’, ‘Dreary Pale Shadow’ and Common Sense. The last track is also heavy but is much slower. This makes it suitable for being recorded near the end of the day when the performers are more tired.

Unfinished:

Instruments:

Vocals

Distorted Lead Guitars

Acoustic Guitar

Bass

Dr-Rex drums

This track was recorded much like others before it. The vocals were recorded twice so that they could be double tracked and the distorted lead guitars were recorded with the SE2200A microphone about 2ft from the amplifier to give it a little space that it was felt this song would benefit from.

Moving Inside:

Instruments:

Vocals

Lead Distorted Guitar with delay

Rhythm Distorted Guitar

Overdriven Guitar

Bass

Dr-Rex/ Audio Sample Drums

As this was the most energetic track on the album it was thought best for all part to be recorded at the same time. Although the track was done with pre-recorded Dr-Rex drum loops, playing together still helped capture more energy in the recording. This session took place in studio 1 at Markeaton Street where all components of the recording were set up in separate rooms to avoid excessive spill. One of the amps was in studio 2, one in the studio 2 control room, the bass was D.I in control room one and the vocal microphone was in studio one. The rhythm guitar was recorded using an SM57 to give a hard rocky edge and the lead guitar was recorded using an AKG 414B to give a more full sound. The lead guitar uses a DigiTech RP100R to create the delay effect. The two feedback tracks were overdubbed after the main recording using the AKG414B microphone once again to achieve a full sound. The vocals used a Neuman u87 placed around 1ft away from the performer to give some room sound without making the vocal sound too warm; a warm sounding vocal wouldn’t have suited the track well.

Dreary Pale Shadow:

Instruments:

Vocals

Backing Vocals

Voices

Distorted Guitar

Acoustic guitar

Bass

Cubase Drums

This recording was done in a very similar way to By Yourself in week 28 but with the distorted guitar having the SE2200A close to the amplifier to pick up as much of the direct sound as possible. The two major differences were that 15 backing vocal takes made up the sound at the start which goes through the entire song, 5 takes of conversations were done and the drums were step written using Cubase. This was done so that the Glitchy sounds with drum hits played at a speed impossible for a human player were possible. These fast drum hits were done on some instruments that would not usually be associated with this effect such as Maracas and Cabasas to create a distinctive drum sound.

Common Sense:

Instruments:

Vocals

Distorted Lead Guitar

Acoustic Guitar

Bass

Dr-Rex Drums

Common Sense was recorded in exactly the same way as By Yourself but used an SM57 to record the rough edged sound of the distorted guitar.

Stop Dreaming:

Instruments:

Vocals

Distorted guitar

Clean guitar

Bass

Real drums

The major difference on this track is that the drums are recorded live at Markeaton Street in Studio 1 using the control 24. They have been recorded as follows:

Kick – using a D112 because of its high quality bass response. It has been placed quite close on axis to the drums skin to capture the slap o the beater while still capturing a good low frequency content aided by proximity effect.

Snare – An SM57 was selected for the snare largely because of its good mid range frequency response. It was placed off axis to the snare drum as not to induce any unwanted low frequencies through proximity effect.

Hi-Hat – Recorded using an SM57 selected for its good handling of high sound pressure levels (S.P.L’s) and distinctive sound. This was placed quite near the edge of the Hi-Hat as the Bell was not being used.

Toms – AKG clip on microphones were used for each of the toms. Placed facing across the toms skin to pick up the sound of the sticks slap. 3 SM57’s were also placed below the each of the toms to pick up some additional low frequencies which would be required for the build up section. These microphones phase was reversed as to not cause phase cancellation with the clip on microphone tracks

Overheads – Two C1000’s were placed as a wide stereo pair around 3ft above the drum kit facing the symbols. They were placed high so to give a natural but controllable reverb to the kit.

The distorted guitar was recorded using the SE2200A close to the amplifier to pick up as much of the direct sound as possible. The clean guitar used the AKG414B microphone set on a hyper-cardioid polar response placed around 1ft away to give space, presence and a slightly different sound to that found on other tracks. The vocals were recorded using the high-end Neuman u87 microphone with a pop shield. The performance was done close to the microphone to give a personal feel to the vocal.

Re-recording parts from the first recording session

Not Really Here

One of the lead guitar channels was re-recorded in this session as after listening back Martin was not totally happy with the take. This was recorded using the same technique as on the original guitar recording.

Exterior Additions

The vocal performance on the chorus was a little weak on this track so was re-recorded. Again, the same microphone technique was used as in the original recording.

Reflection on the recording session:

The choice of tracks worked particularly well for this session and although the session was long the energy of the songs helped keep interest. Regular breaks also helped make the session more manageable. Overall the recording session went well but some small parts may need re-recording.

Album art meeting 2

After viewing the art, both the band and artist were happy with the work that had been done. The sketches were now ready to be scanned and made into an album cover. Before this materials were ordered so that the CD’s could be manufactured. 5 different colours of Lightscribe CD’s were ordered so that the CD’s could have professional looking images printed onto them. The 5 colours act as a selling point in that buyers of the album have a choice of colour allowing them to have an album which feels more personal to them. The use of 5 colours also fits in with A.Miller’s rule of 5 choices being the easiest small quantity that the human brain can deal with.

As well as these CD’s clear CD cases were ordered that allowed art to be viewable through all parts of the CD. Finally, high quality paper was order to print the cover onto. A slightly heavier paper weight was chosen than on standard professional CD’s to give the CD a feel of extra quality.

Overall reflection:

Although there were a lot of hours done this week it was manageable and was a crucial stage of the production process.

Total weel time: 22 Hours

Week 28

2008-02-29T20:03:05Z

Practice 8 (week 28)

Main aims:

Confirm the new set list
Play the new set through several times
Finish writing Who Are You Now with Martin
Introduced the two new songs Far Away and Holes in the Smiles

Results:

Who Are You Now finished
Demo of Who Are You Now recorded
New set list confirmed
New set practiced
Ideas for Martin’s guitar parts for both Far Away and Holes in the Smiles

Practice Length:

4 hours

Reflection

The first thing that was done at this practice was for the set to be confirmed and played twice without Who Are You Now. This was done very successfully with no problems. Once this was done the Who Are You Now structure was finalised and a rough demo recording was created. After this the two new songs, Far Away and Holes in the Smiles, were introduced. These were received particularly well by Martin and ideas for possible parts quickly came into fruition.

Below is the rough demo recording of Who Are You Now:
Promotion for gig:

A message to all members of the Manilla Crescent Facebook group was sent giving information about the second gig. The aim was to not only promote the gig but also to subtly get the bands name familiar to potential fans. It is debatable whether these messages have been sent a little prematurely (3 weeks before the gig) to make a big impact as they may be forgotten. This shouldn’t matter too much though as more messages will be sent nearer the time to reinforce the idea. The risk is that too many messages may become annoying.

Recording (Part 1):

The main system used will be Protools LE 6.9 with an addition Waves plug-in package through Mbox 1. When tracks are recorded in the Markeaton studios the .WAV files will be taken and imported into the Protools LE 6.9 system to be mixed.

Preparation:

These tracks were chosen to be recorded at the same time as they all have a similar feel. A Face to Hide the Doubt was chosen as the first track to be recorded as it was felt that with its upbeat feel it would be best to set the mood for the recording session. Fading Out was chosen to be recorded last as it has a slower more dreamy feel; more suitable for the more tired performers at the end of the session. Before recording began the tempos were agreed upon and drums were arranged for each of the tracks. Some of these drum tracks were updated versions of the drums which had been used when playing the tracks live.

Tracks recorded:

A Face To Hide The Doubt
By Yourself
Not Really Here
Exterior Additions
Gone
Fading Out

A Face to Hide the Doubt

Instruments:

Vocals

Distorted Guitar with delay

Clean guitar

Acoustic Guitar

Bass

Dr-Rex Drums

The drums were taken from a loop found on the royalty free website:

http://www.soundsnap.com

The first parts to be recorded on this track were the guitar parts. Firstly, the clean guitars were inserted through the Mbox D.I using its focusrite as a pre-amp. Next the overdriven distorted guitar - with tremolo in one section created by a DigiTech RP100R multi-effects and Boss DS1 distortion pedal – was recorded using a Fender champion 30 DSP amp and an SM57 dynamic microphone with a cardioid polar response pattern. This microphone gave the slightly more rough edged sound that was wanted. The bass was then D.I again trough the Mbox. Finally the vocals were recorded using a Studio Electronics SE2200A condenser microphone with a cardioid polar response pattern. The vocals were recorded with the performer approximately 1 meter from the microphone to give the vocal additional presence, a technique commonly used by The Smashing Pumpkins and found to be very effective.

By Yourself

Instruments:

Vocals

Clean Guitar with delay

Acoustic Guitar

MIDI Piano

Bass

Dr-Rex Drums

Overdriven guitar

The drums were creating using Dr-Rex loops which have been combined together in areas to create a more full sound. Single open high hat sounds have also been cut from one loop and used at certain points in the song. Once the drums were complete the acoustic guitar was recorded. This was done using the higher quality SE2200A on the guitars sound box to capture the main body of sound and a Samson C03 condenser microphone on the neck to pick up any desirable fret noise. The bass and vocals were then recorded using the same technique as on A Face to Hide the Doubt.

The clean guitar with delay effect and MIDI piano were added the next day. The MIDI piano was done using Reasons NN19 digital sampler using the ‘Grand Piano’. Reason is synchronised to Protools through ReWire which makes performing MIDI parts with the track an easy task. The clean guitar with delay was recorded using the SE2200A to pick up as full as sound as possible. This was placed around 2ft from the amplifier to give more presence. Finally the 3 layers of overdrive guitars feeding back were added. These were all recorded through the SE2200A close to the amplifier to pick up as much of the direct sound as possible.

Not Really Here

Instruments:

Vocals

Clean Guitars with delay

Distorted Rhythm Guitar

Acoustic Guitar

Bass

Dr-Rex Drums

Recorded using the same techniques as used on By Yourself but with the distorted guitar recorded using a new technique. This was to have the Samson C03 set to an omni-direction polar response close to the amplifier to pick up direct sound with some reflections. The SE2200A was then place around 3 meters away as an ambient microphone to pick up more of the reverb of the room. The aim of this guitar sound was to create a distant Shoegazy feel that is heard on the Smashing Pumpkins track ‘This Time’.

Exterior Additions

Instruments:

Vocals

Clean Guitar with delay

Overdriven Guitar (feedback)

Bass

Dr-Rex and Re-Drum Drums

Once the Dr-Rex drums were done as they were on By Yourself the Re-Drum parts were step written and added over the chorus to the Protools session through Rewire. Again, recorded using the same microphones and techniques found to be successful in Not Really Here. The only deviation was that an overdriven guitar plays volume swirls in the background using feedback. This has been recorded using the SE2200A roughly 1ft from the amplifier to gain a rich and full sound.

Gone

Instruments:

Vocal

Clean guitar

Overdriven Guitar (volume swirls)

Acoustic Guitar

Bass

Dr-Rex Drums

Gone has again been recorded using the same techniques as Not Really Here but with a different recording of the overdriven guitar. This has been achieved, like in Exterior Additions, by placing the microphone approximately 1ft from the amplifier. The overdrive and tremolo effects on this guitar have been achieved using Boss DN2 overdrive and DigiTech RP250A multi-effects pedals.

Fading Out

Instruments:

Vocals

Clean guitar with delay

Overdriven Guitar (Volume Swirls)

Bass

Re-Drum Drums

Fading out uses the form of drum programming used on Exterior Additions with Re-Drum. This was used as there was a precise idea of the exact drum rhythm which would best suit this track. The other difference from other tracks when recording was that the two delayed guitars were recorded at the same time with two condenser AKG C414B microphones, each placed around 2ft from the amplifiers in Markeaton Street Studio 1. This was done so that each guitar track would have slight spill from the other and therefore when panning them hard left and right they would create a more full sound. It also helped give the feeling of unity between the guitar tracks.

Reflection:

Although there were a lot of hours this week it was felt that this was worth while to reach or optimistic deadline for the albums completion. 18 hours is a manageable amount of time but it may become a little difficult in coming weeks when this number will become a little higher.

Total week time: 18 Hours

Week 27

2008-02-29T18:44:14Z

Practice 7 (week 27)

Main aims:

Practice the set without Martin
Draft a suggested set for Gig 2
Song writing session

Results:

Tracks successfully played
New set list created
Two new song ideas created

Practice Length:

2 hours

Reflection

A new set suggestion was written for the second gig at the Louisiana in week 30. The only alteration was the addition of the new track Who Are You Now to be played third. This will mean that the high tempo of the open two tracks will be retained for longer, which is something I feel the set would benefit from. It will also add to the impact that the slower paced Gone will have. Both A Face to Hide the Doubt and Fading Out were attempted after creating rough backing tracks but neither worked as live tracks. Fading out has a section at the start which has no drums and adding a hi-hat or kick drum sound ruined this section.

