Ancillary Task 1: Magazine Advert RESEARCH

Before going ahead and starting to create my magazine advert I decided to do a little bit of research and find out what it is that makes a really good magazine advert. I looked at various websites until I came across one that gave me a lot of good advice when thinking about design.

1. Understand Your Customer - the most crucial point.  If you don't know your audience, the psychographic, demographic etc, then you're probably going to create something entirely different from what they would be attracted to. The website suggested that I look into what media they would be more likely to use and to target them using these mediums.

2. Treat The Customer With Respect - they see so many adverts everywhere now, so don't do anything to annoy or irritate them in some way, and try and be original. The website advised:

Don't use false or outrageous claims. These may make a good headline and grab attention, but when you are discovered as a fraud, the resulting negative word of mouth will have the potential to destroy your brand.

Avoid clichés. These will cause the 'I've heard this before' reaction which will prevent any further message being absorbed.

Don't patronise your audience - they're smart and like to be treated that way.

Don't be aggressive in your style or techniques – this will only cause the audience to become.

3. Attracting Attention - the headline/masthead is the most important part of the whole article in a way, because it's the text that the audience will see first. It needs to sum up what the article is about, without telling the audience everything. The masthead/headline is like a movie trailer, whilst the article is the film itself. Though this point applies more to newspaper articles, some of the pointers below do have some impact on magazine adverts:

Make your audience feel:

• Intrigue
• Emotion
• Association
• Identify a problem
• Make a claim

4. And finally the other relevant point from the website was to make sure that the LAYOUT is appropriate and effective towards your audience. "People will make quick assumptions about your product and brand from the images you use in your adverts. Ensure the imagery used reflects your brand values - premium brands invest large sums of money grading and retouching images to ensure they give the right impression, but cheaper products can often get away with lower quality photography or video."