(DISCLAIMER; the following commercial is an unofficial, zero-budget college student film, not paid for or sponsored by Spotify or Jeremy Renner. All rights are reserved to their respective owners.
Layman's terms; Please don't sue me, I'm broke.)
With any medium, capturing the interest of a viewer is pivotal. So much time and effort is dedicated to visual works that there is a tendency to create it so it will be worth seeing. This need grows even more essential in the medium of advertising, where content is specifically created to pique the attention of people, especially since a specific demographic tends to be targeted within that medium. In the case of this mock commercial created as part of an advanced video production and editing class assignment, we set out to create something that would function as a legitimate advertisement while also embracing the quirky, amateur essence of a college project.
In this commercial, we see three college students sitting in a lounge - as one of them naps, the others are on their phones, in different stages of listening to music. While one of them is actively enjoying “Nomad” by Jeremy Renner through the use of Spotify, the other is growing angry at the fact that they cannot load their music through YouTube: to the point where they throw their phone against the wall in frustration, waking up the sleeping student and shocking the other.
Persuasion requires appealing to the process of sensing, selecting, and perceiving for intended audiences. If it fails to connect to any of these phases, successful persuasion will be less likely. At the most basic level, failing at capturing the eyes, ears, and minds of the beholders (sensing) will foil the efforts of the advertisement. In the case of this spotify commercial, the use of “Nomad” by Jeremy Renner as the single element of audio as an upbeat and punchy anthem keeps a consistent yet integral energy to an otherwise silent film. The commercial is able to pull the viewer into focusing on the story unfolding on screen through the editing of the visuals (such as intercutting between dynamic camera angles like wide shots and close ups) being timed to the beat of the music. Everything in view of the camera maintains natural lighting and colors, which do not distract or detract from said story, but ground it in authenticity. At the next stage, the camera angles themselves as well as the order in which they appear subconsciously ease the viewer into the process of focusing on the actions and feelings of the protagonists and how it communicates the plot (selecting) by showing them exactly what matters when - such as the close ups on the phones and the facial reactions of the characters. This all comes to a close when the message, “Stop, just use Spotify,” (with a literal “Stop” sign and the official Spotify logo) plastered over the screen, reinforcing the message the commercial clearly communicates to be easily recalled whenever the commercial itself comes to mind (perceiving).
The proof (of the persuasion) is in the pudding. The hokey acting enhances the obvious message, but having it spelled out at the end for added measure guarantees it; Spotify, as demonstrated in the story of the commercial, provides music when you need it, especially when other services cannot hassle-free. Stop; just use Spotify.
To view the Spotify Commercial (if you haven't already), you can click the links above, or check it out along with the other works in my filmography on this site!
