WEEK 3: PLAYSAFE CONDOMS

Week 3: Playsafe Condoms

 

Instructions: Project 1

Your first task upon understanding Bernbach’s principles in advertising, is to conceive of a single quarter page press advertisement in black and white. Your execution will reflect the knowledge gained from your understanding.

The marketing objective is to promote Playsafe condom, through a mass medium (press advertisement). The challenge is, to create an ad that would not contravene strict publishing laws and moral codes of the countries multicultural and multi-religious populations. How you skirt these obstacles to produce an ad that is targeted (young adults) and effective whilst using the knowledge gained from the Bernback Principles to achieve the marketing objective will test your creativity to work within the narrow confines of the brief.

Newspaper: TheSun
Size: 128 (w) x 178 (h)

Client: Playsafe Condoms.

Marking Criteria

Communication (5%)
The message needs to be creative, clear and concise. The message has to be truthful and not gimmicky. The message must be unique in order to stand out from the rest of the competitors. The message must have a sense of personality that relates to, or reflects the target audience.

Visual Impact (5%)
Visual impact here refers to the overall effect of the layout and or the artwork (visual or copy) in the layout. The visual/copy must integrate well with the message for there to be impact. The visual/copy must enhance the message to create a smile in the mind. The visual/copy must relate or connect with the reader and should illicit an emotional reaction. The visual/copy must be memorable. The visual/copy must have a sense of personality that relates to, or reflects the target audience.

Process (5%)
There must be exploration in the form of sketches, mind maps, thoughts and epiphanies. The journey from start to finish must be methodically documented and dated. oral or written Feedback must be documented. The written reflections must be clear, concise, revealing and insightful.

Learning goal:

1. The student will understand and apply Bernbach’s principles in advertising in order to assist in a marketing objective.

Major Learning Outcomes:

1) Writing & Presenting Competencies – Demonstrate knowledge and apply understanding of design principles, technical processes, tools and software

2) Critical Thinking Competencies — Use critical thinking to explore, analyze and test a diversity of conceptual ideas.

3) Creating & Documenting Competencies — Plan and execute unique creative works

4) Appraising & Valuing Competencies — Constructively assess work by yourself and others.

Deadline: Week 3

Ideas & Strategies

1) Visual: A cropped image of a girl, showing her back and top portion of her jeans, and her pulling out a condom from her back pocket
Copy: 

• In a game for two, why depend on the other?
• It's so slim, there's no excuse
• Why risk it?

2) Visual: A party handbag and its spilt contents, with a condom in the forefront.
Copy: 

• You never know when you'd need something
• Apparently, girls prepare for everything
• We don't expect someone else to bring our lip gloss, do we?

I have decided to go with idea #2 as to not perpetuate the physical sexualization of women in the advertisement. Below is a picture I have taken of the handbag and its contents. I chose to place them on a bed, to add a sexual suggestion. I am still deciding if I should add the condom in the forefront or not.

Feedback

Specific:

I've viewed your progress for week 3. We have ascertain that there is no issue with regard to your ad strategy, message and visual ideas.
You were thus instructed to attempt realising your visual through photography. The image created would support and enhance the ad message you have created.
After viewing your attempt, I believe you need to refine your approach to photographing the scene. In my opinion you have three possible routes; 1) a staged shot, 2) an accidental spill shot, or 3) and illustrative approach (see attached images). I would rule out the third option simply due to the time factor. The approach you have taken it would seems to be in between possibilities 1) & 2) and therefore a little ambiguous. You need to decide on one route clearly and plan the contents and how you intend to compose the items and what angle would be best for the shot. Pay heed to the fact that the product must grab the viewers attention. So placement is important (Rule of Thirds).
Another important factor is the lighting. Do not take your picture using only the room artificial light. The result would be a dull image. Try to take your picture near a natural light source (window light, sun light). This would bring a much needed brilliance in the image.
Please make sure you attempt more shots and do post your many trials shots in your eportfolio. So that readers would be able to see your process. 

Reflections

Experience

There was a misunderstanding on my part regarding the post of this week, as I was under the impression that as the submission is next week, there needn't be a post before that one. I was also told last Thursday that I needed to cross the country border to renew my visa. As there was no internet access, I was unable to communicate with Mr. Vinod or submit my post on time.

 I like that I was able to create the picture as close as possible to how it was visualized in my imagination. It would have been nice if I could have gotten a rose stem added in, as a romantic indication as well as a salute to Valentine's Day.

Observations

I've gained an appreciation for advertisers who successfully create black and white advertisements. Losing the element of color as a way of attracting attention makes it necessary to think out of the box.

Findings

I have found that I quite like creating pictures from my imagination, and it was extremely gratifying when it worked out.