Magazine Advert Research

Magazine Advert Research

Being a frequent reader of music magazines such as Q magazine and Kerrang! I have collected several magazine adverts that advertise new albums for rock bands. Me and my group are into different kinds of rock music so these adverts I have collected all fall under the rock genre. After analysing digipaks, these adverts will inspire our group further showing their conventions and features that make them successful in this genre. 

 The image to the left shows an advertisement for the popular 90's grunge band Nirvana. Being a sub-genre of rock this advertisements seems relevant to our project. The advert is for a remastered edition of popular album In Utero. The advert is pretty simple having a light, textures background that is not too eye-catching or vibrant. The centered image in an image that the target audience can recognise as it is assosciated with the band. This gives familiarity and the audience can then read the rest of the advert. At the top center of the advert the bands name can be seen in large bold font. The typeface is the same as all other Nirvana associated products so this again gives familiarily, similar to the use of logos with products. The album title is also in large font and bold so that the audience are easily informed of what album is being advertised. In smaller font important information "20th anniversary edition" can be seen. This is important as it will strike collectors of albums as increase the chance of sales. In a different colour font, blue that stands out from the background, dvd/download can be seen. This again, is important as it gives the audience different options and platforms in which to purchase the product. Also, the OUT NOW is capitalised and boxed with separes it from the other information on the advert.

 The image to the right shows an advertisement for alternative rock band Kings Of Leon's new album, Mechanical Bull. I believe this advert is strong and successful as the use of colour makes it stand out from other adverts and catches the viewers attention. The background is a bold black which means the colours on the page stand out more. The bands name are situated at the top of the advert informing the audience of what band it is. Also, the typeface used is a font that the band name is often wrote in which boosts familiarity in the advert. Large font is used at the bottom of the advert, again centred, saying in big capital letters 'the new album'. Instead of saying out now, the release date is given. This is unusual but a lot of bands in this genre show the release date on an advert so that informs the audience of exactly when they can purchase it. In the centre of the advert is the album title. This is perhaps the strongest part of the advert as it is very eye catching and there is a strong likelihood of the audience noticing it. The words 'mechanical bull' are used but each in different fonts and colours. It represents a neon sign which is really effective against the black background. It works really well as the rest of the advert is black and white so therefore it is the main point of focus in the advert. The use of an arrow above the album title is good as it fits in with the neon style bar sign used to display the album title. The glow around the letters also makes the words in the advert stand out further. 

The image to the left shows a magazine advert for alternative rock band Pearl Jam's latest album, Lightning Bolt. This advert is really effective as it features actual lightning bolts on the image that can be associated with the title of the album. A simple colour scheme of black, white and red is used which can be linked in the with the genre of music that it is representing  The bands name are in bold white font and the typeface is the same as what features on other Pearl Jam albums. The title of the album is situated underneath the bands name in a smaller font but this time in the colour red. This separates it from the bands name and informs the audience that this is the album title. Under the words lighting bolt is an actual image of a lighting bolt which goes well in the advert as it is keeping a certain style. This advert is different from the others I have looked at because it also advertises the singles off the album. There is great likelihood that the target audience for this album will have already heard the singles that have been released and therefore the chances of the buying the album will increase if they are aware that the singles are on it. The bands website can also be seen on the advert, situated at the bottom of it in red font. This again advertises the band as it provides a way that the audience can purchase the album - directly off the bands website. The use of images on this advert is strong as the lightning bolts reflect the title of the album. as well as this the lightning bolt used in a replica of a human eye interacts with the target audience and consumes them into the advert. Where the cross is at the top of the images the curved lines coming from the sides replicate sound waves which ties in with the fact it is music that is being advertised. 

After analysing these album advertisements they have given me and my group a lot of creative ideas and inspired up to use some similar techniques that these follow. For example, the backgrounds in all of these adverts are fairly plain which keeps the white space simple and doesnt divert the target audiences attention from the primary focus of the advert. I have noticed that a lot of adverts for this genre follow a certain style and have features that give the bands their own identity. For example the band names have different typefaces that have been used in previous albums and adverts when advertising the band.