New Set for Gig 2:

By Yourself
Dreary Pale Shadow
Who are you now
Gone
Not really Here
Moving Inside
Stop Dreaming

Set time: 24 minutes

After deciding the set and playing it through twice with the less practiced Who Are You Now being played an extra time a song writing session was undertaken. This was extremely successful and resulted in ideas for two new songs ‘Far Away’ and ‘Holes in the Smiles’, to be presented to Martin in next weeks practice.

Meeting about album art:

With recording of the album due to begin next week, it seems a good time to begin thinking about possibilities for the album art. Inspiration for album cover art came from some pictures that had been drawn for by a friend of mine called Andy. These included a sketch of Jesus with a computer chip replacing his head. It was thought that this image was a little strong in anti religious content and was itself not suited to a band with no openly strong opinions on the subject. After stumbling upon the idea a meeting was arranged with Andy to discuss possibilities and whether or not he would be willing to contribute.

The result of this meeting was that Andy felt very positively about the idea and felt confident that he could produce the artwork to a high standard. It was also decided that some sketches of the band members would also be useful for the inside section of the cover. A date was set that the art could comfortably be completed for in week 31 and it was arranged that photographs of the band member would be sent via email as soon as possible. Martin was contacted after the meeting and it was agreed that he would email me several pictures of himself and these were emailed to Andy immediately.

Total week time: 3 hours

Week 26

2008-02-29T18:23:02Z

Practice 5 (week 26)

Main aims:

Break the songs into a basic acoustic form to improve the level of understanding of the songs.
Introduce ‘Who Are You Now’ to Martin in acoustic form.

Results:

Further understanding of the songs achieved and slight improvements in a few areas.
Preliminary idea for Martins guitar part for ‘Who Are You Now’.

Practice Length:

4 hours

Reflection

The main part of this practice was taken playing each of the songs through in there most basic form with acoustic guitars. The aim of the practice was to help develop the level of understanding of the songs structure and what each member is playing. The songs were also critically reviewed at the end of each performance in order to try to uncover possible improvements. The result of this was that a few small changes were made to Martins guitar parts on ‘Not Really Here’ and ‘Gone’.

Once the main part of the practice had been done the new song idea ‘Who Are You Now’ was presented to Martin. He reacted very positively to this track and some ideas were generated for a possible second guitar part. Slight structural adjustments were also made to help the song flow more effortlessly.

Although the idea of having a solely acoustic practice was quite successful, on reflection, it may have been more beneficial to simply run through the set exactly as it will be played, as the gig is so close. There is one further practice scheduled before the gig through, so doing the practice in this way shouldn’t lead to any meaningful disadvantage.

Promotion for gig:

Myspace and Facebook messages were sent out reminding people who reacted positively to the potential of seeing Manilla Crescent of the gigs time, date and location.

Practice 6 (week 26)

Main aims:

The set must be played several times to build the confidence ready for the gig which is this week.
Test all equipment

Results:

Both members feeling confident and prepared for the coming gig.
No problems were found with the equipment.

Practice Length:

4 hours

Reflection

This practice was relatively straight forward and quite relaxed. The set was played through 5 times to make sure there were no parts that either member wasn’t confident with. Rough ideas were also experimented with as to what would be said between songs, although no solid ideas were kept as to not make it look too scripted. The main points that were raised were that the band had to be clearly introduced at the beginning, the coming album had to be mentioned and the audience has to be thanked at the end. A policy was also decided that if any mistakes were made, the performance would continue as best as possible in the hope that people won’t notice.

Gig One - 29^th January, The Louisiana, Bristol

Preparation:

The main preparation considerations were to ensure that transport to the gig for the 6 o’clock sound check was available and that all equipment was fully tested. Once the transport had been arranged and all the equipment had been tested in a final practice, an equipment list was created to ensure that nothing was forgotten. An iPod containing the backing tracks was also taken so that if the laptop failed the gig could still be played.

Equipment list:

Laptop

iPod (back up)

Mini stereo jack to split mono cable for the laptops output to the desk.

3 electric guitars

1 Electro acoustic guitar

4 Guitar effect pedals

8 jack lead (2 spares)

2 guitar amps

Attendance (people who came only to see Manilla Crescent):

30 people

Payment:

£30 (£1 per person who came to see Manilla Crescent)

Aims:

The main aim of this gig is to promote the coming album aimed to be completed by the 17^th of March (week 33).

Reflection:

The only problem that was hit during sound check was that the laptop was creating a buzzing sound when played through the P.A. This was found to be an impedance matching issue which was solved with the use of a D.I box. The videos revealed that when performing both band members looked a little stiff and the talking between songs felt a little nervous. Although this is disappointing both these problems should dissolve with experience.

The feedback from the audience after the gig was as expected, that we looked quite nervous. We felt that Stop Dreaming was a little slow to end on and perhaps created a bit of an anti climax after Moving Inside. The main positive from the gig was that the band was invited back by the promoter for a second gig on the 29^th of February. Overall, the gig was a success, although improvements can be made.

Decide tracks for album:

With the first promotional gig for the new album played this week it seemed a good time to decide which tracks would be taken forward to be recorded for the new album. The tracks decided were as follows:

A Face to Hide the Doubt

Probably the most upbeat of the tracks selected and therefore a possible single if in the future one was needed. Has a rhythm which is quite easy to move to and quite different from any of the other tracks.

By Yourself

Like ‘A Face to Hide the Doubt’ this track has quite an upbeat feel. It is also probably the most obvious single and has a fast tempo, something with is not too common amongst the current selection of Manilla Crescent tracks.

Unfinished

‘Unfinished’ was selected primarily because it is probably the strongest track lyrically. It also departs from the rest of the album with a messy sounding ending. Like ‘By Yourself’ it is also quite fast paced which the album will benefit from.

Exterior Additions

This track has some of the most interesting lead melodies in its instrumental last section. It is fast paced but by the end feels like it has slowed down a great deal. This will be of large benefit to the album as it will provide a smooth transition between fast and slower paced tracks.

Gone

This is the oldest of all the tracks (around 8 months old) and has also been the most popular with people who have heard it. It is a lot more laid back than many of the other tracks and therefore has a place in adding depth to the album as well as a being very strong track.

Not Really Here

This is probably the most poppy song on the album with its chorus appearing three times. It fits well with the ‘Shoegaze’ sound found in tracks like ‘Gone’, but delivers it in a much faster, more driving way.

Dreary Pale Shadow

One of the main benefits of selecting this track is that it has a very different, unconventional sound from anything else on the album. Taking it forward to the recording and production stage this difference can be taken even further through creative and interesting production. The point that it departs from the rest of the album means that it not only adds an extra level of variation but can also act as a tool to keep the listeners attention.

Stop Dreaming

Like ‘Dreary Pale Shadow’ this track departs from other tracks on the album but is very much more conventional. It is the only track that has a slow build up, it has probably the strongest change in parts when it goes from the end of the build up into the heavy section and therefore is a track which has to be on the album.

Fading Out

This track goes back to a similar laid back sound that is present in ‘Gone’. It takes this feel to more of an extreme, though, especially in the instrumental section early in the song. This tracks also helps bring the album into a dreamy sound; something associated with the ‘Shoegaze’ Genre, this sound is found to a lesser degree in ‘Exterior Additions’, ‘Gone’ and ‘Not Really Here’.

Moving Inside

‘Moving Inside’ is another possible single which probably has the best hook in its lead guitar line. It’s the only song with two heavy guitars playing rock music and has a fast tempo and energy which are only heard on this track.

Common Sense

This track works in a similar way to Dreary Pale Shadow in that it sounds different from the rest of the tracks and is therefore useful for regaining attention. It will use a hand drum sample which will probably not be used on any other part of the album. It also has a link to Dreary Pale Shadow in its Arabic sound.

Total week time: 12 Hours

Week 25

2008-02-29T17:06:11Z

Practice 3 (week 25)

Main aims:

Further perfect the set
Get feedback on the current state of the performance

Results:

Both members feeling a lot more comfortable with the set
Generally positive feedback with a few small things to note

Practice Length:

2 hours

Reflection

The set was performed in front of; my younger brother and two friends who are 16, two of my friends both aged 21 and three of Martins friends all aged 24. It was felt that these ages represented a reasonably accurate cross section of the target audience. The disadvantage of having all audience members as friends is that they are less likely to criticise very harshly. On the positive side, this may act as a useful buffer to protect the bands confidence.

The feedback was generally positive although there were comments about Gone being played a little too fast and the ‘Stop Dreaming’ backing track sounding a little out of place when it is just a hi-hat at the start. Unfortunately, this problem with the backing track is difficult to resolve as the band need to stay in time with it so that they can synchronise with the build up. In ear monitoring is the only real solution but is not possible at this level. If this continues to be a problem the track may need to be dropped for the set, although, at the moment it is still felt to be a strong track. Positive feedback was given particularly about ‘By Yourself’ and ‘Moving Inside’; two tracks expected to be popular.

The set was played twice, once before the performance to the audience, which was quite successful although still needed to be refined slightly, and once to the audience. The performance in front of the audience was quite successful although there were a few minor mistakes that need to be resolve before the actual performance.

Practice 4 (week 25)

Main aims:

Run through the set by myself as Martin is not available
Song writing session

Results:

New song written
Further familiarity with the songs gained

Practice Length:

2 hours

Reflection

As Martin was not available for the scheduled practice it was thought it would still be highly beneficial if the set was played through alone. The set was played through both with the backing track and without, which gave space to concentrate in detail on the vocal performance. This also allowed experimentation with new vocal ideas, for example, to do some high singing at the end of ‘Gone’ on the live version.

After the set had been run though, some time was set aside to experiment with new song ideas. The result of this was the creation of a song named ‘Who Are You Now’, to be introduced to Martin in the next practice.

Promotion for gig:

Several further steps were taken from the orginal efforts at promotion last week. The Louisiana – the venue for the first gig on the 29^th Jan - emailed a flyer. This has been posted on myspace pages of people who it is felt will potentially attend the gig. The reason it was not posted on every page possible was as not to cause an annoyance and therefore create a bad name with people who will definitely not be coming.

Embedded below is the flyer that was used:

Along with these flyers Myspace bulletins have also been sent have been detailing the gig and coming album release. Bulletins allow the user to reach a wide audience but are updated by other members so quickly that they rarely have as large an impact as posts on pages.

Finally, in addition to the Facebook group an event for the gig has been created. It appears this can have positive or negative effects as it lists people definitely attending the gig. If this number is low it may put off people who would potentially have otherwise come. This event has been created a week after the group so that most of the group invites have been accepted and therefore it reaches a larger audience.

Below is a screen shot of the event page on Facebook:

Total week time: 6 hours

Week 24

2008-02-29T14:04:32Z

Introduction to the next stage of the project

Now that the advertising research study has been completed some of the ideas and techniques it uncovered can be applied to both creating and promoting the Manilla Crescent product. Firstly, the album will be created and simultaneously its release will be promoted, largely through gigs, which will be performed approximately monthly. Details of practice sessions for these promotional gigs will be documented on a weekly basis along with other work relevant to the project. After the completion of the album other promotional techniques will be performed and documented. The album is scheduled to be completed by the 17^th of March (week 33) and reports on its progress will follow. The band consists of 2 members, myself on guitar and vocals and Martin on lead guitar. A backing track is also used when playing live as detailed.

Practice 1 (week 24)

Main aims:

Outline a possible set list for the January 30^th (week 26) gig which has been booked at The Louisiana in Bristol. The set length is to be between 20 and 30 minutes.
Prepare the backing tracks that will be used.
Run through the set list

Results:

A preliminary set list was outline
The backing tracks have been bounced
Set played through twice

Practice Length:

4 hours

Reflection

After disusing which tracks would be most suited to live performance with Martin, a preliminary set list was constructed. It was decided that ‘By Yourself’ would be the best track to open the set with as it has a fast tempo which will get listeners attention quickly. This is followed by ‘Moving Inside’ which retains the high tempo. ‘Dreary Pale Shadow’ then presents a very different sound which will hopefully get some members of the audience viewing the band as more than a standard indie rock group. ‘Gone’ is then played acoustically which adds variation and dynamics to the set as well as slowing its fast starting pace. The penultimate track ‘Not Really Here’ then picks up the tempo again and helps add impact to very much slower final track, ‘Stop Dreaming.

Set list: Time

By Yourself (3:00)
Moving Inside (2:40)
Dreary Pale Shadow (3:20)
Gone (3:10)
Not Really Here (3:00)
Stop Dreaming (4:10)

Total Set time: 20minute 20 seconds
(+ approximately 1 minute of talking between songs)

After deciding the set, the backing tracks had to be made. These were done using the Protools LE and MBox package. These consist of drums - done using Reason’s Dr Rex and Re-Drum - and bass with occasional backing vocals. The bass has been recorded through a D.I using the Mbox’s Focusrite pre-amp. The vocals have been recorded using a Studio Electronics SE2200A condenser microphone which has a Cardioid polar response pattern. A pop shield has also been used to avoid plosives and sibilance.

