BRUT - Rationale

An ad campaign for the male fragrance BRUT with the main insight being that teens use this as their first cologne, transitioning them into manhood. The design has been driven with the idea that BRUT is the key to manhood with the copy on the ad showing that there is ‘two sides to every bottle’.

BRUT - Final presentation

BRUT - Final designs

In response to the feedback on the refined designs we continued with the development and applied the changes that were needed and in the formats that Lucy had decided were most appropriate to the brand.

BRUT - Refinement

Final designs

Feedback

All

Mock up looks squashed. - Make sure they are in proportion.

Try copy at the top of the page. Up to us which looks best. But try.

Make mock ups easier to look at and read.

Adshel

Change Copy to 

Churps

Send nudes

Netflix and chill

Repeat 

Magazine 

Don't Squash the advert to fit into mock up. Keep in proportion. (The text and bottle look Squashed)

Turn opacity down on the reflection layer 

Make Mock up easier to read and look at - Magazine not at an angle  

Copy - Take out ‘Meet each others friends’

Tabloid - metro 

Don't Squash the advert to fit. Keep in proportion. (The text and bottle look Squashed)

BRUT - Production

In terms of production, this brief did not require the finals to be physically produced rather mocked up into the correct visual environment. As the outcomes are advertising it wouldn’t be viable to be able to print due to the industry standard equipment needed to be able to produce such an outcome.

As part of the briefs progression, creative advertising created a media plan describing the way in which the outcomes needed to sit if produced in the industry. The media that is needed are a full-page magazine print, and outdoor ad shell and two tabloid adverts, one a half of the page and another a third. To be able to plan which ad needs to go into which position we decided to create some small scamps, working out the positioning of each ad. This also allowed us to take into consideration which products to put on which size ad, as there were three types of bottle we photographed.

Media Plan:

BRUT - Timeplan

BRUT - Imagery

Photoshoot

To be able to get the best possible images that have a visual consistency throughout the campaign itself, we decided to have our own photoshoot of the products. this ensured the same quality of image, lighting and background throughout. We asked a photographer who was also a student at Leeds Arts University to take the images, by asking someone who specialises in photography we also ensured having the best quality images as possible.

Photoshoot Setup

Once we had selected the best images from the shoot, to be used within the campaign, our attention turned to the fact that the bottles are made from different materials. As the whole point of the shoot was to give the best consistency to all of the images it was important to note that the bottles which were translucently needed to be edited due to the information on the back of the bottle showing through. As can be seen below in figure 1. 

Figure 1

Through removing this factor, it allows for a cleaner image, as the cleaner the image, the more focus that will be on the typography that is set around the image itself, which is the key basis of the campaign. Once this was completed we were able to edit the images in Lightroom, again visually reaffirming the consistency between the images on the campaign.

Three Selected Images:

BRUT - Feedback + response

In response to the initial ideas we received some feedback from the creative advertising tutor and Lucy. We presented the two design styles of handwriting and type to see which would work better as a final outcome. 

The feedback showed preference to the deign using a typeface as opposed to the handwriting as they felt that this would ensure a better brand consistency. It was also discussed that the handwriting might not work as well in this context as some of the exiting visual research that we conducted - it is more likely that you will find a pen laying on a piece of paper that you can write around rather than a bottle. Another point made was the masculinity as an aim within the advert but with the handwriting it actually suggests a more female aesthetic - contrasting to our intentions. 

Feedback response

In response to the feedback we changed the placement of the tagline from the top to the bottom so that the hierarchy was more considered and there was more of a focus on the product and main content, then leaving the audience with the tagline in their heads to clarify exactly what the content is showing.  

BRUT - Initial design ideas

Design Idea 1

Design Idea 2

To begin our initial design ideas, we decided to create the typography by hand. This goes with the concept previously discussed, giving a sense of familiar visual identity to the audience themselves, in keeping with the idea that the audience has just jotted down their progress with their partner. To be able to give this a fresh and unique look, rather than using a typeface which had already been produced, we used a newly written element for each statement. This was repeated multiple times in order to be image traced/vectorised and dropped into the development of the design itself in order to get the design which has the best consistency throughout. Even though each of the type elements varies in their style, through sizing and positioning on the page itself we will be able to create a sense of consistency throughout the campaign. In order to be able to reaffirm this visually, we decided to use Hannah’s handwriting for this experiment, therefore keeping the same visual characteristics of the glyphs throughout, as can be seen in figure 1.

Figure 1

In order to offer multiple styles, we also decided to experiment with the typeface that can be found on the bottle itself. This is a design element that we experimented with on the other optional initial design idea. This was a feature that both the   group and the creative advertising student both appreciated, because of the way that it carried the visual brand identity across the visuals of the campaign.

