Task One – why do charities advertise?
Before you start to mind-map your ideas you might want to create a quick list of different types of charity and which ones fall into which category. This should help you organise your thoughts before starting your research.When mind-mapping ideas as to why charities advertise it may help you to think of the different audiences they are appealing to.
Your mind-map doesn’t have to be very big, but it should certainly get you thinking. Using a computer program or website for mind-map is a good idea because you are not limited by size of paper – it is also something that can be easily added to in the future.
Hint: If you haven't already, sign yourself up for a bubbl.us or a Spider Scribe account, both are free mindmapping websites whereby maps can be embedded into webpages!
You shouldn’t spend too long on this task – it is really a ‘starter’ to get your brain considering some of the key things that will be important throughout the project.
Don't be a mug:
- The answer is not just: 'to get money for the charity'
- Don't spend longer than half an hour doing this task!
Task Two – researching charity campaigns
A sizable proportion of time will be spent on researching Charity Adverts. This research not only informs the planning of your own charity advert but is also discussed in your Evaluation.Simply put...
- You cannot get a decent grade in your evaluation without decent research
- You will not come up with decent ideas for your own charity campaigns without decent research
First things first, where to begin?
You need to think about charity advertising from a media studies perspective so first of all, read the MediaKnowAll page on Charity Advertising by clicking here.
This is a great resource from a trusted media studies website and will make excellent background reading before you embark on your research. It also has links to old and existing charity campaigns.
All your research must be blogged.
You can hand write them first and then blog them, or put them straight online - that's up to you.
Here is the information that needs collecting...
Use this template to make notes on - and every time you see a new charity advert - write it up with the advert embedded (or linked to) your post.
Blog research with the Labels:
Your Name and Charity Ad Research
Click here for an example research blog.
This is essential - it proves to me that you are actually doing the research - and it means that you will never lose your research because it will always be on the blog - when you need it to complete your evaluation it will be there.
About half of your research should be on lots of different types of charities.
The other half should be in the specific field you are looking at.
Where to look?
From the MediaKnowAll article you will find a lot of links away from that page to other charity websites and campaigns. And of course you can go directly to the charity websites and find recent campaigns. (please note that charity websites usually end in: .org or .org.uk NOT .com or .co.uk), going through charity websites can be tricky – as a search for the word ‘campaign’ can take you to their political campaigns. Use search words such as ‘advertising’ or ‘media’ or ‘broadcasting’ – persevere they will be out there!
The other places to look are obviously Google Images and YouTube – the latter being a great resource for old adverts. But be careful – double check that whatever adverts you find are real! There’s a lot of rubbish on YouTube so be a discerning user.
These are all areas we have covered in lessons and shouldn’t be taxing – yet perhaps a little time consuming.
However, it is imperative to remember that this research is vital to the marks you are awarded for both Pre-Production and the Evaluative Report.
One piece of excellent research to read is based on a report by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) who is the organization with the power to censor of even ban adverts. This article will be useful for learning about Lines of Appeal and other tactics used by charities as well as arming you with knowledge about what is considered acceptable and unacceptable in a charity advert.
Here's a few to get you started:
Here are the lines of appeal - you must use this in your analysis...
Also – don’t forget to write any ideas for your own creations down while you are doing your research. After all, the aim of the research is to start informing your own ideas.
Click here to return to the pre-production tasks.