Friday 13 June 2014

Blog Task 10 - Final Blog Post!


This is our last blog task, and we present to you a video of all of us sharing our experience on completing our Discovering MassComm module. 


Thank You Mr. Phillip! :)

Tuesday 27 May 2014

Blog Task 9 -ASTRO Field Trip

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Edwin's Angels

1.   Can you share how it is like to work in ASTRO? Any memorable experiences that you can share with us?
     Mr. Saiful Islam, one of the public affairs officers, said that it was more than interesting to work in ASTRO. He feels so honored to be part of ASTRO because thousands and thousands of Malaysians depend on ASTRO and he feels that by doing his work, many Malaysians would benefit out of it.
     Ms. Esther, a Front Desk executive, said that it is challenging and difficult but it is exciting and fun. She also said its fun when the celebrities from India come to ASTRO for an interview. She feels that meeting all these celebrities is an added advantage.

2.     How would you describe the organizational culture here in ASTRO?
The working atmosphere and environment in ASTRO looks very organized, systematically, and professional. The place is very peaceful and quiet and the people there are able to get down to their work and concentrate on what they are doing. The people there are focused on their job and not simply hanging around. Besides, they are also friendly people to talk to. The way the people work there is easy going and not looking very stress at their job.

3.    What are the hiring policies like for international graduates? Are there any opportunities for   international students?
International students have an opportunity to work in ASTRO. International graduates go through a slightly similar hiring policy with local graduates. There are certain qualifications that an international graduate must have. For internships, an international student must be studying in a local university and must enroll in a Bachelor’s Degree or a Diploma programme. This also applies to local students. Students must obtain a certain CGPA to get an internship with ASTRO. When international students have freshly graduated and want to work in ASTRO, they are able to work in the industry. Some of the hiring policies would be having a certified working Visa to work in Malaysia. As what interviewee, Saiful Islam has briefly stated, international graduates have almost the similar policies as local Malaysians to work in ASTRO. Both local and international graduates can be part of the ASTRO world whether or not they want to be a broadcaster, producer, engineer or any work related career they offer in ASTRO.

4.   Can you share with us the internship opportunities available in ASTRO and how can we apply?
ASTRO has an   internship programme called the Astro Structured Internship Programme which is a structured and robust programme for undergraduate Malaysian and International students who are currently pursuing their first degree / diploma in institutions of higher learning in Malaysia. This programme has a structured framework for students to experience hands-on job training, whilst being immersed in classroom-style training programmes which will enhance their skills. This will help students gain experience and knowledge related to their field of study, which will increase their employability rate upon completion of their studies.
The Astro Structured Internship Programme is open to all eligible students both from public and private institutions of higher learning. There are four intakes per year; March, June, September and December. There are a few requirements needed to apply. Firstly, you must be a Malaysian or International student who is enrolled in Bachelor’s Degree / Diploma programme with institutions of higher learning in Malaysia. In addition to that, this programme is open to first year to final year students, but priority will be given to final year students. Furthermore, the minimum CGPA of 3.0 and above, or equivalent, is required. Also, there is a minimum 2.5 months duration for internship placement. Lastly, this internship programme is also in line with the Structured Internship Programme by TalentCorp.


Tiviya’s Individual Personal Reflection

1. A) I have learnt that dress code does not really matter to a certain extent. Astro allows their employees to wear semi-formal, as some of their employees might feel a little uncomfortable wearing them. 
B) I realize that it is important to be quick and efficient at what you do. All the people who work in Astro are always alert and fast. 
C) I have learnt that most of the content played on radio is recorded and not live. This was kind of disappointing but at the same time it was beneficial. I had doubts to work in a radio station, and this trip had cleared everything and made me feel that I could work in a radio station. 
2. The best part of the trip was when I got a chance to go into the Hits.fm        studio. I met Arnold, one of the famous announcers in Hits.fm, who took up his time to explain to us about the system and how it works. He was very friendly and humble, which made me feel a little more confident to ask him questions. 

3. Yes, it definitely has made me feel a lot more confident about majoring in broadcasting.  I think the fact that people I met in the radio stations like the producers and radio announcers were pretty friendly. I am interested in radio broadcast. 

4. I would like to visit Media Prima. They also own prominent tv channels in Malaysia, like tv3 and 8tv. It would be interesting to know how the Sri Pentas looks when they are about to broadcast news and other live talks, as I never got the chance when I visited Astro. 

