Reverse Engineer Sponsored Ad

Ministry of Supply: I had never heard of these guys. Had you? I didn't think so. But this ad caught my attention as I was scrolling through facebook. I will talk about a few things that really helped this ad to stand out and take control of the scroll.

The first thing that I read was the word "Warning". That immediately catches your attention and causes you to stop scrolling. That is important because we want our viewers to stop scrolling and to look at our pages or posts that we make. Great job on the creative copy.

The next thing that really helps sell this ad (pun intended) is the wording itself. If you are reading this, then you realize that these words are explaining why the picture below is important. It is giving you context to what the ad will be about. This is key, because you want your picture to relate to the text that you've written.

Lastly, I wanted to point out the obvious. The contrasting colors in this picture (even though for me it was still buffering for some reason...) stand out right away. You realize that the men in this picture are  the focus because of how much they stand out. You also are very curious as to why there are two shirtless men on your feed.

Overall, I'd say that this ad is pretty great and that it really catches your attention well. This is an ad to model other ads off of, because you want your ad to cause people to stop scrolling as well and to look at your ad.

Reverse Engineer Native Video

Original Video Here

Nike's new "Just Do It" ad was very controversial. It showed Colin Kaepernick to be their new poster child. In it though, it has an undeniably great message. It says that we need to dream big, and never settle for less than what we deserve. In this breakdown, I will show a segment of the clip and analyze why it is great. I'm just gonna say this now, the one frame does not do it justice. Go watch the ad if you haven't seen it already. Even if you don't like Kaepernick.

So here it is, the frame that I chose to analyze. It's towards the beginning of the video, but I think they really hit something good here. Even unintentional possibly.

First off, I chose this image because of the alignment and the key focus. The key focus point in this frame is obviously supposed to be the kid wiping out on his skateboard, but they emphasize that because of the fact that he's centered in the photo. Usually it's bad to do this, and we are taught to do the rule of thirds, but I think it works well here.

Second, I think that this frame is awesome because of how much movement it has in it. It literally leads your eyes to the center, to the main point of the video or frame in this case. The railings all are aligned to point towards him, and even the lines on the bricks in the wall lead your eyes to him as directed by the arrows. You could even argue that the vertical bars on the railings point down to him as well.

The last principle, and one that I almost missed, was the agitation. Diagonal lines in art are usually used to create motion, or agitation and disruptment. The way he is flailing about on the ground definitely shows movement and you can pretty much tell just by this shot that it is not just a photo but that it is part of a video. His arms and legs sticking out in unnatural, non-human ways depicts that. (You may have to scroll up to the original to see this because of the red lines I drew over it, sorry.)

Hope you enjoyed! Go watch that video above.

Reverse Engineer News Feed

Macrumors is a news site that publishes articles about different Apple related news. This could range from product releases to lawsuits it's involved in to reviews. I have been following Macrumors for years now, and they are still continuing to grab my attention because of the content that they push out. They currently produce on average 3 or 4 articles a day, except on weekends. This allows them to have a great following because the average user will not get tired of their posts.

Macrumors connects with its user base by appealing to their emotions and also to their interests. They wouldn't post about the boston red socks, or about donald trump getting re-elected, because that is not their main focus. They would, however, focus on posting about technology related issues and news.

They are using the seascape principles of value, progress, and story. Value is being used because they are presenting information that is valuable to us. We as techies care about the information and news that they are continuing to post. Progress is being used because they are constantly posting about different ways that the technology is improving and advancing. Story is also being used because when someone reads the article, they are participating in the story. The article is laid out like a story rather than pure facts. It gives background and has jokes, to grab your attention and keep it to help you feel like a part of it.

The first, and most obvious, thing about their design choice was the custom grid that they portrayed. They aligned all the different iPhones and iPads to be aligned in a grid that is not a perfect rule of thirds grid. You can definitely see the lines of the grid, through white space, but just in case you can't I outlined them in red for you.

