Simulated Project: Advert Concepts

Idea A:
Fact about water usage in the UK followed by a visual montage. First someone brushing their teeth and suddenly the water stops, second someone washing the dishes and once again the water stops coming out of the tap. The same scenario occurs whilst someone is in the shower. The message would be to inform people of the water crises in the future and to turn off their taps.

Evaluation: Easy to shoot, simple and concise however not so unique and effective.

Idea B:
Fact: It takes 3400 litres to produce 1kg of rice
Shot: 1kg bag of rice next to 3400 litres of water
Fact: It takes 40 litres to produce 1 slice of bread
Shot: 1 slice of bread next to 40 litres of water
Fact: It takes 2700 litres to produce 1 cotton t-shirt
Shot: 1 cotton t-shirt next to 2700 litres of water
Etc

Evaluation: Easy to shoot no actor – maybe voice over needed, simple yet message may not be clearly delivered.

Idea C:
A young woman pours a large bucket of water into a dustbin. A fact about the water consumption in England is shown on the screen. The character then throws daily household products in the dustbin one after the other (each shot is accompanied with statistical text on its virtual water). This is to imply how much virtual water each product comprises and how much is wasted when these products are simply thrown away. The advert finishes with a question / statement about how much you as an individual can have an impact on the virtual water consumption of England. This will be followed by a website for further information.

Evaluation: Fairly simple to shoot, message is concise, may require too many props and could become too lengthy for brief but is effective as it could be shocking.

Idea D:
Marks & Spencers style spoof:
‘Its not just 1 slice of bread it is 40 litres of water used to grow the wheat.’ Etc
the same kind of dialogue with various other products followed by a website to visit for more information.

Evaluate: Humorous approach, many other M&S spoofs already on Youtube. Simple to shoot, no actors required only voiceover, however good production qualities difficult to achieve. Also difficult to gain legal access to original music score of M&S!

In the end I decided to develop idea C as I thought it would be the most effective and achievable keeping the brief and the client requirements in mind.