Shelter poster analysis 2011

 

Shelter is a charity that alleviates the distress caused by bad housing and homelessness. Shelter aim to ensure there's a safe, secure and affordable home for everyone. 

Poster impressions:

-Red and black colour palette as it connotates to danger and emergency- needing help 

-Triptych used to show that any ethnicity or gender can be in a situation that they could end up homeless and that there are different situations (Each section tells a different story) 

-Lack of background setting and facial expressions of each actor are so important as it emphasises the emotional language and puts the focus on the situation rather than something else which will distract the audience- the direct address makes it seem like it is targeting yourself or anyone in danger 

-The advert is so simple which helps its success because there isn't any distractions and it shows the real life situations that occur in everyday life- they are representing these situations as clear as possible to bring awareness to it- very personalised 

Charity advert conventions:

1. Emotional language and imagery
2. Helpline- contact
3. Direct mode of address
4. Dark, plain colours
5. Stats, figures and data

Context:

• Shelter is a UK based housing and homeless charity (less money to spend on advertising and marketing than commercial campaigns, hence more print based) 
• Campaign targeted liberal reformers and carers (young and rubican personality types), family orientated, male/female 
• Main focus of campaign- to direct potential charity users to seek advice and help- it isnt targeting someone who is already homeless, it is for someone who could be in a situation where they could end up homeless 
• Maintaining limited production values, campaign focus was poster ads plus Facebook and mobile messaging (ran for only 6 weeks) 
• Hopes for ‘audience identification’ with ordinary people in distress- a key selling point of many charity campaigns in this element of social realism 
• Duel target audience- those experiencing problems and people who can help via donation 
• Socio/political context- effects were still being felt from the 2008 UK banking crisis (economy shrank considerably at 2010 end leading to austerity for more people than previous year). May 2010 saw a new conservative government- right time for advert to take place 
• Shelter hoped the poster campaign would take clients to online advice pages via shelter website 
• Creative communication ad agency Amplify sequenced campaign- offered services on a voluntary basis (hence campaign cannot be too elaborate). Other clients are high profile- blue chip 
• Could've offered a free service as it is good publicity for Amplify 
• Three poster campaign- all extreme close up 

Technical conventions:

Technical conventions	Connotation
Typeface/font style	The sans serif font connotates the urgency of the situation and the immediate impact for the individual. This creates a sense of fear for each figure, making the audience more likely to want to help
Shot types and angles	The close up and direct address of each character looking directly into the camera and therefore to the audience, personalises the characters and heightens the emotion that can be seen in their faces. This helps connotates their plight and difficulty. Subsequently creating sympathy in the audience for the cause of the charity
Colour palette	The stark colour palette of red, black and natural tones create a simplicity that allows the red font of the statements to stand out. This connotates the urgency and danger of the situation that each character finds themselves in and conveys this to the audience so they feel they should donate
Register/mode of address	The MOD is serious and the use of lexis connotates the sense of hopelessness placed by the characters. The rhetorical questions such as “where will we live?” signify the fear of homelessness and create empathy among the audience encouraging them to donate
Anchorage	The placement of each statement on top of a character signifies that different situations can cause homelessness for different people. The position of the statements above the lips connotates that by supporting shelter the audience will be given people affected by homelessness a voice.

Viewpoints and ideology:

1. Shelter’s ‘a home for everyone’ campaign can be seen to communicate a number of ideological values, some of them contrasting.  
2. The advert as an analysis suggests reinforces a viewpoint that social inequality is unjust and that those in position of social power and wealth have a duty to help those who do not. In this context the advert supports a social, liberal view with the idea that we have a social duty to help one another 
3. Additionally, the advert reinforces the ideological values of individualism by suggesting that every individual has the right to self-fulfillment and a better life including those who have less than others.  
4. To some extent, this value is reinforced through the ideology of consumerism by using the advert form which relies on the consumption of messages and values to create empathy and persuade the audience to donate to the charity