MDM555: Week 4 Reflection

My background and experience mostly deal with design and art. Incorporating structured copy and related theories was a set of skills I had to build up and fast. When I went about designing the testimonial ads, I had to combine these new concepts with my preexisting design skills. Before starting on the ads, I had to narrow down a target audience. International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) serves mostly young people twenty-five and younger and they wish to get this group more involved since the decisions will impact them the greatest. When narrowing the target audience, I decided to focus on psychographics because IPPF’s strengths came from ideals and feelings. This would mean the profiles would have to be somewhat flexible and Felton (2013) states that psychographics allows for changing definitions in society (p. 34). Since I would not be able to guarantee a person, I aimed for a personality. In the end, I decided to target youth leaders that wished to make changes in their community. These leaders would have the greatest range of influence and normally they have disposable income which allows them to make donations more often. The two personas I created where a principal who was involved in many community outreach programs and a YMCA employee who enjoyed working with teens and being a mentor (See Figure A). These would be the type of people IPPF would want to target.

Figure A: Target Audience Profiles

When creating initial thumbnails (see Figure B) for the testimonial ads I tried to combine Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with Felton’s concepts for speakers. The type of needs that would most appeal to the target audience were nurturance, succorance, security, stimulation, and understanding. By combining these needs into the ads, I could create a ladder that would elevate the message. Felton (2013) states that consumers do not look “for a product that will do the least for them but for one that will do the most” (p. 25). The audience will not have tons of money to spend on donations so they will look to donate to charities that can make the biggest impact for their dollar. By picking who is speaking like an employee versus an extreme user will change how these needs are applied. The speaker also controls the perspective which changes the story. A chief from a village will have slightly different priorities than say a chalkboard. The chief will be concerned about the health and future of their people. The chalkboard would want to be used again. As Smallish (2014) states in his course the goal “is reaching the consumer by connecting with their needs or touching their emotions”. By picking the story that is being told, I could control what emotions and needs I was aiming for. In my design for the chalkboard ad I was targeting Nora’s interest as an educator and her desire to help a student better themselves. In Stevie’s case, I was targeting his belief that a free, happy life is a right and shouldn’t be taken away because they have lost access to services that let them control their lives.

Figure B: Thumbnail Sketches

When I moved onto the three initial comps (See Figure C) I had to create designs that built onto the ideas I had developed in the thumbnails. I focused on informing the audience on how the Global Gag Rule (GGR) had negatively impacted communities assisted by IPPF and how they could help. I tried to address the audience directly in an effort to give them a sense of involvement and responsibility. Lurie (2014) states that approaches like these, work on average twenty-five to thirty percent better.

After receiving feedback, the greatest change I had to make was in regard to my copy. It was too long. I focused too much on supplying the audience with as much information as possible that I forgot the purpose of a print ad. A quotation from Felton (2013) was given where he said, “write your copy to the best of your ability-and then cut it in half” (p. 120). That is what I did. I took out as much information as I could without losing the main appeal. Since I was cutting a lot of information, I added a QR code to add ease to taking the audience to the site. By making it as simple as clicking a couple buttons audiences are more likely to go to the site and find all the information I had to cut. This would then lead to them making a donation or volunteering. I also added a frame to the ads made from a modified version of the IPPF Logo (See Figure C) so that audiences could glance at an ad and know straight off that it was an IPPF ad.

Figure C: Three Initial Comps

Three takeaways I gained from this course were basic copywriting, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and using grid layouts. Before this course my understanding of writing copy was shaky. By learning basic rules and structures I could combine them with my knowledge of consumer psychology. I now know how to make an impact in a shorter message. Learning about Maslow’s Hierarchy is going to have the biggest impact because this can be transferred into design as well. By knowing what needs I want to address and understanding that elevating the needs can be more effective, I can apply this to what imagery I use. This course also taught me a technique that leads me away from color blocking. Color blocking is a technique in design that I often use because it allows for contrast and organization. On my feedback for the testimonials I was suggested to look at the article Grid-Based Layouts 101 by James George. As George (2013) states in the article, using this grid method helps “divide content into discrete, manageable modules”. I found this method allowed for me to organize my content while giving me a flexible template that lets me create more varied designs.

 

References

Felton, G. (2013). Advertising: Concept and copy. New York: Norton & Company.

