LO1 'Barbie" campaign

LO1 - Campaign Analysis: BARBIE

Target Audience

The campaign is aimed at young girls due to the stereotype of pink being connoted towards females, young girls in particular. The "lavish" lifestyle of pink barbies.... 

secondary audience young girls who look back on their lives in their dreams and how they've changed due to societal norms that audience, incorporate ads into kids tv shows, make children take adults to come 

key message

Key messages of the campaign and film are to inspire young girls to be who they are (the slogan "you can be anything" connoting that) and to also teach young boys that girls can do just as much as boys can, breaking the toxic gender stereotypes that are enforced onto children from a young age.

demographics

Social groups are used in promoting gender equality through the denotation of Barbie in power, for example the mayor. As well as her being a WOC, challenging racial stereotypes, and promoting post-colonialism. Although in the campaign (billboards etc.) Barbie is very conventional, and sticks to stereotypes, denoting through the actor,  Margot Robbie, being a white women with blonde hair and blue eyes who is the protagonist. Also, Warner Bros used lots of the barbies in the campaign in the billboards, trailer, and posters which denotes the diverse nature of barbies, being all different. This creates verisimilitude, denoting the multi cultural society we're living in. Furthermore, the film and campaigns (the trailer especially) breaks gender stereotypes as boys are shown to be inferior, due to them always being seen with their barbie, connoting that they are nothing without their barbie. This reverses toxic gender stereotypes of women conventionally considered to "need" a man in order to succeed. Also, in trailer, are the Kens who are anti-stereotypical men, fighting ("beach off") which reverses them back into stereotypical roles, as well as Ken's need for power.

logistics

The campaign begun with slowly introducing the cast, through the circular posters stating "this is..." then assigning the cast with roles. Then Warner Bros begun incorporating barbie in everything, for example Xbox controllers. They also used celebrity endorsement, involving using celebrities to promote their new film, through their star-studded, ensemble cast. Also the soundtrack that was released alongside the film had some celebrity endorsement due to big artists like Billie Eilish, or Nicki Minaj being featured and making music videos for their Barbie themed song.

legal and ethical issues

There's a few ethical issues with the campaign of this film, as well as things that Warner Bros would've had to consider. For example the main characters are faces of the brand Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling being white people which isn't very progressive as it implies only white people can become this successful, reinforcing incredibly hateful rhetoric on POC. although, Warner Bros employed a Hispanic actress to portray one of the protagonist's parent, which denotes a multi-cultural society, breaking down some possible ethical issues. America Ferrara's character is in a high position in Mattel, despite being having a stereotypical job role as a receptionist. For legal issues, all people involved would have had to sign an NDA to not talk about the upcoming film, as well as the company of Mattel. Also, Warner Bros had to get Mattel to sign a licensing agreement that allowed them to use their characters, due to Mattel already being a pre-established and well known brand.

enforce the key message

The media used in this campaign enforces the key messages through lots of ways. For example, its billboards denoted barbie as a powerful figure which inspires young girls who look at barbie as inspiration and as an ideal self. Also the slogan used in the advertising launch campaign "you can be anything" inspiring everyone, mostly young people who seek inspiration.

LO1: "free the shoulders"

 Head and shoulders campaign "Free the shoulders" Anti-bullying campaign 2022

Target Audience: 

The target audience for the campaign '#freetheshoulders' are people who suffer from bad experiences with their body image, the target audience is all genders/ all ages. The target audience is people who want to end the suffering they have faced when trying to fit into the societal stereotypes.

Key Message:

 The key message of the '#Freetheshoulders' campaign is a call for body positivity, and to encourage the audience to feel free to be themselves without the pressure of society. The aim is to challenge the stigma surrounding body image and how we perceive ourselves; it is a call to empower people to feel confident and proud of their bodies. The idea behind 'freetheshoulders' is to highlight shoulders, by doing this they connote vulnerability and self-acceptance, The focus on shoulders also links to the idea of the brand being called head and shoulders. Additionally the denotation of the images for the campaign being close ups, connote the idea that our body is not who defines us; the images being of people faces connotes that it is how we act in society that defines the sort of person you are, and not by how you look. The close ups connote tension and verisimilitude due to the eye contact we can denote. The campaign is to celebrate our bodies and the uniqueness we all possess, also the idea to have an open discussion on body image and mental health. The campaign is to tackle to ideology of a beauty standard.

Engage the audiences:

The Hashtag "#FreeTheShoulder" is to help parents engage with spreading the message of anti-bullying. This engages the audience by having a safe space (AKA the hashtag) to bring a audience. The hashtag is used to let participants to post their experiences and personal stories regarding body image and how id inflicted their lives and mental health. The hashtag was crated to provide a safe space for the audience to create open conversations on the topic; many ways that the hashtag has been used is by sharing photos, videos, and stories. Participants help you get to know them a little which creates a safe community. Often, it works with different influencers and ambassadors who relate to the message and have a platform to engage more people to speak up on their experiences, which helps them realise that talking about body positivity is normal and should be a large topic of discussion. This campaign is also backed by the Diana Award in their anti-bullying movement.

Usage of Stereotypes:

The campaign emphasizes how these stereotypes are seriously affecting people and their mental health and self-esteem, relating to the fact that everyone deserves to feel confident and beautiful. This campaign tackles the nasty usages of stereotypes. By challenging stereotypes in the adverts, the campaign is aimed to be progressive and empowering. The verisimilitude of everyone who is advertised being unique which is a positive message.