When mixing the backing tracks Protools ‘EQIII’ was used to help shape the sound of the bass and Waves RVerb reverb plug-in was used on the vocals and some of the drum tracks. Waves ‘RComp’ compressor was also used on some bass tracks to help them sit in the mix and avoid moments where certain notes are noticeably more prominent than others. Once the tracks were mixed the Waves ‘L2 Ultramaximizer’ was used get maximum level from each track.

The backing track for Not Really Here has been embedded below as an example:

Once this was completed the set was played through twice to both check the backing tracks were correct and help make the songs more familiar. The first performance was quite loose but there was a clear improvement in the second. Overall, this practice was successful but the two performances were a little rushed due to a lack of time. This shortage of time is not too much of a problem though, as this will be one of the most ambitious 4 hour practice slots and will not be occurring regularly.

Practice 2 (week 24)

Main aims:

Finalise the set list
Finalise the backing tracks
Play through the set

Results:

A slight change to the running order
Backing tracks are ready for the gig after being tested on several different media.
Set played through 3 times

Practice Length:

4 hours

Reflection

Before beginning the practice, the backing tracks were tested on several large stereo systems, using headphones, in several car stereos – useful because of the large amount of padding in a car which absorbs reflections - and a low level P.A system used by a friend’s band. Ideally the tracks would have been tested on the P.A being used at the Gig before sound check in case of any unexpected problems but access to the P.A system, like in most gig situations, is not possible.

The first two performances of the set at this practice weren’t as successful as expected; with the first at a similar level to the first run though in practice one, 3 days previous. By the third performance there were obvious improvements and the set was beginning to sound a lot more like it was intended to.

After testing the backing tracks and playing the set through it was decided that the set was to be re-ordered slightly. The result of this was that ‘Moving Inside’ became the penultimate track. It was felt that only having ‘Not Really Here’ after ‘Gone’ as the build up to the drop for the slower ‘Stop Dreaming’ didn’t emphasise the large change in tempo well enough.

Re-arranged set list:

By Yourself (3:00)
Dreary Pale Shadow (3:20)
Gone (3:10)
Not Really Here (3:00)
Moving Inside (2:40)
Stop Dreaming (4:10)

Promotion

A Facebook group has been created to communicate and promote the coming pre-album gigs. As many people were sent add requests as possible and those that were also sent messages requesting that they add all of there friends to the group also.

A screenshot of the Facebook has been attached as a link is no possible unless the reader is a member of the social network:

Total week time: 8 hours

A Study of advertising (Weeks 20 -25) Part 1

2008-02-14T21:55:41Z

This report brings together all of the research done so far along with additional research where needed.
(Weeks 20-25)

A study of advertising

Introduction

Examples of advertising have been found dating back as far as the Babylonians in the 3000’s BC. Some of the earliest methods used were often pronounced signs painted on walls, many directing passers by to a nearby place to stay. It took until the 20^th century though for it to emerge as a major industry in its own right - today worldwide advertising spending is in excess of £180 billion per year.

Advertising is considered so powerful today that there are entire degree courses devoted to its psychology and governments have banned products like tobacco from being advertised at all. Many adverts aimed at children are also banned – strangely advertising for alcoholic products is still accepted, largely without question. The concern at the power of advertising is illustrated in a recent BBC report stating that researchers say “Restrictions on television junk food adverts do not properly protect children.” Miranda Watson, from ‘Which?’ said: "The only way to shield children from TV ads for unhealthy foods is a 9pm watershed." Does this represent a paranoid society or is there a genuine cause for concern at the impact that advertising can have? Ian Twinn, from the Incorporated Society of British Advertising argues that "if you ban advertising no-one gets thinner or fitter as a result. In Sweden there is no advertising to children, and the children there are as fat as in the UK."

This paper aims to achieve an understanding of the powerful entity of advertising in order to inform the best practices for promoting the band, Manilla Crescent. It looks at; the product, what makes a popular brand, what advertising is, how advertising companies work, the different media in advertising, promotional practices, getting a consumers attention, how advertising impacts on society and how the research undertaken could relate to the creation of my product and promotional efforts.

The product

Before looking directly into advertising, one must consider the nature of the product in question. American advertising executive William Bernbach went as far as to say that “The most important element of success in ad writing is the product itself.” When investors are choosing a product they feel may be successful they often look for a unique selling point (USP). This is something which sets the product apart from the rest of the market. It could be any of a number of things; price, quality, quantity, functionality, reputation. Price is often dangerous as a stand alone USP. Having the lowest price leaves the product liable to being undercut and can lead to competition with other products for the lowest price, reducing profit.

The price will be affected by three main factors; the manufacturing cost, the prices of other products in the same market and where it is to be placed within that market. Different pricing can often also make a big difference to the products association with quality. The consumer often naturally assumes that if they pay more they get more. Conversely, a product priced too highly may be immediately rejected as it doesn’t represent value for money. The balance is crucial.

Another important consideration at the production stage is tailoring or ‘planned obsolescence’. This refers to two main states: Firstly, to when a product is purposely manufactured to fail so that it must be replaced and, secondly, to when the appearance of a product is changed or updated so that older versions quickly become obsolete. These updated versions often need to come out anyway to keep up with the changing market. Even the most successful product will eventually see sales declines.

What makes a popular brand?

The mysteries of what makes a popular brand are somethingwhich can never be fully grasped as they can change weekly. However, a few basic similarities can be observed between leading brands. Stephen Cheliotis is chairman of the ‘CoolBrands’ UK council - a company that has been carefully analysing the market for 5 years to try to identify best practice. He says that:

“Although cool is still personal and highly subjective, Superbrands has discovered common factors and characteristics inherent within a brand that is deemed to be cool. These have been defined and are now considered by both the CoolBrands council and consumers when voting. Coolbrands should be: stylish, innovative, original, authentic, desirable, unique“

Any company looking to promote a brand or product should consider this list of criteria and try to make it relevant to the market they are in. Unfortunately, these terms are quite vague and each needs a research study relevant to the products particular market to be very useful.

A particularly good example of a brand which did fulfil all these characteristics is the iPod. Stephen Cheliotis describes the iPod as “exceptional design coupled with pioneering technical development. This is the notion of cool – a fluid intangible element that is here today and gone tomorrow; or so we thought!” A further example is the success of Aston Martin who were established before the First World War. Since then they have never slipped into the trap of appearing ‘uncool’. Stephen Cheliotis concludes though, as expected, that “the reality is that Coolbrands results show that no blueprint can be followed to build a cool brand.”

A further, very different example of a cool product is cigarettes. The Marlborough man made cigarettes very popular when introduced in 1955. Advertising of cigarettes is banned today, but they remain popular despite the obvious heath risks, high prices and recent government legislation. These recent law changes though, will surely decrease the popularity of smoking as it is now more socially impractical to smoke.

What is advertising?

There are an almost infinite number of potential advertising styles and techniques. The three broad fields in which these style and techniques work are consumer, trade and institutional advertising. Consumer advertising aims at the public consumer whereas trade advertising aims at wholesalers or distributors. Consumer advertising is done on two main scales. One attempts to give exposure to a very wide audience, create awareness and builds loyalty. The other aims to make people in a fixed area aware of how they can get the product. Attempts to combine the two are often made but have limited scope. Institutional advertising’s aim is to give a good impression of the business or institution without trying to directly sell a particular product. This is often most valuable to companies who sell a large range of products.

Advertising companies

Advertising companies have different departments which work like a production line - each department completing a task and passing it on to the next until the process is complete. Commonly, these different departments are labelled, the research, media, creative and production departments; in smaller companies some of these departments often fuse.

The research department

The research department undertakes the task of evaluating the market. The research aims to uncover how the product is used and how it is currently regarded – if at all - by the consumer. From this research, the ‘Target Audience’ will be derived. Finding the correct target audience makes advertising more efficient and is crucial when working budgetary or time restraints.

Broadly, two types of research can take place; qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative research aims to get a general understanding of the market; asking questions to a selection of consumers thought to best represent the overall market. These are open ended questions as to get as much feedback as possible. Quantitative research uses close ended questions sent out to a much larger audience. The information from this is used to gather statistic data which gives more conclusive results.

The Media Department

Once the target audience has been defined the advert must be delivered through suitable media decided by The Media Department. Brett Robbs outlines 3 major considerations for the media planner in ‘Advertising’: (1) the number of people to be exposed to the message, known as the reach, (2) the number of times each person needs to be exposed to the message in order to remember it, known as the frequency, and (3) the costs.

The most effective media can be arrived upon by looking at what media is most used by the target audience. Multiple media are likely to be used and if so the amount of exposure in each media will then become part of the consideration. The media must also be carefully chosen to represent the product well. Cost will effect these decisions greatly - repetition in different mediums will mean more exposure to the audience but also more money from the budget. British industrialist and philanthropist William Hesketh summed up how difficult budgetary decisions are, saying: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and the trouble is I don't know which half.”

Creative department

The creative department works out how the advert is going to be presented in the chosen medium. There are two main roles in this department, the copywriter and the art director. The copywriter decides the message; the art director determines the image. They work together to define - based on research - what would best appeal to the target audience.

The image used by the art director may include photography which is worth briefly considering as it can take many forms. The picture can simply be of the product or can associate the product with something. Photographs used to associate the product with something can be bought from stock agencies, which have large databases of photographs. Stock photographs are much cheaper than commissioning a professional. The price for use of a stock photograph is usually based on the level of exposure. Once the creative department has completed this stage of the process, the potential advert is presented to the client. Once the client is happy it will be taken to the final stage.

Production department

The production department make and distribute the final designs. If it’s an advert for TV or radio, the production department will work with the creative department to achieve this. As well as this they will employ editors, producers and directors who will work closely with the creative team. This department aims to produce the best possible quality of advert it can in the media laid out by the media department, while keeping within the given budget.

Different media in advertising

Now the process of advertising has been discussed, it would be beneficial to look at the possible media for advertising – particularly important to the media department - in some detail. Advertising Age - an advertising trade magazine in America - measures advertising spending yearly. This section moves through the forms of media which were shown to have the highest spending. These were; television, newspapers, direct mail, radio, Yellow Pages, magazines, the Internet and a variety of other media, including billboards and point-of-purchase displays. The trends broadly stay the same, although the internet has seen a recent mass increase in spending. In the first half of 2005 spending on internet adverts in America increased by 26 percent, massively more than the 4.5% overall growth in the advertising industry. The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has recorded similar trends.

Television is the highest source of advertising spending because it reaches such a vast audience and is probably the most diverse form of media - incorporating both sound and vision. In recent times the internet has also become able to produce both sound and vision, but with limitations. T.V adverts are often very brief so have to get their message across quickly. Because T.V only offers such a fleeting time it works best at reinforcing products that are already known and don’t need a lot of explanation; like fashion, detergents or credit cards. The longer the advert is the more expensive it will be to produce and the more the advertiser will have to pay for the slot.

An advantage of T.V is that it can give an association with a programme which can be used as part of a positive image. The other advantage of having adverts sandwiched between programme parts is that it is sometimes quite easy to judge the majority of the audience’s age and interests. This makes aligning the advertising slot with the correct target audience potentially simple.

Some newspapers also allow advertisers to find quite defined target audiences, where generic readers can be derived. Other newspaper’s audiences are far more difficult to pinpoint though. Newspapers, such as The Sun, will be read by a broad range of ages and occupations. Others are local to a specific area, so are better at advertising products rather than image. This is because they are commonly published daily and coupons can be cut out and used.

The adverts in a newspaper can only provide a limited amount of information, even when using a full page spread. The sizes of adverts vary massively and therefore are a big part of the advertiser’s specification. A very small advert would struggle to fit in much information at all and a larger advert must consider arrangement so as to avoid cramming and making it undesirable to read. An advantage in this form of media is that one print may be viewed many times by a number of readers and the reader can go back and look at the information again if they are interested.

Direct mail refers to when adverts are sent either through the postal service or electronic mail (email). Emails offer direct links to the product or company and are far less expensive than postal service mailing, as no hard copies have to be produced. The disadvantage of using email is that many of them go to ‘junk’ sections and are rarely read. This makes what is written in the ‘subject’ box of the email very important. A crucial part of both styles of direct mail is the mailing list. This contains the names and addresses of people that the advert will be sent to. It is often bought from a market research company who attempt to find people matching interests and characteristics that have been linked with the product. Direct mail is widely thought to be the most effective form of advertising for direct promotional selling, as it targets only people with reasoned potential of buying the product. It is though, the most expensive.

Radio, dependant on the station, can very often offer a clear picture of its audience. This makes selecting the correct target audience for an advert a relatively easy task. When promoting music on radio, the artist will often need the help of a ‘plugger’. Professional pluggers charge £100’s of pounds and more to talk to radio stations to try to convince them that the artists tracks are worthy of a place on the stations play list. Because the radio is often listened to in cars it also offers the potential of being heard just before the prospective consumer goes shopping. The drawback is that as the radio listener is often pre-occupied - at work or in a car - and messages can easily be misinterpreted; therefore they must be simple and clear.

