Still effective?
Something that needs to be addressed is the effectiveness of these campaigns, are people these days as easily shocked as they once where. With the emergence of shock videos on the internet which are not necessarily charity related are people becoming desensitized to these shock tactics, and are they as effective they once where?
ASA - Advertising Standards Authority
The ASA will be something that i will discuss in my project. I will talk about their role in protecting the public from offensive/shocking/misleading advertising. The public can complain about adverts and if there is enough, they will launch an investigation to see if it complies with advertising standard codes. Many shock adverts have been investigated by the ASA and i will look into how they operate and their effect on advertising as a whole.
This particular Phones 4 U advert was aired last year at Halloween time and was criticized for its scary content. The ASA would listen to people complaints and take action if need be to get the ad banned. This has been down with many advertising campaigns especially charitable ones which make use of shocking imagery. This is something i will discuss further in my written work.
The picture below by Barnardo’s is one of the many campaigns that they receive criticism for. This will also be analyzed and discussed in some of the pros and cons of shock tactics in advertising - how far should it be allowed to go?
What makes shock tactics in advertising effective?
The core idea is if the material is shocking people are far more likely to remember it. This basic premise helps spread awareness. If a particular advert has shocked someone they are far more likely to talk about it. This can can help differentiate a particular idea or brand from others and create a lasting impact on an audience. This is even more the case if the ad becomes controversial an example of this can be seen in Barnardos’ adverts. Although the ads are controversial and people may not like them, this media coverage just makes it even more effective for the brand or idea itself and help create media awareness. If it makes the news for example people will most likely look it up. An effective and creative shock campaign can create a huge media impact effortlessly.
Importance of it?
These factors are especially important when these adverts are promoting anti-drink or drugs. People would tend to dismiss the warnings, for example cigarette packet warnings. However an effective advert is far more likely to have an effect - our lives are built around narratives, these ads act out how your own personal narrative could go if you dont change your ways. People are far more likely to engage with these narratives as opposed to empty warnings on packets, it hits much harder if the messages are shown to them graphically in motion.
So the primary function of shock advertisement is to help make a brand or idea memorable:
Shocking/controversial = media impact/memorable/awareness
Offensive but effective?
Graphic ads like this help keep an audiences attention, although this is obvious it is key when shocking an audience.
From some of the adverts i have already seen there are certain things that need to be included in my advert.
1. Theme. This is very obvious but my defined theme is what will make my advert relate to an audience. My main direction at the moment is alcohol. This is quite obvious considering i am a student but i have some ideas which involve focus! For example in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSbZidsgMfw the techniques in this are very distorted and grimey. A direction i want to take my ad.
2. Contrasting/What if narrative. Many of these adverts have stories which give the impression of choice and what happens if you make the wrong one. My advert idea is to have one narrative which ends in different ways based on the main characters choice to not have that extra pint for example. Or a more simple this is what happens if you drink type narrative, for example a narrative which could involve a protagonist thinking everything is alright, only to be hit by a car -again a rough example!
3. Tragic ending. None of these adverts hold back, they all have the protagonist either get killed, or seriously injured. The point of these adverts is to highlight the very serious issues being discussed. So inevitably my main character will have to be killed in some kind of horrible way, just to get the point across and to make these adverts seem like the choices you make are life threatening and VERY serious. Human life being involved in the mix makes the weight of these adverts and the consequences very personal to an audience.
4. Moral story/punchline. As talked about in the previous advert i will need to have an underlying moral story for my ad. And the punch line will bring it all together, one which i thought might be effective is ‘you have a choice, make the right one’ This could be used with some one being offered one more pint and them being hit by a car. What if you didn’t have the last pint? should they conform to peer pressure? These are some of my ideas currently. Although it sounds simplistic written down the messages MUST be simple and easily understood by an audience or it hasn’t done its job. Something as simple as being hit by a car can seem avoidable but under the influence this can be terrifying for an audience.
My idea currently is - Choice vs. Peer Pressure -
I found the above ad to be very disturbing, A good example of simplistic/effective advertisement.
Contrasting narratives & Choice
The most interesting aspect about this ad is the way it contrasts the two scenarios and tells you that you have a choice ‘What would you do diffrently’ is what really sticks with an audience after the advert finishes. It urges you to make the right choice as you aren’t given a 2nd chance like in the advert.
