Research: Advertising and branding

          Advert 1: Coca Cola Eyes Closed                                    Advert 2: Coca Cola Pool Boy

American teenage life is represented as fun, care free and adventurous in the first advert as everything featured is, or is related to, high energy activities that the majority of people would find thrilling or at least enjoyable. It therefore conveys that American teenage life is exciting and always exhilarating, as if there is never a boring moment, so long as you have a Coca-Cola to Drink.

The second advert on the other hand represents a more normal style of American teenage life, sitting at home and admiring an attractive pool boy, which would be expected of teenage girls. It does however, show a teenage boy also admiring the pool boy which automatically shows the viewer that Coca-Cola as a brand does not discriminate non-traditional sexuality and is challenging the stereotypical love-sick teenage girl. This advert shows the more comedic side of realistic day to day life, of brother and sister fighting to get to the pool boy first and get his attention however their mother has already solved the problem, giving him a Coca-Cola.  Despite how different the two adverts are they both show the fun side of it all, whether it is going out or staying in, it represents how American teenage life can be anything you want it to be if you make it that way, but typical things within the family will still happen.

In the first advert America overall is represented as an action packed place that offers so many things to do for a wide variety of people, whether they are younger, older, white or otherwise it demonstrates that in America everyone is treated equally and is entitled to have fun and enjoy themselves. This matches the stereotype of America being a free country where you can become anyone you want to and fulfil your wildest dreams. The second advert represents America as very similar to other countries in that comedic and silly things happen within the family that cannot be helped and bring you closer together as a family, portraying that however wild your life may be, in America you will always be having a good time.

The representation of America and American teenage life in the first advert may be attractive to teenagers living in Britain as it shows only the best parts of living an American life as an American teenager, such as going to festivals, music concerts and theme parks and not things that every teenager has to go through such as school and college. This would therefore make teenagers in Britain think that being an American teenager is much easier and much more fun, making it attractive to them as it offers something different and more interesting than what most people experience. The second advert on the other hand would not necessarily be seductive to teenagers living in Britain but would comfort them as it shows that although living in America may be wild and adventurous, that normal things within families still happen and family drama, no matter how silly it may be still occurs, even in America. Stuart Halls theory about representation can be applied here. “Representation is the process by which meaning is created through the use of language, signs and images which stand for or represent things” For example, in the first advert the series of clips of a variety of people engaging in thrilling activities represents Americans as a whole as people who enjoy these kind of activities.

I do not think that adverts such as the first one erode cultural differences completely as I believe they will always be there in a way intentionally or not as different cultures honour different things that other cultures may not agree with, so there will always be some differences there. I do, however think it shows that no matter what cultural background you come from, in America you can be accepted and are welcomed to enjoy what America as a country offers. It portrays how people from different cultures can enjoy things together but I don’t think that this causes the cultural differences to just disappear. The second advert, in my opinion, also does not erode cultural differences as it only features people from one culture. Despite this, it could show that there is not as much differentiation between cultures as some people may think there is, as people from other cultures most likely also go through the same or similar things. This would mean it slightly erodes some cultural differences as it portrays what most families go through, however it does not confirm that families from other cultures go through the same thing, therefore it still does not erode cultural differences.

Research of Institutions 2: Bauer Media

Research of Institutions 2: Bauer Media 

 About Bauer Media:

 “Bauer Media UK is an entertainment network of iconic, multi-platform brands. The business became part of the Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately-owned media group, in 2008. Founded in Hamburg in 1875 and now in its fifth generation of family ownership, the Bauer Media Group operates in 19 countries including the UK, Germany, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and the USA and has 11,000 employees worldwide.”

Analysis of the homepage:

The Bauer media homepage is filled with website conventions. In the centre of the homepage there is a great example of cross media convergence through a constantly moving image.  Despite the images changing the sell line stays in the same place, constantly reminding viewers of the mass audience Bauer media has, “25 million people”, the many brands it owns, “107 brands” and the different media platforms it is associated with. This not only promotes how large Bauer Media is, but reinforces the viewers to also believe in Bauer’s success.

With the constantly moving images across the centre of the homepage, the banner in the lower right corner of the image changes too, according to the image. Each banner relates to the image, promotes the mentioned brand or media form and promotes Bauer as a whole by creating a positive image for each of their unique outlets. 

