Task 8: Evaluate the adverts

Learning outcome 3(U20): Be able to produce the planned media components 

M3(U20): Explain how the created media components comply with the codes and conventions of the media sector

- How the components have utilised understanding of research undertaken on real media products(U20:M3)

Codes are systems of signs, which create meaning. Codes can be divided into two categories, technical and symbolic. Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the camera work in a film. Symbolic codes show what is behind of the scenes of what we see.

Conventions is how things are commonly done in a media sector, this can be habits or long accepted ways of doing these things. Through repeated experience the audience can familiarise themselves with these conventions, there for these conventions have almost turned into what the audience expect to see. It is a convention of the horror genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery and suspense

We needed to get some inspiration to come up with the theme for out advert, so we began to do research on other popular drink commercials. The main drink that gave us the idea of taking on the Adam and Eve them was an advert by Rockstar energy drink. We find it to be quite a creative theme and a great way to promote fruity drinks due to the involvement of the ‘forbidden fruit’ which would turn out to be the drink being promoted. Although we didn't stick with the Adam and Eve storyline, the location of the forest was still very much used. We also learnt from the Rockstar commercial of special camera angles that we can put to use to give viewers the best experience possible. We were also inspired by the video to add several littles details in such as having the can hang from a tree’s branch as if it was the forbidden fruit. I was also able to gain inspiration from many other companies and their media advertisements, by learning of the use of a colour Scheme. I learnt that it is important to keep a consistent colour scheme throughout all the products on all platforms, this is to show consistency, and it would help associate the product with the colours used, which then would allow consumers to think of the product when seeing those colours.


The Coca Cola 'Brotherly love' is one of many brilliant Coca Cola adverts. What makes their adverts so successful is their great use of codes and conventions throughout the advert

- The first codes and conventions that is immediately noticeable as the advert begins is the product placement. This was done by Cola by incorporating the product its self in every scene possible. We did this in our advert by us finding the product in several different locations throughout the advert as well as adding a close up product image at the end of the advert.

- Another simple but notable code and convention that Coca Cola have incorporated is the background music, which is a soft version of Avicii's widely popular song 'Hey Brother' which also fits the story line of the advert which is about two brothers. This helps the consumers pay attention to the advert in every form, not just by looking at it. Similarly, we added background music to our advert, however ours did not relate to the storyline in the same way, it simply intensified the advert and made it more memorable.

- They used a variety of different camera angles when focusing on the actors to make the audience feel like they are in the moment with them. As well as various different camera angles when focusing on the product in order to draw all attention towards it. This was another form of codes and conventions that we also put to use in our advert to give our audience the best experience possible and the best preview of the product to come.

- Another code and convention that Coca Cola added at the end of the advert, which can make a big impact on how effective the advert is on the audience is their slogan 'Taste the feeling'. Slogans are important because they are memorable, they give something specific for the consumers to remember and hopefully when they think of the slogan, they get inspired to go buy the product its promoting. Coca Cola presented their slogan along with another form of codes and conventions which is their Logo which is also something memorable and it identifies the product being advertised as a Coca Cola product. We have used both of these codes and conventions in our Phizzwizard advert also at the end of our advert, we created a catchy slogan ' Find the strawberry blast from the past' and we also included the Phizzwizard logo to go along with it.

Besides adverts, Coca Cola also has a wide range of successful billboards which they have also managed to accomplish with the use of simple codes and conventions.

Even though it may be a little bit of a struggle to try and fit in as many codes and conventions as you do in to an advert into a billboard, with the use of the right ones it will still catch the consumers eyes and thoughts. The first form of code and convention that is immediately noticeable within this Coca Cola billboard is the colour scheme. This was a very clever theme for Coca Cola to go with as it allowed them to incorporated the same colours as their brands main colours white and red. This detail is something that would immediately stick out to consumers and they could know that this is a Coca Cola advert without even seeing the logo on the bottom right corner. We also incorporated the same idea of a colour scheme within our billboard poster, where we went for a jungle type of background to fit in with the Carter Soft Drinks logo which has a palm tree kind of graphic within the word Carter and the bottom half of the logo is green.

Another form of codes and conventions that Coca Cola have quietly added onto the billboard is product placement. This form of product placement stands out just right amount and fits right in with its surroundings. Within our advert, we decided to use product placement in a slightly different way and actually put the product directly in the middle in order for it to be the centre of attention, that way the consumers are directly drawn to the product and nothing els.