Edwin’s Individual Personal Reflection

1) A) Knowing the reason why we can’t watch Astro’s channels at home when it is raining. 
B) Understanding the job of the people working in the production-control room. 
C) Knowing the actual things that are done by the DJs in their radio station studio, and finding out that actually none of the voice of the DJ we hear on radio is played live. 
2) The best part of the field trip is when we enter the Hitz.fm studio and had a productive chat with one of the Hitz.fm DJ, Arnold. It is interesting to know from Arnold about how the radio broadcast work, what is played on air, and what DJs does in the studio. 
3) Although I can see how interesting to be in the field of broadcasting after going to this field trip, I still did not plan to be in the field of broadcasting in. There is nothing that I did not like about broadcasting, I just think that broadcasting is not really suitable for me. 
4) I would like to visit AirAsia, The Star and MTV Malaysia.

Carmen’s Individual Personal Reflection

1) The thing that I have learnt in this trip is ;
a) I finally know why Astro experiences technical difficulties in channeling TV network to homes when it rains. When it rains, heavy clouds will be in the way of satellite signals and this is why our televisions experience a disturbance. 
b) I have learnt that some radio stations are being broadcasted through Astro and not on their own. Radio stations like hitz.fm, era.fm, and one.fm are examples of radio stations under Astro
c) The Astro industry has departments on where specific people handle a specific role. There were departments where people handled with the advertisements that are being aired on Astro, music and sounds that are made only for advertising Astro and departments where people organize shows to air on Astro like what show or movie comes next in a channel.

2) The best part of the field trip was being able to experience going into a real radio station. We got a chance to go into the Hitz.fm radio station and had a short brief tour on what it’s like to be a radio announcer. The radio announcer was nice enough to show us how the sounds and effects of a radio station were being played out on the radio. We got to listen to a few clips of sounds effect that Hitz.fm used when making announcements and advertisements. The radio DJ/announcer also shared with us his experience of being a radio dj/announcer and also answered a few of our questions.
3) The trip actually did increase my interest in broadcasting. Looking at the people who work in Astro makes me have that feeling like I would want to work in Astro too. Astro offers a wide range of multimedia and communication careers but the area of broadcasting I was really more interested in when going on this field trip was radio broadcasting. By the look of the people who work in the radio industry, they seem to have fun with the radio equipment and they even get a chance to be who they are when doing their job. The radio announcers have this flare when they speak on air and it lets people see that they are being themselves. This area has caught my eye and I have slowly grew an interest in this area.
4) Another media industry that I would be interested in visiting would be The Star Newspaper. I think it’d be a great opportunity to visit them because then I can discover a new area in media. I would get to know more about journalism and any work related careers to that. Visiting The Star Newspaper would definitely be a great way to know what I would want to do in the future.

Esther’s Individual Personal Reflection

1) A) How exactly radio stations work. I've always had the idea that radio stations were all separated from each other, and that everything was always live. But during the trip I realized that a lot of the radio stations were right next to each other and everything that was about go live was planned just in case they made a mistake or broke a rule, so they could always re-do it. 
B) About the satellite stations, that they have two of them where we were, and another two somewhere else. This is because if the weather in one place was bad, they could always switch to the other satellites in the other place.
C) The process of releasing their shows on ASTRO, it must go through censorship to make sure the things they put out there are appropriate and suitable for the Malaysian culture.

2) The best part for me was visiting the radio stations, I’ve always wondered what is was like on the other side of the radio and I always wondered whether it would be very stressful, but the people that worked there looked very calm and looked like they loved their job. 
3) Although broadcasting has never been my main interest, after going on this trip my interest did increase slightly. It was always the stress that worried me and making sure I do not mess up was always and issue for me, but when I found out it wasn't always live and spontaneous it reassured me. However, I feel like I might be more interested into the writing field or behind the camera and another thing, most of the people other than the people who worked in the radio station looked quite stressed and tired out and it made me wonder whether they like their job or not. 

4) I would be very interested to visit a video production company to see what it's like for them, and to learn more on how to edit and make videos.

