Designing Perfume Advertisements

Butterfly

Free your senses...

My perfume is called Butterfly, and is targeted at those on Maslow's Hierarchy who need Belongingness/Love, security and for those with aesthetic needs. This is because the main idea around Butterfly is love, nature, beauty and of course freedom.

There are lots of things to think about when deciding the whole mise en scene, but because a butterfly is a natural creature, I think green, and trees need to be involved in the advertisement, because it indicates nature. I also think Butterfly conjures up the colours of pink, purple and blue, pastel colours, which are quite feminine and floral, like a butterfly.

The lighting needs to be dark around the actual perfume bottle to emphasise it and to make it the focus of attention in the bottom section of the advert, however, in contrast, the picture needs to be light, like a butterfly, with a sunny impression.

The actors need to be naturally beautiful people, which will keep the target audience happy. The man's clothing must be very plain, just normal, but classy, perfect for a walk in the park. The girls clothing is more important, because it is a perfume for the female. She needs a flowy long dress, emphasising a butterfly's freedom. It could be any neutral colour, such as white, showing the nature and simplicity.

The butterfly against the bottle should be a pastel coloured one, that doesn't clash or be the same colour as the perfume bottle. This is to emphasis the animal, and it's life.

The font used should be readable, but elegant/floaty. This emphasised not only the gender, but the sense of freedom.

Words from September

Social Groups

Mainstreamers - Largest segment of consumers, seek security and tend to buy well-established brands.

Aspirers/Social Climbers - This groups motivation is status and often buy high tech/fashion goods to give them a better image.

Succeeders - These people have climbed the ladder, and want control of what they have.

Reformers - They want to make the world a better place, educated professionals, they buy eco/healthy products, and have an influential voice.

Individuals - People who respond to advertisements which emphasize individuality/quirkiness.

Mise en scene - everything in the scene - the lighting, actors, costumes, sound, set etc.

Conotation - what something implies.

Denotation - what know from what you see.

Ideologies - ideas.

Anchorage - words/images that create a meaning to pull the audience in.

Camera Shots

2 shot – encompasses a view of two people and is used to show the emotional reaction between subjects.
Over the shoulder shot – Filmed over the shoulder, frames two characters having a discussion, usually follows an establishing shot because it helps the audience to place the characters in their setting.
Establishing Shot – establishes a scene, and indicates where or when a scene takes place.
Tilt Shot – a shot on the tilt, to show the vertical significance of something.
Low Shot – Gives a sense of speeded motion, a sense of confusion to the audience, and powerlessness within the scene.
Eye-Level – neutral shot, the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene.
High Shot – elevated above the action, they make the object photographed seem smaller/less significant.
Worm’s Eye Shot – can make an object look strong and tall.
Canted Shot – suggests transition, imbalance, and instability, and can suggest point of view shots.
Bird’s Eye shot – directly overhead, puts the audience in a god like position, looking down on the action, and so people become part of the wider scene.

The Audience of Eastenders

Eastenders Audience

Janine Butcher: Janine is a self centered person, she is a D audience (unskilled manual), and after her return this year, she gets lower and lower. I would put her as a social climber/aspirer, because she wants to be wealthy and popular. I would give her aesthetic needs, because I think she wants to be appreciated, but also has esteem needs, because she longs for status.

Heather Trott: She is employed in a laundrette so I class her as a D audience, and also she would be an individual - she often wears very interesting clothing. She has a belongingness and love needs, because she is really wants love and happiness.

The Audience of the Simpson's

The Simpsons - Audience

Homer:- I would class Homer as a C2 audience (skilled manual workers), due to the fact that he works in the Nuclear plant and has to be skilled to do so. However, he has a family, and often makes mistakes, which leads me to think that on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, he would be categorised as Physiological and Safety needs. I think his family need is also considered sometimes. Homer fits the category of a mainstream audience most, due to his appearance, it is plain and normal.