George, J. (2013, January 15). Making Great Designs Using Grids – DesignFestival. Retrieved from https://www.sitepoint.com/grid-based-layouts-101/

IPPF. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ippf.org/

Lurie, I. (2014, May 30). Learning to Write Marketing Copy. Lecture. Retrieved from https://www.lynda.com/Business-Online-Marketing-tutorials/Writing-Marketing-Copy/149250-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a1linktypeid%3a2q%3aWriting+Marketing+Copy+with+Ian+Luriepage%3a1s%3arelevancesa%3atrueproducttypeid%3a2

Smallish, C. (2014, May 27). Designing a Print Ad. Lecture. Retrieved from https://www.lynda.com/Design-Page-Layout-tutorials/Welcome/155264/174679-4.html?org=fullsailold.edu

A Little Tidbit: MDM555 Combining Typography

When creating my testimonial ads, the weakest points in the first drafts came from font choices. To help, I was directed to a series of lectures by Ina Saltz. The lecture that led to be the most help was Typography: Choosing and Combing Typefaces. From this lecture I learned that while fonts need to have similar looks, if they are too similar then there is no point in using two fonts. It also gave me an idea of what characteristics to look at when combining fonts. I learned how to combine serif and san-serif fonts and when it is appropriate to use each kind. This helped me to pick fonts that communicated the theme but made the testimonials look like they were part of the same series. My body copy shared a common font. The headers used fonts unique to the voice and theme.

 

Reference

Saltz, I. (2014, October 17). Typography: Choosing and Combing Typefaces. Lecture. Retrieved from https://www.lynda.com/Design-Typography-tutorials/Foundations-Typography-Choosing-Combining-Typefaces/162445-2.html

 

Possible IPPF Taglines

Fights for Rights

IPPF’s goals revolve around protecting and maintaining reproductive rights. They work to change legislation and cultural norms to protect reproductive health and the fight to keep clinics in areas that need them most (IPPF, 2018). This tagline uses their continual fight for reproductive rights to describe what their priorities are. By using rhyming, it provides qualities that, as Morris (2009) describes, “make[s] a line evocative, likeable and sticky”.

 

Empowering a Better Future

When coming up with slogans, keywords from the At A Glance document where used for inspiration. The main goal of giving people more control over their bodies is so that they will go on to complete further education (IPPF, 2018). This particular tagline takes the basis of what IPPF does, health care, and elevates to services that shape a better future. This uses a technique that Felton (2013) suggests which climbs Maslow’s hierarchy and states the biggest possible benefit (p. 221).

 

Education. Care. Support.

This is a functional tagline that utilizes the rule of threes. Swartz (n.d.) states that a functional tagline should “focus on the fundamental aims and concerns that embrace a company’s mission, purpose, benefit, or competitive advantage”. This tagline utilizes IPPF’s mission: education, their purpose: care, and their benefit: support. Felton (2013) suggest the rule of threes as a possible solution because a common patterning is groups of threes (p. 224). By using this rule, it helps keep the slogan short and to the point while still stating what IPPF does.

 

Champion Rights, Health, and Them

In Wag the Tagline, Swartz (2006) states that using rhetorical devices helps give taglines a distinctive tone and personality (p. 39). This tagline uses epizeuxis to emphasize that IPPF’s main goal is to champion other’s rights to control what happens to their bodies. It also plays on the rule of threes to help create an association of their services.

 

Empower and Serve

This is another functional tag that stays simple and to the point. Swartz (n.d.) states that a functional tag should be “descriptive, logical, and unambiguous in their tone and treatment”. This tagline does this by using keywords from the At A Glance document and states IPPF’s top priorities and how they view their work.

 

Serving Communities, Empowering People

In Ahrens’ (2011) piece, What is a Tagline, they state that a tagline is “a single but powerful brand message designed to resonate strongly with an intended audience”. The audience that is mostly likely to support IPPF are those that are involved in their communities and want to make a difference to others. This slogan plays on these needs and showcases how IPPF goes about making change. This wording even features keywords found in IPPF’s At A Glance document (IPPF, 2018).

 

Hope for Health

IPPF provides care and health services that gives people in marginalized areas hope for better health and autonomy over their bodies. This uses Maslow’s ladder to play on people’s need for security and the chance to better their lives. Felton (2013) explains that by elevating the product, it showcases its’ largest benefit which makes it more appealing (p. 221).

 

Creating Opportunities for Choices.

This tagline is an aspirational tagline. Swartz (n.d.) states that these taglines should “focus on an audience’s deeply cherished needs and wishes, promising personal fulfillment or the successful attainment of a desired goal or outcome”. The tagline explains that IPPF’s services allow people to make their own choices about their body which then opens them up to make more choices that change their life. For instance, one of the services that IPPF provides is contraception. This allows a woman to control when and how many children she has which allows her to open up her time and resources to go to school which allows her to choose a career which allows her to support her family and fulfill her own wishes. This is an aspect of life that everyone can relate to and having control over their own lives is important to them.