Pearl-Lyn’s Individual Personal Reflection

1)I’ve learnt:
A) How satellite dishes work. Also, I learnt that there were more than one satellite stations built so that in case they were to experience technical difficulties, there would be a back-up station.
B)   How radio stations work. I felt so lucky to have gone into an actual radio station and talk to the radio host about how he goes around doing his daily work which I thought was extremely fascinating.
C) How ASTRO actually encourages their employees to take the stairs because “there is no easy road to success”. I thought that was a very clever thing to do even though we were all very lazy and wished that there was an elevator at that very moment.

    2)I think the best part of the field trip was when we were allowed into the HITZ.FM radio station and got to talk to Arnold, the radio host who was very welcoming and friendly. He even took time off air to explain to us how the equipment worked.

    3)Yes, the field trip has definitely increased my interest in broadcasting. This is because I felt like I could imagine myself in that position. If I had to choose an area, it would be working as a radio host.


    4) I would love to have an opportunity to visit Star World, Air Asia, Disney and maybe a few music industries. 

Wednesday 14 May 2014

Advertisement Review

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      1.       This is an advertisement for Starbucks Coffee. It shows someone’s eyelid being taped upwards in order for the person to stay awake. As you can see, “Staying awake will never be this painful anymore” is written below the photo. What Starbucks Coffee is trying to convey is, when you drink their coffee, staying awake would not be a problem for you anymore because their coffee will keep you awake. Clearly this is shown to promote Starbucks Coffee. This is because people nowadays do many ridiculous things just to try to stay awake. Sometimes, it is even unhealthy for the body for example, smoking, eating junk food, drinking too much of energy drinks and even taping their eyelids as shown in the advert.

2.       The persuasive technique used in this advertisement is ‘Humor’. This persuasive technique makes consumers laugh and often gives consumers little information about the product. It is obvious that this Starbucks Coffee advertisement is very eye-catching and humorous. Also, not much information is written on the advert which makes the consumer want to find out more about the product. The advertisement being something unusual will grab the attention of the audience and make them remember the advertisement and product. In addition to that, the advertisement makes the audience curious to try it as it seems to be able to wake the consumer up with no trouble at all.

3.       The target audiences for Starbucks Coffee are mostly teenagers and working adults. This is because, teenagers tend to spend their allowances on fancy drinks, Starbucks Coffee being one of them where else, working adults have the money to spend on pricier coffee. Moreover, coffee indulging is now the trend that is brought about by many teenagers and even adults in today’s generation. Also, Starbucks tend to target audience who wants to enjoy more than just a cup of coffee but audiences who prefer the whole Starbucks experience including the atmosphere, surrounding and smells that are experienced when at a Starbucks café.

4.       Yes, this is an effective advertisement. Not only does it catch the audiences’ eye, but makes them remember as it is not a usual, everyday ad. Moreover, the fact that this advertisement is very visual and creative helps a lot in attracting the audiences who are soon-to-be customers of Starbucks Coffee. If I were to see this advertisement, I would definitely be interested to try Starbucks Coffee because I want to see if it does what it says on the ad. Also mentioned on the ad is, “It’s not just coffee. It’s Starbucks.” makes you think if there’s more to it than just a normal cup of boring coffee that can be bought anywhere else.

5.       Firstly, I would change the skin tone of the person on the advertisement. This is being said because it is hard to read the word ‘STARBUCKS’ below due to the clash of dark tones. It won’t be possible to change the color of the word ‘STARBUCKS’ because Starbucks Coffee is known for their signature dark green font. Secondly, I would probably change the size of the bottom font slightly larger so it can be seen clearly what and where the advert is for and from. Also, the Starbucks logo can be made slightly larger. That would be all as I think this advertisement is quite brilliant. 
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1)  The main message of this advertisement to the audience is that this is the first absorbent anti-perspirant deodorant spray produced by Adidas. It is also clearly shown that this deodorant spray is for only for women, which is stated on the deodorant spray bottle and also having a professional female tennis player to promote the product.  This advertisement also tells us that the product has an absorbent active which is ten times more absorbent than an ordinary sweat band that people use when doing sport. Besides, it convince the audience by stating that this deodorant spray is developed alongside with athlete to produce a perfect and suitable use for female athletes. There is also a short sentence by the professional female tennis player saying that the deodorant spray keeps her freash and dry on and off the court.

