D1 - Compare and Contrast Approaches

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Compare and Contrast Approaches


Audio promos can have a variety of messages, tones and audiences, even if the product they are promoting are that of a similar category. My two comparisons will be two popular video game trailer promos that completely contrast one another in presentation and purpose.

Splatoon 3


The Splatoon 3 trailer, released by Nintendo, opts to show what the game is about and all the new features that differ from the last installments. The promo is 30 seconds long, meaning it can fit in as a short advert, and has a fast, upbeat pace to it while it shows the colourful gameplay. This teaser is evidently targeted towards families as it, and the game, have a cartoony art style and fun atmosphere, while not showing anything inappropriate. Another way they promote the game in this promo is by including review quotes from news articles and professional review sites saying how fun and great the game is. This promo does it's job of promoting Splatoon 3 well and marketing the game to its target demographic.

Grand Theft Auto VI


Rockstar Games aims to promote their upcoming GTA VI (Grand Theft Auto VI) game through a trailer showing what the game is about. They do this by showing the gritty, modern aesthetic of the game and add onto its world-building. The promo is 1 minute and 30 seconds long, meaning they have more time to show off the game, and has a fast, confident pace to it while showing off the many cutscenes and characters. This trailer knows that it's audience of adults, and possibly misbehaved children, have been waiting for a new installment for years and opt to build up that hype by showing how improved the graphics are. They also show the target audience they're aiming for by showing content that's inappropriate for children such as semi-nude women and gun violence which is censored just enough for it to be shown in advertising. This promo does it's job of promoting GTA VI well and marketing the game to its target demographic.

Similarities


One of the most blunt and obvious similarities between the two promos is that they are promoting a video game. This means that they will have both interactive and video content that can be shown and promoted in the advertising. Their games are also triple A productions meaning they are made from large game production companies, in this case Nintendo and Rockstar games. This means they both have a very high budget for marketing, as well as polishing out how the advertisements look.

Another similarity with the games that carries into the advertising is that they both are sequels for already popular games, that being Splatoon 2 and GTA V. This means that they don't need to necessarily show what's done in the games and what it's about because fans of the products already know. However, this does mean that these games have high expectations to meet as the successors of an already well-liked game, with the fans wanting to be more than blown away. They can also focus more on the new features and aspects of the games in the advertising and how it can appeal to a new generation or audience who might not have already known or shown interest in these games.

The editing between the two promos are also very similar in the sense that they both have a lively presentation of multiple clips and scenes that show how energetic and fun the game is in itself. The inclusion of fast-paced music that's included in the game and lack of diegetic sound draws the focus on the games presentation with no distractions as to what's on screen.

Differences

The differences between the two are much boarder than the similarities as their audiences completely contrast as well as their approaches and use of visuals to entice the viewer, as well as show off what the game holds.

The advertising of GTA VI shows only cutscenes and cinematics in the advertising including in-game news reports, social media posts and events. Not only does this display to the audience that this is a visually stunning game but also that it is driven through a narrative and the focus will be on the story. It does so by showing reoccurring characters, presumed to be main, and including some dialogue that could not be included in a mostly gameplay teaser. Meanwhile, Splatoon 3 is shown to be a gameplay focused teaser as it uses visuals to show the third-person perspective shooting and main gimmicks of the game. Although it also shows characters that will appear in the game, they are far from the focus of both the source material and the promo.

Although both promos use mise en scene to create an atmospheric environment, in which the world building is extremely important, this is shown in different perspectives, emphasizing various aspects of mise en scene to create an engaging world. In GTA VI, mise en scene is used to show the rough lifestyle and environment of Vice City through its orange, gritty colours, and realistic tones, with most of the vibrant colours being used to show how artificial happiness is here. However, the promo does aim to show how fun the game will be and does so by showing a fun lifestyle through the colourful, bright lighting and the fast-paced action, with extensive camera movement. An emphasis is placed on the human characters as they are always in the center of the scene and surrounded by the environment around them, showing they are top priority. The realism of the game with its realistic looking art style and presentation is also shown through the mise en scene as it never shows anything unworldly or could not happen in real life, which makes the universe of the game feel more grounded.

The Splatoon 3 promo contrasts this as its mise en scene is used to show how quirky and different the world of the game is to the real world. While GTA VI strives to show realism, Splatoon 3 aims to show adventure and a world completely different from our own. It does this through its use of colours which are much more vibrant and saturated, that being the main purple and yellow colours used both in the game and marketing, which perfectly clash with each other to create that competitive feel the game has; the lighting is also included in this as that is also brightened to the point of exaggeration. Although the cartoony squid people, called inklings/octolings, are also focused on in the promo, they are often shown to be at the side of the screen or facing away, with no space for rest. Instead, the weapons, gear, equipment, and attacks that are used in the game are presented and prioritized in the promo, with the characters using them to fight one another, which both makes the game look incredibly fun and shows the basics of how the game works. 

There's also a difference between the who when it comes to advertising methods and approaches. GTA VI uses a type of advertising called shockvertising, which is a type of advert that deliberately uses shocking imagery to advertise a product or send a message. Although the GTA VI advert doesn't include shockvertising throughout it's runtime, it does include more scandalous scenes from the game, some of which are sexual. Splatoon 3 obviously doesn't include this as it would be inappropriate for a video game targeted to families but for GTA VI which is supposed to have an adult target audience it's justifiable. Instead, Splatoon 3 uses promotional videogame news articles to show the positivity of the game and how even professional game reviewers love it. Both of these methods are good for hooking in their target audience, as one audience will be drawn in by the risky, exciting content while another audience will be drawn in by the quality and positivity.

Conclusion

Overall, both promo's do a great job of promoting the videogame they're advertising in a familiar but interesting way that engages with the target audience both the promos and the games itself are looking for.

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