Magazines offer an obvious association and target audience for prospective advertisers as they are usually very specifically aimed themselves. A good example is the National Geographic magazine which commonly discusses climate problems. This is reflected in a current ‘aim zero emissions’ advert for car manufacturer Toyota. Generally though, magazines are more regional and therefore, unlike newspapers, are most often used to promote brand image.

The final major advertising media is through the internet. According to Advertising Age “About 96 percent of ad spending on the Internet goes to 50 Web companies, mostly to four sites maintained by Yahoo, Google, America Online, and the Microsoft Network.” Advertising on the internet often takes the form of banners, buttons or pop-ups. The internet offers similar opportunities to newspapers - using reference numbers that give money off - but can lead to immediate buying rather than having to actively take coupons to the nearest relevant shop. Internet advertising also offers many of the benefits of TV; able to offer both sound and visual information. The drawback with the internet is that the advert is rarely the primary focus of the screen and any sound is likely to be disabled or become an annoyance to the pre-occupied user.

The internet offers the capabilities of magazines in that advertising can often find a clearly defined audience. An example of how these clearly defined groups can be found is through social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace. These sites will know the users basic interests, age and other important information to advertisers and therefore adverts can be set to only show to people with certain characteristics. These adverts can then be tailored differently depending of what these characteristics are. Another example is the search engine Google, which shows adverts based on the search criteria. The problem with the internet in terms of target audience is that many of the older generations are not computer literate so may never come in contact with internet adverts. This is gradually changing though, as more and more people become computer literate with computing a crucial part of contemporary schooling.

The disadvantage of the internet as a media is that there is a great deal of wisely placed mistrust in everything that happens on it. This means that internet advertising is more likely to be ignored or looked upon critically. Current technology also means that there is a limited amount of space for an advert and that if the advert is very big it may take a long time to load and is likely to be an annoyance to the user.

A Study of advertising (Weeks 20 -25) Part 2

2008-02-14T21:54:13Z

A Study of advertising (Weeks 20 -25) Part 2

Promotional Practices

Promotions aim to gain customers by offering some kind of incentive which is only temporarily available and therefore necessitates immediate action from the consumer. This often leads to impulsive decisions. Promotions often take the form of, reductions, additional product, free samples, trial periods or gifts. In the example of music, this is often bonus tracks. Promotion in the music business also includes free CD’s, which are sent to radio stations and, with unsigned artists, to management and record companies. These promotions reduce profit per unit but aim to increase overall units sold to increase the total income.

A music based example of reducing price as a means of promotion is seen through the band The Vines. Their album sold for £4 instead of the standard £12. This greatly improved sales and as a result tour attendance and exposure. Logically, the customer can see that they are paying much less for a product which is physically very similar to the hordes of other CD’s encased in plastic. This means that whether the consumer likes the music or not, not buying the product appears to mean missing out on a good deal. The profit lost on the album would, arguably, have been made back because of the extra units sold and increased tour attendances. The other aim of selling the album at such a low price will have been so that sales of the full priced second album will, as a result, be much higher. Unfortunately the second album - priced on average around £12 - saw very poor sales.

Common forms of promotion in supermarkets are through points cards. These primarily attempt to help encourage loyalty through reward. Brett Robbs sights: “It is estimated that acquiring a new customer costs five to eight times as much as keeping an existing one.” As a result companies use a wide range of techniques to try to keep customers. Loyalty programmes are an example of this - in ‘Shake-out’ milkshake shops, cards are offered which accumulates stamps with each purchase. Once 10 stamps have been collected the card owner is entitled to a free milkshake. This makes the consumer feel that logically they should always buy from this establishment in order to gain a ‘free’ milkshake. Further examples are banks, which offer higher interest deals to customers who have been with the bank for a certain period of time.

These schemes often also act as a means to market research; letting the company know who has purchased what. Amazon keep records of books brought by their customers as a form of market research and use this information to find trends by which it can recommend other suitable books to customers. It also offers suggestions for customers who have already brought a book as to what is a good next book to buy helping keep customers, this helps the customer feel individually valued.

Another clever form of promotion often used by car insurance and telephone service providers is to offer a reward for attracting another customer. The reward is very much lower than it would cost the company to use advertising to get the same customer. It also leaves the current customer feeling more valued and part of the company.

A less controllable form of promotion is ‘Organic Advertising’. Organic Advertising describes when a member of a prominent group is impregnated with an idea which is then passed on to others through social influence and word of mouth. This eventually results in a popular brand or product. A good example of where this kind of advertising has a large impact is illegal drugs. They have stayed consistently popular despite, strong legislation against them, obvious and publicised health risks and no formal advertising. They are second only to oil as the biggest industry in the world. The main reasons for this mass popularity are: the strong mental ‘unworldly’ effects of many drugs which act as a USP; the point that using them helps prescribe the user to one of their associated sub cultures; and because many prominent, potential role models - particularly in the music industry - are famed for using them.

The Artic Monkeys promoted their music through a further example of successful ‘organic’ advertising. They gave away demos which fans then uploaded to the internet. The result of these tracks being uploaded was that potential fans accessed the tracks very easily and freely and therefore the bands popularity grew.

A recent study in The Times newspaper regarding advertising showed how one computer game company has picked up on organic advertising. Atari and Obsidian paid teenage gamers to advertise their ‘Neverwinter Nights 2’ gameamongst piers in online domains like chat rooms and blogs. This created a ‘buzz’ from people who regularly use computer games and enjoy discussing them. Such people will inevitably inform many of their piers about the game. Ironically, in many cases of organic advertising any further input from the company could jeopardise its effectiveness.

Political party advertising campaigns aim to promote a positive image of the party and show that they are the wisest choice; effectively the product advertised becomes the party in this situation. To do this -like with many products - they often try to associate themselves with desirable groups and organisations. Political parties are also starting to use the internet to communicate. Some use constantly updated web logs or blogs which many people visit regularly and some, such as labour, regularly issue e-newsletters to keep members up to date on party activity and policy. These are a good means to put across the party’s stands on carefully selected, popular issues. This means that they can confuse the voters’ logic by missing out information that is detrimental to their cause. These are the most preferable ways of promoting for political parties as they reach the voter with no commentators or journalists to question what is being said.

In order for advertising campaigns to evolve it is important to quantifying their success. This is sometimes done through evaluative research which takes the form of questionnaires done both via telephone and post. This is expensive though and many companies prefer to derive the success of their advertising campaigns from analysis of the sales achieved. The problem with this is that it is never the advertising campaign which autonomously decides the results.

Getting a consumers attention

There is an almost limitless selection of potential ways to get a potential consumers attention when promoting a product or brand image. The most successful advertising campaigns - like the most successful pop songs - lead to recognition after the minimum amount of exposure possible. The best advertising campaigns normally achieve this through innovative techniques. A good place to start the search for innovative promotional techniques is in the latest technology. An example of a current, wide-reaching success is the online social network, Facebook. This has already been taken advantage of by one member who created a group that accumulated people who wanted to bring back the Cadburys ‘Whisper’ chocolate bar. Also posted on the group, was a link to the users band’s Myspace page, leading to large numbers of hits. The group was so popular that Cadburys decided they would bring it back.

The way most adverts work though is through a far more devious psychology. A large number of advertisers play on the weaknesses and insecurities of consumers in order to gain a feeling of longing and need for their product. They often work on emotional wants and needs like love, belonging and confidence. This often works to help the consumer bypass logical thinking about the product. Beauty products often work on the premise that they can make you more beautiful and hide your aesthetic faults. There is a suggestion - perhaps founded - that this may also help the consumer deal with internal problems, like a lack of confidence. Personal care products often suggest that they can enable the consumer to be loved and accepted. Products such as shampoo and mints often play on the reverse and over state the rejection that not using these may cause. The implication is the same. This style of advertising effectively bullies the consumer into buying the product. These examples show the advertiser bypassing the consumers logical by evoking powerful emotions and insecurities.

Showing possible repercussions of not buying the product can sometimes be replaced by more subtle but equally effective persuasive tactics. The consumer always wants to feel that they have a part in either working out that the product is good, or making the product good. This was shown when Pillsbury released the first instant cake mix in the late 50’s. To the surprise of the company’s promotion department it was a widespread failure against the success that had been predicted. In order to uncover the reason for this psychologists and market researchers were called in by the company to investigate. The conclusion was that all the company had to do was to make the consumer add an egg to the mix. This would mean more work for the consumer, more expenditure and no noticeable enhancement in taste. The instant cake mix was re-marketed and was a mass success. The reason that this worked is believed to be that by adding the egg the consumer now believes they were making the cake themselves.

This is a further example of the advertiser bypassing the consumer’s logic.

Making sure that once the reaction and attention has been gained it is kept long enough to get a positive, meaningful reaction from the consumer is an ongoing problem for advertisers. There are broad popular methods that lead to very positive reactions if done well. One example is the use of humour which acts as a memorable, pleasing device associated with the product. In a similar vain are catchy slogans which one may find themselves repeating. A good example for a catchy and clever slogan is the current Ladbrokes betting shop campaign challenging the consumer that “Everybody's got an opinion, what's yours worth?".

As well and the message in the advert the layout must also be considered carefully. A number of perceptive rules have been laid out about how things should be presented based on how humans have been found perceive. In 1956 George A. Miller undertook a great deal of research that showed that because of, among many things, the limitations of our immediate memory. The result of this was the discovery that humans respond best to things grouped in fives, sevens or nines. It also showed that the human mind struggles to deal with more than 3 or 4 things presented at the same time. As a result well research advertisers lay out their adverts with these numbers in mind.

Another research study, which happened in the 1920’s, resulted in Gestalt Theory. This made clear the importance of the context in which things are placed and clarified the holistic nature what is perceived. In terms of advertising this refers to the choice of media as well as the context the product is placed in if used in an image. As with George A. Miller’s research, context is something which is very carefully considered by well research advertising companies.

One part of the context and of what triggers the memory of a product for a consumer is a host of associations – most purposely encouraged by the advertiser. These often don’t truly represent the product but work to present it in a superior light.Products like sports drinks often pay large sums of money to have professional athletes associated with them. This may guide the consumer into believing that the professional - who is very good at their sport – has chosen the product because they feel it is the best and most suitable. In reality, it is often because the company selling the product offered the most money. Another example of companies which use a great deal of association to promote their product, is make-up companies. These often associate with glamorous models which it is implied are glamorous because of the quality of the make-up; lightly slipping over the importance of the make-up artist who applied it. Some go a little further if their product is expensive and associate the product with rich, well known models; suggesting that by buying the product the consumer – at least in part - buys into this ‘high culture’. These techniques are all efforts at distorting logical thinking to make the product appear a logically sound choice.

Showing comparisons where the product works more effectively than another product is a further method in developing an air of superiority. With products which are effectively the same or are not for practical uses, either very small differences are massively over emphasised or the brand image takes over to fill in the gap. This use of brand image is often necessary in the music industry as it is hard to tangibly define one artist as being better than another. The only way this can really be done is through stating record sales which often won’t stand up alone in convincing a prospective consumer. A method used to try to emphasise very small differences is to create a new genre. A good, recent example is ‘New Rave’; which seems to be anything but ‘new’. These represent more efforts at making the consumer feel that the product is logically a good choice.

Business executive Roberto Goizueta said in The Wall Street Journal that “We don't know how to sell products based on performance. Everything we sell, we sell on image.” ‘Image advertising’ is a well known technique which aims to give a unique and desirable ‘personality’ to the product known as the ‘brand image’. It is particularly important for products like soft drinks where there are little or no major differences between them. Target Audience is often crucial in deciding the nature of the brand image; some products have well defined target audience and others try to keep their audience as broad as possible. Some target audiences have very clear traits and alternatively some are harder to tie down. Teenagers, for example, commonly have a contradictory need to rebel and be accepted and follow the latest trends whereas people from the ages of 30-40 are vastly harder to generalise.

U.S advertising executive William Bernbach said that “Advertising isn't a science. It's persuasion. And persuasion is an art.” A study by the University of Minnesota headed by Professor John Eighmey into the psychology behind some choices revealed that on average waiters got a tip of 70% more by simply repeating back what the customer ordered. This shows the importance of the waiter showing that they are paying attention to what is being said by the customer. This is an example of how spending can be encouraged by evoking feelings regarding the consumers status. When outlining key points such as this one begins to realise that advertising, more than simply being an art, is a complicated psychology.

A great deal of research has been done recently into the psychology of a smile. Research by computer company Hewlett Packard suggests that simple interaction between humans is worth far more than material pleasure. Receiving a smile from a friend or relative, for example, has been found, in clinical tests, to generate much higher levels of stimulation in the brain and heart than being given money or having a cigarette. These tests, analysed by Dr David Lewis - who wrote the book The Secret Language of Success - found that participants shown a child’s smile experienced the same level of stimulation as they would have got from eating 2,000 chocolate bars or receiving £16,000 in cash.

Japanese research suggests that this strong reaction to a smile can make us more susceptible to suggestion. Geoffrey Grey, who has done a great deal of research into advertising psychology, said “The powerful emotions triggered when someone important in our lives smiles at us and we smile back change our brain chemistry.