On the homepage below the moving image is the latest news. All of the news mentioned relates to Bauer media themselves or the brands that the institute owns. This shows the wide range of brands that Bauer own and how successful they are.

Further down the page there is an option to view more recent news which links to a different tab on the website that contains a wider variety of news. This allows the viewer to explore the website further, promoting everything else they offer.

Below this option are more options such as “match our audience to your brands”. The background for this is a bright, happy yellow which catches your attention. This acts as a tool that smaller businesses could use to find out what their target audience should be and which age group they should focus on. This allows the viewer to be interactive with the website and will encourage people to visit their website as they can get something out of it.

This option is in an eye catching green which contrasts the green block next to it. This option allows people who visit the page to view what roles they could fulfil if they are interested in working for Bauer media. Again this allows the viewer to be interactive but also acts as a recruitment scheme as it will entice viewers who may not have gone on the website to apply for a job to have a look and see what they offer.

This section of the website links to twitter, one of their social media outlets, encouraging the viewer to visit the social media platforms they use. It also showcases how the business is modern and uses new technology to reach a wider audience, implying they are technology savvy and know how to adapt to stay in business.

At the top of the homepage there is a variety of tabs you can click on that link to different pages that contain different information about Bauer media and the brands that they own.  This is very useful for the viewers as it allows them to easily navigate themselves around the website and find what they are looking for. It also keeps the website very organised, simple and stops the page from being overcrowded.

Analysis of Audiences:

One of the tabs named “Audiences” link to a page all about the audience their brands cater to and the different types of audiences there are. At the top of the page there is a constantly moving image as there is on the homepage which keeps the viewer interested in the page as it is moving and encourages them to read what the new picture says as it grabs your attention when it moves. One of the images that is moving is of happy, smiling young people which depicts that Bauer as a whole are a happy, positive company who want to keep their audiences happy. The bright colours within the image are very colourful, vivid and contrast one another which is eye-catching.

The banner on this image says “Meet our millennials”. The language used here can be used to understand more about the company. “our” is very dominant and controlling, implying that Bauer controls the millennial age group and that they belong to them. By taking advantage of the term “millennials” it reinforces the idea that they are a modern company and know how to adapt to changes within language and behaviour for the better. Also, by using the word “meet” it suggests that the viewers of the website do not know much about millennials and that they need to know and understand this age group. By suggesting this it could also make the viewer question why Bauer think that millennials are so important, especially as they are such a large, influential media institution.

The other moving image is of a young, modern woman who looks happy and interested in her conversation. She is smiling and wearing a colourful shirt and the picture is overall very light, reinforcing the positive atmosphere of the page and keeping viewers interested because of the colourfulness. As the image is only of one young/middle aged woman who seems to be between the age of 20 & 30 it instantly makes the viewer think that this section of the page is going to be about this woman or women who are stereotypically like her. The banner on this image says “Game changers”. Looking at the words individually, “game” has little meaning as it is assumed that the game they are talking about is referring to media and how it is created and perceived, however “changers” suggests that they are changing the way that things are done and are making a difference within the media industry. When put together with the image the viewer will automatically undertake the idea that the stereotypes of these kinds of women are changing media and influencing it in a positive way.

Below these sections is a column of different news stories related to audiences, named “Latest case studies” This suggests that Bauer are constantly studying their audiences to learn more about them and be able to adapt to their consumers’ needs and wants. This portrays them as an active business who are eager to stay on top of changing fashions and style of media that audiences are interested in.

At the bottom of the audiences’ page is a section labelled “Audience Figures”. Without reading this the viewer will be able to interpret that if Bauer are willing to post their audience figures & statistics and create smaller pages about them that they are proud of them, implying that they are in fact a very successful business.

Analysis of Brands:

Within the tab labelled “brands” is another page dedicated to the brands that they own and have created. Again, at the top of the page is a constantly moving image which keeps the viewer interested in the page whilst making the page more interactive.

The images that move across the top of the brand page are very different in genre, colours and overall atmosphere, showing that Bauer caters to a wide range of audiences. One of the images is of two young women posing for the camera, implying that Bauer is an influential company in fashion and beauty and can provide for that type of audience. Another image is very different to this as it shows a guitarist mid-way through playing his guitar on a stage, assumable at a concert of a rock/metal genre. These images depict very different genres of brands but promotes Bauer as it expresses how it is involved within many genres of people and caters to their individual expectations.


