Jellycat Social Media Campaign
Brief
Increase sales of a chosen brand to a niche audience through a social media campaign. The posts must include wordplay or rhetorical devices.
Concept
This ad campaign is intended to market Jellycats to college students. While Jellycats are already pretty popular among college students, the campaign reaches this audience further by depicting Jellycats in scenarios that college students typically experience. The campaign shows that Jellycats are there to support the audience during their positive and negative experiences.
Skills
Studio Photography
Illustrator
Premiere Pro
Deliverables3 social media posts
Social media interaction mockup
ProcessI first had to decide which brand to choose for the ad campaign. I went through a few different brands, thinking of their current audiences and who I could market them to instead. I chose to focus on Jellycats mostly because I had a lot of them between me and my roommates that I could use in the project. I also chose to market them to college students because I could use my roommates in the project as well. Jellycats are already very popular with college students, but they aren’t really their target audience in their current marketing strategies.
Initial IdeaI originally planned on doing a series of images with bright colored backgrounds and fun sayings that related to the Jellycats in the pictures. I thought about which Jellycats I had that I could use and I wrote out phrases that related to each one and also would appeal to college students.
Focusing on the AudienceI changed my compositions to depict the Jellycats in scenarios where the students look sad and the Jellycats are there to cheer them up. I also wanted the backgrounds to be apart of the compositions because I thought it made more sense to create a scene that looked like a college apartment or dorm. I liked the look of string lights, posters, and bedding/pillows because it felt relatable to my audience.
More Test ShotsI started to move away from using people and instead put the Jellycats in their place. I still wanted to use the college dorm room scene, but I wasn’t sure about the lighting. In all the pictures I took in my apartment, the lighting felt flat and dark.
SketchesI eventually had the idea to do a cohesive series where all three posts told a story. I wrote a list of all the Jellycats I had and tried creating a group of three that could work together. I knew that the sun and moon would definitely work, but I wasn’t sure about a third one. I kept thinking about the cloud – which I didn’t have – so I went to the toy store and bought it. I drew sketches of each post idea with theme ideas, props I would need, and the setting/lighting. Later, I refined my sketches to have stronger concepts with solid phrases, compositions, and props.
Moving to the StudioI knew the studio would be the best way to get the lighting I was looking for. I set up my scenes based on my sketches, I used gels to create lighting that fit the emotions of the scenes, and I tried to position the lights to make it look natural. Since this was my first time doing product photography, the compositions were a flat and there were a lot of contrasting shadows. After some critiques and guidance, I was able to create more dynamic scenes and improve the lighting for my final.
PhotographingThis video shows the process of figuring out which lighting set up would achieve the results I wanted. I tried using soft boxes, barn doors, gels, and strip lights to see which modifiers created which effects. I also experimented with the positions of the key and fill lights to figure out where the best placement of the highlights and shadows would be. Another challenge was using the self-timer feature on the camera so I could use my own hands in the photo since I was working alone.
Final
Mia Cornali
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