P1 (U20): Describe an existing media advertising campaign, M1 (U20): Evaluate different cross media advertising campaigns for consistency of message

P1 (U20): Describe an existing media advertising campaign

Dream Crazy- Nike 

Colin Kaepernick featuring in the Just Do It campaign.  

Dream crazy is a marketing campaign made by Nike in 2018 following the controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick and his refusal to stand for the United States national anthem in protest of police brutality. 'Dream Crazy' is a continuation of the the 'Just Do It' campaign as it celebrates 30 years. The campaign features several types of media, including; print, tv and social media. 

Aims and Objectives

With any advert, the biggest aims and objectives is to increase sales which could eventually lead to profits for Nike. However Nike may have used their advertising to spark a conversation in to the sensitive topic of police brutality to black individuals such as Kaepernick. The advert is also used to inspire the next generation of potential athletes by mentioning the dreams and aspirations of young athletes and stars of sport. The aims of Nike is to create a conversation where their name could be in the centre of the conversation thus allowing them to create more brand awareness for potential customers.

Target Audience

The primary target audience for the advert is mainly aimed at young sporty adults who may be interested in the Nike brand, however, a secondary audience for this advert could be individuals in sport who may be in minority groups based on gender, sexuality, disability or even ethnicity. The advert talks about dreaming crazy and how anyone should overcome any stereotype and any obstacle to achieve their dreams, the advert targets them as part of there campaign in order to increase diversity in sport. The campaign focuses on historic events within the sporting world, this may appeal to hardcore sports fans. The large target market is possibly 16-40 year olds as the younger audiences may be oblivious to the subjects talked about 

Representation

As previously mentioned, the advert targets individuals who are trying to break stereotypical barriers by inspiring them to be the next generation of sports stars, The advert targets some women in particular to break the barriers of sports and create a successful career for themselves. However Sport in general has a male dominance and bias. Because of this, women are often overlooked in sport which means that adverts made by sports companies such as Adidas and of course Nike may target their adverts at a male audience in order to increase sales. However instead of using stereotypes to advertise to specific audiences, the company uses stereotypes and sexist remarks to spur on young female athletes such as the example I used above. The advert above is part of the same campaign and tells the audience that Girls don't play tennis, they own it. The campaign is using a typically sexist remark "Girls can't play tennis" and encouraging audiences from this.  This is representing female power in competitive sports.         

Choice of Media

The Dream Crazy campaign is a cross media campaign which featured print media, video and a social media campaign. Nike have chosen these types of media because they are the easiest forms of media to show to the widest forms of audience. The large majority of their target audience would use Social media, so targeting adverts on social media would allow Nike to be more prominent.

Nike's TV advert was the most talked about feature of their campaign. The campaign used
celebrity endorsements (specifically Colin Kaepernick) to convey their message to their audience. The advert also uses emotive language and imagery to capture the viewer and draw them into the story of the advertisement. The advert consisted of several inspirational athletes and showing their stories whilst Colin Kaepernick narrates over, speaking to the audience. He says "Don't ask if your dreams are crazy, ask if their crazy enough" This is spurring the audience to achieve more and considering that the advert features Nike products, perhaps the key message of the advert is that your dreams can be achieved when using Nike products. The advert at the end features a call to action and a hashtag in order to get more of the audience talking about the advert. 

Another way Nike have advertised their campaign is through the us of social media. Nike's social media campaign predominantly features the TV advert in the form of a YouTube video or tweet, However the Social media campaign features numerous celebrity endorsements, People who follow and who support certain athletes would be eager to support any brand that they are sponsored with. The social media advert, like the other advertisements feature a call to action #justdoit, this is yet again spark conversation online.      

Also using Print media in the forms of Billboards allows for Nike to gain publicity of
their campaign, as drivers would probably look at the message. Even if their not interested in the company, a large demographic would view this billboard (built in New York). Thus giving Nike a huge amount of publicity. The advert features a black and white background followed by the caption above Kaepernick's face saying "Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything". The use of this quote references Colin Kaepernick and his story. For those who sympathise with Kaepernick they'll be drawn to his emotionless close-up. The advert features a call to action at the bottom saying #justdoit, repeating the slogan of Nike in order to further engrane the message into the audience head.      

