My final assignment for VisComm was focused on visual aspects of political communications. Here is a mock logo for my hypothetical campaign...I can see the bumper stickers now!

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Camp Traditions

Here are a few different products from the Camp Traditions soup and chili mixes. You can tell from the packaging, even without looking at the pictures on the package, that the target audience is supposed to be the outdoorsy, nature type. The colors are all warm colors and the font is bold and fairly masculine. The pictures on each package further enforce the message behind the brand and its packaging. A picture of a forest and a duck hunter definitely scream “buy this if you’re spending the weekend in the forest duck hunting.” The name “Camp Traditions” also helps speak to the target audience of the outdoorsy camper types. The warm rich colors in combination with the masculine font and the worn looking background makes me, as an audience, assume that these soups are going to be very hearty and filling, and also easy to prepare with limited supplies and equipment. The pictures at the bottom of the package are't too detailed or large that it distracts from the text. While the pictures aren't of the product or explicitly related to soup mix, it relates to the brand image and draws your eye in; the very next thing you see is the text "chili" or "garlic," which is exactly what Camp Traditions wants you to see. The package front isn’t too crowded and still manages to convey its message to its target audience; I really love this design and how well it works for all of their products!

http://www.object9.com/
This design was done by Object Nine, a marketing strategy and interactive brand development company that has headquarters in Atlanta and Baton Rouge.

IT'S GUAC TIME

For my visual communication class we were given the opportunity to create a print and video advertisement for the product, service, or company of our choice. I decided to choose Mission brand guacamole dip. Utilizing the relationship between the chip-dip combo and social gatherings, I tried to promote guacamole as a perfect addition to one's game watching/party experience.

Often overshadowed by the more traditional choice of salsa, guacamole could be a real game changer for you and your guests. The message behind both ads, and the ad campaign that they would be a part of, is that guacamole could and should be your staple game day item.  These ads don't give a lot of information because most people know what guacamole is...they don't need a list of features for a jar of smooshed up avocados.  The purpose of the message isn't to make you aware that guacamole exists, it's to convince you that Mission guacamole is an essential part of your game-day experience...that your experience (much like the people's in the ad) could be vastly enhanced with the presence of some good ole guac.

The target audience would be sports fans, but more specifically hosts or guests who will be buying food for the big game.  While football fans are part of the audience, moms or wives (who may not necessarily be big fans, but may take the reigns when it comes to groceries for a party or tailgate) would make up a large part of the target audience.  Mission wants to connect with the people who are willing and capable of buying their product, not just eating the stuff somebody else bought.  In general though, the target audience would be football fans (or those who take part in festivities surrounding football) between the ages of 20-55.

The medium used for the video ad would be TV spots that could play leading up to and during the big game. If you see the commercial before the game you'll add it to your grocery list...if you see it during, you'll WISH you had added it to your grocery list.  The print ad could be used as a magazine or Newspaper advertisement, but I was mainly thinking digital billboards would be a great way to advertise using this ad and other ones like it. (see "Lagniappe" for further explanation) 

Here is a link to the video advertisement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGwgbAJL8ZI&feature=youtu.be

Print Ad

Lagniappe: Mission could increase consumer engagement by turning this ad campaign into a social media campaign as well.  Football fans across the nation could tweet pictures to the brand of them celebrating the game with the dip using the hashtag "#ITSGUACTIME." Using digital billboard technology, like Lamar utilizes to do live streams and live updates via their digital space, the fans would get their pictures featured on the billboard if their photo was selected with the template text "WHEN IT'S GAMETIME IT'S GUAC TIME" being automatically laid over the top.  Every time Mission's ad would come up on the billboard (typically in a rotation with 5 other ads) a different picture could be displayed. 

Today in my Visual Communications class we learned about the 5 Shot Method. These traditional five shots act as a great guide to get started on any video project. The five shots are as follows: 1. close-up on hands 2. close-up on face 3. wide shot 4. over the shoulder 5. something different To demonstrate this method I created a video, using 5 shots, of a friend getting ready for her wedding! The 5 Shot Method

Hands-on Advertising: AT&T

AT&T shows some hands-on creativity:

There are a few visuals that most people could easily tie to AT&T: the colors orange and blue or the blue and white striped globe. When you visit their website these visuals are present, helping to solidify a consistent visual "theme" for the brand. The funny commercials with the man in a suit talking with little kids also incorporates these visuals, typically at the end of the commercial, but they are still present. Obviously, AT&T print ads would contain these visual themes as well, but in a medium like print there or more restrictions on how you can grab AND hold somebody's attention. Listening to a humorous comment is different than reading one, watching a screen with moving images is different than staring at one piece of still paper.

With their most recent print ad however, AT&T created an intriguing piece of visual communications that informs the viewer via the visual. The visual isn't just used to grab your attention, with the text slapped arbitrarily on the page. The image makes the point without needing too much additional text.

The phones are black which contrasts with the tinted colored back grounds; the gradient on the background which fades as it moves to the center also helps draw your eyes to the phone or phones. The text is very simple and does not overcrowd the focal image.  The curved orange band on the bottom of the page not only helps to identify this ad as an AT&T ad, but kind of holds up the image and frames it so your eyes don't wonder away before you absorb the image.


 

Digital Branding GOes PRO

"Join the GoPro Movement"

With one phrase, GoPro has just given us an inside look at their digital branding technique.  GoPro has made it their mission to not just advertise for their product, but to create "a movement."  The first thing that you see upon visiting there website isn't the dimensions of the camera, or the fps of the lens.  It's a video of real life people filming real life experiences, experiences that you too could be living and reliving if you had the GoPro to capture it all. 

Well..let's face it; that's not entirely true.  The amazing videos you see shot on a GoPro camera are not the kind of video the average consumer will be shooting.  However, these videos that the average consumer watches inspire them to become more than just the average consumer.  While plenty of GoPro's target audience are the extreme sports gurus, the product is just as awesome for those of us who will be using the camera to visit a semi extreme water park or to strap onto our drunk friend at the next big party.




what you THINK you'll look like...

REALITY

 GoPro successfully utilizes social media via Facebook and Twitter giveaways, as well as having a highly viewed youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/goprocamera. All of these aspects encourage interaction with a wide variety of potential consumers. The only change I would suggest would be to further push their presence on youtube. Like I said, not everyone is going to be using the product to fly over mountains, but seeing the funny and creative way the average joe uses the camera could be a key component leading to the purchase.