In order to highlight this, we decided to move the strap-line to the top of the page, this brings to the forefront of the piece the fact that the typographic style is consistent with the branding of the product itself. Once again due to the face that the brand is something that is new to the audience which it is being presented to means that the brand is being entirely pushed by the visual identity of the existing brand. The use of the new language is a push towards the audience already, by removing the type it may push it too far away from the original core values of the brand itself.

Figure 2

Chosen Typeface: Presicav 

The typeface was selecting through taking a screen grab of the type which can be found on the bottle itself and uploading it into Typekit. this gives results of the nearest typeface, the closest to the original we felt was Presicav, as 'Brut' do not publish their brand guidelines we could not access the name of the exact type used.

Presicav Type Family

BRUT - Audience research 2

As we had now decided on the direction in which we would be taking the brief Hannah and I decided to get in contact with people we knew around the age group of the target audience. Due to the idea being based around slang terms within the age group, we felt this would be the best way to be able to gain primary sources of information. We contacted 2 people within the age group Alex 19, and Ellis 20. In the conversation, we asked what terms you would use to describe progression with a partner to your mates. These terms we will be selecting to use within the final ad designs.

Terms:

• thirsty 
• necking on
• cracking on
• bj 
• tekkers
• hicky 
• spitters are quitters
• get with 
• churps
• send nudes
• cheeky bum squeeze
• bonking 
• netflix and chill 
• booty call
• cheeky snap

BRUT - Visual research

We gathered some existing adverts in order to develop a mood board for the visual style that we intended to design in. The adverts are all appropriate for the target audience, looking at adverts that use social media, handwriting as if they had jotted down some notes in class and then some adverts with humour. 

Wireframes
In order to move forward with the designing of the adverts we took the existing examples that to us were of most relevance to how we could present our idea and wire-framed them. This allowed for us to see if there were any consistencies with this style of advert in terms of sizing, placement and balance of content. These will be taken into consideration throughout the design process. 

BRUT - Brand research

Online

- consistent use of green and white typography 

- bold typography 

- images are suggestive of masculine activities

- product photography on white background or in a relevant context 

Existing adverts

- very focused on being a man 

- traditional masculine values

- attraction to the female

- sexual innuendos

The tone of voice and presentation of the masculine values is soemthing that we will take into consideration when designing the new advertising approach. the change of target audience may change the masculine focus a little, but it would be good to try and keep the original tone of voice that the brand has built. 

Why Brut still sells

Nostalgia, imprinting, sex suggestive

Article from Daily Mail 6 September 2008 written by Josh Sims, 15 things you didn't know about men's fragrances.

Imprinting: The Reason Why Brut Still Sells

-Men tend to prefer fragrances that were either worn by their father or smell similar to them. 

-This is because we only learn to think of smells as ‘good’ by associating them with good feelings – and these are imprinted permanently by our early teens. 

-This provides some explanation for why certain men’s fragrances remain widely imitated bestsellers generations after their launch, such as Old Spice, Tabac, Eau Sauvage and Brut, which still achieves sales of over £40m a year. 

-Compared to women, men are typically drawn to a severely limited palette: fragrances that are initially fresh and clean, suggestive of good grooming, and have an undercurrent of woody, liqueur richness, suggestive of sex.

CAMPAIGN - How to reinvent a brand in an authentic way. Tips from Fold7's strategy partner Yelena Gaufman.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Reinvention isn’t just about keeping up with the times. It’s about finding a story, falling in love with it and making it your forte.

A brand with a point of view has more to say and more to engage people with.

BRUT - Digital ideas

In response to the feedback from the crit session with the other creative advertising students, as a group, we decided to develop two of the ideas into digital developments. Through doing this Hannah and I could present the ideas to the creative advertising student to be able to offer an initial visual direction past sketch. We believed this to be an important factor in the decision of which campaign to move forward with, as per the research the chosen idea must be representative of the current brand, as well as focused towards a new audience. Therefore what may seem fitting on paper may not be visually coherent with the needs of the brief once produced, by testing the appropriation at this stage it allows more time for visual research and development of the chosen idea.

