Evaluation

Final Advertisement:

    

1. I was set the task to develop an advert promoting the Dereham based bicycle supplier "PaulsCycles". The perimeters for the ad was as follows, it has to be 30 seconds to a minute long, it has to embrace the 2020 national lockdown we've been under and use it to the ads advantage, and finally it has to be promoted in a light hearted comedic way. So when I heard the base for the advert I got to brainstorming. I had a few ideas that i could've rolled with, the idea i was going to go with and use was a lonely man who had nothing better to do but ride a bike, but i morphed this idea into my actual idea which is a lonely man during lockdown scrolling his phone while crying until he sees an ad for PaulsCycles, then his life gets better. I did have a third idea which was an interview style ad which would open with slick shots of the bike stationary and in action mixed with an interview of the owner bragging about his amazing bike and the amazing place he got it from, I decided this wouldn't be the best idea as people would just hate this character and as a result the company associated, which isn't what we want. I then started to analyse the companies and its competitors sites to see  how they differ. All the competitors I saw had the same or similar price range and services but Pauls seemed to stand out with its Cycle-To-Work scheme and its finance options which helps those with less. My idea for the target audience was single men, on furlough or unemployed who can't see their friends or family and are locked in their homes with nothing to do but they want to do something, they don't want to re-watch everything on Netflix for the third time, they want out!

2. The end card I produced was a thought from the start and I knew it would work.

This was quite important because the ad needed something to direct the traffic after they've seen the advert and are excited to get their new bike. I found several different images of bikes that I thought could've fitted in with the advert and would've added a more professional feel 

to the final piece and maybe encourage viewers to buy a bike and have a photo shoot.

I also produced a price tag to add to the final film which i think is quite useful because it gives the audience an example of the price range of the bikes that they can get from the company. I think this is quite important for the advert since it's honest with the viewers of the ad and gives them a hint of information so they arent flooded with loads of different prices at once. Moving from graphics to sound. I think that the ping I used for the price tag is quite useful for the ad as it audibly tells the viewer something is appearing on the screen and could attract wondered eyes back to the advert and it's also quite satisfying for visuals to appear with sound and would be quite jaring if they didn't. The door-knocking fits in with the ad perfectly as there wasn't that knock originally in the filming so if it wasn't added it just wouldn't make sense with the context of the advert. It's a similar situation with the door close because you can't actually hear the door close so adding it after makes it more realistic and makes for the nice transition into music. The film's narrative consists of a man with nothing to do as he lives alone during the COVID-19 Lockdown, he's sitting in the morning eating milkless cereal crying while on social media, Until he sees PaulsCycles! *Dingdong* There's pauls with his new bike! he bike away until he stops, eat an apple and thanks paul. I thought the advert would help PaulsCycles because it takes a lot of peoples realities, twists it into a comical bit but stays relatable for the target audience. It also shows everyone how easy it is to hop on a bike when you have nothing to do and feel amazing doing so.

3.  I did lots of different research, Primary and secondary. Firstly I took a look at the different competitors and what they offered in terms of schemes, finance and deals on their websites but also looked and compared the similarities and differences between all of them, this helped with my idea because I can incorporate things like the Cycle to work scheme and promote that in the advert and it could stand out against others since not all the scores offer the same scheme, same could be said for financial options, It's good to promote them because people might have been looking in the wrong place and haven't seen offers like these. Knowing the different schemes helps validate the target audience because, for example, the Finance option will be good for any not as fortunate to be able to buy a bike in full. Next, I looked at a few different bike advertisements from 3 different competitors and analysed them, thinking about style, effectivity, timing and content which is very useful for my idea because I can see what others have done and how the Great British public reacted to these adverts but also I can see what tactics and different genres they used to promote their products or services. Along with the analysis of the ads I tried to look for the advertising agencies that the companies use and seeing the different styles that they personally produce and their history with the brand. This helps validate and develop my target audience because I have discovered what works and what doesn't with a bicycle ad.

Furthermore, I checked the Google search statistics for the term "Bike" to see how lockdown affected the demand for bikes or biking equipment and as you can see the national lockdown heavily affected the need for bikes. To back this search statistic up I found an article that stated how many Britons bought a bicycle and how it saved the industry which helps me develop my target audience because it helps tie in with the cycle to work scheme since many have bought bicycles to avoid public transportation and so it gives me an idea of age and employment for my target audience. It also gives me a better idea of their psychographics with their attitudes towards the pandemic with the use of public transport and even geographics assuming public transport might mean they live in a village and have to leave for work. Finally, I used primary research in the form of a survey. I produced a poll on Instagram asking my followers the likeliness of them buying a bike in lockdown but I also asked some people one to one to get their opinion since the poll didn't pull the number of votes I'd have liked. I learned that people weren't actually that likely which is probably due to a handful of factors like; age, income, season, attitudes or they might already own a bike which helps me with my Targets psychographic and even demographic profile.

 4.   

Overall I think for the realistic budget that PaulsCycles would have for a lockdown advert what i produced would plausibly work for the company. It fits the lockdown style well and is relatable to a lot of people in the country with being aalone and locked in with nothing to do. I think the ad would do a decent job at attracting my target audience, the ad itself tries to use emotional manipulation with the relatableness of the characters situation but it might have the adverse affect on the audience. But for a lockdown ad i think it works well, It follows lockdown rules and quietly endorses them while promoting the company in a comedic way to list peoples spirits. 

I think my advert works well because of these five following reasons. Firstly i believe that the advert is quite relevant and relatable to the intended audience which is what i wanted. Secondly I think the use of the promotional end card perfectly directs traffic directly into the company. Thirdly, I think the comedic aspect of the advert keeps moral high while addressing the lockdown and promoting the lockdown, It's not meant to be too serious and allows more unfit patrons to want exercise. Fourthly, I believe that the film feels like it was set in lockdown especially since outside was empty and gloomy and that the character is the only one seen throughout which makes the ad feel more authentic. Finally, I feel  like my use of different camera angles really works well, for example when i wall off camera and cut to coming past the same way, it allowed for a natural fluent cut that didn't look out of place. 

Now for 5 points  that i think i could improve:

1.  I think I could dramaticly improve my story board whether thats by making it by using photos or just trying to illistrate it better. It's important to get the storyboard perfect because thats what you use to film and any confusion could mess up filming and warrent retakes.
   
2. Speaking of retakes, I think i could have benefitted from doing takes again but from different angles so i could pick and choose between different angles and have more variety rather than having two different takes from the same angle.
3. I Definitely believe that having the mic closer to me would have significantly improved the viewing experience, instead of having to use gain and ruining the audio with static. Potentially the inclusion of more dialogue or voice over could have helped the advert as well.
4. A more indepth plan into each idea could have made me change my mind to a different idea, I think each idea should've had their fors and againsts stated so i know why i'm not doing certain things and then incorperate the target audience into the ideas once I  have established it more could make me take a better look at the idea.
5.  The overall plan shoud've been explained more thoroughly and could have benefitted from more photos and examples of the filming areas so it helps visualize the process.