Magazine Advert Analysis Hayley McCarthy
the king blues artrocker magazine 2012 Font
The whole advert is centred around typography, with each separate track name also illustrated in the same edgy, brush styled font on their Youtube channel. The slight variations of each letter, especially noticeable in the ‘L’ and ‘G’ letters suggests that this is a custom font made especially for this purpose. As this is a unique font this can form part of t h e b a n d ’s b ra n d i d e n t i t y, b e c o m i n g somewhat of a logo which the audience can recognise. Another connotation of this would be that in the time it would take to create a hand-written font for each track would be time consuming, suggesting that the band have invested lots of time and care into this album, and are keen to highlight each track as an individual, yet maintaining the same house style brings together these tracks under this album.
Logos
From left to right: Transmission Recordings Ltd who are their record label, Jaegermeister who host live events which combine both music and promote their line of alcoholic drinks by the same name as well as award ceremonies, and finally Money Clothing, who at the time of the album release produced limited edition t-shirts with the album artwork, likely as this is the last album by the group, acting as somewhat of a souvenir.
Album Artwork
Colour
Maintaining a limited palette of black, white, and red, this creates a cohesive design that would otherwise be quite chaotic considering the nature of the font combinations. Red as a colour is a stimulant, encouraging fast decisions, as well as connoting power, danger, and passion; all of which are synonymous with the punk genre.
By including the exact album artwork in the advert, this strengthens the brand identity, enabling the audience to associate these two images when they come to purchase the album. If the band was to have contrasting imagery, this would weaken the brand identity, creating a confusing aesthetic which would be difficult for the audience to recognise. Acting almost as a logo, the artwork is extremely significant to attract those who aren’t yet familiar with the band, representing both themselves and the album in a limited space.
Release Date
Absolutely vital for the audience to be aware of when they’re able to buy the album, by it already being released by the time this advert came to print in Artrocker magazine, this enables the audience to immediately purchase it if they wanted to. Sometimes, by having a later release date, this could mean that the more casual fans forget about the release date, lowering the potential sales.
Referring to Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding theory, I believe that the use of a grungy, bold font is encoded to connote the band’s genre, with the intention for a media literate audience to link these visual typographic clues with their predominantly punk genre, which would form the dominant reading. After completing further research, I have discovered that this band are considered the first to coin the term ‘ukulele punk’, fusing together punk and folk into a hybrid genre.
Buzz Words
“The final chapter” denotes an ending, here meaning that the band is splitting up, which was announced on their website. This gives real significance to this album, with it becoming the ending of the band, encouraging the audience to buy the album for this reason. The word “final” is especially effective as a buzz word, stating the significance of this statement even from a glance.
As we live in a media saturated society, web addresses are increasingly common within advertisements. Enabling potential purchasers (existing fans especially) to engage further with the band and the album due to this cross-platform presence. Placed in the top left corner, an embedded Soundcloud media player allows for free streaming of the artist’s track. The offers a listener unfamiliar with the band a chance to instantly listen to their tracks for free, without committing to buying the album advertised. In turn, the band has utilising the increasingly popular streaming medium to attempt to widen their audience. The album artwork featured in the magazine advert, reiterating this imagery for the audience to recognise when they come to purchase it. Immediately beneath this image is a hyperlink to iTunes w h e re i t i s p o s s i b l e t o download the album advertised, continuing the intended purpose of the advert, to entice the audience to buy the album.
Web Address
I n t e ra c t i v e b u t t o n s t o promote their social media presence, allowing the band to continually inform their followers using a free service. With the potential for live updates, having accounts on a wealth of s i t e s re a c h e s a w i d e r audience, with much of the older target audience stereotypically possessing at least one of these a c c o u n t s , ra t h e r t h a n having the majority of these as you would expect from a younger target audience. The website’s house style is similar to the magazine advert, creating a recognisable consistency across these platforms and strengthening the band’s brand identity.
Platforms
Available across multiple platforms, this offers a greater potential to buy the album. The proliferation of hardware and content has made it even easier to download albums and songs onto multiple devices that most own at least one of. CD’s tend to be more popular with an older target audience or more dedicated fans who enjoy having a physical copy to act almost as a trophy. The possibility of having a ‘limited edition’ vinyl would also prove popular amongst the avid fans, with vinyl's becoming increasingly popular once again. By covering the main media platforms for music distribution, this once again widens the potential revenue, with all of this financed by the record label.
Kaiser Chiefs Q Magazine 2012 Main Image
The representation of past ideals and fashions in today ’s arguably postmodern society forms what Jameson calls ‘contemporary nostalgia culture’ whereby texts are reproduced to give the illusion that these things still happen. For example, indie culture is accountable for the appropriation of vintage clothing, Levi-Strauss’s theory of bricolage (1976) whereby there is a recontextualisation of objects to communicate new meanings. The filmic aesthetic of the poster would be considered ‘vintage’ and hence a reflection on the past, with the warm tones offering positive connotations, fitting with the nostalgic undertones of the advert. Applying Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding theory, the album title ‘Souvenir’ can be decoded by the audience as a nostalgic piece, paring it with the main image of a stick of rock evoking memories of the beach. Beach holidays in themselves used to be the place to go on vacation before package holidays in the 1950’s, once again reflecting back on the past.
