Chanel Advert Evaluation

This post shows my evaluation of my Chanel advert that can be seen on my show reel.

The brief that was chosen by myself and my team mate, Natasha was Chanel. We chose this brief as we liked the idea of encouraging aspiring women to buy the latest Chanel perfume through creating a strong brand identity that they would want to invest in. One other reason we chose this brief was the fact that we wanted to build a strong beauty appeal to further the encouragement of the buying of the product and thought that this would be a challenge that we wanted to overcome.

As well as myself I also was in a production team with Natasha. We both decided on the brief together discussing our ideas and what we could possibly do reach the brief. Once we had done this we then had the task of completing pre production. This was then split between myself and my team mate. I decided that I was going to do production schedule, risk assessment and actor agreement where as Natasha did the storyboard, shot list and location recce. We done this by dividing the tasks as we new that it would not only be time convent but it was also enable us to both have a large input into what we wanted to the production to be and we both were able to have our own versions relayed into our work. We then went into film the advert. I was our actor in the advert so Natasha was our camera operator. We did however work together in doing this as Natasha would ask me questions in regards to see if I was happy with what was being done and I in turn would direct when I thought appropriate. When it came to our last task of editing we both done this together. This enabled us to both be able to have an input on not only what was being put in the advert in terms of footage but to bounce ideas of each other to create in my opinion a better final production.

Our initial idea was based on having one female actor that would be a ballerina. The lady would arrive in a dance studio and spray the Chanel perfume. This in turn would result in her doing a elegant and classy dance then the bottle being displayed at the end. This however was something that we were unable to do and therefore means that our advert does not reflect the original idea. We did end up filming a more simplistic idea that showed the Chanel bottle with a hand in various shots and then the process of the bottle being put on. What went well in our advert was the fact that we worked well with changing our advert to suit what we were able as a negative we faced was the facility’s not being available when our actors were. This in the future then would be something I would take into consideration when doing pre production and that would be to check that facilities and actors are sorted before running ahead with the idea. I feel this would benefit us we worked together successfully but the fact of the facility’s being a hinderance let us down. This was an issue and limitations we faced but fortunately once resolved this was the only one we faced.

When making the advert we used the advertising technique beauty appeal and brand identity. Beauty appeal was used within the advert through the content being a pleasing visual that shows class, glamour and social class that the advert would be aiming to attract in terms of audience. I feel this has been done successful and can be seen in the advert when the small bottle is being applied to the wrist. In this you can see the bottle clearly making the quality of the advert to be that of high and then also the feline wrist and hands, with tidy painted nails and jewellery that can insinuate class. Brand identity was created in the advert through the perfume bottles being shown continuously throughout the advert with the name of the perfume and brand being show clearly. This was done with the focus being put on the bottles with the camera focus being very good quality and the camera frame being based round the size of the bottle to ensure it was always a main vocal point for the audience. This enable us to successfully show the audience from the start of the advert what they are watching giving the advert to have the whole 30 seconds to promote the product.

The TV advert that has ended up being produced showed realism. This was through the advert being fictional based, with real humans and objects being filmed to the show the audience. I feel showing this to the audience enabled the audience to relate to the advert or want to invest in what they are seeing which in turn shows success of advert as the advert is promoting the advert and is masking being aware as well as during them in. An example of realism being used in the advert can be seen when the lid is taken if the large bottle and the perfume is then sprayed. This is something the audience can relate to and will imitate if they were to buy the bottle.

On completing the TV advert we formed a focus group to see what people would respond to our advert with. The overall response for this film was positive but with some constructive criticism. One person stated “the advert was exciting and informed us right away what it was about. I like the use of colour but feel that the sound could be improved as it’s not very exciting”. Upon reflection from this person it shows that the advert worked as the were able to grasp its narrative and concept but there was improvement we could make. After this me and Natasha had a discussion that brought us to a decision of changing our music to something that was more up beat and would therefore keep the audience more interested and would pick up the pace of the advert also which would suit it. One other person stated “I like this very famine advert, the bright nails grasp your attention to the bottles but suit the level of class and brand with adding a creative twist. I do however think the advert is missing a persons face, I feel this would make the advert more exciting.” Upon reflection of this me and Natasha had a discussion and decided that our beauty appeal was not strong enough on its own and to improve we would need to combine celebrity endorsement into the advert to empathise the product. An example of how we went on to do this was a face being put in three times to show reactions to someone experiencing the perfume. This makes it more realistic and gives more involvement for the audience.

