Ancillary Magazine Advert

ANALYSIS OF MAGAZINE ADVERTS
The magazine advert Coldplay X&Y is highly conventional to the soft rock genre. The simplicity of the colours and layout of the print emphasise the genre of music and the conventions generalised to this genre. The lack of colours used, and the black and white theme is a recurring convention of many media products classified within the soft rock genre. Black and white could connote a variety of different elements involving the band and the narrative of the songs and album. For example the black and white colour scheme could connote mundane and emotionless characters, this is also represented through the emotions of each of the band members face. Black and white could also represent the binary oppositions between the artist and their ideologies. Black and white could be opposing colours and could connote life vs. death, happy vs. sad, evil vs. pure. This could be intertextual with the genre of music as the music is deemed dark and mysterious. The black and white colour scheme also gives a professional and sophisticated edge to the print. This could connote that despite the gloominess of their expressions, they are a well established band and do not need to over glamorise their advertisements as they will reach out to their fan base regardless of the content of the magazine adverts. The camera shot used within this magazine advert is a long shot. This clearly shows each member of the band and allows personalisation to occur to the audience, they can singly identify with each of the band members and this can instantly draw the audience in. Hypodermic needle theory can be applied here as the audience are instantly injected with a clear image of the band. The long shot also appears to have a bright light shining from the top of the print, this gives a halo effect to the band and could connote a heavenly or spiritual figure. This may attract the audience as it challenges the verisimilitude and the audience can see their music as a way of escaping reality. The uses and gratification theory can be applied here as the audience may use this medium as a method of escapism. The typographies used within this print are bold and conventional as they are simple and do not glamorise the genre or band. The text has equal dominancy over the frame as the image which plays a great role when enticing the audience. The typography therefore catches the audiences eye just as quickly as the primary image would. This instantly injects the audience with the advertisement and may encourage them to buy the product being advertised. The colour of the typography contrasts with the background and therefore makes it stand out to the audience and further could encourage them to buy the product as the album name and
This magazine advertisement by Nickleback is also highly conventional to the soft rock genre. Like most adverts belonging to this genre there is a dominant and powerful colour scheme within the print. Nickleback The Long Road also conforms to this convention. The sepia effect within this print allows the magazine advert to look old and to look as if it has been photographed. The sepia effect could connote that the primary image could be a old photograph, as it captures what appears to be a monument. This is something people are generally associated to taking photographs of and could also connote that the context of the music may be past and suppressed memories involving the location and or the monument. The secondary images of the print are midshots of each individual member of the band. This allows the audience to engage more with the print and also on a personal level. This proximity between the artists and audience can be applied to the uses and gratification theory as the audience are identifying with them as individuals rather than just band members. Including these secondary images allows the audience to create a narrative within their head about what the album could include and where the relevance is with the photograph and the monument. This narrative is incomplete therefore leaves mystery within the audience and Barthes enigma code can be implemented here as the audience is left wondering what they could expect from the content of the music. The typography is also bold and uses colours in contrast with the previous layer. This allows it to grasp the audiences attention and market the product successfully. The position of the typography is p[laced in the top third of the print. If the print was to be divided into the rule of thirds it would be clear to see that the written elements of this print were all placed at the top of the print. This means that generally the audience will be drawn to that first above any other aspect of the print. Therefore as an overall marketing campaign this would be highly effective when reaching its targeted audience.
Finally the Kasabian Empire magazine advert does not conform to the soft rock genre. It includes many challenging conventions regarding the conventions of not only soft rock but conventions of magazine adverts. The primary image used does not involve members of the band. This is a convention which many soft rock music bands conform to when marketing their product. The primary image is of artwork which at a quick glance does not appear to have relevance to the band or their music. The primary image is central to the print therefore is the first element of the magazine advert to catch the audiences attention. This instantly emphasises the enigma code as the audience cannot see the band therefore are unable to make a emotional attachment, therefore this questions the content of the music as soft rock music generally involves emotions. The primary image appears to be of a Viking holding an angel, this could relate to religious and historical contexts and could potentially be controversial within its targeted audience. However this dominant and powerful image is what will attract the audience to it, as it is unexpected and unconventional to the genre and product. The primary image also appears to be reflected on the lower half of this print. This could connote the ideologies of the music and could possibly mean that the music is reflective to the individual and could be a song looking back in reflection of itself. This creates an illusion of a mirror and could indirectly connote personalisation within the product as the audience will see the reflection within the print. This may enable the audience to engage and identify with the print through uses and gratification theory. The theme of this print appears to be a King of Clubs within a deck of playing cards, this gives a fantasy illusion and therefore challenges the verisimilitude which is seen dominant in other soft rock prints. This could connote the dominant and powerfulness within Kasabians music, Vikings were seen as powerful figures, and also kings, from the deck of playing cards. The typography further challenges the soft rock conventions as they are placed at the bottom of the print and also contains the least information in comparison to the previous magazine adverts. This therefore relies solely on the image to advertise their product.

Ancillary Magazine Advert

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ANALYSIS OF MAGAZINE ADVERTS

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