Select a currently running (or fairly recent) multi-media branding campaign. It should be conceptually driven and use multiple elements and channels: 2-D in billboards, magazines, newspapers, etc., time-based on radio, TV, YouTube, etc., experiential, out-of-home, interactive, story-building, publicity stunts, etc. Include visuals of the campaign in your paper; for example, when youre writing about 2-D forms of communication, embed small versions of the visuals in your text; when youre analyzing a TV commercial, include a few key frames. Etc.
Structure your analysis using the S.A.D. framework (state the strategic message; articulate the campaign concept; describe the executions).
Clearly introduce the campaign that youre analyzing. Include the name of the sponsor, the product, the agency, the amount being spent, and where/when it is running. As with any good analysis, your opening paragraph should have a thesis or statement of an informed point of view. Make sure to place your argument in a strategic framework.
Be most expansive in your analysis when critiquing the creative or the work itself. Use the language of critique presented in this class and detailed in the book, Ad Critique. Always consider whether the creative expression meets strategic goals.
Explain why you feel that way. Provide proof, if you can, of the effectiveness of each campaign element — as well as their relation to each other.
Watch your verb tenses when analyzing something that was produced in the past, but still delivers its message in the present. Use exact language!! For example, if youre writing about a campaign, that is not the same thing as writing about a single executional element of the campaign; generally, the client pays to create the promotion, but it is the agency that creates and produces it, so clearly distinguish the sponsor from the agency; the product is not always the same as the client; and so on.
Dont forget to embed visuals that youre referencing. Please follow MLA formatting and remember to cite your sources.