Chanel is a brand that have created a successful aura. They have created a brand that has a social grade of high class status due to the product being premium which is reflected in the price. Chanel gives its shoppers an experience though packaging, product and shopping out let. It is said that if this product is to be worn by an individual they will connote a glamorous woman that is smart and well presented. The content used in out advert I think full filled the aura of Chanel through the advert grasping the brand by showing the perfume in a presentable manor that shows the product in its true light and also full fills the connotations the audience would expect from a Chanel advert. This is through the style of the video showing class, being clean and pretty and the filming being of a high, focused quality reflecting the kind that Chanel would produce.

When creating the Chanel advert the shot type used was a mid shot. This seemed to suit our advert the best as we were able to get the camera positioned in a way that best suited the advert, in terms of using advertising technique brand identity as we were continuously able to show the branding on the products. Using this shot type also allowed using to concentrate on framing what we’re putting in the shot. We explored moving the product across the scene and placing the product in various places to allow us to keep the advert interesting and keeping the attention of the audience as they were seeing various different frames of the shot. Distance was used in producing our advert when it came to setting up the shot type. The distance between what we shooting and the camera was purposely very shot. We realised that we wanted the frame to be small and the focus to be solely on the product and not for much space to intervene on this. We also used the technical quality of editing when it came to producing our advert. We used editing software to cut up the shots that we had taken so we could put them in alternating order between the big perfume and the small perfume until we reached the end shot where both perfume bottles were in the shot. This enable us to clearly show the alterations in a clear cut manor abiding to what Chanel would produce. With the software we also sped the speed up on some of the shots. We done this as it gave the audience a more concise picture and for it to be interesting as it had a quicker pace. The software was also used to put a logo into the advert which allowed to establish an even stronger brand identity.

The target audience for Chanel are woman that want to be identified and therefore represented by the brand as elegant, simplistic and Morden. The target audience is of woman that we younger but will retain the classic forte that surrounds the brand. The consumers are that of people with high disposable income and are that of a high social class. I feel the advert appropriately met the target audience through the advert creating the aura that they would expect from the genre of advert rough making the visual something for the audience to lust over and want. I do however feel that the advert could have been appropriate with the act of the bettering of the beauty appeal (celebrity endorsement) consist of a female in there later 20s with the shots showing a more elegant and sophisticated look. I feel what has been produced is more rough that what we be expected and immature due to the actor not looking the age one would expect in a Chanel advert.

If I was working in a professional context I would have access to a budget. This for the company I was working for, Chanel would be considerably high. This would enable me to get over a hindrance that I experienced which was the fact that an actor that I had arranged to act in the advert was unavailable. This would have not have been a negative if it wasn’t for the fact that I had no budget as I would have been able to pay a professional actor that would have abided the actor contract set and would have been able to full fill their purpose. Working professionally would have also allowed me to have access to more resources. This would have been linked to having a budget that I would be able to spend on such things like hiring better equipment and using a better space to film. However, the access to resources that would be used in the filming would have been that of not only current products from Chanel but that of from a campaign using a very precise brief. This would have allowed the advert to be that of higher quality and would have benefited me more as I would have not been limited by my props and could have been more experimental and original with my ideas. The mise en scene would have been better through this my creating something more believable to the audience through the aesthetics being more professional. Location would have also been improved through not only have to base the advert in the studio, even though more budget would have allowed me to better this resource. I would have accessed to almost any location meaning I could film the advert in say a French village. I could have had the perfume bottle with a back drop of a French village with the models head shot being filmed there. This would have not only been more original and creative but it would have created a stronger brand identity with Chanel being a French based brand.

To conclude our advert has similarities to that off another Chanel advert. This advert is called Chance Eau Vive. This is an advert that uses the perfume bottle to create the visual promotion of the advert. This is done through many bottles of the same perfume being displayed in various ways but four colour variations. The advert then shows females getting excited and happy by the product then they see it. I feel this reflects our advert through the bottle being shown continuously is in line with what Chanel has done and them both having strong brand identity. The advert also shows the females. This creates beauty appeal in the advert is something we have also tied to do. This also helps the audience to relate and see a reaction to the perfume can also have an impact on there’s. I feel this is reflected in both and allows the audience to build an expectation of what they may look or feel like once invested in the product. This is shown in our advert when the perfume gets sprayed and the face of the actor is happy and accepting. This in turn we reflect on the audience.

I feel our advert has been successful in grasping advertising techniques and delivering something that is established with relevance to a brief.