How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

By Rebecca Wilson

Aim• Our initial aim was to create three products that all intertwined

to make a coherent image for our artist. • We promoted Heidi through her image, a music video, a Digipack

and an advertisement to appear in Teenage girl magazines.• We worked like a marketing team, creating a likeable image that

would sell records within their target group, with all three of our products sharing the same connotations and letting the target audience know upon seeing the music video, where it can be purchased.

• The digipack and magazine advertisement was meant to envisage the same inspiration the video captured. I believe we did this as well as showed off our artist in a more tasteful, accentuated style. Music is very influential in the 21st century, known negatively for encouraging sex to younger audiences and spurring violence, but can be used positively to guide people to a better place.

The Products• The music video shows the artist wearing the exact

same clothing on all three products in the package. This enhances the audience’s perception of the artist. I.e. they watch the music video, go shopping and see the artist in recognisable costume and are more inclined to make the link and buy the album.

• The songs tone and lyrics, matched with the visuals connote a serious message throughout, and the dark shades of the digipack and advertisement add to this serious effect, linking the products together.

• In the video, the protagonist is a metaphor of a pearl. The video of her is on the CD which is shaped like a pearl to create a link between the two.

The ProductsFront The front panel is the most eye-catching with the artist being

the largest image draped in a white floral prop. The burlesque style image fulfils the convention of voyeurism, a theory of Andrew Goodwin’s, not featured in the music video. The serious black background links in with the other products and the tone we wanted to get across to audiences. The title ‘Pearl’ is in a girly, formal font and looks ‘pretty’ matching the artist’s image. We didn’t want to bore audiences with monochrome colours throughout so used pinks, blues and greens to enhance the digipack.

The inside left panel exudes inspiration to any fan reading the ‘thank you note’ from Heidi. It personally addresses the audience for keeping the faith and buying her music and supporting her through the years. This image of a humble, modest, thankful woman is admirable. We chose font that looked hand written and included two kisses to sign off the letter, as well as an artist profile wearing a respectable blazer.

Inside left

The ProductsThe outside left panel visually matches the artists costume with the front panel and the advertisement. The exact same image of Heidi was enlarged to be used on the advertisement. The shocked facial expression which is repeated on the back of the digipack connotes the artist as ‘cheeky’ and less serious than the song and overall style suggests. These subtle undertones of our artist make the artist more realistic and fun. The outside left panel also features a quote from the song: ‘You’re the one that rules your world’, inspiring the audience further.

The back panel lists the featured tracks with the recurring theme of pearls being used as bullet points for the song order. Heidi is featured once again doing the shocked pose. All the songs titles have connotations of love, a familiar pop genre. Along the bottom, the record company, the bar code and the producers are listed and credited, something all digipacks must feature.

Outside left

Back

The ProductsThe panel where the CD is fitted to is resting on a bed of pearls as if to connote it is sacred, and the user will keep the disc safe. The disc itself is a pearl shape and continues the visual motif associated with the song. The inside right panel is against a white background to offer something eye-catching and different. The quote from ‘Pearl’ this time is as equally inspiring, ‘She is unstoppable’ which young girls upon seeing this may act on the words. She is smiling and looks an attractive, happy young role model wearing her signature pearls around her neck and wrist.

CD Centre

Inside right

The Products• The main image of the artist on the magazine

advertisement is an enlarged version of the outside left panel, once again draped in the pearls. This was the group’s favourite image because of how unique it was and how it exposed Heidi as a confident, attractive new artist.

• We knew voyeurism sold to audiences and therefore reused this burlesque form in the digipack and advertisement as the largest focus point. The strong lighting behind the artist’s name is effective, connoting her as a superstar with her ‘name in lights’.

• The words on the advertisement are used to persuade audiences to buy the CD. We pretend the track ‘Pearl’ is a number one single in order to create an interest in popular culture, and get existing fans to buy more of Heidi’s work.

• Audiences like access and convenience so to appeal more to other buyers, an MP3 version is displayed as available in small print along the bottom as well as Heidi’s personal fanbase web address for all the latest on the artist.

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Conclusion• Overall, the products represent the pop artist

Heidi as a well respected, strong, attractive role model for teenage girls who is grateful for her musical talents and for her fans as seen on the thank you note on the digipack.

• The whole aim for these products was to show an artist in this light, and not just as a run of the mill artist who sells themselves solely through voyeurism and sexuality, which I think our project succeeded in challenging and changing the conventions of a typical pop star.