Unit 20: P1 - An Existing Media Product

JAMES CHARLES X MORPHE COLLECTION

RELEASED 13-11-18

THE TRAILER

RELEASED ON INSTAGRAM

@MORPHEBRUSHES - 10.3 MILLION FOLLOWERS

@JAMESCHARLES - 15.9 MILLION FOLLOWERS

2-11-18

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 

The aims and objectives of this campaign were to create a new morphe eye shadow palette that would allow the users to create both natural and eccentric, colourful makeup looks along with a set of eye makeup brushes. The hopes for James Charles' creation was that the palette would spike creativity and individuality whilst also creating convenience through enabling buyers to use one palette to create thousands of looks, perhaps being the only eyeshadow palette needed to create every eye look under the sun.
As the first ever male ambassador for CoverGirl, James is likely to reinforce the personal identity of males who feel unable to express their individuality due to their fear of the reactions they may receive due to the outdated stance some may take of makeup being only for women.
The advert emphasises the amount of eye looks that can be create through focusing on a small section of the palette and creating a whole makeup look from it. Along with this, James Charles status as an established and looked up to Youtube influencer enabled the advert to be more personal to his personality and brand. For example, on his channel he took singing lessons after his voice was criticised despite his passion for singing and, on this promotional video, James Charles' acapella can be heard as the backing track.

IMPACT OF THE LAUNCH
- Sold out in the UK in 5 minutes
- Sold out world wide in 10 minutes

TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience for the release of the Morphe palette is makeup lovers, makeup artists and James Charles followers. It encourages them to explore their individuality, to be creative and to 'unleash your inner artist' as the influencer prides himself as 'harnessing makeup as an art form'.

REPRESENTATION
As the first ever male ambassador of CoverGirl, James Charles is likely to represent a shift in history to a more equal community for many, especially men interested in exploring their passion for makeup which may previously have been questioned.
Despite the male figure in the video, the campaign is gender neutral and challenges both men and women to explore the creativity, making the palette very inclusive.

WEBSITE:

This website banner was published on morphe.com and, due to the usual black and white colour scheme of the makeup website, the banner stood out with a pop of colour and harsh white background and was likely to grasp the attention of viewers of the site who hadn't heard about the palette through other sources. The celebrity model in which Morphe partnered with, James Charles, acts as celebrity endorsement in this promotion as loyal fans are likely to take their loyalties over to Morphe and purchase the palette. Similarly, the images were constantly updating to keep up with collection's journey. For example, before the launch, there was an option to 'sign up now' to receive notifications about the collection's release and after the launch, the prices were highlighted more clearly for potential buyers.

BILLBOARD:

This same promotional image was displayed on billboards as a form of traditional, above the line advertising, in order to bring the attention of the new palette to a wide range of potential buyers. This advert will have targeted a mass market and and a larger, more general customer base in which may have enticed unsuspecting customers who felt inspired by the advert. The nature of the makeup being worn on a male in the promotion goes against the stereotypical masculine stance and the braveness of the ability to embrace yourself displayed on the billboard is likely to have inspired on lookers.

YOUTUBE (SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING):

To advertise the the palette further, youtube videos were published by James Charles on his Youtube channel in order to inspire his fans to buy the palette. This was done through videos such as tutorials which allow his audience to understand the versatility of his palette and, as the viewers engage with his content, his passion for the makeup and his product are likely to be projected onto them.

Not only this, but other famous influencers, such as Jeffree Star, Manny Mua and Tatti, all with a substancial amount of subscribers, uploaded Youtube videos with reviews and their thoughts, as makeup artists. This will have further uplifted the reputation of the product and to a wide audience, all of which are interested in makeup.

INSTAGRAM (SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING):

Both Morphe and James Charles, utilised their following on Instagram to promote the palette's launch. The marketing they used involved creating a countdown for followers to create more excitement and tension for the launch, and through posting images of different looks created by the palette. This, once again, was likely to inspire followers to buy the palette.

Similarly, there was a meet and greet advertised on their social media, which created more hype around the product due to fans' desire to meet James Charles. The meet and greet was posted by fans all over social media, making the event go viral and, when the whole shopping centre was shut down due to the huge amount of people turning up, even the News broadcast the events, further raising the profile of the makeup product. 

                   

VIRAL MARKETING:

Along with the meet and greet causing a great amount of attraction, Morphe and James Charles interacted with the fans through social media through posting their images of the looks they had created with the palette. Not only will this have inspired more people to buy the palette through looking at all the looks that could be created, but it may also have encouraged people to purchase it in order to gain recognition from the influencer.