We can also clearly see that Coca Cola incorporated a slogan to their billboard. A slogan is a very useful form of codes and conventions because it is memorable, and Coca Cola's slogan even has a call to action within it 'Open' Happiness encourages their consumers to go purchase a bottle in order to open it and feel great happiness. We took a sort of different approach with the slogan for our billboard, instead of creating a call to action, we made it rhyme in order for it to be memorable and catchy so it sticks in our consumers heads for the rest of the day.

Lastly a very important form of codes and conventions that is kind of hard to see from the picture of the billboard above, is the link to Coca Colas websites on the bottom left corner of the billboard. This allows the consumers to get in touch with the company and keep up with their latests updates. We did this with our billboard but in a more visible way, by using social media icons on the bottom right corner of the billboard which let our audience know what social media platforms we are available on.

How the codes and conventions considered in planning have been met and how this was achieved (U20:M3)

We put codes and conventions to use in the planning of our products in several ways throughout the making of the product. The first codes and conventions that we used was research that we did into other drink advertisements in order to gain inspiration for how our advert should look. We decided to make the storyline of our advert similar to an energy drink advert that we had found on youtube, the advert was located in the forrest which gave us the idea for the storyline of our advert. Another code and convention that we had realised is crucial at the end of an advert and that is commonly used is a product shot. Using camera shots is another code and convention we used. This is a close up shot of the product being promoted in the product and makes it clear to the viewers what the advert is about. Lastly another code and convention that is really important when creating an advert of campaign in general is a slogan, Slogans are important because if they are catchy enough then they will stick with the consumers. Our slogan needed to relate back to the product as well as to the client brief which is why we decided to make it 'Find the strawberry blast from the past'. Other codes and conventions that are important to use when planning an advert are the colour scheme, product name and so forth. We met the planned materials such as our research by having our storyline being inspired by the other drink adverts from our research. We used the product shot by adding a close up of the product at the end of our video advert, as well as having a large image of the can on our billboard poster as well as our magazine poster. Our slogan was used appropriately as it related back to our product as well as being catchy due to the rhyme that we used.


Billboard poster

Codes and conventions - 
-  Slogan - We created this slogan in order to catch the attention of the slogan, and we made it catchy in order for it to stay in their head, this was done by making the slogan rhyme
-  Social media icons - Social media icons are used in order to let our audience know which platforms they can gain access to our products and where they can get in touch with us.
- Carter Soft Drinks logo - We put the logo on the billboard in order to identify this product as a product made by Carter Soft Drinks.
- Product placement - We use product in order to give our audience a preview of the product and so they know what to look for in the shops.
Font - We used a fancy font that was similar to strawberry laces as it reflected the flavour of the product that was outlined in the brief.
- Name of company - Phizzwizzard is located on the product

Magazine poster -

 Codes and conventions 
-  Slogan - We created this slogan in order to catch the attention of the slogan, and we made it catchy in order for it to stay in their head, this was done by making the slogan rhyme
-  Social media icons - Social media icons are used in order to let our audience know which platforms they can gain access to our products and where they can get in touch with us.
- Carter Soft Drinks logo - We put the logo on the billboard in order to identify this product as a product made by Carter Soft Drinks.
- Product placement - We use product in order to give our audience a preview of the product and so they know what to look for in the shops.
- Phizzwizard drink name - Including this in the magazine poster allows our audience to spread the word about the product by now knowing the name of the drink.

Codes and conventions 
- Camera angles - we used all types of camera angles in order to give our audience the best experience possible, such as the low angle at the very beginning which shows Jessie walk along towards the strawberry laces. As well as the close up angles when focusing up on the drink and several other camera angles.
- Product placement - We use product in order to give our audience a preview of the product and so they know what to look for in the shops.
- Background music - This helped intensify the scene by finding the appropriate background music for each scene
- Phizzwizard logo - This helped us identify the product as Phizzwizard and let customers know that this is what the product would be called.
-  Slogan - We created this slogan in order to catch the attention of the slogan, and we made it catchy in order for it to stay in their head, this was done by making the slogan rhyme
- We didn't use a voiceover which is a code and convention. We didn't use it because the atmosphere of the advert didn't require one. Additionally, all of the information is evident within the advert itself.