Key Messages

The main message that Nike want to portray to their audience, is that no obstacle is too hard to overcome, and any dream is achievable. The advert also tries to stand up and break social boundaries, it tells the audience that no Dream is too crazy to achieve, in fact the crazier the dream is the better. The advert is also trying to relate more to the audience as the advert is telling You , the viewer to dream crazy. The advert is talking to the audience in first person, so it feels if the advert is talking to you.    

Approach

Dream Crazy isn't like a typical advert. Very little, to no products are being advertised and the celebrity endorsements featured, such as Colin Kaepernick aren't promoting any products. Nike in this campaign are telling a story, the story in this advert is which draw customers in. The story uses emotive language and uses inspirational scenes in order to entice viewers and make them watch on. Using this format leads more people to enjoy the advert therefore it would increase the likelihood of people sharing this video online.

Alongside this, Nike endorsed athletes were sharing this advert and other pictures online to do with the company, thus using celebrities social media status to entice audiences to look at the Nike campaign and also to look at the Nike range. 

Campaign Logistics

The Dream Crazy campaign was released two years after the controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick. The advert was also released in September 2018, coincidentally this was released on the same week that the new NFL season started, This could've been done to spark controversy as Kaepernick was relieved from his duties for the San Francisco 49ers, after failing to stand for the US national anthem. Releasing this at the start of the season can allow Nike to gain publicity, therefore increasing the ads reach. Releasing the advert during the week of the NFL launch adds to the controversy surrounding the advert and Colin Kaepernick. This controversy leads to publicity from Nike thus meaning more people would know about the company and the marketing campaign. 

Call to Action

Towards the end of the Dream Crazy TV advert, Nike included #justdoit. Along with this Colin Kaepernick (The main contributor to the campaign) shared the video with the same tag. This call to action made the advert one of the most talked about campaigns not only in US history but world history. The ad made people talk about inspirations, their personal dreams and challenges. This amount of social media presence has made the ad go viral eventually leading to Nike winning an Emmy award. 

Relevant Legal and Ethical Issues 

Some people, especially on Social media, had an issue of Nike's support of Colin. President Trump even had something to say about the controversial ad. This obviously gave the ad a negative reception, however the uproar would also give the advert more publicity, thus increasing the likelihood that more people would watch the advert. The advert following its release struck controversy, because of their support for Colin Kaepernick, #BoycottNike was a trending topic on twitter following the ad. Many people were filming themselves burning their Nike products with captions saying "Enough is enough #boycottnike", this obviously gave Nike more Publicity leading to even more people watching the advertisement to see where the controversy came from. 

A tweet from President Trump about the Nike 
campaign

#Boycottnike

The Best Men Can Be-Gillette 

The best men can be campaign

Following years of toxic masculinity and high profile sexual harassment cases, Gillette took it upon themselves to be socially responsible and the key message is for men to be responsible for their actions. The advert received a mixed response as some people believed the advert was generalising men as awful characteristics, other thought it was a thoughtful way to help put a stop to toxic masculinity, bullying and rape culture

Aims and Objectives

Gillette much like, Nike, are trying to be socially responsible by encouraging the audience (especially males) to try harder in order to end toxic masculinity and bullying. The advert targets the current adult generation, those aged 20-40, to hold other men (those who are behaving inappropriately) accountable. By holding other men responsible for their actions it would lead to the next generation of men being able to act as decent human beings.

Target Audience

Gillette have targeted this advertisement to adult males such as 20-40 year olds. A secondary target audience for their marketing campaign could be younger males such as 16 years old or below. Males these ages may not behave appropriately at such an immature age. Of course, this advert isn't exclusive to just men. Women are free to watch this advert and buy Gillette products, however the advert seems less of advertisement of Gillette's products and more of a social commentary of the bad behaviour some men have, so in this case women aren't seen as a target audience.