It creates what is termed a ‘halo’ effect that helps us remember other happy events more vividly, feel more optimistic, more positive and more motivated." These positive feelings of optimism and motivation leave the consumer in an ideal state for fervently poised advertisers.

A formula for the best smile has even been developed after a great deal of research. This research revealed that pop stars like Robbie Williams and Geri Haliwell, who scored 90 and 79 had far more effective smiles than the highest royalty with even the Queen only scoring 60. Worst still were politicians with prime minister of the time Tony Blair scoring 55 and Michael Howard scoring the lowest of all with just 40. As well as showing the effect of a smile and the potential of the human face in advertising, it also helps illustrate the importance of context discussed in connection with Gestalt theory. Dr David Lewis pointed out that "in contrast [to love ones] the fake smiles of royalty and politicians are detected and have the opposite effect, giving the person an untrustworthy and hypocritical image.” He explained that slight differences in the shape of the face could give away an insincere smile, "If people are laughing a genuine laugh they get two little pouches underneath their eyes. Without that, it is definitely a forced smile. Any tension around the mouth is usually a dead giveaway, too." Jeffrey Bray, a lecturer in retail psychology at Bournemouth University, commented that the impact of a smile was an important lesson for companies amid the current trend towards call centres and internet shopping. He added: "Despite the importance of a smile, it is interesting to note that relatively few types of packaging use human faces or smiles to attract attention - it tends to be eye-catching designs that work best on the shelves.”

Finally, some interesting research has recently been undertaken regarding how people react to decisions which will take effect in the present and those that will take effect in the future. David Labson of the University of Wisconsin points out that “We are patent about the distant future and very inpatient about the near future e.g 7 or 8 years are pretty much the same whereas 10 minutes or 20 minutes time are vastly different… We use a different part of the brain when dealing with the near future compared to the far, decisions about now are more emotion driven”. This is something which advertisers often play on, trying to make the consumer inpatient for the product by using promotions.

The impacts of advertising on society

Critics say that advertising creates a consumer culture which moves people into a delusion that materialistic gain is synonymous with happiness. This link though is wholly unfounded, as observed by Barry Swartz in his book The Psychology of Choice: “Since researchers tried to measure these things, in the years after world war two, the amount of people who consider themselves “very happy” with their lives has remained steady even though the material standard has nearly tripled in the same period” The conclusion is that more possessions most certainly aren’t making us happier. As products of evolution though, we naturally strive for more. This leaves us finding it very difficult to escape an endless cycle which leaves acquiring more possessions as the only real goal. Advertising often uses this knowledge to sell its products.

Other economists argue that advertising is detrimental to the economy as it increases the price of goods. The reasons behind this theory are that advertising only shifts sales from one brand to another and therefore doesn’t actually increase overall sales. The prices of products go up as a result because money spent advertising the product has to be recovered in order to make profit.

Further unease steams from the power that advertisers have over society. Their influence can be seen through the point that advertising companies often shy away from controversial programming making them less easy to fund. They also shy away from challenging or highly original programming keeping current populist programming in place and therefore creating inequality of programming. The result of this is that, as 18 – 34 year olds spend most money on products, programmes are most often aimed at this age band as they attract most interest from advertisers. The advertising industry is also self protective, to a large extent. Reporters and editors are unlikely to criticize a major editor as freely as a major politician. This isn’t to say that advertisers are a unified force against society, but that collectively its influence has a major impact.

Another observation that has been made linking to advertisings hold is that companies and advertising becoming globalized results in one advert being sent to several countries. A concern about this globalisation is that products and techniques become standardised and progression begins to slow - as discussed in George Ritzer’s book ‘The McDonaldisation of Society’. It may also lead to the Gramsci concept of Hegemony - as seen with major record labels - where bigger companies buy smaller companies and other big companies until finally one, or very few companies rule the entire market giving them complete control. This is uncommon on a global scale but is relevant on a national level. Critics also argue that this is changing cultural and traditional values and differences and making the world more homogeneous.

Further to this, advertising has a large influence on society’s goals. The constant images of thin, beautiful women are known to effect teenage girls and can lead to the development of eating disorders. Teenage boys are also increasingly being found to be affected by images of men with large muscles making them dissatisfied with their bodies and sometimes leading to the use of harmful muscle enhancing drugs.

Recent apprehension has also been expressed about advertising to children; deeply rooted in the thought that children see advertising as just another programme. Because of this children react to adverts uncritically making them more vulnerable to its effect. Older people are generally less prone to being manipulated by advertising. In contrast, some older people process its messages more slowly than younger people and can therefore be more susceptible to questionable advertising claims.

Other concerns are that advertising has negatively affected women and minority groups. In 1942 Lucy Komisar wrote in Women in Sexist Society that “Advertising...legitimizes the idealized, stereotyped roles of women as temptress, wife, mother, and sex object.” In the 1950’s adverts still largely showed women as sex objects. Woman began to be portrayed in a more professional role after the feminist movement of the 1960’s. The pornification of women in contemporary advertising though, has reached new heights. Turn on the TV and at the first advertising break you will be bombarded by images of women you could have or could be. The content of these images becomes progressively more idealised as the digitalisation of advertising means models can be manipulated through techniques like air-brushing. This can lead to an almost unattainable ideal that the advertiser will often suggest can only be reached through the purchase of the product in question. Sex has always sold products but as society changes and becomes more open about sex, the degree to which sex is represented changes with it.

As well as social standards changing, the nature of advertising has also changed slightly over the last century. One such example of this change regards the early advertising campaigns undertaken by Coca Cola. They placed the image of a bottle of Coca Cola on a single frame of a film so that the viewer saw the picture but was not aware consciously that they had. This placed the product into the viewer’s mind and therefore created a mysterious, seemingly rootless recognition of the product. Forms of subconscious advertising like this are now banned because it is deemed that this level of psycho-manipulation is unfair and potentially dangerous.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Advertisings impact on society is something of controversy but it is clearly and huge and important industry. When looking at the vast subject of advertising, the reader begins to see two distinct poles in advertiser’s techniques. Firstly, adverts which attempt to disable the consumer’s logic as far as possible and encourage impulsive, emotion driven positive reactions to the product or brand, or, secondly, adverts which try to suggest - however subtly – that the consumer would be acting illogically if they chose not to buy the product. Quantifying adverts in this way does make them easier to understand and deconstruct, but the complicated psychology that is advertising is vastly complicated and ever changing. Despite this some important considerations have been uncovered which will heavily influence the agenda for creating the product (the album) and promoting Manilla Crescent. These include; the need for a USP, thoughts about presentation - outlined by George A.Miller and Gestalt theory, the necessity for careful selection of the selling price, the importance of good associations, selecting a suitable media to advertise though, the use of innovative techniques, finding the correct target audience and targeting important people within that target audience, and the importance of keeping current fans, not just purely looking at expanding.

How does this research effect the creation of my product

George A. Miller and Gestalt Theory research have shown the importance of carefully planned images and graphics on everything associated with Manilla Crescent. The numbers found to be most easily dealt with by humans will be consider when designing the CD artwork.

A unique selling point should be outlined for the CD - making this solely price should be avoided.
The price of the CD should be carefully considered as to not under price – giving the perception that the product must be of a low quality and reducing profit – or over price – leading to very few sales – the product.

How does this research relate to my promotional efforts?

Like with the product George A. Miller and Gestalt Theory research will be considered when making buttons and releasing images to do with Manilla Crescent.

Loyalty schemes like seen in the ‘Shake-out’ milkshake bar example should be utilised. A good idea may be to guest list people who bring more than 5 friends to a gig.
Define the target audience as the research department would in an advertising company.
Free promotional downloads could be used to increase exposure as done by The Artic Monkeys
Get as wide a web presence as possible in the way that many political advertising campaigns do. This can be done through popular social networks, sites like Youtube and also possibly selling sites like Amazon and Ebay.
Associate the band with something which sums up the music. As it is quite soft, reflective music, relaxing pleasant situations could be associated through photography and use of colour.
Target Myspace messages at prominent members of groups. Try to use organic advertising to make people feel that they personally discovered the band. This will encourage the feelings that the Pillsbury instant cake mix eventually managed to grasp.
Send Promotion packs to record companies including photographs showing the bands image, the CD and a short biography.
Send out bulletins and messages on Myspace and possibly Facebook. This must be done carefully with a thoughtfully considered mailing list as not to annoy potential fans. This process is a form of direct mail, but without the cost.
Make sure all correspondence are replied to and followed up. This will help build the relationship that the University of Minnesota uncovered was present when waiters used repetition to show they were listening to what was said casting them in a positive light.
It may be a good idea to undertake one to one interviews with people it is felt best represent the bands market. The interview should use open ended questions to get as much information as possible from each interview as it will be very difficult to reach a large amount of people.
The use of smiling face should be considered as the research into the effects these have are quite encouraging. The problem is that these reactions are only to familiar faces and smiling faces wouldn’t represent the band very well.
Research should be done into how to make promotional items, such as mobile phone screen savers, to increase exposure and familiarity with the band.
A photograph session should be arranged. The photographs should represent the band accurately but add a positive light and context also.
Emails should be posted to web reviewers urging them to interview the band. Getting online reviews could begin the process of organic advertising.
Email radio stations like BBC Bristol to play tracks and promote the album and upcoming gigs.

Reference list

Betts, P (1994) CIM study text. Advanced certificate. Promotional practice London : BPP

Brierley, S (2002) The advertising handbook, 2nd edition, London: Routledge

Chaudhuri, A (1998), Product class effects on perceived risk: The role of emotion, International Journal of Research in Marketing

Cheliotis, S (2007) Cool Brands: An insight into some of Britain’s coolest brands 2007/2008: The Observer

Goizueta, R (2007) The Wall Street Journal

Goldenberg, J, Mazursky, D (2002) Creativity in product innovation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Haug, W.F (translated by Robert Bock) (1986). Critique of commodity aesthetics: appearance, sexuality and advertising in capitalist society, Cambridge: Polity

Kitch, C L (2001) The girl on the magazine cover: the origins of visual stereotypes in American mass media, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press

Köhler, W (1966) Gestalt psychology: an introduction to new concepts in modern psychology, New York; London: New American Library: New English Library

Lehmann, D.R (2002) Analysis for marketing planning, 5th edition, Boston, Mass; London: McGraw-Hill

Lewis, Dr D (1995) The Secret Language of Success: Using Body Language to Get What You Want,Galahad Books

Miller, G.A. (1966) Psychology: the science of mental life, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books

Nevett, T. R (1982) Advertising in Britain: a history, London: Heinemann on behalf of the History of Advertising Trust,

Morris, J.D. (1995), Observations SAM: The self-assessment manikin- An efficient cross-cultural measurement of emotional response, Journal of Advertising Research

Ritzer, G (1993) The McDonaldization of Society, University of Maryland

Robbs, B. (2006) Advertising, Microsoft Student 2007, Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation

Schroeder, J E. and Salzer-Mörling, M (2006) Brand culture, London: Routledge

Swartz, B (1998) The Psychology of Choice, Harper Collins

Vestergaard, T (1985) The language of advertising, Oxford: Blackwell

Watson, M (2007) Which?

Zeitlin, D.M., Westwood, A.A (1986), Measuring Emotional Response, Journal of Advertising Research

Web Sources

Case Study 12, Understand your target customers (2007), Available at: http://www.marketresearch101.com/files/Product%20Development%20-First%20Cake%20Mix.pdf (Accessed: 15/01/08)

Borio, G; The Tobacco Timeline (2006). Available at: http://www.tobacco.org/History/Tobacco_History.html (Accessed: 10/01/08)

British advertising research standards (2008) http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/

(Accessed: 16/01/08)

Junk Food Limits Not Enough (2007) Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7090206.stm (accessed: 14/11/07)

Twinn, I, Incorporated Society of British Advertising (2008), Available at: http://www.isba.org.uk/isba/home/ (Accessed: 15/01/08)

Adverting age (2007) Available at: http://adage.com/datacenter/ (Accessed: 16/01/08)

British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) (2007) Available at: http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/ (Accessed at: 11/01/08)

Radio 4 Listen again (2007/08) Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml (Accessed: 12/11/07, 10/12/07, 10/01/08)

The labour party (2008) http://www.labour.org.uk/ (Accessed: 12.01/08)

Time: 35 hours

Research (week 19) Part 2

2007-12-27T13:23:10Z

Research (week 19) Part 2

Impact on the economy

Advertising can have wide-ranging repercussions on a society. Some critics suggest that advertising promotes a materialistic way of life by leading people to believe that happiness is achieved by purchasing products. They argue that advertising creates a consumer culture in which buying exciting new products becomes the foundation of the society's values, pleasures, and goals.

Other economists, however, believe that advertising is wasteful. They argue that the cost of advertising adds to the cost of goods and that most advertising simply encourages consumers to buy one brand rather than another. According to this view, advertising simply moves sales from one company to another, rather than increasing sales overall and thereby benefiting the economy as a whole.