2)      The persuasive technique used in this advertisement is ‘celebrity  spokesperson’. Adidas uses Ana Ivanovic, a popular professional female tennis player to grab the attention of the audience.  Ava Inanovic is one of the world top female tennis player and she is well-known around the world. Adidas then use her to promote this very new product and hoping to create an impact in introducing this new product. Ivanovic also has a slim and attractive body and looks which catches people attention. By having a celebrity in the advertisement, people will then have a better look of this product and this sets a higher standard for the product. People will think that this is a trustable and good product which they can consider purchasing it.

2)      The target audience for this advertisement is young and active females. It is quite obvious that this product is targeting females, having a female tennis player as the main attraction and the bottle of deodorant spray which stated ‘for woman’ is shown clearly. The specific female audience which is targeting will be the younger girls who is active in sport and probably need to use an absorbent anti-perspirant deodorant spray while exercising or doing activities. This advertisement is targeted towards the category of young woman and not elderly woman because young woman’s does is more adventurous and does more activities or sports compare to elderly woman. Moreover, this advertisement uses bright colours like pink, blue and white, which is one of few favorite colours for young women.

3)      For my opinion, I think that this is a good advertisement and it is effective. Firstly, it has a huge picture of an attractive and well-known person in the middle of the advertisement. Having such an attractive body and looks from the tennis player, people will definitely want to have a glance and see what is the advertisement about, and by just looking at the advertisement, people will definitely not miss the picture of the product and the name of the brand. Next, the colour used in the advertisement is fairly important, a bright and striking colour works the best. In this advertisement, it includes three main colour, pink, blue and white, which is a bright colour and it is able to grab people’s attention.

4)      There are changes that could be made to make this a better advertisement. The font size of the wordings in this advertisement is too small, it should be bigger and clearer so that people can read the full sentence properly. Besides, the name and the logo in the advertisement need to be bigger in order for people to see it from a distance. Another idea to improve this advertisement is to include a slogan in it. The slogan should be short and catchy so that people like the slogan and can remember the advertisement by that particular slogan about that product.
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1    1.     The message being conveyed in this ad is very straight forward. This advertisement is mainly advertising Nike. It is trying to convey a message that when it comes to playing football or soccer with Nike, it’s all about risking everything. Towards the end of the advertisement, they show you “RISK EVERYTHING” in all caps lock. People could tell that is Nike’s slogan for the advertisement. It also shows that with Nike, everyone can be a star. In the beginning of the advertisement, they show a group of teenage boys starting to play a game of football. They suddenly transform into football stars like Christiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Wayne Rooney, Gerard Pique and many more celebrity football stars. Another message that Nike’s advertisement has conveyed is that people around the world can share their football dreams with them by just showing them their game. It is proven in the end of the ad where they made a hashtag called #RiskEverything . This is a way to let fans of Nike experience their football dreams and they might just get noticed by Nike.

2.       One of the persuasive techniques that is being employed in this ad is Celebrity Spokesperson. Football stars are being starred in this ad and are promoting Nikes product by just wearing their football gear like jerseys, socks, football shoes and a whole lot more. Consumers would admire them and would think that the ad would be a worthwhile watch.  Another persuasive technique would be humor. Eventhough this technique gives out little information of the product, people would continue viewing the advertisement because there is humor in the ad. When the ad is humorous, people will tend to remember it. Other than that, Individuality is another persuasive technique because it is up to an individual to view the ad. Some viewers may think this ad is cool because it consists of the football stars showing off their skills. They would also think this ad is different because this ad is a little longer and it comes off more like a short movie clip. These techniques have been shown. When the ad gets more attention from viewers, the product is more likely to be talked about.

3.       The target audience would mainly be among the male gender. Male teens would also be another one of their target audience. This is because mostly the male genders have a strong interest towards football and this interest slowly makes them start to play the sport. Nike has brought their attention more towards to them because consumers buy products from them.  A small percentage of girls would also be one of the target audiences because there are some girls who take up football as a sport. But this advertisement has been more known to the males as to the females.

4.       Yes this is an effective ad. Nike’s latest ad has caught much attention because of their persuasive techniques. Nike has good way of marketing and branding their product. Nikes advertisement is an effective ad because they have collaborated with many football stars. Nike is also sponsors to most football clubs and people around the world have noticed this. This way, Nike is known for selling football club jerseys. Nike’s ad has caught a lot of teenager’s attention. This advertisement also looks very fun and easy and has managed to capture the audience’s attention. Even though this ad did not focus more on the product, they managed to show the audiences what they really want to see.