Stuart Halls theory about representation can be applied here through how Bauer media are representing themselves as a modern, happy company who work hard to please their many different types of audiences. For example, the use of bright and colourful images with smiling people represents Bauer as a positive company. The bold language used, such as "The UK's most influential media brand network" represents them as a confident and competitive company with a fierce attitude towards their work.

References: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/about/our-company 

The Big Issue History from alyshavesseyalevelmedia

Textual Analysis of a Magazine cover

The Masthead is at the top of the front cover which is sticking to convention and is in a bright white font which makes it eye-catching against the dark background. The “u” in music is in italic and could refer to “you” as in the reader, making the experience of reading the magazine much more personalised. The rest of the word “music” is in a relaxed but classical font which links to the classical genre of the magazine overall.

The Splash takes up most of the page which is also a convention, however the musicians name is in a different font style and size to the description of the story, grabbing your attention as it has quite a rustic, worn down effect, giving the impression that this is how the musician plays or is perceived by his audiences.

The main image that relates to the splash of the musician is a Close up camera shot that really emphasises the musician physical features. The image also effectively uses light and dark to create a dark shadow on one side of the musicians face which could signify he is a dark, mysterious man. This links to Halls theory about representation as he is being depicted as this character through various signs such as the positioning of his face, the colour theme of the front cover and how he is staring directly into the, camera which is also a convention. 

He is using a guitar as a prop through Mise-en-scene which emphasises that he plays the instrument, however it is not what most people would consider classical music, and therefore may interest the reader to listen to his music to see if it is more classical sounding than you would imagine.

In the short description of the Splash underneath the musicians’ name positive language is used such as “hero”. This implies that he is a well praised musician, and perhaps well known. Also, around the description of the Splash the words “classical” and “guitar” are repeated twice. This reinforces the theme of classical music being involved with guitars and could be interpreted as the magazines way of highlighting the change of instruments that are usually features as normally the instrument features are violins or brass such as a trumpet, not guitars.

Underneath the splash there is no by-line and no indication of who wrote the article, however this is usually a convention of newspapers and is not so common to be seen in magazines.  This depicts that the writer is not acting as a unique selling point, and is very much not important in this story, instead all the focus is on the musician and his aura.

Throughout the magazine front cover six other Musicians names are featured in subheadings. This may be to interest fans of those musicians and make them also want to buy and read the magazine. It could also be used to boast the reputation of the magazine, as it seems quite a high end magazine if they can feature this many famous musicians in one issue.

Towards the bottom of the page is an image of a bright orange flower. This quickly brings your attention to this section of the magazine towards the fact that a free CD is contained within the magazine. This could also be a way to attract more people to buy the magazine as they will also get a CD out of it, for a good price, showing the magazine is good value for money.

The colour theme of black, grey white and red is a visual code as overall it is very dark, intense and dramatic which is how the musician is portrayed. The colours used portray the audience aim of the magazine is towards male readers, as an overall masculine atmosphere is created. This magazine is targeted at a niche audience of upper class older men, which is made clear by the price; it is more expensive than regular magazines, which upper class people are more willing to pay.

The off lead is highlighted in a different colour to the splash and the background of the cover which may be to differentiate it from other stories close to it. It is also given a considerable amount of space when compared to the other subheadings on the cover, again making it clear that it is the second most important story.

The BBC produces a wide variety of media such as magazines, television programmes and radio stations. This has allowed them to become a widely recognised brand that people trust. The BBC logo in the corner notifies the reader of who owns the company and could persuade people to buy the magazine if they have not done so before, as the BBC is a well-known brand, making people more eager to buy it than if it was owned by a company who they had not heard of before. 


Curran and Seatons theory that "newspapers and magazines respond to reader concerns to stay in business" can be applied here. The readers of this magazine may be concerned that classical music only features the stereotypical stringed instruments for this genre, such as violins and cellos. Therefore to keep the readers interested, the BBC may think it is a good idea to show how guitars still hold a key place within classical music and are still considered an important instrument with this traditional music style.