Mr. Burns:- This character would definitley be a class A audience (Higher Managerial), as he is the manager of the power plant. His accomodation is grand, and he wears a suit, indicating this. I would class him as a succeeder, because he wants to keep hold of his wealth. Therefore on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, he would be Self-Actualization. I do not think he goes as far as trying to help others reach his position, and so cannot be classed as Transcendence.

Otto:- As a bus driver, I think Otto has to be a D audience (semi/unskilled manual workers), because he is a bus driver. I again think he would be a mainstreamer, because he shows no desire to progress and seems happy with what he's got. I think he has similar needs to Homer, in that he needs safety and physiological needs. We never know about his family.

Audience

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Transcendence: Helping others to achieve self-actualization. Self Actualization: realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
Aesthetic Needs: appreciation, beauty, health and form.
Cognitive Needs: knowledge and meaning.
Esteem Needs: self-esteem, achievement, indepedence, status, dominance.
Belongingness/Love Needs: family, affection, relationships and work groups.
Safety Needs: protection, security, law and stability.
Physiological Needs: air, food, drink, shelter, warmth and sleep.

Representation of Gender

Representation of Gender: Kermit the Frog

Kermit the Frog can be defined as male through his image. Although he has few features which enable us to distinguish between male and female, his posture in the centre picture shows him almost cross legged, but the one knee up suggests masculinity because stereotypically females would need to sit different because they wear dresses and skirts. His facial expression also goes to suggest he is male, because it is smiley, but wide and big, and generally females are supposed to have small delicate mouths. Kermit does not display any features, such as eyelashes, like Miss Piggy, which help us to believe he is male. His collar also appears almost like either a jester's costume or a shirt, both of which are associated with male rather than female.

Comparing Cosmetics Adverts

Comparing Cosmetics Adverts

Euphoria: - The advert displays a man and woman expressing sensual feelings for the perfume; we can tell this due to their body language. The advert suggests that the perfume is pleasing, yet the mouth position of the man makes you think that the perfume makes you want the female for their bodies more than their lips. The low level lighting indicates that the perfume is more of a night scent than an everyday.

Promesse: - This advert suggests that the perfume brings out the romance through everyday things such as sitting on the bench, which would usually be boring. Instead it shows happiness and true love by their facial expressions towards each other. It maybe suggests that the perfume is a gift and a special thing, due to the couple appearing as newlyweds; the advert shows a wedding ring and a bridal bouquet.

Overall, the adverts differ greatly, in theme and in mood. Whilst Euphoria has a more sexual, passionate feeling to it, Promesse is themed more towards love. Therefore the target audience is different; for instance, Girls who dream about true love and romance are far more likely to be interested in Promesse. However, both adverts give the impression that their scent is not an everyday smell, it is special; Promesse by the image of marriage, and Euphoria by the night time (suggested by the mise en scene). Promesse has a more positive image, whilst Euphoria is more flirtatious.

Breaking the Rule of Thirds

Breaking the Rule of Thirds

Most photographers will place the most important parts of the photo at each intersection of the grid. However, some break this rule, such as this one. The main part of the photo, the inside of the flower, is in one of the corner boxes, and therefore diverts the audience's attention to a different area than usual. This can sometimes be effective because it places emphasis on other parts of the photo, such as the fact there are many flowers.

13th Sep 2011 - Rule of Thirds 2

The palm trees, which are positioned along both of the vertical lines, show the location, and almost frame us to look between them at the boat and the sun which are just off centre. This gives us the impression of serenity and freedom. The sea covers the majority of the bottom half of the bottom horizontal line, and shows us that it is a big part of where they are. The fact that there is two palm trees indicates that they are common in that location.

13th Sep 2011 - The Rule of Thirds

The Statue of Liberty is positioned along the right vertical line, which makes it the most dominant part of the picture, and because the bridge is along the centre, it shows that it is also important, but less than the Statue of Liberty. The reason the people are positioned at the bottom of the picture is the contrasts the sizes of the statue and themselves, representing that the statue is wonderful.