CONSISTENCY OF THE MESSAGE:

Across the different media that the palette is advertised, their is a common typology.

The colours: A white background, white text and rainbow colours in the image. This gives the media forms the look of escaping from individuality and releasing your creativity on a blank canvas.

The slogan: 'Unleash your inner artist'. The font kept consistent throughout all mediums and is capitalised and in bold to stand out. 

The Logo: Morphe's logo is present in all forms of promotion to ensure the campaign draws attention, not only to the collection, but to Morphe as a makeup brand. 

The social media video advertisements is a form of audio-visual media. It involves movement and sound that can be more engaging to the audience than the standard print media. For example the acapella, self made music correlates well with the onscreen action as the creative nature of the song reflects the innovative makeup looks. It is more difficult to engage an audience in such a way using print media however obviously print media is required to spread the product to a larger amount of people. The advertisement campaign have used several techniques to ensure a strong link between the two types of media, both Digital and Print). For example the vibrant colours on a white background used in both types of media are what would attract an individuals eye to looking at the product. I would suggest that this is more the case for the print advertisement campaign as a rainbow of colours on a billboard or newspaper ad will stand out compared to what its surroundings. The font and colour of the slogan and logo are in white which creates a sleek, and therefore, modern look to the advert which will appeal to an audience with a keen interest in aesthetics. Similarly, with the logan against a colourful background, the text and message are highlighted, making it stand out to those walking past the billboard. 

CAMPAIGN LOGISTICS
Morphe use social media to promote all of their makeup products all year round at regular intervals through posting new images of them on a daily basis. This keep the products continually in the mind of the audience, suggested by the continuity model. 


However, the brand use a combination of both continuity and flighting scheduling by taking advantage of the pulsing model which allows them to run advertisements all year but with a heavier concentration at peak demand times. For example, the main type of pulsing Morphe make use of it is 'Start-up' which involves heavily advertising new products early on in the campaign, as evidenced by the James Charles Collection. This method of promotion is effective as it ensures the launch is brought to consumers' attention in order to ensure the products are given their best chance at success. Similarly, Morphe use steady pulsing to promote their makeup products in times of high demand, such as Christmas, through creating more festive campaigns in order to appeal to the buyer's wants. 

LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES:

Legal and ethical issues that needed to be considered pre, during and post advertisement campaign production included ensuring clarity that the palette and brushes in the collection were sold separately and that the looks that were created were achieved using premium makeup equipment and done by makeup artists, therefore may not be able to be achieved by a consumer with little experience with makeup. It could be argued that this is a form of libel as it presents an untrue concept. Similarly it should not be stated that the brushes themselves give any application benefits that they in fact don't.

The campaign must also consider the Data Protection Act in the sense that during their market or audience research, any information collected about individuals, should be kept confidential and private otherwise Morphe could face a lawsuit. 

Individuals who send in their videos and images to the social media campaign must be aware of the Intellectual Property Act. As they have worked on and created the video it is their Intellectual Property. However by sending it in the video becomes the Intellectual Property of Morphw and furthermore,  the company is legally obliged to use it how they please.

REGULATORY BODIES:

As it is an advertising campaign it will be regulated by The Advertisements Standards Authority. Their aim is to make UK ads, Responsible ads. They ensure all ads are truthful and avoid libel. There is some libel in the advertisements, for example it is implied that the makeup palette can achieve any eyeshadow look under the sun due its range of colours in the ad. This is obviously untrue but has not been removed from the ad as many people understand that they do in fact have to have a certain degree of makeup ability.

Another possible issue that could arise is that the makeup are portrayed by a famous makeup artist influencer. This may exclude less experience consumers who maybe feel like they can't take part in the uploading their creations and being part of the viral social media marketing. However this has not been removed from the ad as the athletes are a huge selling point due to their role model status.

CALL TO ACTION:

This advertisement campaign engages the audience in an extremely unique way as the promotion and success of the collection was achieved almost entirely through social media, highlighting the advancements in technology and the dynamic nature of the consumer market. The use of such as up and coming Influencer, a modern concept for a celebrity established through social media, engaged a large range a loyal fans along with inspiring them through expressing the importance of embracing your individuality. The collection is perhaps utilised to represent the changing of time and how anyone, no matter their race, gender or sexuality can enjoy the artistry of makeup, making this campaign extremely effective.