Wateraid - Advertising and Audience

Background Information
1. Founded in 1981 as a response to a United Nations campaign for clean water, sanitation and water hygiene education
2. They work in 34 countries around the world
3. Since 1982 they have reached 25.8 million people with clean water
4. Everything they do is focused on 6 values
  1. Respect
  2. Accountability
  3. Courage
  4. Collaboration
  5. Innovation
  6. Integrity
5. Wateraid wanted to break the mould of charity advertising and show the positive impact of their work
Social/Cultural Context
1. In December 2016, this advert had been viewed about 47,000 times on Wateraid's YouTube channel
  1. This page also actively encourages the sharing of the advert
2. The target audience is likely to be technology-literate people as donating is encouraged through the imperative "Text SUNNY to 70555"
  1. And through the use of a twitter hashtag on the YouTube page (#ShareSunshine)
3. The advert's cover of Zoe's 1990 song Sunshine On A Rainy Day could indicate that the target audience are in their 30s-40s
  1. This is because they're likely to remember the original and get pleasure from the nostalgic value of hearing a song from which they're familiar
4. Contemporary audiences are familiar with charity advertising campaigns and appeals.
  1. Telethons such as Comic Relief and Children in Need regularly raise amazing sums of money by encouraging audiences to fund-raise and donate.
  2. The campaigns usually serve to highlight the differences and social injustices in certain parts of the world, and as such are related to social and cultural context
  3. A criticism of these programmes and certain charity campaigns is that, in order to raise money, they only offer very negative representations in order to illicit an emotional response from the audience.
5. The Wateraid advert presents a more positive representation highlighting how the money is spent and the effect on communities of access to clean water.
  1. The audience is presented with a happy, energetic community, now able to do everyday activies
6. The charity stated that it had 'deliberately broken away from the traditional charity ad formula to create something positive and centered around the progress it has made as a global charity'
  1. A large concern for the charity is that the target audience were 'becoming desensitised to some traditional charity fundraising tactics'
Consider how industries target audiences, and how audiences interpret and use the media
1. The likely audience demographic is constructed through the advert's use of a young woman with whom they might personally identify with (Uses and Gratifications Theory)
  1. Parents might make similar readings, identifying empathetically with the 'better life' that Wateraid's clean water provides for the children in the advert
2. Wateraid acts as an Opinion Leader for the target audience who would assume the "650 million people..." statistic (01.14) is true and reliable.
3. The unconventionally positive visual codes, audio codes and representations would, the producers hope, give the advert a USP compared to other charity appeals
How does the WaterAid advertisement target, reach and address its audience?
1. Social Media
  1. The assumption is that a section of the audience is culturally competent in terms of technology, as they are asked to text their donation
2. The use of a real young woman
  1. The advert encourages the audience to personally identify with her and her positive story
  2. The website allows the audience to find out more about her and the making of the advert (interactivity)
3. The song
  1. The song will be recognised by the target audience and provide nostalgia
4. Claudia
  1. She may be relatable if the audience are parents and can compare her life with that of their children
5. The unique positive perspective
  1. It'll be refreshing to the target audience as their offered a new perspective on charity adverts

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Wateraid - Advertising and Audience

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	Created by Harry Barrett about 6 years ago