There are two aspects to consider in these adverts which makes them ‘stick’ with an audience. Firstly the way they set up a potential scenario, it happens or is prevented and the story acts as a moral tale to some extent. For example this one the two contrasts of what ‘could’ happen. It tries to communicate the simple message of choice.
And secondly the final ‘word’ of the ad which is meant to stick with an audience, this acts as the overall theme of the ad and is designed to stay with the audience. Examples could be ‘you have a choice, make the right one’, ‘whats it gonna be’, ‘how would you do it differently’ all of these have an impact on the audience after the terrible event has happened. These simple statements act as the punch line to the ad, the ‘low blow’. This is something i need to work for my final piece, a simple moral message that will be effective!
I was not aware of the attachment from Marta Carvalho (drinkaware), but a very useful article nonetheless on the pros and cons of shock adverts. Big thanks.
Here is an email i received from Drinkaware, this was part of my email which i sent around to various organizations to get an insight into how some of their campaigns worked. I did not get alot of replys. This was mainly due to the fact that most of the are government run companies so would not want to disclose this kind of information to me. However the response i did get proved to be useful in getting an insight into how they run their campaigns.
Dear Peter,
Drinkaware does not produce TV adverts of our own, but drinks companies
can voluntarily put the Drinkaware logo and website on their ads to show
their commitment to responsible drinking. The hard-hitting alcohol ads
such as “you wouldn’t start a night like this…” are Government
campaigns/ not Drinkaware:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/17/advertising.health?INTCMP=IL
CNETTXT3487
We have attached a recent comment piece from Marketing magazine which
may interest you.
1. Is there a particular formula you follow when constructing these
campaigns, or is each one unique?
Drinkaware current campaigns have three target audiences:
A) parents of under 18s - aiming to encourage parents to talk to their
children about alcohol before they start drinking with an overall aim to
increase the age young people start drinking.
B) young adults aged 18-24 - aiming to reduce the acceptability of
drunkenness and increase awareness of tips for responsible drinking
C) adults aged 30-45 - aiming to raise awareness of daily unit
guidelines and encourage the audience to recognise when their drinking
exceeds them.
With each campaign we do research with each target audience -
qualitative and quantitative to gather insight about what influences and
informs that audience. We develop logic models for each of our
campaigns - looking at inputs, activities and when short, medium and
long term objectives. For each campaign our ultimate goal is behaviour
change.
This insight will inform a creative brief which then goes to an agency.
The brief needs to answer who/ what/ how and why.
The overall strategic process has 4 key steps:
Planning; creative; production; measurement/ evaluation/ optimisation.
2. How effective is shock advertising on an audience, how do you
judge/gauge its effectiveness?
Ideally we would test a creative with the target audience - a skilled
moderator would take a group through a discussion asking them questions
on their response.
You might be interested in reading about neuromarketing which measures
brain activity prompted by different sensory experiences - although this
is not something Drinkaware does. Marketing magazine 2.11.11 has an
article on this.
3. What themes do you typically incorporate into your videos?
We do not produce TV ads, although we have produced a video for our
parents campaign
http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/talking-to-under-18s/parents
And a “Katy Perry” video for our young adults campaign:
http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/campaigns/2011/why-let-good-times-go-bad-201
1/katy-perry-video
4. What is the best way to create an impact on an audience; what
emotions do you play on?
It is different for different audiences, e.g. for parents you know they
want to do the best for their children and keep them safe; for adults -
a motivation might be to perform well at work, look good.
5. What has been your most effective campaign and why?
We continually evaluate and refine our campaigns to ensure strong reach
and impact and if we need to make changes to a creative or strategy if
something is not performing as it should be.
Successful campaigns include: Why Let Good Times Go Bad - campaign
working with industry to encourage young adults to adapt tips to drink
responsibly; Hoof It - adults campaign tied to the world cup to increase
awareness of units; Your Kids and alcohol - encouraging parents to talk
to kids about alcohol - working with parenting bloggers to encourage
peer to peer discussion and a video creative of children popping out
from behind an alcohol product asking parents tricky questions about
alcohol.
Good luck with your project.
Marta Carvalho
Executive Assistant - CEO and Digital Communications