5.       If I had to change some things about this advertisement to make it better, it would be to focus more on the product and its name “Nike” too fully get the audience’s attention. This can show people that Nike is the sport outlet that they should spend their money at and not other sport outlets like Adidas, Reebok and more other sport outlets. Another thing would be to show the football stars and the teens replacing each other while playing the sport more often to stress more upon the fact that people around the world get to live their dreams as a football star and that Nike can make it happen for them.

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1.    In this advertisement of a Nikon camera the producers are trying to convey the message that anyone is able to take photos and capturing beautiful moments that can be treasured in the future. It makes the audience realize how beautiful life is, and that all little things in life matter, and in order to remember those little things they must capture it with a camera. This ad also implies that it is suitable for absolutely anything and for anyone, it is trying to say that it's simple by using the phrase 'I am easy for everyone'.


2.    The ad has a lot of persuasive techniques because even I, myself, after watching this ad really wanted to get the nikon D3200 because of how I felt. I felt nostaligc and couldn't help but smile. The reason being, in the video itself it creates an idealistic image of the world on how beautiful everything is by showing how happy the people are, and also the way they added clips of special moments which people tend to treasure the most. For example, a babies laugh, a daughter getting married, and a loved one in a competition, these are all moments that make everyone smile even the audience themselves. Another persuasive technique shown in this video is how they chose a celebrity, Jamie Oliver, to be in it together with his daughter.


3.    The target audience are seen to be people who like photography but at the same time, it is meant for everyone. The ad may be specifically directed to adults who are into photography, however since the ad shows so much life, it can be for anyone as they're message is conveying how easy it is to be a photographer, and all a person must be able to do is to capture moments they think is special to them.
Overall, the target audience would be young adults and older because they are the ones who are interested in capturing the life of their young ones growing up and experiencing new things.


4.    It was a very effective ad because of the use of slogans and repetition. “I am...”and ending with “I am the Nikon D3200.” It helps the audience remember the phrases easily and connects their mind to the product. Another thing that was effective in this ad was how it had an emotional appeal towards it, as the audience felt delighted and sentimental which makes them feel the same towards the product. Lastly, the song used was a calming and cheerful tune which again leads to the emotional appeal in the ad itself.

5.    Although the ad has included a lot of good techniques to promoting the product there are somethings that can be improved such as adding more characters in the ad, I personally found it quite short and finished a little too early.  Since it was only 30 minutes long, they could have added 30 seconds more by adding more scenes of other types of memorable incidents. Another thing that could be changed would be the tone of voice the man has at the end, to be more sensitive and calm and maybe a little less cheerful to relate back to the audience's emotions.

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1   1.     We all should always be proud of who we are and never change our identity under any circumstances. The advertisement simply shows us, that no matter how westernized we Asians can get, our strong culture and inheritance will follow us throughout our entire life. We should step up and take a chance to honour and uphold it because it defines our character as an individual. The advertisement also teaches us to not be arrogant and snobbish. As much as those guys did not want to see their grandmother, they still spoke to her in Tamil when she approached them.


2.      Emotional appeals could be the technique used. The advertisement had no relation to the product produced by the company and it was merely an advertisement to portray their good image.  When I watched the advertisement, it did leave an emotional impact because I have gone through almost the same situation, where I would be embarrassed to admit that I am Indian but had left with no choice. The advertisement gave a little courage to actually proudly admit that I am Indian. It also made me feel a little recognized, in the sense where, PETRONAS, a famous petrol brand in Malaysia has used my mother tongue, Tamil, to be used as the main language in the advertisement. 
           

3.      The target audience would ultimately be the Indians because of the language and humor featured in the advertisement. Based on my opinion, the exact target market would be, Indian teenagers aged from 16 to 21 and young Indian adults aged from 22-30. However, it could also be watched by people of any ethnicity because of the subtitles given in the advertisement. I honestly feel that the target market could also be teenagers in Malaysia in general. The advertisement is trying to tell us to not be ashamed of our traditions and this applies to all our teenagers in Malaysia because we are a multi-racial country. 


4.      This is definitely an effective ad. The reason behind this successful ad is the fact that people can actually relate themselves to the advertisement. Most Malaysians these days could not be bothered about the roots and inheritance. They tend to ignore their rich culture to be pretentious and they would always choose to speak English with slang and they would also never admit that they could speak their mother tongue.