Representation

The advert is controversial for how it can be portraying some men and their behaviour. The advert states that SOME men are acting responsibly and creating a better world for the future. Some people saw this to be offensive as they believe that most men in the world are acting responsibly and are shaping the next generation of men, however some believe that this is the perfect comment to say after the various sex offence scandals and the #metoo movement, the topic of discussion in this advert is very polarizing and controversial. The advert is also specifically targeted at men exclusively even Gillette sell women's products. However this advert is seen as a movement rather then a video trying convince customers to buy products. The movement in question is exclusive to men.

Choice of Media

Gillette have mostly used social media in order to spread awareness of their marketing campaign. The tweet shown on the right is a good example of Gillettes social media campaign. Gillette use the rhetorical question "Boys will be boys?" to possibly stir more controversy amongst the advertising campaign. The advert, featuring the YouTube link to the TV advert also features a link to a website which encourages customers and others to get involved with their marketing campaign and helping release more interest within the campaign. The advert also includes a call to action #thebestmencanbe, this is in order to encourage the audience to share inspirational acts made by men thus spreading the awareness of the company and the advertisement. 

The TV campaign is using negative stereotypes of men, to portray how the campaign can help bring the best out of men by converting these stereotypes. The advert feature sensitive  topics, emotive language, music and imagery to set the tone and draw the audience in to symbolise Gillette feelings towards the topic. The advert would be viewed by a considerable amount of people as society have adapted to the use of technology, such as TV, Internet and other forms of social media.  

Key Messages

The main message from this campaign is that men need to look out for those who may be in a weakened or vulnerable position. Men need to stand up for those who have been bullied, we need to stop violence and toxicity amongst men, and most of all we need to stop sexual harassment. Gillette are hoping to achieve this by pledging at least $1 million to male based charities in order to get the best out of men.

Approach

Gillette have mostly targeted their advertising campaign on social media and on Television adverts. This is because their target demographic is 20-40 year old males (which is a wide demographic of ages) they can use social media to target younger audiences and television can target those aged 30-40 you would be the target for TV viewing. Like Nike, Gillette have tried to convey their message in the form of a story to try and have an emotional connection with their audience, however it didn't have the same effect, instead this advert caused more of a controversy which did lead to publicity, but the campaign did receive a lot of negativity.   

Campaign Logistics

The Gillette campaign was released January 2019, when the #metoo movement was in full publicity and brave survivors of sexual harassment were beginning to speak out. This meant that Gillette were able to spread this message at a time, where mens behaviours and claims were being questioned.  

Call to Action

At the end of the advert, it provides a link for Thebestmenncanbe.org, allowing people to watch the advert and make difference by helping Gillette to pledge at least $1 Million a year to charitable causes which strive to help all men to be at their best. Along with this website link, the advert features #thebestmencanbe which links to a social media campaign encouraging users to show the best in men through a series of photos and videos showing the kind attitudes and inspirational actions some men have. This also leads the advert to have higher publicity and wider demographic as it could target women as well as children to perhaps send messages and videos of the inspirational men in their lives.

Relevant Legal and Ethical Issues 

As previously mentioned Gillette have received a lot of backlash for this advert. At one point in time it was one of the most disliked videos on YouTube. Controversy is still prevalent as Gillette have been accused of deleting negative comments and trying to hide the negative feedback. Most of the negative feedback has been created because some of Gillette's target audience believed that Gillette have been sexist towards men and that Gillette have responded to the #metoo campaign wrongly. 

 M1 (U20): Evaluate different cross media advertising campaigns for consistency of message

Nike-Dream Crazy

For the Dream Crazy advertisement campaign, Nike decided to make the advert cross media, this is because having a cross media campaign means that Nike can reach a larger demographic and a larger audience to get there message across. 

Nike used a social media campaign which was driven by displaying pictures of inspirational athletes such as Serena Williams and Colin Kaepernick or the fencing athlete above, with various taglines.  

*

This ad features the quote "Be the hero you never had", both this advert and their print advert (billboard) share this similarity. There is a consistent use of celebrity endorsements in the advertising campaign across all forms of media. As well as this, both the social media ad and the billboard ad share the consistent use of a black background with a celebrity as the main focal point in the advertisement (as they are both placed in the centre) This is yet again done to make the imagery stand out.

