Marketing and advertising
The following task looks at a pivotal element of Human's advertising campaign, and uses it to answer two different exam questions: one on audience, and one on media industries
Persona Synthetics commercial: industry and audience approach
How significant are economic factors in the TV industry? Refer to Humans to support your answer.
Knee jerk reaction: Economic factors are essential to the TV industry
Plan
MES
Target audience
Representation
Camera angles
Preferred reading
Narrative
Polysemic
Metanarrative
Allegory
Multi-strand narrative
Archetypes
Construction
Intertextual readings
Editing
Fast paced editing
Montage
Semiotics (roland, codes)
Binary Oppostions
Gender performativity
Postmodernism
DAC
Definition, argument, context
- Economic factors refer to the financial implications of making and distribution a TV show. In this essay, I shall argue economic factors are essential to the production and distribution of TV shows, as the purpose of every TV show is to minimise risk and to maximise profit for it's producer. In order to explore this point, I shall refer to Humans, a sci-fi series first broadcast 2015 on Channel 4 in the UK, and AMC in America. This US/UK co-production conveys a variety of different meanings to different audiences, and was a remake of a Swedish TV show.
- The marketing campaign for Humans was highly atypical and even controversial, breaking many of the so-called rules of advertising. An excellent example of this is the Persona Synthetics TV spot advert, which takes a highly unusual mode of address.
- In a highly atypical move, the Persona Synthetics trailer choses to advertise the cyborg (or synth) from the TV show, as opposed to the TV show itself. None of the main characters appear at any stage, and there is even no reference to the title of the TV show itself. The advert accomplishes a fascinating feat: it is literally placing the audience in to the world of the Humans narrative, and demonstrating an advert that the Hawkins family is likely to have seen. This advert is an excellent example of the company apparently self-sabotaging. The advert completely lacks any information, such as the name of the TV show, any of the names of the characters, and even what time the show will be broadcast. However, this highly atypical mode of address will actively encourage audiences to engage with this advert, for example looking up the website, searching for the included hashtag. This will ultimately encourage audiences to engage with the product both online and in person, and is an excellent example of viral media.
- It's mysterious nature functions as a hermeneutic code, creating a powerful sense of mystery for the target audience
- The advert constructs a highly shocking and manipulative mode of address, heavily inferring to the mass audience that synthetic lifeforms actually do exist. It is an example of augmented reality, and actively positions audiences within the world of the narrative. It uses many conventions of the advert, including the casting of a stereotypical family, the use of a stereotypical futuristic household , and the use of an upbeat song in a major key, as well as the link to a website and the on screen graphic 'Regent Street Store Open Soon'. All of these elements combine to construct and augmented reality where robots exist.
- While this trailer does not include footage or characters from the show, it does expertly introduce a range of important themes:
- Artificial intelligence "closer to humans than ever before"
- The obsolescence of humans - synths are represented as being more capable, more safe, more reliable
- Foreshadowing many controversial and unpleasant themes of the TV show: the montage of the kid coming downstairs/reaction of mother /synth walking kid upstairs is absolutely wonderful
- Sale of merchandise, for example DVDs etc...
- Middle class science fiction fans are a desirable target audience, and advertisers will potential pay a premium for this
- MES of the nuclear family is anchored through the depiction of a mother, a father, and two children. They are white, and extremely middle class, a fact which which is anchored through the highly middle class setting
- The MES of the clean and extremely modern family household constructs a clear ideology of a middle class family. However, the household does not resemble a 'real' house, but instead functions as a hyperreal simulation. It resembles a house that we may see in an advert or in a high end showroom. This advert is clearly trying to resemble an advert.
- The Persona Synthetics commercial is an advert for a synth, a synthetic human, or cyborg. However, they clearly do not exist. This is a highly convincing advert for a fictitious product. Other elements which make this a highly conventional product advert include the generically appropriate soundtrack, which features a positive, major key piano motif. It's convincing nature is further anchored through montage of the synth carrying out a range of stereotypically 'feminine' tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare. It's conventions are similar to that of a kitchen appliance advert, functioning as a highly complex system of intertextual relay, creating a satisfying mode of address for the target, niche sci fi audience
- This highly convincing advert actually convinced a small minority of audience members that cyborgs do in fact exist. This is partly due to it's highly convincing genre conventions. The trailer ends with a title card/on screen graphic with the Persona Synthetics logo. This diegetically situated element of mise en scene essentially communicates to the target audience that Persona Synthetics is a real corporation, and wonderfully positions the audience not as a potential audience for the TV show Humans, but actually in the world of the narrative.
- AR - augmented reality. Through it's highly convincing set of generic conventions, the trailer forces the target audience to answer the question: is this real? This proairetically brings up one of the main themes of humans, 'what is reality? What is humanity? And other extremely complicated, and highly postmodern. The advert is deliberately creating a sense of anxiety, confusion, and a nightmarish atmosphere. This is a highly atypical way of selling a new TV show! This indicates that Humans is clearly targeting a niche audience.
- The use of the hashtag hashtag humans functions as an example digitally convergent media, encouraging the niche target audience to engage with the show online before ever actually having seen it
- However, the advert also incorporates a highly problematic proairetic code, foreshadowing the themes of the collapse of the nuclear family.
- While the trailer for Humans radically does not include any traditional trailer conventions, it does include it's own self contained an highly effective narrative. The final montage of shots constructs a highly effective deconstruction of the nuclear family. A low angle mid-shot sees a young boy walking down dark stairs in a position of distress. He directly addresses his parents, However, the mother's expression is one of annoyance. This highly effective montage explores the deconstruction and the problems facing the nuclear in the early 21st century. This raises a range of problematic and highly polysemic issues for the niche target audience, and reinforces the complexity of the show before audiences are even aware that it exists