The next principle that this is following, and probably the reason why it looks so good, is because of repetition. Repetition really helps you feel the mood and understand what the meaning of this post is going to be about. The fact that they have 12 devices repeated across the screen shows that this is absolutely what the article is going to be about. It's not going to be a bunch of cat videos, or a review of a local restaurant. It's news about something that has to do with the technology.

The last thing I wanted to point out would be proximity. They are absolutely following proximity because look at how many devices (and the information on them) that they are able to squeeze in to such a small thumbnail. You could stare at this picture for two minutes and still find yourself discovering new things about it. 

All in all, Macrumors has been around for a while now and they have their template laid out pretty well. Their articles are all written pretty much the same way, with the same tone of voice. Here is the link to their post if you want it.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/30/apple-releases-ios-12-1/?fbclid=IwAR2srF8sUgCTH-OnUjAUXY9nnoi1bqmAJz2-B3tQmBWj2oHOM0H9lDF1q00

Reverse Engineer Brand

Woolrich hunting toggery is a company that sells hunting gear and other equipment. They are a company that caters to hunting folks who love to go hunting. The brand is connecting to these types of people because they are the ones who will be trudging through the snow after hitting their target. It also shows responsibility for packing out the animal that you kill so that it doesn't go to waste. They are using the seascape principles of belonging to a bigger group to feel included. They are using the visual and presentation principles to show how they are belonging to the whole.

The first principle I wanted to dive into was that of color. The color starts on the left of the picture, with it being dark. Then further as you right on the picture, it gradually gets lighter and lighter as you go across the image, causing your eye to have movement across the page. This is great because just by using colors it causes your eye to move. Then all of a sudden it changes from blue to red, which is a big color change that will direct the eye to the main focus of the picture, the hunter and the deer. 

The brand's advertisement also shows great alignment, which will also move your eye to the middle of the piece. All of the trees in the background are vertically aligned, causing repetition, but then the only stark difference is the deer's legs sticking way out, causing a total difference of the alignment. That draws your eyes to it, which is the artist's and the brand's goal.

The obvious contrast on this piece is playing a huge part in the effectiveness of it, because it is able to draw your eyes in. Everything in the background is a cool, blue color and the middle man and the deer are very warm and inviting. This draws your eyes to it because it is such a big contrast. Great job from the artist on this piece of advertisement!

In conclusion, I think we can all learn a lot from this advertisement. I think that we will be able to show off some of the same principles in the designs that we will be doing, because it really helps you to draw in the focus of the consumer and help them realize what you want them to be looking at. 

Personal Manifesto

Personal manifesto's are something of great worth to individuals. But they are even more important to companies and pages that are posting on social media. This is because if you do not have a set plan or roadmap to what and how you're going to post to social media, you will either not reach your potential clients at all or at least not be able to be as effective as you would have liked to be. I will be describing my personal manifesto in the sections below.

• What
• With my page and pseudo company being a hunting company, meaning a company which advertises hunting equipment and excursions, it will be mainly focused on posting about things that other hunters around the world and locally in my area can do to prepare for the hunting season. There will be posts about licenses, fun facts about the types of animals they will be looking for, types of weapons to be able to kill the prey like bows, crossbows, guns, traps, etc. 

• How
• The how of social media manifestos is to explain the type of medium that will be posted. Medium is basically just whether you are going to use blog posts, photos, videos, etc. I think I will mainly be focused on posting photos and links to articles. This will be the best way to reach the demographic that I am choosing, mainly 40+ year olds, because they will be the ones interested in this type of activity. Otherwise I will not be able to catch their attention. If I were to post a bunch of "memes", I would completely miss the mark and they would not think that I am taking it seriously.  It will mostly be darker color schemes to appeal to the "manly".

• Where
• I will mainly focus on facebook for the advertising of my company and for the bulk of my social media posts. I will also have a blog. The reason that I am choosing facebook is because the demographics of facebook are shifting. Since facebook is gaining years as far as how long it has been around, there are some people who are in their late 30's and 40's who are on it. The younger generation is as well, but they are mainly shifting towards instagram and other fast paced social media that they can consume much more content much faster. Facebook is more about scrolling and reading articles and engaging in comments with the company or with other peers on the site. 

