Q2

1. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

2. BRAND IDENTITY
Brand identity is the way in which a company would like its business to be perceived by consumers. The importance of
brand identity in marketing consists of the components are created by the business in order to reflect the value that the
company attempts to bring towards the market in order to appeal to its consumers. It is essential to have a strong brand
identity which can be easily recognisable as it will build the reputation and image of the company if consumers can easily
associate with the logo as they will always come back to the brand.
The marketing campaign I researched was for a film called Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this campaign established the
film’s identity in the marketplace as they built up the expectation and target audience over the space of 10 years being the
time between both films of the sequel. They were able to use this time effectively and to their advantage, taking fans by
surprise with their unique type of trailer which is called a “peering” trailer which was intended to grasp attention of the
audience. This was a special type of marketing strategy used to re-spark the love for the sequel so that viewers would be
intrigued.
The unique selling point of the film was the way they composed all different types of marketing techniques in a way that
allowed them to broaden their campaign, as well as introducing a more diverse cast of characters while keeping some of
the traditional characters. In conclusion, all these factors gave fans something to look forward to with an edge so they
wouldn’t be seeing the usual Star Wars films they’re used to. The production company has done this on purpose to prove to
the fans that they have used the 10 years wisely to make it the best part of the sequel yet.

3. FILM POSTER
In this poster, brand identity is portrayed
through the most recognisable aspect of
the Star Wars sequel being the blue
and red colours which symbolise the
dark side and the light. The main
characters are shown in a hierarchy
going from top to bottom getting smaller
a they decrease to strengthen this. The
font of the title remains similar to
previous films in the sequel, maintaining
the yellow “glow” outline which gives
Star Wars that extra bit of edge.

4. TEASER
TRAILER
The teaser trailer includes a
total of 12 shots. A black screen
is used to transition most of the
shots, for a long duration (5
seconds). This style may have
been used to optimise the effect
the shots have on the viewer so
that they have more time to take
in what occurs and become
more intrigued into wanting to
know what will happen next.
This type of trailer is designed
to create a black hole which will
suck in the viewer as the shots
are short, however the shots
used are able to give some
context into the storyline.
Enough to make the viewer feel
as if he is already on a
cliffhanger.

5. MAGAZINE
COVER
Empire chose to use two different
types of covers for the film which is
interesting. This further highlights
the importance of the dark side and
the light which is the focus of the
sequel. For example, the left image
portrays the three main characters
associated as the antagonists (dark
side) and on the right, the three
main characters who represent the
protagonists (light). Therefore
clearly shown through both
magazine covers, is the brand
identity. This was a clever choice
from Empire as fans can relate to
the covers and understand the
significance, they were able to
connect with the consumers.

6. FILM POSTER
We used our title and a tagline to
capture our target audience's’
attention as most of them will
currently be in some form of
education and can relate to both. We
chose to use “Exclusion” as a title as
it’s a powerful word on its own with a
deeper meaning, maybe the
characters felt excluded from society
which lead them to their actions
throughout the trailer? Also we
placed two handguns at either end of
the letter “X” in order to emphasise
danger. As well as using the two
masks within the poster to include
the aspect of “loss of identity”. Also
we chose to use a pixelated style for
the background of the poster to
reinforce the element of
confusion/non-understanding. Also,
we chose to place the two main
characters above the title both as
they are college students, and
another picture to the right which is
after they jump to conclusions.

7. TEASER
TRAILER While editing the teaser trailer I
focused on maintaining the same
font, colours and overall style of
how each shot is cut to the next.
This was very effective in
portraying the genre of the trailer
to viewers. Also by using special
effects and sound effects I was
able to strengthen the impact the
trailer has on viewers making
them more eager to watch the
film. In conclusion, the teaser
trailer maintains typical
conventions, however I wanted
to give off an edgy vibe to it so
that its able to stand out when
compared to others. I did this by
punching in powerful but nappy
sound effects on essential shots
and also using effects to visually
enhance the experience. For
example, creating the gunshot
through use of special effects.

8. MAGAZINE
COVER
For the magazine cover, we chose to follow
the design of Empire’s layout as it is iconic
and the red black and white theme
matches our teaser and poster. Also, we
chose to centralise both main characters
when they are masked to create a sense of
mystery. We wanted to portray the idea of
unknown identity in the poster so that
consumers will be kept on their tiptoes.
Also we have placed the title of our film just
below the characters with the black font
across the white clothing and the white font
against the black clothing. Similar to the
Star Wars theme of light and dark, we
created a similar theme with black and
white, where two characters unite to share
their idea of taking education into their own
hands.

9. TARGET AUDIENCE FOR OUR CAMPAIGN
Our campaign is directed specifically to teenagers aged over 15 as some of the content involved would not be suitable for
audiences below the age limit. The elements in our campaign appeal to our target audience as they consist of relatable
circumstances, for example; exam situations, current situation on drug abuse especially within the age region of the target
audience and the simplicity of teenage life. We tried to incorporate all these modern day issues associated with teenagers
into a film which would grab their attention and highlight the surrealism of them. We went into depth and showed what these
problems can lead to, things such as jumping to absurd conclusions, getting into situations where it doesn’t end well and
also linked in the aspect of crime which is stereotypically associated with these issues, however we attempted to approach
it at an angle where the stereotype is defeated and it becomes a real life situation. Our main attempt in this campaign was
to create awareness to younger teenagers portraying a different side of their lives which usually isn’t shown by the media.