Logistics of the campaign:

Facilitating logistics in the project #FreeTheShoulders includes different ways of communicating the message to a wide audience; this would involve creating and sharing content throughout social media platforms, encouraging people to generate user content, and making the hashtag more widespread. The hashtag is a staple in the sharing of the message the campaign promotes. Many times, Head and Shoulders collaborate with social influencers and different advocates of the campaign to create more impact. This might even include events, workshops, or activities with the aim of enhancing body positivity and self-acceptance that engage the community and help them inform each other. The visual elements such as graphics and videos are produced for marketing in order to describe and draw attention to the main point of the campaign and the encouragement for participation. When it comes to logistics as a whole, they are used to making sure the audience are getting involved and there is a non-judgmental environment in which they can comfortably share their experiences and oppose stereotypes.

Legal and Ethical issues:

Legal:

The campaign #Freetheshoulders, has a diverse legal implications. There are copyright issues regarding images and videos that campaign participants share; the campaign must be sure it has the right to use any of the materials that are posted online under the hashtag .There is also privacy and consent which needs to be reviewed upon by the social media teams, for example they cannot just use any information towards the campaign unless it is specified ( Via the hashtag). The campaign should seek if they are legally in their right to use the materials that are posted online, this is to prevent action taken against them as it wouldn't be a great impact towards the message of the campaign; permission to use images and case stories publicly. Advertising laws will be involved, when this campaign works with brands or influencers, to make sure content gets labeled as 'Sponsored' in the right way. This is done to ensure all rights are protected for the influencers, and so the campaign can remain.

Ethical:

Due to being a campaign based around bullying, there's lots of potential ethical issues surrounding it, and so head & shoulders have to tread carefully. For example, it's a widespread global issue that affects many people at every age and from every diverse background. This is denoted in this cross media campaign, especially in the YouTube video where a diverse cast is employed, connoting and re-enforcing the idea that bullying happens to everybody, regardless of exterior factors.

Consistent Message of the campaign:

This campaign uses colours such as blues and turquoise to connote the reference to the brand and their signature colours. They stand out and connote a message that the brand 'Head and shoulders' and the charity 'Anti-bullying' are joining forces to take action on the problem. Denoted on the images I have carefully hand picked into my blog. By using the imagery of a head in the logo of the Diana awards connotes bravery, which denotes perfectly with head and shoulders as they are a hair care brand who strive to ensure all customers feel brave with their hair. They have aimed the campaign at a younger audience and have done so by using young people as actors in their tv and internet advertisement, which helps connect to a younger audience, whilst also getting parents talking. the head and shoulders logo being denoted in the video campaign connotes that the brand are happy to be working along side a good cause, adding to the company's morals which can connote that they would be expected to see a rise in sales. A peice of media they crafted which denotes the head and shoulders logo is the "#FreeTheShoulder" poster which denotes a variation of ethnic backgrounds and personalities.

LO1-Law in Advertising

Legal- Anything covered by law

Ethical- "Issues" not covered by law which may raise strong feelings or moral question on the audiences.

Ofcom- Ofcom has wide- ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It has statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material. Some of the main areas Ofcom presides over are licensing, research, codes and policies, complaints, competition and protecting the radio spectrum from abuse.

BBFC- The BBFC are responsible for the classification of film in Britain. All films to be released to the public are subject to BBFC classification. The BBFC also regulate the content of trailers and promos for films to ensure they are only seen by suitable audiences.

ASA-  The Advertising Standers Authorities (ASA) is the UK's independent advertising regulatory. The ASA makes sure ads accross UK media stick to the advertising rules.

LO1 - Campaign Advice.

 Existing campaign's key messages:

1. "Coppafeel" - raises / spreads awareness of breast cancer in women, through hashtags like "GetItOffYourChest"

2. "Movember" - raise / spread awareness of men's mental health, testicular and prostate cancer, and suicide. They do this through holding a "growing a moustache for November" event. A charity.

Top grading:

Merit: evaluate different cross media advertising campaigns for consistency of message, meaning that you will have to analyse 3-4 different campaigns using different media commenting on how they carry the same message throughout.

Do's Vs Don't's:

Do's:

• Use ad campaigns with varied purposes.
• use ad campaigns from other time periods.
• reference where your material came from.
• use specific terminology (e.g. connotes, denotes demographic).
• create a new post for each campaign analysed.

Don't's:

• focus all your research on one industry
• describe - ANALYSE
• be afraid to make value judgements about effectiveness of adverts.
• use adverts from the same brand but different campaigns.

Analysing 4-5 campaigns:

[pass criteria]

    1. Gather all adverts from the campaign (check dates, slogans, endorsements etc.)

    2. Define the target audience (age, gender, lifestyles - NRS, interests etc.)

    3. Define the key messages of the campaign.

    4. Analyse what methods are used to engage the audience.

    5. Analyse how groups / people / issues / stereotypes are used to enforce the campaign                     message.

    6. Discuss the logistics of the campaign (Timing, scheduling, events, how the target audience             can access the campaign message)

    7. Discuss the legal and ethical issues the campaign has had to consider before putting the             advertising campaign into the outsold world.

[merit criteria]

    8. Analyse the campaign's choice of media and comment on how each enforces the key                     message of the campaign.

Campaign options for me to analyse:

    1. "The Code" - DOVE

    2. Levi's Laundrette campaign reimagined with Beyonce