Advertorial Report

Project title:

Look to the Skies: Into Space and Close Encounters

The idea:

The idea for my advertorial is to promote astronomy and ufology through the National Space Centre in Leicester. After the documentary project about alpaca trekking I felt like I wanted to do the next project on something I'm more passionate about. Of course, I enjoyed everything about making the documentary: learning more about the alpacas, visiting the shelter, filming the walk etc. But I still felt that I wasn't truly engaged with the project. Midway through the project, in fact, I remembered something about there being alleged UFO sightings all around Norfolk in the past that would have made for a great story. But of course the documentary was very far in development at that time. So to make up for it, I decided that I would somehow relate space and UFOs to my next project.

Research for your Advertorial:

• First I decided to look at the National Space Centre's website (https://spacecentre.co.uk/). The website details the different exhibits and shows along with other information (as any website should).
• The second research channel I used was in the form of a YouTube channel called John Michael Godier (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEszlI8-W79IsU8LSAiRbDg). Godier uploads documentary-style videos covering all sorts of astronomical topics. He is a science-fiction author too, so he knows his space stuff. I used these videos to learn a bit more about space: the project isn't solely about aliens after all. It's also about space as a whole, and I'm no expert in that specific field. So I wanted to ensure that I at least appear like I know what I'm talking about!
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Target Audience:
While the advertorial won't be prolific in any way and can be shown to anyone, the age rating I want to cater to is people around 13-18 years old who are either interested in astronomy or want to learn more about space.

Story development:
Coming up with a headline this time around was quite simple. All I did was state the message I wanted to send people with the advertorial: encouraging them to "Look to the Skies", as it were.  

From there, I tried to follow the outlines given to us detailing what makes a good advertorial. I tried to make the opening paragraph as catchy and attention-grabbing as I could, by giving it an air of mystique. I didn't plan or intend to add any characters or "scenarios" in my advertorial, so it took a slightly different turn in terms of structure.

I also attempted to tailor the story to my target audience. The advertorial is targeted towards young people who are interested in space and would like to know more about it. As such, I made sure to create a sense of intrigue in the wording and structure of the story.

Published idea in the context of the Media Campaign idea:

The advertorial is a double-page spread created in InDesign and exported into an Adobe Acrobat Reader file.

As stated before, there is not necessarily a "story" to my advertorial. The piece merely makes the reader think in the beginning and advertises the product near the end.

Published production:

https://www.scribd.com/document/403959476/Advertorial-Report-Published-Production

Upload onto website + print out.

Testing of the Advertorial in situ: 

My advertorial was praised for the way it was written and the use of images. I was also praised for the way is text is displayed in columns allowing for the pictures to go in between. The criticism I received was mainly due to the appearance of the advertorial in some places: some people commented on the font types not really suiting the advertorial and the basic template used. 

Evaluation: 
I think the advertorial turned out well, for the most part. I have a knack for writing when there are ideas I want to put on paper, so typing out the story itself wasn't an issue. I do agree with the comments made about the advertorial's appearance: I think a better choice of font could have aided it. I also feel that I have a lot more to learn about InDesign as a program, as I didn't use a great deal of advanced features when making the advertorial. I will be sure to practice with the software whenever I have the chance.