5.      I would change the actors in the ad. I think that this problem of not acknowledging your ethnicity does not only happen amongst the Indians but also the Malays and the Chinese as well. I would put in Chinese and Malay youngsters to act in the to make more realistic because that is what which is happening now in Malaysia. I would obviously have to change the plot of the advertisement but I would remain with the message in the advertisement. I would also put in more female actors to act in the ad. This problem is not only among the male teenagers but also the female teenagers.

Sunday 4 May 2014

The PR Campaign on Magnum Gold ice-cream

Campaign Title: The Magnum Gold sales raising campaign
Tag Line: Luxury in your hands”
Organized by: Edwin’s Angels

11.   Information Gathering –

·     X.  Audience’s Demographics, Psychographics:
1.     Gender: Both females and males 
2.     Target Audience: 16 - 30 years old 
3.     Race: All races 
4.      Location: Malaysia 
5.      Habits: To target the younger generation that has sweet tooth

·     X.  Media Consumption Habits:
1.     Social Media Sites
2.     Print Media Billboard Adverts Radio Flyers
·      Thoughts / awareness about the issue:
1.     People would be interested to know more about the campaign.  
2.     People want to know why the campaign is currently happening.

·     X.  What problems are to be solved:
Caramel may not appeal to many people Majority prefer the original Magnum flavours Some may avoid eating Magnum Gold as it too sweet and people are now more health conscious.


2. Planning

  •        Magnum Gold has to has to increase it’s sales with less publicity or promotion cost.
  •       Achieve a minimum sale of RM 1 million as our long-term goal.
  •       The problem is that the Magnum original has a good establishment and it is one of the reasons why the Magnum Gold hasn’t received enough attention.
  •        Our short –term goal is to make sure at least 10000 youths from each state has tried the ice cream.  
  •        Promotion in universities, colleges and high schools.
  •       Unilever can produce the Magnum Gold Mini’s so that the target group has a rough taste of the ice cream.
  •           Make a creative advertisement.
  •        This advertisement will air on national TV and also on YouTube. The video should at least achieve around 50000 views.

3. Communication

    A.     Key messages
·      Promoting Magnum Gold, which is an ice cream with a luxurious taste and unique taste.
·      Encouraging the audience to think that Magnum Gold has set the bar higher than other ice cream brands.
·      People who get their hands on Magnum Gold will make people think that they are experiencing a state of classiness and luxury.


    B.     Social media platforms
·      Facebook
-       Facebook spreads awareness quickly and news goes viral with just a click.  Using facebook can also promote our product because Magnum has a page of it’s own. Using Facebook can also identify fans of Magnum because people can like or dislike a product
·      Twitter
-       Twitter is a fast way to advertise our product because it is a social media platform that can inform and give out short announcements on our product.
·      Instagram
-       Instagram is now very popular among teens and young adults. Magnum’s instagram profile should run a contest and a giveaway of our new product by just a hash tag. Hash tags bring people together on instagram and we can identify our buyers.
·      Youtube
-  Using youtube can advertise our products by showing our advertisements. Short advertisements before the start of videos can really promote our product even if it’s just for a few minutes.
·      Spotify
-       Young adults and teens love music and a social media platform that they tend to use would be spotify.  Spotify offers short advertisements when you’re about to start off with another song. Magnum can advertise the new product by just using this.


    C.        Grand plan
·      Promotions
-       Magnum Gold offers an added value to the product. For instance, it offers a discount or a free gift.
·      Publicity
-       Giving out pamphlets and brochures when holding our campaign.  During our campaign, we will give out enough information for the buyers.

    One of the reasons why our tactics has worked is because of the amount of publicity that has reached out to the youths. The fact that we are going to promote in universities and schools would attract the target audience directly. Besides, advertising on social media sites will be a huge impact towards our target audience. Another reason why this campaign would have worked out is because of the free Magnum Gold Mini’s that will be given out and people will have a taste of it. Free stuff would always attract people’s attention especially our target market. Lastly, the content of our advertisement would really grab hold the young people’s attention. This is because of the content and the way how the advertisement was shot in a catchy and creative way. 








Sunday 27 April 2014

Feature Story


            We observed three main things in the library. The conversations, environment and the actions in the library were pretty interesting to us. We heard a few conversations around the library and we manage to get a few quotes from the students. One of it was, “so slow lah this lift, pay so much for this shit!” and when we interviewed the person, the student said that Taylor’s should install another elevator in the library to avoid the queue from building up.

