How Effective Is The Combination of Your Main Products and Ancillary Texts?

How effective is the
combination of your main

products and ancillary texts?
Anna Clarey
Introduction:
To make our three products effective as a group of

media texts, they need to have a strong brand identity
which is shared across them. This identity needs to link
them to one specific genre or product (in this case, the
band) and each have some relatable link to the next.
What is a brand?:
A brand is technically some sort of semiotic linked to a particular

product, when we think of a ‘brand’ we often consider companies
like Heinz or Apple which have a distinct label for their produce.
However the concept of branding also exists, and is relevant, in the

music world. Bands create a label for themselves, potentially a
particular font (like The Prodigy and All-American Rejects use)
which in turns becomes a semiotic and branding image. This sign
links to their style as a band, particularly the genre of music they
play and personal tastes and appearance of the band members.
Through marketing and resources, these symbols become associated
with the band and can be used to market products to a particular
audience familiar with the mark.
What is our brand image?:
Our brand image was meant to associate the band with the
pop-rock genre, and exude an essence of adolescence and
angst but also a maturity in their ability to perform their
music. The young men we used to represent this, by
playing the part of our band, were in reality aged between
17 and 19 years old, which is quite young, so we tried to
market the band as if they were just hitting that peak of
adolescence where everything should be about enjoying
life, and thus marketing them to a teen audience.
What is our brand image? (continued):
As a result, we used a quirky and relatively retro font to

suggest playfulness reminiscent of the male bands of the
‘60s and ‘70s which were highly popular among teenagers
and personified ‘living the dream’ for the masses (ie. The
Monkees). Vintage is also popular among teenagers now
which would provide a sense of The Shame being ‘on-
trend’ and comprehending the fashions of the current
adolescent age, as they themselves fall into that social
group.
How has brand identity been constructed through media language in the
video?:
Character performance is designed to be dynamic in our video which

illustrates the youthful energy of the band, the fact that they all wear the
same white outfit suggests they conform, but only to each other, as they
look in tune as a entity, but out of place in the wider environment,
displaying teenage unity.
The use of coloured food substances as props was used to represent a
harmless yet nonetheless evident anarchy which the band possesses, by
throwing it at each other in character performance they display conflict
which doesn’t physically harm anybody, but still depicts an unruly,
hormonal unrest about the situation; staying true to the brand identity
of teenage and active.
As well as lively and confident, we still wanted to market the band as a
plausible group of artists who want to be taken seriously in their musical
efforts. This meant using a brand image which was still mature enough to
show worldly responsibility alongside youthful nonconformity.
To display this we used low angle shots of some of the members to enforce
their dominance over the viewer, and synchronised performance which
reigned in the ‘chaos’ of the rest of the video.
How was this continued in the ancillary texts?
We attempted to continue this dynamic and youthful image in the ancillary texts by
choosing bright primary colours as the base for our images. Particularly with the
magazine advert, this choice of colour again acted reminiscent of boy bands from a
more vintage, iconic era, when simplicity was seen as stylish and professional. We
chose this approach because young people in contemporary society are interested in
vintage and vintage is seen as on-trend and attractive.
The patchwork design was meant to separate the members

to a certain degree, allowing each to be represented as
their own unique, entity within the band, but as a band
together nonetheless. Appearance in these photos
displays the members as having coloured food on them,
which links back to the coloured food used in the video to
represent teenage anarchy and harmless rebellion.
We used high-key lighting to illuminate the boys, making

them subject of attention and similarly bright like the back-
ground colours used. By using this type of lighting we made
it clear we want attention on our members and it also
brightens their features to highlight the fact they’re a young
group; like the target audience.
Digipak design(image 1)
Digipak design(image 2)
For the digipak cover, we focused on female gaze (to appeal to the female, teen
audience) and linking their charming, ‘vibrant’ characteristics to the other texts
we produced. This meant giving them a little space to move as they wished and
not being told precisely by us, where to stand and how to stand. We wanted to
capture their individual essence, and represent them in photo how they are in
person, creating a link to their like-minded audience group. This is just how we
asked them to act in the video; which classes it as ‘character performance’.
By getting them to do so, we avoided the restraints of mainstream genres and

artists who are ‘guided’ and followed the conventions of more independent genres
and bands who appeal on a personal level to fans.
As well as this we continued to showcase them individually and together to put an
intense focus on each member thus establishing a further bond with the audience
by displaying their unique temperaments.
The coloured food was of course used again to reflect their harmless but
influential angst, channelled into the music within the album. The use of food has
no particular significance other than we wanted playful conflict and playful chaos,
and thought using food would add to entertainment value because it responds to
the experimental nature of young, pop-rock bands and bows to the indie
conventions.
Summary:
Overall, I think the links between our products are strong and consistent and
therefore act effectively when combined. There is constant representation of the
band as individuals, as a genre, and as a social group (young adults) and
continued consideration of the wants and needs of the target audience.

How Effective Is The Combination of Your Main Products and Ancillary Texts?

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How Effective Is The Combination of Your Main Products and Ancillary Texts?

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How effective is the

combination of your main

To make our three products effective as a group of

A brand is technically some sort of semiotic linked to a particular

However the concept of branding also exists, and is relevant, in the

As a result, we used a quirky and relatively retro font to

Character performance is designed to be dynamic in our video which

The patchwork design was meant to separate the members

We used high-key lighting to illuminate the boys, making

By getting them to do so, we avoided the restraints of mainstream genres and

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