Task 5 - Methods of research

Task 5 – Methods of Research

It is important to research before planning an advertising campaign. This is because it is important that you gather all of the information that is needed before you begin the campaign. It is also very important that they collect this information as they may not get all of the facts right and the campaign may not make work out. You must have all the pieces of information up to scratch and all correct. Any incorrect information may lead in the campaign going wrong.

There are many different types of research. These are;

- Audience research

- Production research

- Market research.

Audience research:

There are four basic types of audience research, these include; descriptive research, analytical research, predictive research and tracking research.  Descriptive search is research that describes the audience and their characteristics, for example, how old they are? and where they live? Predictive research are 'what if?' situations. Analytical research is research that seeks to understand what motivates an audience. Tracking research monitors changes that happen through a period of time.

Market research:

Market research is the research that is conducted to help decide what market a company should be selling certain merchandise to, for example, if a company was selling aftershave the market would be targeted at men. Companies need to be aware of who their competitors are and need to be aware of growth potential.
Things that companies need to be aware of are things such as what other products are similar that on the market, what the other companies may do a lot better,  how similar the prices are, what other companies sales figures are compared to their own, what can be done to improve the product and what their companies unique selling point is. Companies need to keep in mind that they are trying to achieve their marketing objectives, this means that they are trying to reach the goals that the company has set for themselves to ensure that they are giving out the best product that values money and the costs of production. They would have an objective and a time span in which they would want to achieve it within.

Production research:

Product research test all of the technology and personnel availability and make sure that planning production and post-production run smoothly, for example do they have staff that can film and edit.
A company in advertising would need some specialized equipment such as apple mac computers, HD quality digital cameras, microphones, headphones.etc. The company will also need to consider travelling costs to get to make up and stylists and travel around the filming lot.  They need to have an editing studio where video editing is able to take place, they also need to have script writers and crew to help the operation run smoothly. 

Primary research:

Primary research is research that has been performed by the researcher when they research an organisation to answer a specific question about the company. Examples of primary research would be using a questionnaire to find out the information you need to answer the question. This is also when someone carries out their own research which allows other organisations to correct any issues that are involved in a specific situation. The disadvantages of primary research are that it costs to be able to do this research and that it takes a lot of time to be able to collect the information that is required. The advantages to primary research are that the researcher has much more control, this enables to researcher to gather the market research that they require.

Secondary research:

Secondary research is research that is conducted by someone else that can be used with primary research. This can be used to create second hand research. The disadvantages of secondary research is that it may not always be accurate as the evidence may have been taken at a different period of time so the evidence would have changed from that period. The advantages to secondary research would be that it wouldn't take as long to gather the research a somebody would have already done the research so you could use these numbers to gather your own evidence. 

Quantitative research:

Quantitative research is research that can be shown as a set of numbers, can be shown as charts or graphs and can be measured. The disadvantages to quantitative research are that it is hard to design a questionnaire that is suitable for the whole of the public to do. Another disadvantage would be that closed questions on a questionnaire cannot be adapted or adjusted in any way. The advantages to quantitative research are that you can have a large sample of information using this research technique. Another advantage is that is relatively easy to distribute and easy to receive the information quickly. 

Qualitative research:

Qualitative research is research that helps to find out peoples feelings, the responses are professional and that they can not really be measured. The disadvantages would be that this kind of research is very time consuming and takes a lot of time to be able to collect this information, another disadvantage would be that their would be quite a small sample of people who could fill out this kind of information at one time. The advantages to qualitative research are that you can find out important information about the development of what people think and how people have changed throughout the time that previous research was made, another advantage would be that you could ask questions that are not as important as some of the other questions asked.

Task 4 - Regulation

Regulation of television adverts is important. Advertising is an essential part of modern life and a modern economy - informing consumers about the things available to them, giving them vital information and persuading them in a lively way about the merits f particular prodcts and services. But it is very important that this information is accurate and does not mislead, and can be trusted by the consumers who see it or hear it. Ofcom is the government approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from what may be harmful or offensive material. Some of the main areas of Ofcom presides over are licensing, research, codes and policies, complaints, protecting the radio from spectrum abuse and competition. The ASA ensures that advertising can be trusted. The ASA started 50 years ago, and its job is to ensure that advertising in all forms of media- from newspapers, magazines, television and the internet - is legal, decent, honest and truthful. If an advert fails those tests, them the advertsing is either amended or withdrawn. The ASA covers advertisements in things like internet, posters, direct mail, cinema, magazines, leaflets, competitions and many more. The ASA does not cover packaging, shop windows, press releases, online editorial, sponsorship and more. In 1965, cigarette advertising was banned on television, and in 195, new rules for other types of cigarette advertising was introduced, along with pre-vetting. In 2003, the tobacco advertising and promotion act 2002 came into force, prohibiting the advertising and promotion of tobacco products. It does not, however, cover ads for rolling papers or filters.

