Promotional video textual analysis.

Promotional video textual analysis.

BuzzFeed Unsolved Network.

In this promotional video it’s clear that its aim is to get its already existing audience to visit another channel on YouTube that only exclusively shows the unsolved mysteries which the existing audience would have been looking for by clicking on the promotional video. The idea that this video is aimed at the already existing audience is due to the informal manner of one of the speakers where he introduced the video as ‘Hey everybody’ which instantly implies that the audience will already be familiar with the people in the video as they don’t introduce themselves by go straight to addressing the audience. The idea of the promotional video being informal with the existing audience is a positive as it allows the video to get straight to the point, which is to get the audience to visit the new channel, which therefore saves a lot of time and allows the audience to feel directly addresses as though the video was made for them. This is also a positive as it means that the audience is more likely to visit the new channel as they feel that it was made and promoted for them specifically. 

Another thing that works well with this promotional video is the idea that its short and to the point which helps in keeping the audience’s attention while gaining exposure on the new channel without the audience losing interest. Sometimes by having a promotional video that is too long the audience will lose interest therefore causing whatever is being promoted to miss out on exposure but due to it being fast and simple the audience may feel more compelled to do what the promotional video wants it to do. 

Finally the use of humour in this promotional video may help in targeting the audience and promoting the channel, evidence when they say ‘I think they’ve already clicked it by this point’ which adds sarcasm to the video. This may be due to the fact that an article from Point Park University suggests that humour is used in advertising as it ‘Grabs the audience’s attention… and… Associates the positive emotion elicited from the advertisement with the brand’. Which will therefore further convince the audience to follow the channel as they have already established a positive emotion towards the brand. 

Hastings Direct

For this promotional video an animated look is used which gives the advert a more of a childlike look, which may influence children that are watching to talk about the promotion to their parent, guardians or other adults which may be looking for insurance, which the video is promoting. By doing this is not only relying on the primary audience to see the promotion and want to use their insurance but it’s also appealing to the secondary audience of children in the hope they will also promote the advert for them. This is a positive for the advert as it allows for the promotion to be seen by more audience and therefore may become more effective in promoting their insurance. 

Another way that this promotional video is effective if due to the close up shot of the menu board on the ice cream van but in this case it doesn’t show ice creams but instead the benefits that someone can receive by using this insurance. This works well as it keeps the audience interested as they don’t also have to go out if their way to find out the types of benefits that they can receive. This works well for the promotion in a similar way to Buzzfeed Unsolved Network as it means that its simple and to the point as well as cutting out unnecessary information, It appeals directly to the needs of people looking for insurance as it already explicitly explains what they will receive without going of topic. 

A final thing that helps in this promotional video is the well-known jingle used at the very end of the video which turns the phone number into a song which goes ‘0 800 00 10 66’ which is very easily recognisable in the UK. This helps in the promotion as the audience only has to hear the little jingle in the end and be able to easily recognise what the video is trying to promote. The little jingle helps in establishing Hastings Directs brand identity. Along with this an article from Forbes suggests that using a jingle also helps in the promotion due to the fact that ‘if you can hook them with a jingle that they’ll sing for the rest of the day, then you’re maximizing your ad buy exponentially’. 

Budweiser: Super Bowl Puppy Love. 

At the very start of this promotional video a long shot is used which shows in the mise-en-scene a sign which says, ‘Puppy Adoption’, instantly this helps with the promotion of this advert as it anchors the audience’s attention as they think that they are about to see some cute puppies which also appeals to the audiences emotions. As well as this an article form clickz suggests that ‘puppies and animals are on brand for Budweiser because it’s all about Americana, and the sense of tradition and family’ which this advert tries to promote as every traditional family has the ‘family dog’. The advert works well in promoting Budweiser as it promotes the idea of family life with a family puppy and that their brand will fit into the everyday lives of traditional families. 

Another thing that works well for the promotional video is the long to mid shot of the puppy greeting the man as he picks the puppy up. This again works well for this promotional video as It means that it appeals to the audiences emotions and can see that this puppy brings joy and happiness into your life as the man’s facial expressions in the mise-en-scene are happy and smiling. This is an advantage for this promotional video as it could suggest to the audience that not only will the audience gain joy and happiness from getting a puppy but from also from drinking Budweiser’s products without explicitly saying it, it suggests that the puppy is a metaphor for Budweiser. 

Lastly a final advantage to this promotional video is not completely focusing on the brand until the very end which shows the brands logo but instead focusing on the brand values, which are the idea of the traditional family and the idea of having a ‘Best Bud’ which is used at their hashtag at the end. This works well as it means that the audience start to associate these feelings and ideas with the brand. Along with this using the logo at the end means that the audience can easily recognise who the brand is and who the promotional video is for as the Budweiser logo is easily recognisable to most people and therefore has been typeface for the audience to passively enjoy the promotional video. 

Bibliography 

1)   Point Park University (9^th April 2018) (online) Available from https://online.pointpark.edu(Accessed 3^rd April 2019)

2)   Forbes (30^th May 2017) (online) available from https://www.forbes.com(Accessed 4^th April 2019)
3)   ClickZ (24^th December 2015) (online) available from https://www.clickz.com(Accessed 5^th April 2019)