Impact on society

Other critics express concern over the way advertising has affected women and racial minority groups. Ads in the 1950s depicted women primarily as decoration or sex objects. Although millions of women worked outside the home in the 1960s, ads continued to focus on their role as homemakers. Whether owing to the feminist movement or to women's increasing economic power, after the 1960s it became more common to see women depicted in professional roles. However, many ads today still emphasize a woman’s sexuality.

Advertising has a major social impact by helping sustain mass communications media and making them relatively inexpensive, if not free, to the public. Newspapers, magazines, radio, and broadcast television all receive their primary income from advertising. Without advertising, many of these forms of mass communication might not exist to the extent that they do today, or they might be considerably more expensive, offer less variety, or even be subject to government control through subsidies. In-depth news programs, a diversity of magazines, and free entertainment might no longer be widely available.

At the same time, however, some critics warn that because advertising plays such a major economic role, it may exercise undue influence on the news media and thereby curtail the free flow of information in a free society. Reporters and editors, for example, may be hesitant to develop a news story that criticizes a major advertiser. As a result, society might not be alerted to harmful or potentially harmful conduct by the advertiser. Most members of the news media deny that pressure from an advertiser prevents them from pursuing news stories involving that advertiser, but some members of the media acknowledge that they might not be inclined to investigate an issue aggressively if it threatened to offend a major advertiser.

Advertisers may affect media programming in other ways, too, critics charge. For example, companies that sponsor TV programs prefer relatively wholesome, noncontroversial programming to avoid offending a mass audience. This preference causes TV networks to emphasize this type of programming. The result is that society may be denied the benefits of being able to view challenging or highly original entertainment programs or news programs on controversial issues. Because advertisers are especially interested in attracting the 18 to 34 year olds who account for most consumer spending, television shows are often developed with this audience in mind. If the ratings show that a program is not attracting large audiences, particularly among 18 to 34 year olds, advertisers often withdraw support, which causes a program to be canceled. As a result, shows that are more likely to interest and to be of value to older audiences are not produced.

The impact of television on young children has received much attention. Research suggests that children see television advertising as just another form of programming and react uncritically to its messages, which makes them especially vulnerable to advertising. There is also concern about the way in which adolescent girls respond to advertising that features beautiful, thin models. Research indicates that many adolescent girls are unduly influenced by this standard of beauty, become dissatisfied with their own bodies, and may develop eating disorders in pursuit of a thin figure. New research suggests that adolescent boys are also being influenced by advertising images of bulked-up, buffed bodies. As a result, many become dissatisfied with their own body image, devote large amounts of time to weightlifting, and may even take drugs that have harmful side effects in order to develop more muscle. Those over the age of 60 are thought to be less influenced by advertising, but some elderly people no longer process messages as easily as younger people, making them more susceptible to questionable advertising claims.

Impact on culture

Advertising can affect cultural values. Some advertising messages, for example, encourage aggressive individualism, which may clash with the traditional cultural values of a country where the collective or group is emphasized over the individual or humility or modesty is preferred to aggressiveness. With the globalization of the world economy, multinational corporations often use the same advertising to sell to consumers around the world. Some critics argue that advertising messages are thus helping to break down distinct cultural differences and traditional values, causing the world to become increasingly homogeneous.

Many advertising campaigns, however, have universal appeal, overriding cultural differences, or they contribute to culture in a positive way. Humor in advertising has made many ad campaigns widely popular, in some cases achieving the status of folklore or taking on new life in another arena. For example, a popular ad campaign for a fast-food chain with the slogan “Where’s the beef?” became part of the 1980 Democratic presidential primary campaign between Gary Hart and Walter Mondale. The ad ridiculed a competitor by depicting a small hamburger patty dwarfed by a huge bun. During a primary debate one of the candidates used the ad slogan to suggest that his opponent’s campaign lacked substance.

History

Archaeologists have found evidence of advertising dating back to the 3000s bc, among the Babylonians. One of the first known methods of advertising was the outdoor display, usually an eye-catching sign painted on the wall of a building. Archaeologists have uncovered many such signs, notably in the ruins of ancient Rome and Pompeii. An outdoor advertisement excavated in Rome offers property for rent, and one found painted on a wall in Pompeii calls the attention of travelers to a tavern situated in another town.

Tailoring the Product

The practice of changing the appearance of goods or introducing inferior parts or poor workmanship in order to motivate consumers to replace products is known as planned obsolescence.

Because products are always aging and sales of even the most successful products eventually decline, firms must continually develop and introduce new items. One study found that over 13,000 new products are introduced each year.

…constant updating of the Manilla Crescent product is needed

it is estimated that more than 30 percent of new products fail at launch and 60 percent are never fully accepted by consumers and disappear after a few years. The high failure rate influences the pricing of successful products because profits from these products must help cover the development costs of products that fail.

Pricing the product

Dependant on manufacturing cost and prices of other products in the market. Also where it is to be placed within the market. The Manilla Crescent product shouldn’t be priced to low because this may give the image that it is of a low quality.

Direct selling – too one person at a time. Needs a lot of effort but if the right people are selected can begin organic advertising maybe? In most situations they are only used to sell complicated products like electricals or where there are options of payment plans and negotiable price like cars

While advertising helps build brand image and long-term value, sales promotion builds sales volume.

Sales promotions are designed to persuade consumers to purchase immediately by providing special incentives such as cash rebates, prizes, extra product, or gifts. Promotions are an effective way to spur sales, but because they involve discount coupons and contests with valuable prizes, they are also expensive and so reduce profits.

it is estimated that acquiring a new customer costs five to eight times as much as keeping an existing one.

To retain current customers, some companies develop loyalty programs such as the frequent flyer programs used by many airlines. A marketer may also seek to retain customers by learning a customer’s individual interests and then tailoring services to meet them. Amazon.com, for example, keeps a database of the types of books customers have ordered in the past and then recommends new books to them based on their past selections. Such programs help companies retain customers not only by providing a useful service, but also by making customers feel appreciated. This is known as relationship building.

Guess list for people who come to more than 5 gigs? Will this just mean losing money though?

Junk food ad limits 'not enough'

Restrictions on television junk food adverts do not properly protect children, say researchers.

“The only way to shield children from TV ads for unhealthy foods is a 9pm watershed”
Miranda Watson
Which?

A report by Which? magazine concludes children are still exposed to adverts promoting foods with high sugar, salt and fat content.

It found 12 of the 20 programmes most popular with under-10s were not covered by the current restrictions.

However, the advertising industry rejected a call for a total ban before 9pm as too simplistic.

Restrictions on television junk food adverts do not properly protect children, say researchers.

A report by Which? magazine concludes children are still exposed to adverts promoting foods with high sugar, salt and fat content.

It found 12 of the 20 programmes most popular with under-10s were not covered by the current restrictions.

However, the advertising industry rejected a call for a total ban before 9pm as too simplistic.

Which? argues that such a hard line approach on any product loaded with fat, salt or sugar is the only effective way to protect children.

A recent report warned that without sustained action 26% of children and young people will be obese by 2050.

Popular shows

The Which? analysis of TV viewing figures showed commercials for Mars Planets, Kinder Bueno, Milky Way, Smarties and Twix were being broadcast during shows popular with youngsters.

The new rules, introduced earlier this year, impose curbs on adverts during shows where child viewers make up a high percentage of the total audience.

But Which? found high profile shows watched by thousands of younger people fell outside the restrictions because they were also popular with many adults.

These included: The X Factor, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and New You've Been Framed.

Miranda Watson, from Which?, said: "The only way to shield children from TV ads for unhealthy foods is a 9pm watershed."

Richard Watts, of the pressure group Sustain, said: "We are in the middle of a children's health crisis.

"Parents have a role to play in improving their children's diet, but they need some support in exercising that responsibility, and part of that is not subjecting their kids to wall-to-wall junk food advertising before 9pm."

Behaviour change

Julian Hunt, of the Food and Drink Federation which represents manufacturers, said the research on which the new restrictions was based showed the effect of advertising was tiny.

He said: "The UK is now one of the most heavily regulated markets in Europe, and the new rules should be given time to take effect.

"Calls for bans on advertising around programmes popular with families are completely premature."

Ian Twinn, from the Incorporated Society of British Advertising, said: "if you ban advertising no-one gets thinner or fitter as a result.

"In Sweden there is no advertising to children, and the children there are as fat as in the UK."

The Which? findings are based on TV viewing figures for ITV1, Channel 4 and Five for the first two weeks of September.

Radio 4

The art of percuasion

In a study waiters a tip of 70% more by making sure they simply repeated back what the customer ordered.

David Labson of the university of Wisconsin

‘We are patent about the distant future and very inpatient about the near future e.g 7 or 8 years are pretty much the same whereas 10 minutes or 20 minutes time are vastly different’

‘We use a different part of the brain when dealing with the near future compared to the far, decisions about now are more emotion driven’

Ideas for Manilla Crescent Advertising efforts

Small things like changing the Myspace picture – monitor the impact this has

Send out bulletins, see what impact this has in comparison with messages and comments

Make a facebook group and send messages through this - study the impact this has

Find out about making a mobile phone screen saver for the band

Ring tone not necessary now as ring tones can be played as MP3’s anyway

Photo shoot so there are good photos to put up on mysapce and facebook

Start thinking about album art and how CD’s can be printed for the album

Link all internet sites together with buttons or at least links

Get reviews

Christmas gigs booked in Bristol at the Louisiana, 2 Friday nights on the 21^st of December and 4^th of January

How to promote:

Myspace – messages, bulleting, add new song to page, change picture

Facebook Group – messages

Try to get BBC Bristol Radio play

Coolbrands should be:

stylish

innovative

original

Authentic

Desirable

Unique

“

Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the Superbrands UK councils.

Look into the success of the iPod – Easy to use interface must have been a large part, the way it syncs with itunes as well. “exceptional design coupled with pioneering technical devopement” Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the Superbrands UK councils. “This is the notion of cool – a fluid intangible element that is here today and gone tomorrow; or so we thought! Aston Martin was established before world war 1 but when has it ever been regarded as un-cool? The reality is that Coolbrands results show that no blueprint can be followed to build a cool brand.”

The designer of Marks and Spencers new clothing lines, saw holes in the market and took advantage.

Psychology of a smile

Japanese research suggests that good smiles make us buy more. Smiling makes you want to smile back and makes you more susceptible to suggestion. The smile of a friend is worth ..

Results by HP research

Geoffrey Grey, research phychology.

A formula for the best smile has been developed.

Receiving a smile from a friend or relative generates much higher levels of stimulation to the brain and the heart than being given money or having a cigarette, according to clinical tests.

The research, carried out by the computer giant Hewlett Packard, suggests simple human interaction is still worth far more than material pleasure.

Participants who were shown a child’s smile experienced the same level of stimulation as they would have had from eating 2,000 chocolate bars or receiving £16,000 in cash.

While the smile of a child equated to 2,000 bars of chocolate or £16,000, that of a loved one was worth about 600 chocolate treats or £8,500. The smile of a friend was worth £145 of feelgood, or about 200 bars of chocolate.

The clinical tests were analysed by the psychologist Dr David Lewis, the author of The Secret Language of Success.

He said: "The powerful emotions triggered when someone important in our lives smiles at us and we smile back changes our brain chemistry.

"It creates what is termed a ‘halo’ effect that helps us remember other happy events more vividly, feel more optimistic, more positive and more motivated."

Williams scored 90, Halliwell got 79, while Victoria Beckham received just 69, but this was more than the highest Royal, Prince Harry with 64, followed by the Queen, who got 60.

Prince William scored 55, the same as the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, but both were lower than Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, who scored 60. Camilla Parker Bowles could only manage 46 out of 100 but this was still better than Michael Howard’s 40 score - the lowest of all.

…Showing that context remains important

Dr Lewis added: "In contrast [to loved ones] the fake smiles of royalty and politicians are detected and have the opposite effect, giving the person an untrustworthy and hypocritical image.

Dr Lewis explained that slight differences in the shape of the face could give away an insincere smile.

He said: "If people are laughing a genuine laugh they get two little pouches underneath their eyes. Without that, it is definitely a forced smile.

"Any tension around the mouth is usually a dead giveaway, too."

Mr Foti, whose company also makes digital cameras, added: "It’s ironic that with the amount of photo opportunities politicians and royalty create to improve their image, they are actually harming it by faking their smiles in pictures."

Jeffrey Bray, a lecturer in retail psychology at Bournemouth University, said the impact of smiles was an important lesson for companies amid the current trend towards call centres and internet shopping.

He said: "The high street still has the pleasure part of the shopping experience and smiling from shop assistants is a big part of that.

"Consumers are also smart at spotting insincerity in smiles. We’ve all heard phrases like ‘Did you find what you were wanting today?’ and ‘Have a nice day’ and they come across as robotic.

"Shop staff who are happy and genuinely engaged by their work will convey that sense of pleasure to shoppers."

He added: "Despite the importance of a smile, it is interesting to note that relatively few types of packaging use human faces or smiles to attract attention - it tends to be eye-catching designs that first work on the shelves.

