YCN Brief consideration - Study Task 1 - complete

YCN Brief consideration and evaluation

I picked two briefs from www.ycn.org, going through each one to see the pros, and the cons, pinpointing what it is about the brief that i find so appealing or the problem within it i want to solve. I considered Which would be most beneficial to the brief, which one would challenge me most and which i felt could fit in well with my practices among much more. 

what will i benefit from these briefs and which ones will benefit me and my skills more, this is hard to think about because its a little bit of head over heart. Which ones i feel most comfortable with, the ones that will likely match my skill set or i feel will be most enjoyable, compared to once i will find more a challenge but may force me to learn new skills and create something i never thought i could achieve.

PROPERCORN

Creatively bring to life our ethos of 'Done Properly'

Brief: http://www.ycn.org/awards/ycn-student-awards/2014-15-ycn-student-awards/briefs/propercorn

Creative Challenge

How can we creatively bring to life our ethos of ‘done properly’ to our customer?

We want to consider the daily touch points of our customer’s life where they will be most receptive to engagement. How can we creatively connect with them in these moments and give them a memorable burst of our brand and beliefs. This could be in the form of a campaign or piece of communication in a more traditional sense, or it might be an altogether more radical physical engagement or experience.

Propercorn is a popcorn company who believes if they are going to do a job it should be done right, meaning the quality in the product they sell, the ingredients, the design and the custom service is of a high standard. I very much was drawn to this brief because of of there beliefs as knowing where my food has come from, and what i am eating is a very important part of my life and after doing more research into the product as a healthy alternative for snacking on the go or just in general. Straight away once i looked more into the types of places it was being sold, knowing they are mostly organic and health stores and after reading more about there ethos made me straight away new it was something i would like to help promote as an alternative to snacking on things like crisps, chocolate and other high sugar and salty items on the market.

Along with the fact it is a company i would like to back, they are also very supportive of students and the arts, just making everything about it a very desirable thing along with freedom within the brief. Although the amount of freedom is slightly limited as they have a set theme and illustrations for there product, i would like to have those boundaries and see what i could do to make there own ideas come more to life to try and challenge me in that way, as it is very open to how i could go about the brief. 

One thing i am worried about the brief having such clean cut ideas already and such a strong personality about it already i feel i would struggle to keep the same quality in my work. But this is definitely a brief i want to at least attempt even if i don't pick it at my first and main brief for responsive.  

Taylors Coffee

Engage younger customers with a new product innovation for Taylors Coffee

Brief: http://www.ycn.org/awards/ycn-student-awards/2014-15-ycn-student-awards/briefs/taylors-coffee

The Creative Challenge

Create a new coffee product innovation for Taylors of Harrogate.

We’re looking for revolutionary ideas that can really shake up the coffee category. This should be a drink, preferably hot, and should avoid instant coffee and anything requiring the purchase of an electric machine to make it – i.e Pods/Capsules. Think about trends for this younger audience, where you could see the market going and how it will appeal whilst still fitting in with our brand values. What could be fashionable or desirable for 16-25 year olds in this space that isn’t currently out there?

It’s worth looking into the progression of coffee, often described as ‘waves’ or ‘generations’ to see how we’ve moved from very basic instant to embracing origin and new taste profiles. For the purposes of this brief, what could the fourth or fifth wave look like for this audience?

Taylors coffee are looking to aim there brand at a younger audience, although i do think they shouldn't be trying to sell coffee to 16 year olds as it seems a young age to get people hooked on coffee, although i know i consumed a lot of coffee at that age. On there website they have a range of coffees ranging in strengths and situations, along with tips on the best way to brew coffee for personal taste and even what can be done with left over coffee granules to exfoliate on there instagram. 

I guess what i liked about this was i thought it would be a nice challenge to try and convince a younger audience for quality in there coffee, along with there different types of coffee i thought the variety could be very appealing if marketed right as although instant coffee may be easier, getting coffee like this is often cheaper and alot nicer (well i think so) and coffee although not the best for you is something alot of people between those ages drink at least once a day. 

I feel like i could use the names and branding of the coffee to my advantage, using real situations and how coffee improves it relating to the type of coffee being promoted at the time... this would be a challenge as unlike propercorn i wont have much original material to work with except the logo, and would have to try and still keep it sophisticated with the style in order  to keep with the way they flow, although i feel like playing on the other uses of coffee could also work when trying to reach a younger audience but it is a large age group to work with. 

itv2

Help itv2 re-connect with 16-34 year old Brits in 90 seconds

Brief: http://www.ycn.org/awards/ycn-student-awards/2014-15-ycn-student-awards/briefs/itv2

The Creative Challenge

We need your help to re-connect 16-34 year old Brits with the new itv2.

We know that what young audiences currently think about the channel is out of step with the new content. We also know that the look and feel of the channel isn’t helping them understand this change and recognise that it is a channel ‘for them’.

The good news is that when we show them promos from the new shows they like what they see. The bad news is that not as many young people are watching the promos as we’d like.

As a result, there are loads of 16-34 year olds out there who don’t know that itv2 has changed for the better, and therefore don’t consider it a go-to channel. There are lots of TV channels and content brands vying for their attention, not to mention wider entertainment options. So we’re looking for amazing, creative ideas that will help us stand out and make us a relevant choice for 16-34 year old Brits.

We want to see ideas that will make people want to watch itv2 and talk about it with their friends.

We’d like to see short, sharp ideas that will make the most of our owned channels. We have 90 second ad-breaks between our shows that we could do something more exciting with. You have full license to do whatever you like with these spots and can draw on or play with any of our other touchpoints as part of this.

For example, we have a fast growing following on Facebook with a healthy reach. We have talent like Leigh Francis – also known as Keith Lemon – who make an impact wherever they go. We have live shows and a whole tower of studios on the Southbank.

ITV2 like Taylors coffee are trying to re-market themselves to attract a younger audience, as they are trying to completely re-style the channel almost and have a full renovation. i feel like this could be quite fun, but also challenging and reminded me of an ident brief i completed a while back, which would give me the opportunity to help advertise the change, possibly with short/fun animations following more the direction the channel is trying to head in. 

There seems to be a fair bit of creative freedom with this brief also as by them trying to change who the channel attracts, they will still be constantly changing and growing trying to find there new identity leaving more opportunity for the style open. This would also allow me as a brief to create a short animation and leave me in a position where i could almost try and imagine i had the power myself to decide where the channel was heading leaving alot of creative freedom.