Social Media Reverse Engineer

Wendy's is at it again! They are always doing fun posts on social media. Well either that or roasting people and having a good time. I think they are definitely reaching out to millennials with their type of advertising. Or possibly even the generation after. (Gen Z?)

1. What is the main purpose of the post?
1. To get a person viewing it to start thinking about their product. It will then convert them into a customer when they realize that they want to get a frosty.
2. Who is the audience of the post?
1. The audience of this post would be most likely teenagers/20's because those are the types of people most on social media, and most likely to follow a fast food company on social media. The ad will most likely also reach out to older demographics and be successful with them, but it would most likely be targeted towards the younger generation.
3. How does the post connect with the audience?
1. The post connects with the audience because it shows a picture of the frosty's right there. It will connect with them by helping them remember how good it tasted when they had their last one.
4. What value does the post provide to their audience?
1. The value of this post is that the frosty that they are advertising is only 50 cents. That is a great value because most people have spare change lying about in their car's cupholder and they will easily be able to round it up if there isn't. Great product for little money=value.
5. How does the post's design connect and communicate with the audience?
1. The post's design shows some light and cool colors depicting that it is going to be a cold and refreshing dessert. It will communicate with the audience because it is displaying a subliminal message to their minds that they want a cold beverage or dessert.
6. What metrics (likes, shares, re-tweets, etc.) will be used to determine if the post is successful?
1. Likes and loves and other reactions given by facebook will be the measure to how successful the post is. It already from this screenshot had 2,300 people liking or otherwise reacting to it, so I would say it is pretty successful.

Coca-Cola Social Media Campaign

The "Share a Coke" social media ad campaign was arguably the best social media campaign of the 2015 year. It was great for so many reasons. I will go through a few reasons based off of what is called the "Seascape principles".

Presentation:
The status updates and pictures that we choose to share or not share are all filtered through how it will make us look to others. This is extremely important to companies who have a presence on social media. We need to always remember that we are always being perceived differently based on our presentation. Coke is doing this by making sure that the slogan and message and pictures they put up are not going to be interpreted badly.

Value:
The value principle is the "why". Why should we follow this, why did they introduce it in the first place, why should we care? The value of coke doing this ad campaign is that they were able to let the customers have a sense of belonging with the brand. They shared the messages themselves, rather than the company pushing their agenda onto the consumers.

Least Resistance:
The payoff has to be worth it. When users are on social media, a lot of times they shy away from videos because they take too long to watch. They are wanting to get more information or media, and will just scroll past it when they are taking too long. Share a coke is as easy as posting a picture and using the hashtag #shareacoke. It was easy.

Zeitgeist:
Zeitgeist is a word that describes a mood or a feeling. This is definitely generated by the share a coke movement. You could almost feel the buzz across the internet as people were all talking about the share a coke. I know I definitely looked for my name in the grocery store when they were printing a ton of names on the bottles.

Attention:
This principle is pretty self explanatory. Attention is great for companies because when they get attention, and if it is good attention, then they get money from the people buying their product. They get the money that they would otherwise not get. In 2015, more than 500,000 photos were shared by using the #shareacoke hashtag. That is a lot of attention.

Expectations:

If you have developed a brand with a straight journalistic voice and then you toss in an article written with a loose conversational tone full of racial slurs and cursing, you are going against the expectationof your audience. They will be angry and dissatisfied with the rela- tionship. Not meeting the expectations of your audience will damage your brand, while continuing to meet their expectations will keepthem engaged and satisfied. Remember, in the expectations game,the perceived value is more important than the actual value.

Story:
The share a coke campaign was all about the story. It was all about how when you share a coke with John, then you and John become friends. It can heal relationships. It can mend neighborly battles. It can get you a better grade in a class. Sharing a coke was all about the story because it was all about the experience.

Progress:
Progress is a great thing. Progress helps you to expand, and to grow. When share a coke happened, they changed their logo for the event. They changed a ton of things, and it worked. It seemed like a brand new Coca-Cola because of the branding and because of the campaign. It definitely helped coke to remain a household name.