*

The social media post is a reference to Ibtihaj Muhammad, an United States bronze medal fencer who became well known for being the first woman to ever compete professionally in a Hijab. Because no-one had ever competed in a Hijab before, Ibtihaj had no-one to look up to. The advert tries to convey its message through the use of the emotive language and imagery to inspire others to be there own hero. The advert includes the motto Just Do It, as its symbolic of the Nike brand. The brand also keeps with the theme of crazy dreams as its telling the audience to be the hero you didn't have. This has connotations of dreaming crazy and having your aspirations rather than aspiring to be someone else. The imagery shown could be conveyed as quite emotional as the Athlete in question is clearly overwhelmed with emotion clearly showing the dedication and sacrifices she's made to get to where she is today.

Secondly the print based media campaign featured the famous image of Colin Kaepernick in black white with the quote "Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything". The message is powerful as it features a close up of Colin with a blank expression on his face the message symbolises his fight for equality in 2016, when he wouldn't stand for the US national anthem. Having his face shown publicly in areas such as New York and Los Angeles also adds to the significance of this campaign. The advert also continues with the theme of sacrificing everything as the image of Colin Kaepernick with a blank expression is synonymous with his sacrifice to fight for social justice and it continues the theme of sacrifice. 

*

Another consistent trait of the campaign is the use of the slogan and the branding. All of the adverts use this as adverts are meant to display the branding as it’s a chance to make unaware viewers know what brand and products they’re looking at

*

 Nike used for their campaign was video. In the advert the most notable message was that however crazy your dream was, you should excel to achieve it and more. All of the adverts tell the audience that being different in what you want to achieve and what you fight for is better then following the crowd. The key message i all of the adverts is to sacrifice everything for your dreams, not matter how crazy they are. 

Gillette- The best men can be

Gillette have used less types of media than Nike in their marketing campaign. Gillette have mostly used social media in their campaign. Using social media can allow Gillette to access a younger audience then their usual target audience. Using billboards may of worked as part of Gillette's target market is older, however choosing to advertise on social media is cheaper and could target more people.  

Firstly, Gillettes television advert is similar to Nike's dream crazy advert, the advert tells a story about misogyny, sexual abuse and bullying. The advert uses emotive language and emotive imagery to convey the message. The advert also contains a certain element of nostalgia as the campaign focuses on the previously successful 'The best a man can get' campaign. The advert doesn't really advertise any products in the Gillette brand. The advert features celebrity endorsement as famous actor Terry Crews. This is to improve the spread of the message as hopefully people who look up to Crews may also view this campaign with he same regard. 

Secondly the Gillette campaign featured a heavy social media campaign, such as the one above. The social media campaign featured some celebrity endorsement as Terry Crews, who stars in the advertisement talking about how "men need to be responsible for other men actions". He was sharing the advert under the #bestmencanbe in order to spark a conversation on social media. This worked, However, the advertising online sparked negative conversations towards the company.

The social media campaign also featured a call to action as it allowed people to click on the website link and help Gillette raise money for male charities. #bestmencanbe was the hashtag used for the social campaign as it allowed people to share videos of the inspirational men, this allows the campaign to spread quickly. 

*

In both of Gillette’s campaigns there is a consistent use of the slogan (a best a man can get) which was later changed to a best a man can be. This shows the ever evolving, ever changing society in which we live in and the changing views on masculinity, sexism and sexual assault. As well as this the ad campaign also features the consistent use of celebrity endorsements, for example, Terry Crews who can be seen pictured in the social media ad campaign and the TV advertisement. He is used to make a statement “Men should hold other men accountable” (for their actions) which, is essentially the entire message of the campaign. Finally a consistent message throughout both the Social media and TV campaign is the use of the Hashtag #thebestmencanbe appearing both in the ending of the Tv ad and in the social media post. This is to create a conversation online in order to spark change in society and the way the world is.   

*

Overall, both types of media for the 'Best men can be campaign' convey the same message. We should celebrate the good behaviour and inspirational actions that men in the world do, but we should also hold those responsible for the problems and sexual injustice we face in the world. The key message is that we need to make the minority of men who act appropriately the majority.