Platform
The lacking mention of what platforms this album will be available is unconventional of a magazine advertisement. Perhaps due to the younger target audience, it is assumed that they will access the album through their usual means and do not require this information. However, on the online banner advert, the iTunes and Amazon logos are present, making it peculiar as to why they have not been consistent with this inclusion.
Band Logo
A modern, sans-serif font suggests a band that is clean-cut, mainstream, and perhaps even part of the pop genre. However, combining this with the use of album artwork rather than a close up image of the band, this brings in the artistry of the indie genre. Being encompassed by two rectangles makes a statement, similarly to a stamp, connoting that the band is proud to put their name to this album, with it being a large focal point on the page. By also placing the band name and album title within the artwork in the stick of rock, this could suggest that just as the text would run through the rock, their values and beliefs are evident throughout this album, especially considering that it is a collection of their singles.
Logos
There is also no mention of any record labels or distributors within this advert, with the only imagery present that relating directly to the band. This could signify that this album is a direct product of the band, and once again, stands for their beliefs and values. By having other companies logos this could distract away from the artistry that I believe they have encoded through their use of imagery (Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding theory) hence choosing to leave this information out.
Reviews Once again, there is an unconventional lack of reviews in this advert, suggesting that this album is personal to the band, and it is their offering to the fans. Perhaps connoting that other institution’s opinions of the album is not a concern of theirs.
Soundboard
A novel online application whereby you can hear snippets of popular Kaiser Chief songs by clicking on the segments of rock. Carrying across the ‘souvenir’ rock theme and further cementing this imagery into the audiences mind, the similar blue and pink house style is carried across, with the blue and white striped banner connoting a beach hut when paired with the visual clues from the advert. This combination of elements strengthens their brand identity, demonstrating a cross-platform presence both in print and online. The banner at the bottom further advertises the album, featuring the album artwork which would be recognised by the audience, as well as a release date and hyperlinks to retailers of the album.
Album Artwork Conventionally featuring the same album artwork on the advertisement, this strengthens their brand identity as well as enabling the audience to recognise the image from the advertisement when they purchase the album. This particular artwork is actually a hyperrealistic painting by Sarah Graham, with the Kaiser Chiefs commissioning her having been inspired by Blackpool, with a stick of rock being the “perfect British example” of a souvenir, sharing the same name as the album title.
Images
Release Date
Necessary in order for the audience to know when to purchase the album. As this has a release date later than when the advert was printed, this does run a risk of being forgettable by the audience, with an “out now” release date enabling them to purchase the album immediately if they wish. This however is not a focal point on the page, perhaps suggesting that as the Kaiser Chiefs are a mainstream band with a larger fan base, it is anticipated that the album will sell, having a larger social media presence that can continually remind their younger target audience.
The images bordering the edge are actually the Kaiser Chiefs previous album artworks. Considering once again the album title of ‘Souvenir’, this is once again evoking nostalgia, with each album a souvenir of this each time period. Apart from being nostalgic, the album itself is a compilation of singles from 2004-2012, so it is likely that the albums featured have tracks that are going to appear on the album advertised. The arrangement also reminds me of vinyl covers, a platform that has also been appropriated by indie culture. Interestingly, despite each album artwork being significantly different in relation to each other, the gradient background and overall colour grading helps unify the composition.
Website Address
Looking at the website, the vintage house style remains consistent from this advertisement, synonymous with the indie genre. A content-packed website featuring: Instagram feed, Twitter feed, tour dates, music videos, and latest news, this offers fans a chance to further engage with the band across multiple platforms. There is also a button to follow them on Spotify, a streaming website which is becoming increasingly popular. The play count of streaming music has recently been acknowledged in the Top 40 Chart rating, giving bands a greater potential to bring exposure to their records through little to no cost from the viewer; Spotify can be used as a free service without subscription.
QR Code
Requiring a smartphone, this assumes that the audience media literate enough to recognise this as a QR Code and take action in scanning it. Connoting a younger target audience for this reason, the code in itself is somewhat of a novelty also, yet is a far more stylish way to illustrate a website address rather than having it fully typed out.
Tracks
By including the number of singles on the album draws attention to the overall quality of the album, mainly aimed at newer fans. A compilation album offers the opportunity for said fans to purchase all of their “hit” singles in one album, rather than going to the trouble of searching through each album separately. Also the offer of “2 brand new tracks” gives an incentive for existing fans who will most likely already own the existing tracks on the album.