ALASTAIR JAMIESON CONSUMER AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT The Scotsman

Spice girls have set up sites that ask you to vote if you want them to play in your city as part of their promotion.

Mcgurk shows that you can change what someone sees with images so sound alone is only part of the full perception

A Facebook group to bring back the whisper had millions of member and got it brought back, it had a link to the creators band meaning he got a lot of hits.

References

Music week 10.11.07 Chris;Ben@musicweek.com

Promotional Practices

Salesmanship often takes the form of a face-to-face encounter between the buyer and seller; the presentation is set up to convince customers that the product on sale is essential to their satisfaction. The lack of personal feedback between buyer and seller is sometimes considered a drawback of the advertising approach.

Consumer promotions encompass a wide variety of techniques, including sampling of goods or services, store redeemable “money-off” coupons to encourage the trial of products, special price-reduced packages, mail-in premium merchandise offers, cash or coupon refunds by mail, special product packaging, contests, and sweepstakes.

In recent years, sales promotion expenditures have exceeded monies spent on advertising and there are strong indications that this pattern of growth will continue to maintain its economic edge.

Political advertising

These ads attempt to establish candidate name identification, create a favorable image of the candidate and a negative image of the opponent, link the candidate with desirable groups in the community, and communicate the candidate’s stands on selected issues.

They often prefer to do adverts etc because then they don’t have a journalists, commentators or presenters questioning what they’re saying.

Since the late 1990s, parties and candidates have begun to make extensive use of the Internet as a campaign medium. Most major candidates maintain Web sites that provide biographical data, the candidates’ positions on major issues, endorsements from prominent supporters, and other campaign materials. Citizens visiting a candidate’s Web site can also learn how to become involved with the campaign and make financial contributions. Often, candidates’ supporters also sponsor Weblogs, or Blogs, touting the candidate’s virtues, and they participate in Internet “chats” on behalf of their candidate. – should I start a weblog of some kind to try and get some interest in what the band is up to. This would also mean there was always a reason to re-visit the site as it was being regularly updated. Would there be enough to write and would it be interesting? How much could be exaggerated and manipulated to sound more than it is?

Advertising Photography

Advertising photography is designed to sell products or services by capturing a viewer’s attention. The photographs may stand alone, or they may be combined with words to sell a product or illustrate a concept. The image may be a still life of a company’s product, or the photograph may try to elicit an emotion the advertiser wishes to associate with a product. Some of the technical elements a photographer must skillfully control include sharpness, exposure, lighting, composition, and color reproduction.

Stock photography refers to existing photographs that may be purchased for a fee and reproduced in an advertisement, book, magazine, or other medium.

Stock photographs can be of any subject but are often broad in theme, so they can be applicable to many situations. The best stock photographs usually evoke general moods and ideas rather than specific things or places.

For example, a photographer may take a picture of a thunderstorm or tornado in the hope that a textbook or encyclopedia uses it to illustrate an article about weather. Likewise, a car dealership could use the same photo in an advertisement to symbolize the power of their automobiles.

A stock agency acts as a library and marketer for the work of its photographers by cataloging their photographs and renting them to customers. A stock photograph costs much less than a commissioned photograph. Users pay a rental fee based on the scope of distribution of the picture. Users can see exactly what they are getting, and deadlines are easier to meet because the pictures are readily available. – Do we need to look at stock photography or can we produce it to a satisfactory standard ourselves?

You can get a big reaction of discuss, fear that would appear undireable but would get a big reaction all the same.

Look into A.Miller psychology of the correct number to use (7 more or less 2) etc

Time Spent:

3 hours

Research (week 19) Part 1

2007-12-27T13:21:25Z

Research (week 19) Part 1

Are there any advertising techniques which have failed in the past but may work much better in the context of modern society?

Are you better off making your product cheap in the hope that more people will buy it and you’ll make a similar amount to that which you would if you charged more? Do you risk making your product seem inferior as it is less expensive… links to Vines thing

Create myspaces as fans to get things going maybe?

My band must look at what possible outlets it can access for advertising and use them as fully as possible. This could include; Facebook – creating a group for the band and sending out regular messages to all members showing the band are active and ingraining the name; myspace – similar techniques to the facebook page.

The most elementary principles of advertising include the amount of exposure. Like a pop song the most successful adverts lead to recognition of the product with the fewest views. Another essential part of an advert is how positively it leaves the consumer feeling about the product. This is often done by associating the product which something which is related and seem in a good light as widely as possible, it acts to reinforce that the product is desirable and also to trigger a memory of the product every time the consumer sees it.

Linking in with this Beatles first made popular the idea of merchandising being very important with the music industry. The Spice girls took this a little further by popularising associating acts with brands. They did this by using 5 different personalities which they played up to as much as possible; this led to Cadburys selling 5 differently moulded chocolate bars sponsored by the girls and walkers promoting 5 new flavours of crisps as well as their infamous first deal with Pepsi. Radiohead made a wise marketing move that collected the counter market in stating they were willing to take their own tents on tour to avoid playing branded venues.

Advertising is often done in supermarkets through points cards. This tries to help to guarantee loyalty to the company and also means that the name of the company is in peoples wallet or purse and could be accessed at any time increasing exposure of the product. I there some way Manilla Crescent could get there name to be carried around and therefore be further exposed? One popular way is to give young people stickers and badges in hope that they may stick them on there school work folders and wear the badges on places like their school bags. A reward for listening or talking about Manilla Crescent may be harder then. Maybe a technique often used by car insurance companies and television service companies of offering a credit for each person that a customer gets to join in using the service could be used in some way to credit people who bring members to gigs or sell CD’s?

“We don't know how to sell products based on performance. Everything we sell, we sell on image.”

(Roberto Goizueta (1931 - 1997) U.S. business executive. The Wall Street Journal)

“What should I do? Show the underwear on a clothesline? I'm going to put it on the most beautiful body I can find.”

(Calvin Klein (1942 - ) U.S. fashion designer. Referring to the controversy over his revealing underwear advertisements. The New York Times)

“The most important element of success in ad writing is the product itself.”

(William Bernbach (1911 - 1982)U.S. advertising executive.)

“The business of the advertiser is to see that we go about our business with some magic spell or tune or slogan throbbing quietly in the background of our minds.”

(Marshall McLuhan (1911 - 1980) Canadian sociologist. The Age of Advertising)

“The breakfast of champions.” (Advertising slogan for Wheaties breakfast cereal.)

“Advertising is the mother of commerce.” (Japanese proverb)

“It could be you!” (Advertising slogan for the British National Lottery.)

“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”

(Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) U.S. writer and humorist.)

“Nobody counts the number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make.”(William Bernbach (1911 - 1982) U.S. advertising executive.)

“If you don't get noticed, you don't have anything. You just have to be noticed, but the art is in getting noticed naturally, without screaming or without tricks.” (Leo Burnett (1891 - 1971) U.S. advertising executive.)

“History will see advertising as one of the real evil things of our time. It is stimulating people constantly to want things, want this, want that.” (Attributed to Malcolm Muggeridge (1903 - 1990) British journalist.)

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and the trouble is I don't know which half.” (William Hesketh Lever Leverhulme (1851 - 1925) British industrialist and philanthropist.)

“A logo is like a man's name. When I mention a certain man you know well, everything about that man jumps into your mind...A logo does the same thing for a product.” (William Bernbach (1911 - 1982) U.S. advertising executive)

“Advertising isn't a science. It's persuasion. And persuasion is an art.”

(William Bernbach (1911 - 1982) U.S. advertising executive)

“Advertising may be described as the science of arresting human intelligence long enough to get money from it.”

(Stephen Leacock (1869 - 1944) British-born Canadian writer and economist.

Garden of Folly)

“An expensive ad represents the toil, attention, testing, wit, art, and skill of many people. Far more thought and care go into the composition of any prominent ad in a newspaper or magazine than go into the writing of their features and editorials.”

(Marshall McLuhan (1911 - 1980) Canadian sociologist. Understanding Media)

Target Audience; this is often crucial in deciding what it is that is associated with the product. Teenage audience often have a need to rebel so can be a popular and clear target audience. “Blondes have more fun.” (Advertising slogan for Lady Clairol.)

“You've come a long way, baby.”(Advertising slogan for Virginia Slims cigarettes. The first cigarette advertisement aimed specifically at women.) links to.. An old fashioned technique, which is now banned, was to place a single frame in a film that showed the product. This would place the image in the viewer’s subconscious which would lead to a seemingly rootless recognition of the product.

Radiohead’s latest album ‘In Rainbows’, counter culture against what The Artic Monkeys did. Not promoting through itunes so that the whole album gets listened rather than just a single off itunes. Sold more than the previous stuff through a conventional means of release?? Got on the new etc.

The consumer often wants to feel they have a part in working out that the product is good, that they somehow have some inside knowledge that the product is good or that it is them that are making the product good. This was shown when the first make it yourself cake mix was released. To the surprise of the company promoting this product it was a widespread failure. In order to try to discover why the product failed they contacted a top physiatrist of the time to see what might be changed in how they advertised the product. He suggested that the product should allow the user to add an egg thus creating a feeling that they had still made the cake themselves. The cake mix was remarketed and was a mass success.

‘Organic Advertising’ where a member of a prominent group is impregnated with the idea and it grows from there. Humans naturally always want a great deal of contact with other people. The suggestion that the product can be a way to get you into a culture, which will inevitably mean more common ground and therefore more unforced contact with other people, is a good advertising point. A few months ago there a study probably in The Times newspaper about a computer game company that paid teenage gamers to advertise their product amongst there piers in chat rooms etc. example drugs, biggest industry only second to oil, look cool because they’re a sub culture and people see their role models doing drugs and think its worth doing despite legislation and health warnings. Example of organic advertising, and how well it works autonomously of any further input from the company. Ironically any further input from the company could ruin the whole thing. Does the giving away of products for free or greatly reduced prices have a large positive impact and can it be justified from a cost perspective? How should these CD’s be made? The Artic Monkeys gave away there demos and people went away and put them on the internet and it grew form there, example of organic advertising, a brilliant idea from the record company. The Vines a few years ago sold there album for £4 which greatly improved the sales as when in a record store compared to other records it’s very cheap. The second album at a normal price didn’t really sell (Get static’s). Links with…

Advertising is so powerful that there are whole degree courses devoted to adverting psychology and governments have banned tobacco products from being advertised as well as adverts aimed at children – strangely advertising for alcoholic products is still accepted, largely without question. The Marlborough man etc meant that cigarettes were viewed as cool, now advertising has been banned it can no longer keep this image. With legislation and cultural context brands advertising can be over run in a way uncontrollable through advertising.

Is there an ideal amount of tracks? Which tracks should be selected? Should it be your most diverse range? This could do a number of things to the consumption of the CD from alienating most people to making you more accessible to a wide audience.

What are the needs of humans? Does this product fit in, in anyway? It will often fit in simply because humans need to be happy and the product will be promoted as somehow achieving this.

“Since researchers tried to measure these things, in the years after world war two, the amount of people who consider themselves “very happy” with their lives has remained steady even though the material standard has nearly tripled in the same period” (Barry Swartz, The psychology of choice)

So more possessions aren’t making us happier – yet we find it impossible to break out of the endless cycle that offers more possessions as our only real goal. Advertising plays on the point that more possessions make you happier; this study shows this not to be the case.

The pornification of advertising in contemporary society. Sex has always sold but as society changes the degree to which it is represented changes with it. Advertising always adapts with society. It is generally a reflection of what the people around you want. Linking to ‘sex sells’ and also the digitalisation of advertising with the invent of image editing through techniques like airbrushing, often creating an unattainable ideal that the consumer feels can only be reached with the product in question. Often a make-up product but could also be linked with access to a culture within society.

“All because the lady loves Milk Tray.” (Advertising slogan for Milk Tray chocolates.)

“Advertising...legitimizes the idealized, stereotyped roles of women as temptress, wife, mother, and sex object.” (Lucy Komisar (1942 - )U.S. writer. Women in Sexist Society)

Has advertising become standardised with notions like ‘sex sells’ does this fit in with Theodore Adorno’s ideas of standardisation?

Does the George Rizler social theory of Mcdonaldisation and globalisation lead to companies being in a position that is so powerful that they rule the market, effectively Gramsci’s theory of Hegemony as seen in the music industry with record companies. There are currently 4, soon to be only 3 major record companies left who rule the entire market and are the only companies that can distribute the amount of records needed to make a great deal of money and therefore have enough to spend on widespread and effective advertising. Often the point that they are large can be seen as bad and that they are just a corporate machine, independent labels often play on this in there advertising and image.

Look at Gaustalt Theory – “Everything is the sum of its parts” – meaning that everything is a product of its context and without its context could almost be a different thing.

Research has shown that the mind struggles to deal with more than 3 to 4 things at once.

A lot of products now ‘latch on’ to the latest ideas to morally corner people into buying the product. A good example of this so called ‘carbon neutral’ car insurance, which is said to offset your carbon emissions and therefore reduce your carbon foot print. This isn’t a reality and ruins biodiversity by planting the same type of tree etc.

