How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I feel that my three products work in symphony in terms of brand image as I have used several ways of feeding in similarities to the products to make them look similar and to appeal to my audience in the same ways. 

The font 'Hacked' was used in all three media products as I felt that the pixelated look to the font not only illustrated 'crookedness' that I associate with the name The Crookes but also because it emits an edgy, cool feel which is part of what I have built for my artist image. This typography is used on my digipak to show the name of the band and is subsequently used in the same way on my advert, and this continued use makes the combination effective as it presents a running image and brand, thus making the band more recognisable and distinguishable to my audience.

In terms of styling, both the artist and the two girls acting, their clothing was very stylish but casual which added to the relaxed image presented in the song and my desired image for the artist. In the advert, again the clothing is very simple and casual (plain t-shirts) which supports the laid back image from the video. Although no clothing styling took place in the production of the digipak, the images of the sea and waves and the way in which I altered the colour balance also highlights the relaxed impression throughout the music video and advert.

My referencing to zeigeist (dominant trends and preferences in a certain time period) in my main product and ancillary texts makes them effective and successful as a combination. In my music video, the zeigeist that I have referenced is the street art movement, showing all of the impressive graffiti, especially because I feel that indie audiences are more artistic. Additionally, the location of Camden is very popular and iconic and so this could appeal more to my audience as they would know about and enjoy going to Camden . In my digipak, I have also used key things from today's zeitgeist such as the geometric shapes (the triangles) as there is a huge trend of minimalistic and geometric graphic design in much of the modern design work and in advertising and so by using this in my digipak, it makes it more familiar and on trend with design work. Additionally, my advert heavily focuses on trends and fashion that is most popular at the moment;

the beards/stubble on the band members is linked with the popular beard trend that is most common in London, where a large part of my audience would be from, and so this would be familiar and fashionable for them. the tattoos on the band members is also part of the modern day zeitgeist as tattooing, specifically sleeve tattoos are a growing trend, not only in the rock and indie music industry but in the mainstream public as well. By including elements of zeitgeist, it has made my products more effective in the sense that there are elements that are easily recognisable to everyone and links in with current trends in the indie and rock genre.

I asked my target audience feedback group if watching the music video makes them more likely to buy the album.

6/10 said that it made them more likely to buy the album as "listening to the song made me remember the video so I would buy it (the album) as it reminded me of the video" - this suggests that the video has been successful in staying with the viewer after they have seen it, making it more memorable.  

Also "yes, the girls and singer in the video were having fun, which made me happy, so I would buy the album as it would put me in a good mood" - The music video and digipak emit a positive and up lifting feeling which is passed on to my audience, and so by having this running theme, it makes them more effective as one influences the other.

1/10 said they were less likely to buy the album because "I didnt like the song, it was too 'pop' for me so I wouldn't buy it because it's probably pop influenced too and I prefer monochrome album artwork because it usually means the band is more 'rocky'". This perhaps shows that I havent entirely appealed to my audience as the digipak is not dark enough to connect with fans of rock music.

Lastly, I looked at the psychographics (their wants/needs) of my target audience and found that it was to relax and travel, get away from everyday life. In my three products, I tried to relate to this. In my music video, the narrative is about having fun, relaxing with your friends, and the song is about letting go and living in the moment, not worrying about everyday life, "I like the video because it makes me feel like I have escaped for a bit, im living in their world and having fun with them". Likewise, for my digipak, the waves and sea images that I used, the location offers an escape and implies that the music on the album will make the listener feel good and forget about 'the real world' for a while. The advert too I feel that my main product and ancillary text are effective in addressing the psychographics of my audience and providing them with what they want. 

Overall, I feel that the combination of my main product and ancillary texts is effective as there are constant running themes through all three of my products which directly relate to appealing to my audience, and from my target audience feedback, I feel that they have related to it and respond to my products in the way I had hoped.