Bottle Idea:

Idea 1

The concept behind this design was to create a school like inspired note pad on which a student is noting down their progress with their latest romantic conquest, thanks to the help of using 'Brut'. On the right-hand side of the bottle, a variation of the progress in slang is given, the slang is taken from the target audience's age group. Through doing this it gives the target audience an initial language link to their own identity, therefore instantly making the brand relevant to them, and the issues they have in their life at that stage. On the left-hand side of the ad, the type depicts the steps of the relationship that isn't as private and personal to the left. The concept on the right is contrasting so much to show the way that even though things may be moving slowly, due to using 'Brut' your love interest will find you irresistible. An isolated image has been used to be able to keep the focus on the product and the brand itself, due to the fact that the brand is being introduced to a new market, and therefore, the product identity needs to be the key focal point of the image. The paper background has been added to give the effect of someone making notes, this is the most appropriate visualisation as the new target audience are of sixth form age, and thus reinforcing another familiar visual link of a new product to the target audience. 

Typography Idea:

Idea 2

The second digital development that Hannah and I created was a development of the typography-based idea which was presented in the initial crit. This idea proved to be the second popular, through directly linking to 'what makes a man' (which is the current focus of the brands advertising campaigns), but in a direction that focuses towards a younger target market. It does this through the typography itself, the copy states situations that mark a time of passing from being a 'boy to a man', implying that 'Brut' has helped them do so. The typography itself shares a typeface sampled from the bottle of the product itself, this compliments the logo but offers a slight contrast offering a point a variance to the audience while subliminally implementing the brand identity. Although this strongly represents the brand identity, it was bought up in the feedback that due to the fact the new audience is new to the brand entirely a picture of the product itself would help reinforce its link to the product being sold.

Feedback: In order to gain feedback on which idea we would be progressing with we decided to meet with the creative advertising student. In the meeting we decided on progressing with Idea 1, we all felt this idea was a better representation of the product itself, as well as being more visually familiar to the target audience because of the brand being resigned. Therefore we will be moving forward with idea 1 in terms of visual research and development. 

BRUT - Lucy's Initial ideas

As stated in the time plan the creative advertising course had to present the 10 big ideas that were relevant to the strategy, proposition and target audience.  

Target audience

RESIGNED?

Predominantly older people with unchanging values. Enjoy traditional roles and lives.

They prefer the known rather than the new.

In 40s and 50s music reminds you of stuff in the past. 

Older generation who are nostalgic about their past. 

Women say Memories of their past. Make him feel 25 again. 

Bring it back for good.

Linked to sport or performance.

Real men. 

(Referring back to the brief- Make Brut relevant again! Brut has lost their audience.)

Older audience are saying that its a cheap brand who’s had its day. 

Re-marketing it to a younger audience. 

It has tradition, it has heritage but it's still an affordable and fun product. Which is a Mass market brand. Most men could afford to buy!

Audience should be 20 upwards. If you target to older people they already know the brand and its not new to them. It's almost old fashioned for them. But if we target to a new audience it will keep the brand more relevant. If older people see the campaign they will relate to it in a nostalgic way which could lead to people talking about Brut.

Back in the day Brut was known for the man who plays a lot of sport. 

Not students! Because students and younger people like well known brands. 

Keep the core values -

 linked to sport

masculine men

BRUT of a man

affordable

Fun 

different 

Real man 

Attract women 

Smells good 

Make brand popular again but keep their core values. 

Affordable, Smells good.  Back in the day it was given as gifts.

Confirmed Targeted audience

Men 20 years upwards but NOT students who have active lifestyles. 

They have a strong goal orientation as they want to be successful.

These people look for challenge and discovery.

10 big ideas

The feedback stated that some of the ideas were too 'raunchy' and maybe would not be received well by the intended target audience. The typography focused ideas worked well, but as we are introducing the product as a fresh idea to a new target audience a visual reference of the actual bottle may give better context as to what is being sold. The typography based ads would be more effective if we had kept the current target audience as the colour and logo would be enough to make the association to the brand/product. 

Change of target audience
In response to the feedback from the presentation of the ideas, we reevaluated the target audience and strategy of our advert. 

Research + reasons:

Find the problem and give your audience the solution of Brut!

From asking my target audience about Brut they said they would pay more for a smell they actually like.

Through research Brut was given to young boys as a sign that they are a grown man. 

Don’t focus on the SMELL. Just SELL!

Brut bottle is plastic great for in college bag!

Don't think about age think about Psychographic Bands!

New Target Audience -  

EXPLORERS

These people look for challenge and discovery.

Always want to be the people to try out new experiences and ideas. They look to be different from other people.

Their core motivation is for discovery.

‘Not every man is the same but we are all men.’

Since the beginning of Brut, their marketing efforts have focused young male teens entering adulthood. Brut prides itself on being the brand that teens use as their first cologne; transitioning them to manhood.

Target audience.

We want to attract new buyers while maintaining Brut’s identity.  

Brut is here to transition you into manhood. 

Strategy

Show that Brut is the key to manhood.

Proposition

Manhood essential.