The roles of OFCOM is to make sure that television, radio, telecom and postal sector are providing the public with information that is not offensive to the audience. Some of the thing that OFCOM looks over are; licensing, codes and policies, complaints, research, competition, and protecting the radio spectrum's from abuse. When dealing with advertising the OFCOM will normally direct a person the the ASA. If there are enough complaint about one particular advert they are entitled to remove the advert even though this is not there job. 
The ASA are the 'Advertising Standards Authority' and are there to ensure that advertising can be trusted. The job of the ASA is to ensure that all forms of media including, television, radio and internet is legal and truthful for everybody to look at. If an advertisement fails their test, then it is withdrawn. As well as continuously checking adverts that appear in the UK and are checked by the ASA, they also act on complaints that a consumer has made. Even a single complaint can lead to an investigation to withdraw an advertisement. They also make sure that all of these adverts shown are totally appropriate for young ages watching, the elderly watching, and lastly, making sure they are not sexist and offends people of the opposite sex. They cover; magazines and newspapers, radio and TV, television shopping channels, posters, cinemas, direct mail, internet, leaflets and brochures, commercial emails and mobile messages, CD, DVD, videos and faxes and sales promotions. They do not cover; sponsorship's, packaging, shop windows, telephone calls, fly-posting, private classified ads, statutory/public notices, press releases, political ads and online editorial.

Products like alcohol, food and soft drinks, health and beauty items and tobacco have specific, individual rules that apply to them. There are also rules that apply to things such as environmental claims, racism, children and advertising, displaying ads in appropriate places etc. They have to make sure and take special care to ensure that these advertisements are the adverts that are allowed on television and are watched by everyone. This also means that they have to make sure they are not committing any crimes such as racism or environmental claims.

The ASA decides whether or not an advertisement is appropriate by using the advertising code. This code contains a wide variety of rules designed to make sure that no adverts are misleading, harmful, offensive, and is socially responsible. This does not matter what the product being advertised is. The codes reflect laws that are in place to make sure that none of these offences take place. It contains specific rules for certain products. 

The ASA intervention has changed tobacco advertising as in 1965, cigarette advertising was banned on television due to the fact that it was misleading, but cigars and loose tobacco could still be advertised on television on the early 1990's. In 1975, new rules for other types of cigarettes adverts were made, and in 2003, the tobacco advertising and promotional act of 2002 was pronounced for the prohibiting of tobacco advertising on television. However this does not covers advertising for rolling paper and filters.

There are some adverts that are still being able to be seen but these adverts are banned for breaking the rules of the ASA and these adverts are just a few of the thousand that have had to go through this test;

- This advert is from the vegetarian society, the advert show clips of fruit and vegetables. This may not sound inappropriate but it uses sexual imagery as an innuendo. People said that this was a 'gross' advert as it unsuitable for viewing of children and was very explicit.

- This advert is a pot noodle advert, this is considered rude to women as it tries to demonstrate that all women are sexual. They had many complaints from women saying that it was exploiting women and their right to being treated as more than just sex objects. It is very sexist.

Task 3 - Analysing an advert in detail

Analysing an advert in detail

I will be analysing the Head and shoulders- love your hair advert. This advert is a parody advert. It is targeted at young people and above. It is about shampoo and conditioner. The aim of this advert is to re-assure the audience that if you do not take care of your hair, you may lost it. So take care of it as much as you can. The advert shows how you should take care of your hair as much as possible.

The target audience for this video would be people of all ages, but mostly people over the age of thirty in my opinion, this is because at this age, some men could start to lose their hair and they must look after it. Head and shoulders show the audience how you should look after your hair more as you get older, and by using Head and shoulders shampoo and conditioner, you will have healthier and stronger hair. This is the message they are portraying to the audience.

This advert provoke's an emtional response because the man in the video nearly loses his hair, which is portayed as his best friend. The hair comes back to him and they hug during the advert. This is an advert which will have an emotional response. This advert has not used celebrity endorsement. It uses a brand identity, which is 'Head and Shoulders' shampoo and conditioner. There is a persuasive device, which is fear. This is because the man is scared incase he loses his hair, which leads me back to if you use head and shoulders, your hair will stay healthy and you will not lose it at all.

The camera angles were most of the time at eye line. The positioning of the camera was straight and still. The editing and lighting were normal, like an every day look, except the advert was edited to make it look black and white. Part of the sound was the sound of a train blowing. The advert was edited, but not in a big way, and it is quite a simple, straight forward filmed commercial.