An advert must be clear about what it’s promoting and therefore be careful when using things like colloquialism. This has been played on example ‘the worlds local bank’ HSBC which seeks to juxtapose universal and colloquial appeal.

The vines were with EMI and were a flop.

What is Advertising?

(Introduction)

Advertising, a form of commercial mass communication designed to promote the sale of a product or service, or a message on behalf of an institution, organization, or candidate for political office.

Evidence of advertising can be found in cultures that existed thousands of years ago, but advertising only became a major industry in the 20th century.

Advertising spending worldwide now exceeds $350 billion per year (convert to pounds).

Some advertisements are intended to promote an idea or influence behavior, such as encouraging people not to use illegal drugs or smoke cigarettes. These ads are often called public service ads (PSAs).

Some ads promote an institution, such as the Red Cross or the United States Army, and are known as institutional advertising

(Advertising types)

Advertising can be divided into two broad categories—consumer advertising and trade advertising. Consumer advertising is directed at the public. Trade advertising is directed at wholesalers or distributors who resell to the public.

Consumer advertising can be further divided into national advertising and local advertising. National advertising is aimed at consumers throughout the entire country. National advertising usually attempts to create awareness among the public of a product or service, or it tries to build loyalty to a product or service. Local advertising is aimed at informing people in a particular area where they can purchase a product or service. Advertising to the public may also take the form of institutional advertising, image advertising, informational advertising, or cooperative advertising.

Institutional advertising seeks to create a favorable impression of a business or institution without trying to sell a specific product. This type of advertising is designed solely to build prestige and public respect. My band would be trying to do both.

In some cases a large company may sell a diversity of products. As a result, there is more value and greater efficiency in building a brand image for the company itself.

Many advertisers prefer a strategy known as image advertising. These advertisers seek to give a product a personality that is unique, appealing, and appropriate so that the consumer will want to choose it over similar products that might fulfill the same need. The personality is created partly by the product's design and packaging but, more importantly, by the words and pictures the advertisements associate with the product. This personality is known as a brand image. Advertisers believe brand image often leads consumers to select one brand over another or instead of a less expensive generic product. Brand image is especially important for commodities such as detergents, jeans, hamburgers, and soft drinks, because within these product categories there are few, if any, major differences.

The Role of the advertising agency or department

Advertising companies have different departments which work like a production line, each part completing a task and then passing it on to the next part of the advertising company until it is complete. These different departments are;

The research departement

The research department who will evaluate the market. They will look into how the product is use and how it is regarded currently by the consumer. It will also decide what the market are most likely to buy or the ‘Target Audience’. Knowing the target audience makes advertising more efficient and when working to either time restraints or to a budget this is critical. Evaluative research is used after the advertising has run and seeks to determine how well consumers remember the advertising message and how persuasive it was. Evaluative research is expensive, and as a result, many advertisers do not employ it. Instead, they try to measure the advertising's effectiveness by analyzing sales results.

Agencies use both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Agencies employ qualitative research to gain an initial understanding of the marketing situation (see Marketing). This research method uses open-ended questions that allow consumers to explain their values, beliefs, and behaviors at length. One of the most common qualitative research techniques is the focus group in which a moderator leads a small group of consumers in a candid discussion of a particular product category, service, or marketing situation.

Agencies use quantitative research to determine a final course of action. Agencies use quantitative research to determine a final course of action. This type of research uses close-ended questions in which answers are selected from a set list. This enables the researcher to determine the exact percentage of people who answered yes or no to a question or the exact percentage choosing answer a, b, or c. One of the most common quantitative research techniques is the survey in which researchers use a questionnaire to gain information from a large group of people, called a sample. Statistical studies show that if the sample is large enough, about 1,000 people, and is representative of a particular group (for example, working mothers who buy disposable diapers), then the findings from the sample are considered true, or statistically valid, and can be extended to the entire group of consumers in that category. The findings provided by quantitative research are therefore conclusive in a way that qualitative research cannot be.

The Media Department

Once the target audience has been identified, an agency's media department determines the most effective way of delivering the message to that target.

The media planner is the person who decides which media will be used. The media planner must consider three factors: (1) the number of people to be exposed to the message, known as the reach, (2) the number of times each person needs to be exposed to the message in order to remember it, known as the frequency, and (3) the costs.

The media planner wants to reach the largest possible percentage of the target audience. To accomplish that goal, the media planner must employ the media that have audiences closely resembling the target audience. Relate to my case..

The media planner must also determine how frequently the advertising should run in each medium. Frequency is important because repetition helps the consumer remember both the product and the advertising message.

Finally, because no advertiser has an unlimited amount of money to spend, cost is also a factor. The media planner must choose those media that will enable the advertiser to reach the largest percentage of the target with enough frequency for the message to be remembered without exceeding the advertiser’s budget. Once this media plan has been put together, the agency's media buyer contacts the media on behalf of the client in order to purchase advertising space or time at the best possible rate.

Often an advertising campaign will employ many types of media.

Creative department

Once the types of media have been determined, the agency's creative department develops the presentation of the ads. The principal figures in the creative department are the copywriter and the art director. The copywriter is the person who writes the advertising message. The art director is the person who oversees the design of the ad. The copywriter and the art director work together to find creative ways to deliver the message that research found would have the greatest appeal to the target audience.

Once brainstorming and free thinking has produced a wide range of ideas, the team then evaluates the various proposals and selects the best to present to the client.

*Important section*

Print ads and television commercials use a variety of techniques to deliver their messages. Testimonials and endorsements can lend both prestige and credibility to a product. Seeing an athletic superstar, for example, endorse a particular brand of athletic shoe makes the brand seem more prestigious and suggests that it must be good because a professional uses it. Superiority is also often demonstrated through product comparisons–for example, by showing that one brand of paper towels absorbs more spilled liquid than another or that in consumer taste tests one beverage is preferred over another. But because more and more competing products are virtually identical to one another, advertisers frequently use image advertising to distinguish their products. Image advertising surrounds the product with a 'halo of positive associations' by using the same character or theme year after year.

*Important section*

Most advertising appeals to people’s emotions, particularly the emotional needs for love and belonging, prestige and self-esteem. Manufacturers of luxury and fashion products, for example, frequently appeal to the desire for esteem and prestige. Advertising for a line of clothing, such as Ralph Lauren’s Polo clothes, may associate the product with the lifestyle of wealthy landowners. Those who buy the clothing purchase it, in part, because they want to be identified with that prestigious lifestyle. Makers of personal care products, on the other hand, often suggest that buying their products will enable consumers to experience love and acceptance. Advertising for perfume or cologne conveys the message that the product makes users more sexually attractive. Personal care products such as breath mints and dandruff shampoos, on the other hand, usually play upon consumers’ fears and dramatize the rejection that results from failing to use the product. The implication is that product usage brings love and acceptance.

Production department

Finally once the product has been designed and decided on the production company produce a product that is of the best quality achievable with the budget given. This process will most likely be overseen by the creative department who will often organise any photographers or illustrators. If it is for a televison advert the creative department will work with the broadcast producer. The creative team also work with the editor of the film of the advert and helps to decide which parts best match

Methods of advertising

In the United States, the most popular media, as measured by the amount of ad spending, are television, newspapers, direct mail, radio, Yellow Pages, magazines, the Internet, outdoor advertising, and a variety of other media, including transit ads, novelties, and point-of-purchase displays. (These rankings are measured each year by Advertising Age, an advertising trade magazine, and seldom vary, although Internet advertising continues to grow significantly. In the first half of 2005, ad spending on the Internet increased 26 percent, far greater than the 4.5 percent growth for the entire advertising market.)

In Canada, newspapers are the most popular advertising medium, followed by television, magazines, radio, and outdoor advertising. Canada is the ninth largest advertising market in the world.

Because television commercials combine sight, sound, and motion, they are more dramatic than any other form of advertising and lend excitement and appeal to ordinary products. Advertisers consider television an excellent medium to build a product's brand image or to create excitement around a particular event such as a year-end auto sale. But TV spots are too brief to provide much product information. As a result, television works best for products such as automobiles, fashion, food, beverages, and credit cards that viewers are familiar with and easily understand.

Newspapers enable advertisers to reach readers of all age groups, ethnic backgrounds, and income levels. Two types of advertising appear in newspapers: classified advertising, such as the want ads, and display advertising. Display ads range in size from as large as a full page to as small as one column in width and less than one centimeter (less than one inch) in length. Display ads often contain illustrations or photographs and usually provide information about where the product or service being advertised can be purchased. Typically, advertising makes up about 65 percent of a newspaper's content and generates about 65 percent of a newspaper's revenue. About 88 percent of this revenue comes from local businesses.

Newspaper sales have had a recent decline though as the internet now provides news updated by the minute for free; e.g the BBC news website.

Most advertisers believe that newspaper ads fail to convey the kind of emotional images that build brand image. As a result, most newspaper advertising is done by retailers who use newspaper ads to provide timely information that can lead to immediate sales. Newspapers are particularly well suited to this role because most are published daily. Readers can clip coupons from the newspaper and cash them in quickly at local stores. People also turn to newspapers for immediately useful information about product discounts, bank interest rates, restaurant specials, and entertainment.

Direct mail is the third largest advertising medium, attracting about 20 percent of all U.S. advertising dollars. Direct mail advertising, as the name implies, is advertising that is sent directly to people by mail, usually through the postal system. Increasingly, however, electronic mail (e-mail) is being used as a direct mail device. Direct mail can be as simple as a single letter or as involved as a catalog or an elaborate e-mail known as HTML mail that offers graphics and links to more information.

From the advertiser's point of view, the key to a successful direct mail program is the mailing list. The mailing list contains the names and addresses of people who share certain common characteristics that suggest they will be likely to buy a particular product or service. Because advertisers are speaking directly to those who are most likely to buy their product or service, many advertisers consider direct mail the most effective of all advertising media for generating immediate results. Direct mail through the U.S. postal system, however, is the most expensive form of advertising, costing about 14 times as much per exposure as most magazine and newspaper ads. But because of the results it produces, many advertisers believe the expense is justified.

Unlike television which reaches a broad audience, the specialized programming of radio stations enables advertisers to reach a narrow, highly specific audience such as people who like sports or urban teenagers who listen to the latest styles of popular music. Because many people listen to radio while in their cars, radio also enables advertisers to reach prospects just before they go shopping. But because people listen to the radio while doing something else such as driving or working, radio commercials can be easily misunderstood. As a result, radio ads work best when the messages are relatively simple ones for familiar, easily understood products.

Although newspapers reach all different kinds of readers, a magazine’s specialized editorial content generally reaches readers who have similar interests. The relatively specialized, narrow audience of a magazine enables an advertiser to speak to those most likely to buy a particular product. For example, a manufacturer of mascara who advertises to teenage girls could use a magazine with editorial content aimed especially at teenage girls to reach that audience exclusively.

A magazine's editorial environment can also lend a product credibility and prestige, and the magazine’s ability to reproduce beautiful color photographs can enhance a product's appearance. As a result, magazine advertising is an effective way to build a product's brand image. Because such advertising is expensive and because most magazines are distributed regionally or nationally, they generally feature national advertising rather than local advertising. Magazines generate 63 percent of their revenue from advertising.

About 96 percent of ad spending on the Internet goes to 50 Web companies, mostly to four sites maintained by Yahoo, Google, America Online, and the Microsoft Network.

Advertisements on the Internet often take the form of banners, buttons, pop-ups, and sponsorships. But the most important aspect of Internet marketing is that the World Wide Web allows advertisers to personalize their messages for individual customers. For example, when a customer visits a commercial Web site that person is often welcomed by name and is offered information about new products based on the type of products the person has purchased in the past. Moreover, the customer can then order the product immediately without venturing out to a store. By allowing advertisers to customize their advertising, the Internet enables them to build customer loyalty and generate stronger sales results. Google pioneered the technique of providing customized ads when someone enters a search term. Advertisers take part in an auction to have their ads placed next to relevant search results and pay only when someone clicks on the ad.

Outdoor advertising amounts to less than 1 percent of total ad spending in the United States. Outdoor advertising is an effective way to reach a highly mobile audience that spends a lot of time on the road—for example, in commuting to and from work or as part of their job. It offers the lowest cost per exposure of any major advertising medium, and it produces a major impact, because it is big, colorful, and hard to ignore. The messages on outdoor boards have to be very brief. So outdoor advertising primarily serves as a reminder medium and one that can trigger an impulse buy.

A wide variety of other advertising media make up the remainder of total ad spending. Transit advertising is mainly an urban advertising form that uses buses and taxi tops as well as posters placed in bus shelters, airports, and subway stations. Like outdoor boards, transit is a form of reminder advertising that helps advertisers place their name before a local audience. Finally, point-of-purchase advertising places attention-getting displays, streamers, banners, and price cards in the store near where the product is sold to explain product benefits and promote impulse buys.

Research week 18 part 2

2007-12-09T13:15:57Z

Research week 18 part 2

Impact on the economy