 

Empowertunity

This tagline is a combination between empower and opportunity. IPPF tries to empower as many people as they can so that they can further their education and open up more opportunities for themselves. Using a portmanteau creates a unique term that sets them apart from competitors, but the root words are still recognizable, so it is not completely alien to audiences. As Felton (2013) explains, using a portmanteau allows for three words for the price of two (p. 229). It combines empower and opportunity to create a new identity and combines the associations people already have with those words to the new creation.

 

Care for a lifetime of possibilities.

IPPF provides the care it does so that people can live healthier and better lives. This uses the rhetorical device, hyperbole, to help add texture as Swarts (2006) suggests in Wag the Tagline (p. 39). This creates emphasis for IPPF’s long term priorities. It also plays on peoples’ own needs to fulfill their own life goals. Ahrens (2011) explains that playing on this need helps promote the brand message.

 

References

Ahrens, E. (2011, May 12). What is a Tagline [Editorial]. Retrieved from https://fso-lms4-immortal-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/104/20173/777b3424-3f9f-4534-85ed-f03b304c9bdc-058c850c-a4db-44c6-81b4-ef85600eb8a8/Wag_the_Tagline.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20190322T050019Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAI4QJ7YJDQ7JYMBXQ/20190322/us-east-1/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=5709add4e0768550c618a89233fe555f023adba176c33224347b49b596078b3a

Felton, G. (2013). Advertising: Concept and copy. New York: Norton & Company.

IPPF. (2018, July 25). At A Glance 2017. Retrieved from https://www.ippf.org/resource/glance-2017

Morris, J. (2009). The Lost Art of Writing The Sticky Tagline. Brandweek, 50(32), 54.

Swartz, E. (n.d.). Types of Taglines. Retrieved from https://www.taglineguru.com/tgpedia.html

Swartz, E. (2006, June). Wag the Tagline [Editorial]. Taglineguru.com. Retrieved from https://www.taglineguru.com/articles_folder/Wag_the_Tagline.pdf

Testimonial Ads

These are thumbnail sketches for possible testimonial ads for IPPF. Each one addresses a certain type of speaker creating different approaches.

 

These are the three designs that would make the biggest impact with the target audience and aligns most with IPPF’s current priorities and goals.

I picked a different classroom setting that was easier to read text against and I wouldn’t have to rely on blocking. I changed some of the sizing on the font to help bring notice to the most important parts. I left the chalkboard font because the point of the ad is to make the text look like it is written on the board. In a final version, photoshop will be used to make it look like it is actually chalk written on the board.

I photoshopped Starry Night onto a chalkboard to make it look like the girl drew it. This helps tie the idea of Van Gogh to the organization and shows who they are helping. Again, font sizes were changed to help bring emphasis to certain parts.

Since I was urged away from illustration, I abandoned the Where’s Waldo styled theme. I kept the idea that being forced to use pop up clinics makes them hard to find by using a magnifying glass. This shows how pop up clinics are not as effective as built in clinics because they don’t have a reliable location where they can be found all the time.

I added a frame that was based on the logo to help tie the ads together and give them a cohesive look. I also added a QR code to make it even easier for viewers to go to the site. Instead of actively opening up a browser, they can just bring up the reader and within a couple clicks they are at the support page.

 

References

Felton, G. (2013). Advertising: Concept and copy. New York: Norton & Company.

Smallish, C. (2014, May 27). Designing a Print Ad. Lecture. Retrieved from https://www.lynda.com/Design-Page-Layout-tutorials/Welcome/155264/174679-4.html?org=fullsailold.edu

MDM555: Target Audience

My chosen non-profit is International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). They provide care all over the world and fight for sexual and reproductive rights. Together with partner organizations to reach as many youths, women, and impoverish and at-risk communities as possible. Below are two examples of the target audience IPPF would want to focus on.

Silvia_Personas

IPPF needs assistance in the form of donations and volunteers. The ideal audience would be those that are involved in their communities and have a soft spot for young people. Both Nora and Stevie have careers that bring them into contact with young people/children and they are involved in organizations that affect their communities. IPPF wants to get young people more involved in their efforts and in How to Move Your Organization Towards Being Youth Centered they explain that as those 25 years and younger make up almost half of those that use their services (IPPF, 2018a). Targeting those that they look up to is a way to get into their circles of influence.

 

References

Felton, G. (2013). Advertising: Concept and copy. New York: Norton & Company.

IPPF. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ippf.org/

IPPF. (2018a, November 13). How to Move Your Organization Towards Being Youth Centered[PDF]. IPPF.

IPPF. (2018b, May 31). Annual Performance Report 2017[PDF]. IPPF.