ASA
The ASA are the (Advertising Standards Agency), this is the regulatory body who ensure that advertising is suitable for its target audience. This regulatory body work on behalf of the public and work by ensuring that advertisements are suitable to be used within the advertising industry, especially for the target audience which the adverts is aimed at.
ASA will investigate an advertisment if there is a public complaint about it, ensuring that it follows the regulatory bodies "Code of Conduct". These are a set of rules which the advertisment must abide to otherwise they could face consequences. If the advert doesn't meet the ASA standards and requirements, the creators could be prosecuted and made to pay a fine. Worse than this, the advert could be taken down and therefore the advantages of creating the advertisement within the first place are removed.
To create our advertising campaign for Carr Head Wine I had to make sure that we followed the codes and conventions that are put into place by the ASA. The regulations that are put into place are something that we had to look at during the pre-production of creating all parts of my advertising campaign. If I did not follow the "Code of Conduct" set by the Advertising Standards Agency then it could have resulted with the launch of my campaign having to be moved to a later date, which is something that would impact my whole project.
Our campaign would need to avoid breaking any codes:
- Privacy
- Misleading advertising
- Alcohol- this is the main focus
This is from the official website:
The images throughout our poster and website do not show anyone consuming the wine. This means we are not encouraging an image of excessive drinking. Our images focus on the unique nature of the wine and its location of where it is grown. This is to appeal to a mature audience and not falsely advertise to under 18's.
OfCom
OFCOM is the (Office of Communications) they have their own rules and regulations to follow. They help to regulate the communication within the public such as televison and radio. The Office of Communications help to protect the public from things such as false advertising as well as many other things. OFCOM have a "Code of Practice", this is something that broadcasters need to be aware of during the pre-production stages of the creation of a product. The public are able to make complaints which will then get investigated by the regulatory body, however people may say that this is too late as by this stage the public has already been exposed to the content. If the product doesn't comply with the code of conduct then there is a chance of being prosecuted and then the video being taken down.
We had to keep the "Code of Practice" in mind when creating our promotional video as we did not want any complaints about it being inappropriate because this would damage Carr Head Wine's image. As our advert is promoting wine we had to make sure there was no childish content in it as this would mean we would appeal to under 18's, breaking the codes of practice. Also we need to make sure the house styles stick to minimalistic colour palettes such as orange and browns so it doesn't attract the wrong target audience. It does not include any religious symbols or language so they are not offensive in any way to anyone and make sure that it didn't seem like we were targeting or alienating a specific group.
Comparing similar campaigns
Our poster fits conventions by showing two separate wines the vineyard produced. The sparkling rose is in the foreground to connote that it is new. Both posters are by windows, this allows for natural light making the wines look appealing due to the rich vibrant colours. However it remains mature and does not attract under ages of 18. Our poster has minimal writing as well as features the brands logo in the corner of the page.
To compare the codes and conventions of my website I made for Carrhead wine, I found the home page from 'Lightfoot & Wolfville'. The first obvious factor is the photography. Both use similar shot types in that a object is in the focal point located on the right side of the photo, leading the eye through the rest of the image, in this case the vineyards. The natural lighting of 'golden hour' is a common convention used in advertisement material because it naturally saturates the image making for a well balanced image. The brand logo is displayed in the middle of the home page with minimal writing so the viewer is not distracted and can easily locate around the website.
