Introduction to the task:
As one of the
leading, global brands, ‘Coca-Cola’ is also famous for its advertising
campaigns. Coca-Cola has managed to
create a brand that is recognised globally and you will be exploring how they
have done this by looking at the historical development of their adverts.
The red and white
colours used in their advertising are iconic and the famous Christmas adverts
have even created a myth that the costume of Father Christmas was influenced by
Coca-Cola. The glass bottle itself is
iconic, as are the print adverts which stretch back to the beginnings of the
company in 1890’s America. It could be
said that the drink is an icon of America and symbolises the values and ideals
of this country. The resources and links
will allow you to explore the vast range of adverts and the history of the
brand.
In this task you will
de-construct an advertising campaign to see how the brand is presented and how
they have targeted an audience. You will
analyse the messages and values in a specific advertising campaign to gain an
understanding of why their advertising is so successful.
Here is the
‘Happiness factory’ advert for Coca-Cola
Here is an extended,
animated, mock-documentary about the making of the advert which uses new media
technologies to further the narrative. It would be available on web-based
platforms.
In this article the
global advert for Coca-Cola is praised for its ability to target a wide
audience. It also suggests that de-constructing the advert provides rich
material for a media student. Its
strength is its simplicity and the ability to communicate this message to a
global audience. However, the crafting of the advert is ingenious and works on
a number of levels.
You must consider;
·
Messages and meanings
·
Target audience
·
Values that the brand promotes
You will then be able to write a response to this
examination question;
How do your chosen texts attract their
audiences?
What should be done:
The exam board advises that you go from ‘the specific to the
general’. This means that your exam response needs to focus on the text and
then broaden your discussion to cover the issues and debates that arise.
De-construct the advert by creating a table such as the one
below to order your writing.
Denotation –Signifier –What can be seen or heard?
|
Connotation-Signified-What does it mean?
|
The music
|
|
The Coca-Cola bottle
|
|
This text would allow you to respond to this examination
question;
How do your chosen texts attract their
audiences?
You can work in pairs and small groups to discuss the advert
and develop your opinion
You must then de-construct the text and write a response to
this examination question;
How do your chosen texts attract their
audiences?
You could begin like this;
‘’The ‘Happiness Factory’ advert produced by Coca-Cola with
the advertising agency ‘Wieden and Kennedy’ in 2006 uses iconic imagery of the
Coke bottle to take the audience on a narrative journey through an animated
world where the Coke experience is created.
The audience associate the drink with this cast of family friendly and
engaging characters and feel a warm familiarity towards the product. The
message may be that if by drinking this product one could share this
celebratory and uplifting feeling. The
advert begins with a white male in his 20’s placing a coin in an iconic Coke
vending machine. The coin is
purposefully unidentifiable as related to any particular country and hints at a
global audience and the actor could be seen as the global image of an American
‘everyman’. He is young and unshaven, suggesting he is relaxed and that
drinking Coca-Cola is part of his daily pattern. The brand is trying to reach a
wide audience and by using animated characters with no ethnic or social
connotations it can appeal to a global audience….’
How should I present
the task?
You can present the task as a written essay.
A more creative way to present your work is as a web-log as
you can add links to photographs and further web-pages which discuss the issues
that arise.
What resources can I
use?
Here is a collection
of 50 Coca Cola ads from the 1889 till present days.
Here is a wikipedia entry for Coca-Cola
Here is the web-site for ‘Coca-Cola UK’, which was a main
sponsor of the London Olympics
Here is a link to their ‘Move to the Beat’ campaign, which
targeted young people using pop stars and the appeal of making electronic
music. There is a great, inter-active
element to this campaign, which utilised new media technologies to engage a
young audience. The genius of this campaign is how such an unhealthy drink came
to be associated, successfully, with the Olympics. The key was to tap into the
energy and ‘feel-good’ factor of the Games so that the product was associated
with lifting the spirit and good times.
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