RADIO ADVERT EVALUATION

By Shaun Elsworth

WHAT CREATIVE DECISIONS DID YOU HAVE TO MAKE TO SOLVE PROBLEMS AND HOW DID THIS DEPART FROM YOUR ORIGINAL PLAN?

We had a problem with the original script as it went over the agreed time of 30 seconds. To overcome this we had to cut out lines that we had originally recorded without messing up the flow of the advert. We achieved this as our advert makes sense, flows well and is exactly 30 seconds.

We had a problem with the woman's voice when we recorded it because it was too fast and had too many breaks in so you couldn’t understand it. We had to record it again and edit it into the original recording.

We originally planned to use a zip sound effect that we were planning to get from the internet but, we could not find one and had to improvise by recording the zip from Max’s hoodie.

BOTH INDIVIDUALLY AND WORKING WITH OTHERS HOW DID YOU WORK AND WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE?

I feel that I worked well individually and with my partner. Me and my partner regularly stopped and discussed how our advert was sounding, what needed improving and what we needed to go and record so we both always knew what point we were at. I was working on finding relevant sound effects and bedding music that could be used in our radio advert and passing them on to Max who was editing them in using Audacity.

We worked well with other groups as we helped Ryan and Jordan with voices they couldn’t do themselves as I was the voiceover in their final piece and Ryan was the woman's voice in our radio advert.

WHAT ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES DID YOU USE TO HOOK YOUR INTENDED TARGET AUDIENCE?

We used many advertising techniques in our radio advert to make sure the target audience remember Waves Surf Shop. We used techniques such as repetition of the shop name, the location of the shop and products that the shop sells. This helps hook the target audience as the information that we want them to remember will be stuck in their heads after they listen to our radio advert.

We also used a clear description of the products available for example, we had the voiceover guy saying “we even do kids wear and skate wear”. This helps hook the target audience as they know exactly what we are trying to sell and they wont get confused and switch off.

HOW DID TECHNOLOGY ENABLE THE CREATIVE PROCESS? WAS IT DIFFICULT TO USE ANY OF THE EQUIPMENT AND DID YOU LEARN ANY SKILLS.

We didn’t find it difficult to use any of the technology as we only used a sound recorder where all you had to do was press record and stop and audacity which is a simple editing programme.

The technology we used did effect how creative we could be as the recorder limited the sounds we were able to record and because we were using audacity it meant we couldn’t make any major changes to the recording whilst we were editing it.

I learned a few new skills over the course of the project. I learned a few basic techniques on the Audacity editing programme and I learned how to record a clear and decent advert.

WHAT CONVENTIONS OF RADIO ADVERTS HAVE YOU USED OR NOT USED AND WHY?

We used a variety of different conventions in our radio advert. We had clear speakers so that the listeners can understand what the speakers are saying, we had sound effects throughout our advert to give the advert some life other than just having speaking all the way through. We had a bedding track to give the advert an upbeat feel and it helps to keep the audience listening, without it the advert would be really dull.

We added in the website address and location of Waves Surf Shop so that the audience know where to go if they are interested in buying any products.

We also used repetition of the company name and contact info so that the target audience remembers the key info.

WHAT OR WHO ARE YOU REPRESENTING IN YOUR ADVERT AND HOW?

We are representing surfers as both male and female as we have used voices showing a male surfer and a female surfer talking to each other in our radio advert.

We are representing salesmen as very confident and enthusiastic with the products they are trying to sell and very clear when they speak.

We are representing Waves Surf Shop with our advert so we had to make sure that the advert wasn’t rude or offensive in any way to give the advert maximum effectiveness.

WHAT FEEDBACK DID YOU GET AND DID THIS HELP YOU REALISE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT?

Mr Henley gave us feedback on our first edit and made us realise that the woman's voice couldn’t be understood. From this feedback we recorded again and slowed down the speech so it can be understood by everyone.

Our original script was about two chilled out surfers talking about the products at Waves but Mr Henley helped us realise that this idea wasn’t very creative and we came up with a fresh script which is much better.

We also didn’t have a background track in the first edit and someone made us realise that having one is much better and helps the radio advert to keep hold of listeners.