Head Phone Ad

To grow a new brand the client needs effective advertising. To simply run ads isn’t enough; craft a great campaign that speak directly to the target audience, campaign that excites and activates them is the main goal.

beats Solo 2, a headset from Dr. Drew, a company that now belongs to Apple, developed a campaign where famous artist and players wore beats Solo 2 during a creative process; to listen to the final mix of a new song that will be released, or simply for relax or to have fun.

The campaign showed the versatility and utility of the headsets, also displays how comfortable and wearable they are. The use of portraits of different musicians and players gave a more personal approach to the main concept of the campaign developed, creating a more intimate relation between the target population, the headsets and the brand through the feelings and expressions of the artist. The campaign also appeals to the feelings because most of the artist and players in the ads are popular and belong to the pop-cultural iconic movement.

The campaign uses different approaches: professional, casual, enjoyable, funny, friendly, and it is in direct relation with fame and fortune.

The illumination of the subjects in the portraits varies depending on the situation and moment they are portraying: high contrast where one part of the face is more lit than the other, the use of soft light, natural light, artificial and colored lights.

Backgrounds in the pictures are directly associated with the situation that the subject is portraying; for instance, a portrait of Nicki Minaj wearing a pair of beats Solo while she enjoys the reading of a magazine at her home.

Carlos Betance will bring the beats Solo 2 headphones that the group will use for the shooting session. About the other props, since every person in the group will work in their own idea for the ad, each of us will bring what will be used for the shooting.

First Option: I am thinking in shooting the subject laying on the floor or seating on a comfortable chair, wearing the beats Solo 2, listening to music and enjoying the music and the moment of relaxation. I want to portrait different qualities of the headphones beats Solo 2 like: using them will relax you, also will bring joy to your life, you will feel comfortable using them. I am thinking in a woman as a main subject, but could be a man also: he or she will be about 22 to 27 years old.

The camera will be in front of the subject pointing directly to her/his face, but the subject is no looking at the camera.

Second option:  shoot the subject looking at a LP or a CD. He/she is concentrated on reading the back of the cover of the disc. She/he looks happy enjoying the music. I would like for this shot a shallow depth of field.

I will shoot in Manual Mode controlling the three main factors that make possible achieve a shallow depth of field: aperture (f-stop), distance from the subject to the camera, and focal length of the lens on the camera.

I must set a Large Aperture/Small f-stop to have a better opportunity to get the effect I want to achieve.

The subject should be near to the camera to have a better opportunity to succeed in getting a shallower deep of field.

For the third factor that controls the DOF, Focal Length, I will try to get access to a 70-200 lens.

In the worst scenery, I will use the Portrait setting in the camera.

Light will be bright and soft. The shooting session will be at City Tech studio.

Hearing Loss PSA

The Healthy Hearing Campaign in NYC was a series of ads in the year 2013 to remind people to turn down the volume of their headphones.

The main idea of the campaign was to create awareness about the consequences of hearing music at high volume and encouraging users to turn down it in their personal listening devices.

The slogan used was clear and direct: “Turn down your music before you can’t hear it anymore”

The New York Health Commissioner mentioned the risk of listening devices at high volume and the high possibilities of hearing damage. This problem has become a serious public health problem, according to New York City Community Heath Survey.

The article also mentioned that this is a preventable problem following simple rules: Reduce the volume, limit listening time using headphones, use of volume-limiting features in the devices, and know about hearing problems and take the necessary preventions to avoid losing your hearing.

The ad shows a person wearing to different hearing devices that have two opposite meanings. In one of the pictures we see a man using a earbud, the tagline says: “Hear today.” Next to the first picture we see the same man wearing another kind of earbud but this is not for listening to music, but to help him listen anything. The tagline says: “Gone tomorrow.” In a clear reference to the problems that hearing a device at high volume cause.

The article recommends going to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorder to take a brief test to evaluate you hearing level and look for professional assistance in case the person need it.

What is the communication problem?
The high risk of hearing loss cause by noise: in this particular case, the high volume in listening devices.
The idea of the campaign is to educate about the risk of listening to music at high volume and its consequences, that include hearing loss.

Who is the audience and what should the PSA say to this audience?
The audience will be people that have a listening device and age 18 to 44. The New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene says younger adults aged 18 to 44 are about three times more likely to listen to music with headphone than adults aged 45 and older (61% vs 21%) It is a broad audience since listening devices are every day more and more popular, not only among young people, as we learned from the NYCDHMH research, but also with people aged 45 years and more.

First Idea
I visualized a subject, with both hands, each one in one ear in the position of recollecting sound. A pair of earbuds hangs in the palm of the hands. The light points to both hands and ears, creating shadow in the face. I don’t want to show the face clearly because the target audience is too broad, the idea is a faceless subject with a hearing problem, this subject could be anyone who is listening to music at high volume.

I will bring the earbuds.

Second Idea
I am considering creating a series of pictures, an ear CU, of the same person, wearing different headphone and earbuds devices, then one with nothing. I will then make a collage with the pictures of the ear wearing the devices surrounding the central image of the picture without wearing any headset or earbuds. Then the slogan that will reinforce the visual message. I can’t hear you, or What did you say. I can use also the phrase “Turn The Volume Down.”

 

Gabriel Flores