Evaluation Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

As a group we decided that the website and the album cover were the two ancillary products we wanted to produce.

I think our combination of the main product the music video and these two ancillary products was extremely effective in producing an identity or brand for our singer Lexi. We had initial worries at the beginning about our main product and how effective the reverse footage would be, and whether the audience would really get it. I think it was a big risk to take and am so pleased that it has paid off; our audience all mentioned that the reverse shots worked really well. I think our music video is successful in following some of the basic conventions of music video but with it's own unique twist, and is modern, up-to-date, colourful and fun.


What it was important to put across with the two ancillary products however was a sense of depth of personality for Lexi. While we wanted her to be fun, and down-to-earth and someone the audience could relate with, we had to put across a sexy, more grown-up side of her that would really get young fans aspiring to be like her. The image we wanted to create for her was similar to Pixie Lott's. While Pixie is a down-to-earth, nineteen year old girl who seems fun, out-there and upbeat, her album cover and website portray a more serious, sexy image that elevate her to an aspirational position for both male and female fans. Although it was difficult, I feel that we were successful in portraying a similar image for Lexi - she comes across as smiley, confident and fun in her video but we show her capability for a smouldering and sophisticated look on her album cover and website. 


We worked really hard to ensure that the final three products were not just three separate pieces promoting the same artist: it was important to link all three as this is a strong convention of the music industry.We used a set text across the website and album cover, which is a convention of some other solo artists we looked at such as Pixie Lott and Katy Perry, who use the same font across all of their merchandise. We felt this was an important convention to follow as it is fundamental in creating an "identity" or a brand for a popstar.

Pixie Lott's website banner and album cover.

Another convention of the solo artists we looked at was that they had a "welcome" page when you entered into their website, which pictured their album, linked to a website where you could order it. This not only promotes sale of the album, forcing the target market to look at it, but creates a synergy between the products, so we decided this was a convention that we would also follow.

The album covers of young female solo artists we looked at did not seem to over do it with the colours. They were simple, sexy and understated.

Colour schemes were something we thought about a lot. Our video was so colourful and vibrant with the beautiful London backdrops and we decided that continuing on these loud, bright colours on the album cover and website would simply be too much, and we didn't want to over do it as this could have the effect of making the two other ancillary product look unprofessional. Therefore we chose to base the colour scheme around her grey jumper and navy dress, as these colours were more professional. We used a warm, glowing, orange light on the photos for the backdrop of her website and the front cover so that even though there wasn't loads of colours, it still kept a warm, inviting feel. The red of her lipstick also jumps out in a few of her shots. By keeping the colour schemes similar across the album cover and website however we are still able to keep a sense of synergy.

It was also important to create some visual hooks or motifs throughout all three ancillary products, linking them together. In some of our lip-syncing shots, for example, we have Lexi wearing the same jumper as on the back cover and middle panels of her album cover.

There is further continuity with alternative lip-syncing shots of Lexi in a navy dress with gold chains, which she wears in the photo which we used as the back-drop for the website. She plays with a necklace that is hanging round her neck as she sings in some of the shots, and this continues as a motif on the front of her album cover where she is biting the same necklace. Our final, and probably the most important motif, is the swallow. The swallow is pictured on the front of the grey jumper in the middle and back panels of her album, and we have superimposed the swallow flying off her jumper so that it can be seen in the shadow. We have then continued on this swallow motif on all of the remaining panels of her album cover and on her website. 

Cross-platform marketing was also key in the linking of all three of our products. The back cover of our album cover has the address of our website and the website advertises the album, so they promote each other both ways. Links on Lexi's website also take you to her facebook and Twitter pages, promote the winning of tickets to her events, and enable you to buy her merchandise and signed copies of her album, so the website really endorses Lexi as a brand as well as as an artist, and can interact with her.

I'm really pleased overall with how our two ancillary products support our main product. I think we put across a strong message about Lexi as an up-and-coming, vibrant, young popstar, which is clear across all three products, and they all tie in with one another effectively.