Colman's Mustard TV Advert Evaluation

Colman's Mustard

Introduction

For this assignment we had to choose a Unilever product which we could re-brand to a different target audience. The product which we chose to re-brand was originally Bovril, although we decided to change to Colman's Mustard. We changed our idea from Bovril because our original idea was too complicated. Re-branding Colman's Mustard was much easier because we could aim the product at a younger generation easier than we could Bovril.

We managed to create an advert which was humorous but at the same time got the message across that Colman's Mustard is not only for the older generation. This kind of advert would appeal more to the younger generation and the humour in this advert would of made them more interested in the product.

Our advert had very positive feedback within our class and from our teachers, so this showed that we had successfully made an appropriate advert, although the 'teens' in our group were not attracted more towards to product and said that they would not but mustard more because of our advert, then again those very few people from our class may be a small number who don't like it, but if it was actually on the television as an actual advert, it could help increase sales prices within the younger ages.

Editing Techniques

We used quite a few editing techniques within our advert, one of which was a pitch shifter from Adobe Premier Pro (the program which we used to edit or advert). This was used to change the pitch of the voices of the repeated "mustard" throughout most of the advert. We used this echoed effect to make the scene with the 'Mustard Man' seem tense and mad, because it sounded like lots of voices at once which came across as being quite confusing and disorientating. We used After Effects to create the 'squeezy' effect on the bottle at the end of the advert. The liquify filter allowed us to almost pinch the mustard several times, creating a squeeze looking affect on the still image of the bottle. The aesthetic qualities we used were realistic costumes and locations to re-brand this product. We used a tie and shirt on the protagonist  to bring a sense of authenticity which will lead the audience to believe in the advert, as well as the office-based location. To create an office-based location we used props such as laptops and mugs to again give a sense of realism within the advert.

The effectiveness of the persuasion techniques we used was firstly to get the audiences attention. We made a character in our advert (Mustard Man) repeat the word 'mustard' over and over again as he was in the scene, although this could be found either funny or annoying by some of the audience it will help to make the audience remember our product because they will of heard the word so much. We related the advert to the audience, we did this by setting our advert in an office, and by doing this many of the audience who are most probably middle-class would work in an office. This gives the audience features of their own life or character which they can relate to, which will make them more likely to watch and enjoy our advert. We also used desire as a technique to attempt to convince the audience of our new target audience (young professions) to buy this product. We did this buy featuring the male secretary in a real life situation which towards the end results in the message that Colman's Mustard is what gets men the ladies. Therefore this small yet simple shot will convince this target audience to buy this product.

Throughout our pre-production process, our aim for this advert was to communicate that even though mustard is seen as an unappealing product and a product that is only consumed by the older generation, that it is in fact a great on the go product for a work based environment. This is the reasoning for the starring of young workers and the humour which it brought to our advert through the 'mustard man'.

Overall we have presented the audience with a professional and non-offensive advert which was our aim beginning. We achieved this by using our knowledge to make our advert look as professional as possible which we did by using shot variations, for example we used close-ups, long shots and different angles to create a well made advert which was easy to watch We also used the continuity system as a guide to make sure we made no crucial continuity errors. Advertising regulations are also very important while creating any sort of production. As a group we went by UK's independent regulator ASA (ASA, 2014) and did not introduce anything harmful or offensive on our advert.

My view

In reference to our pre-production process and the final advert, there were very few things which we chose to shoot differently compared to our original intentions and storyboards. As we changed our idea and locations several times throughout the process, this involved re-starting our storyboard. The few things which we did decide to change in the final product was the mustard man outfit. We first planned to buy a bright yellow top and trousers but we later on decided to use a yellow poncho due to being slightly unorganised after having to start filming straight after half term. We also decided to use more appropriate shots while filming than we originally planned such as filming much of the advert from the left rather than straight ahead.

Conclusion

Our advert for Colman's Mustard personally I am extremely satisfied with. The standards of quality of our final product with only having made 2 previous productions are very good. The only thing that I would change is be more prepared and to not rush any process as while having a week to film, we managed to film our whole advert in one day, but unfortunately we had to re-shot certain scenes because they weren't quite right. The same apply's for the change in the product which we were re-branding as half way through the pre-production process we decided to re-brand a different Unilever product (Colman's Mustard). For our group I personally think that each of our involvement were equal efforts for each part of this advert for example the pre-production process. In this process we each took a task to complete while leaving the storyboards for join participation. We also had a role each while filming as while two characters were on screen, the other would play the role of the director while the role would swap depending on who is in shot. This also apply for the editing process as each of us had a time limit to spend editing while each of us participated in the final decisions.