From a distance, it looks like students are really concentrating on their studies or doing group work, but in some occasions, they are just chatting away, talking about where to eat or gossiping. Some are just playing games on their devices or going on social media sites. We have also seen many taking naps and chilling on the sofa because of the cold and quiet environment which makes sleeping comfortable. From what we noticed, many couples spend time in the library together and I can see them living in their own world.

The 5th floor of the library was an extremely peaceful and calm place for students to just sit and study. We personally felt as though we could think clearer than any other place in college. Seeing other people, sitting alone, and busy doing things without even a sound made it so easy for us to concentrate on what we were supposed to be doing, and helped us to absorb and analyze our own surrounding. The vibe in the library was so serene that the level of concentration from others was almost contagious. Students there were so respectful of their surroundings, and there were barely any conversations going on.

The library also seems like it's quite the place to spill secrets and personal stories. People sit around in groups and tell their most personal thoughts and stories. The girl with that shy smile and glasses may leave you thinking again if she's really a saint, but little do you know that she's talking about her closest friend to someone else and has nothing nice to say about her. After our observation in the Taylor's Library, it seems that there are people who love telling stories and gossiping about people to at least a group of people. The library is where you can find so many juicy secrets. People can tell if someone is saying something nasty about someone just by a glance because their facial expression changes. It usually looks like someone's in full distress.


In conclusion, we think that the library isn’t just a place for students to study but so much more. None of us thought that we could learn this much by just observing and keeping our ears open. The world is changing so rapidly that libraries aren’t what they seem to be anymore. Also, gossiping seems to be a Taylor’s students’ past time as it seems to spread like quick fire (and we have only observed the library). Nonetheless, we are glad to have been given the opportunity by Mr. Philip, to experiment and try new things like this.  

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Blog post 6 : Traditional TV series vs. online web series


From our group’s point of view, we prefer watching online web series compared to traditional TV series. There are many more advantages watching online web series. For online web series, you can watch it anytime that is suitable for you and don’t have to follow the time for traditional TV series. Sometimes the TV series will be aired on the time of the day where you are busy or you might not be at home, and you could have missed that particular episode, so instead, online web series can be viewed whenever you are free or having a spare time. Online web series is also convenient as you can download it on any of your devices and watch it anywhere you want, you don’t have rush back home and watch the episode on your TV. Besides, when watching online web series, you are able to skip advertisement or commercial breaks. This saves your time and you can fully concentrate on watching your series. Moreover, by watching online web series, you can replay the part of the episode that you want to watch again or you are able to watch the previous episode that you may have missed. Watching online web series also allows you to pause whenever you want, to have a short break, grab some snacks, or a short toilet break. Unlike traditional TV series where you can’t move away from your sit and only able to take a short break when it is showing an advertisement or a commercial break.

No, we don’t think everybody will eventually match TV over the Internet. Maybe only a minority of us will because watching TV is still considered a lifestyle to most of us out there. It is common for families and even friends to watch TV as a way to past their time and at the same time spend time together. So, this is also why I think traditional TV will not become obsolete. This is said because, till today, TV still plays a big part in our everyday lives. Many of the older generation and even the younger generation still turn to TV as a form of entertainment. Also, many of the shows we watch online are actually from television programs. Many of us only turn to watching shows on the Internet when we miss the airing of that television program on TV.



If our team were to produce our own web series, we would produce a series that incorporates genres like mystery, thriller and drama. It would be about a group of teens who have different personalities who are constantly mischievous and getting themselves into trouble. The group of teens will then discover a dark secret of which they were never supposed to find. Due to them being overly curious and always looking for trouble, they ignore all warnings of the dark secret that ends up biting them back as it starts to stir up trouble between them. Things start to happen in their lives and they are trying to stop it to no avail. Each episode of our web series will end with a cliffhanger so that the audience will want to know what happens next in our upcoming episode. Our target audience would be teens. We have targeted this age group to watch our web series, as the characters in our web series are teenagers, thus allowing the web series to be able to relate to the usual teens and their daily lives. The kind of support we would need to be successful would be a good production and financial support. This is because making a production is a big cost and we would have to be financially stable in order to maintain a series with quality that lives up to the expectations of the audience

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