Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Fletcher.

Thank you for joining me for today's Design and Technology lesson.

Today's lesson is called Promoting Products and it's part of the Shell Structures: Packaging unit.

In this lesson we'll get to look at the different methods that companies use to promote or sell their products to the customers, and you'll even get to choose a method to have a go at yourself to sell or promote your own product.

So let's have a look at what we'll be learning about today.

The outcome of today's lesson is I can promote a product that I have branded.

So we're going to be taking a product that you have already applied a brand to and looking at the different methods we could use to promote it to the customers.

There are some key words and phrases that we'll need to use in today's lesson that we'll see along the way.

So let's have a look at those together before we get started.

First of all, we've got that word promotion.

Can you repeat that after me? Promotion.

Well done.

And promotion or promoting a brand means bringing positive attention to something.

And that's what we want to do if we're selling a product.

Then we've got the word features.

Can you repeat that? Features.

Well done.

And a product's features are its specific or unique details.

So the things that are special about that product and they're the things that we might want to highlight if we're selling the product to customers.

And finally, we've got the word persuasion.

Can you repeat that? Persuasion.

Well done, and persuasion means convincing someone to do or think something.

So that's an important part of promoting a brand is to persuade people that they need it and that they should get it.

So let's have a look at how we're going to apply these keywords in today's learning.

Today's lesson is going to be split into three parts.

First of all, we're going to look at promoting products and we'll look at the methods that companies use to promote their products to customers.

Then we'll be looking at creating our own promotion for our biscuit products, and then we'll be evaluating our promotions to see how effective they would be in promoting the product.

So let's get started with promoting products.

Promotion is the way that companies make customers aware of them and of their products.

This can be done through different methods.

So it could be through advertising, through special events or offers that they have on their products or through sponsorship.

Now, promotion is an important part of business.

In order to sell a product or a service, customers need to know it exists, first of all.

So if a customer doesn't even know that a product is out there, then they're not gonna be able to get it or buy it.

They need to know details about the product.

So they want to know those specific unique details about the product.

What it does and how it's different to other products? They would need to have a reason to want it, so they need a reason to to go out and buy it or to acquire a service and they want to know where or how they can get it.

So they need all of that information if they're going to be a customer for that product.

Companies usually use more than one method to speak to customers.

A promotion should highlight the special or unique features of a product, which is what makes it different or better than other products.

It should make the products appealing to customers.

So that means makes it seem interesting or nice or something that they would want and it should persuade the customer that they need the product.

So they need to have that reason to buy it.

And by persuading them of that reason, we can get them to hopefully acquire the product.

A quick check then before we move on.

What are products features? Are they special offers? Are they unique details? Or are, is it a sponsorship? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said that the product's features are: its unique details so that information that is special about that product.

So now let's have a look at each of those methods that companies can use to promote their products in bit more detail.

So we'll start with advertising.

So companies need to persuade customers to buy their product by talking about its features and they can do that through TV and radio.

They can do it through newspapers and magazines.

They can do it online through websites and social media, or they can do it by creating posters for their brand as well.

Another method that companies use to promote their products is through special events and special offers.

And companies sometimes run these special offers to persuade customers to buy their products but also to get people talking about it.

So remember, promoting a brand is attracting that positive attention to it.

So by doing certain events like this, they can bring that positive attention to their product.

So they might offer something like a presale to certain customers to get the product before it's officially released.

They might offer a buy one get one free event.

They might offer discounts or money off if you buy it on a certain day or you buy it at a certain time.

They might offer free get samples or free gifts if you buy the product or they may run competitions where the product itself is the prize in the competition.

And these are all ways to get people talking about the product to get it more recognised and to bring that positive attention to it.

And the third way that we looked at for companies to promote their products is through sponsorship.

Now, sponsorship is where companies support different clubs or teams or events in exchange or in agreement for them using the company's branding or logo.

So that's why you might see company or products, logos or brands on football shirts for example.

This means that the company can promote itself to people while they watch an event or attend a club that they might go to.

Are you part of any clubs or teams? Do you have a sponsor? Pause the video and discuss it with your group.

Welcome back.

Hope you had a good discussion about some of the teams and clubs that you're part of and whether they have sponsorship from companies, local companies or brands around you.

A quick check before we move on then.

What does that word promotion mean? Does it mean to bring positive attention? Does it mean to bring negative attention? Or does it mean to bring less attention? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said promotion is: bringing positive attention to a product.

Well done.

Time for the first task in this lesson then.

So I would like you to discuss the three main ways that companies promote themselves and their products.

So that was through advertising, which was TV, posters and social media.

The special events and offers, which was product launches and free samples.

And sponsorship.

Which was sports clubs, teams and events.

I want you to discuss whether you've seen any examples of those types of promotion? Where you've seen them? Which product or company was being promoted? And what made it memorable to you? What made you remember it or even buy the products that you saw promoted? Pause the video while you have a go at this task and come back when you are done.

Welcome back.

How did you get up? Well, Lucas and Alex have been discussing some promotions that they've seen.

Let's have a look what they thought.

So Lucas remembers a time, when he was shopping with his gran, and a man was giving out free chocolate samples.

He tried one and he liked it so his grand bought him some.

So that method of offering a free sample can persuade customers to buy the product because they get a chance to sample it before they buy.

So that certainly worked for Lucas.

And Alex says that his favourite football team is sponsored by a mobile phone company and his shirt has the sponsor on it, just like the player shirts as well.

So everyone sees it when they play a match.

So that sticks in his mind because it's something that he watches quite often and he sees quite often.

So that sponsoring an event has certainly worked to make a product memorable for Alex.

Well done.

So time for the second of the lesson now.

So this is where you get to create your own promotion for your product that you have branded.

A letter has arrived from the local biscuit company and they need your help.

This is what the letter says, "Dear Design Pupils, Thank you for your help so far with the branding of our biscuit products.

In order to tell our customers about the changes to our biscuit brand, we need your help to create a promotion.

It should include the new branding, it should tell customers about the features of the product and most importantly, it should persuade people to buy it! Your sincerely.

, Mr. Oak.

So they need our help to use your branding that you've already come up with to now promote the strawberry cream biscuit products for the biscuit company.

There are different ways that you can promote your product.

You could choose to do a poster, a video, a presentation, or even an exhibition, which is a type of display.

Let's have a look at each one in a bit more detail then.

So if you chose posters as your method of promotion, these should include the brand's colours, logos and images.

A catchy slogan.

Key details about the products.

Remember that was its features.

Positive language.

And persuasive language or statements.

Remember you need to make people want to buy it by bringing positive attention to the product.

Let's have a look at this example and discuss what we can see in here.

So this example that has been created for a chocolate milkshake product.

Let's see if we can see the brand's colours, logos and images used in there.

If we can spot a catchy slogan.

If there are key details about the product, so its features.

If it uses positive language.

And if we can see some persuasive language or statements in there as well.

Pause the video while you have a look at the poster and discuss what you can see.

Come back when you're done.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Did you spot those things in this poster? So if we're looking for the brand's colours, logos and images, we can definitely see that the logo for this Choco Moo-ve product is right in the centre of the poster.

So it's the first thing that, or one of the first things that you look at, the lettering is clear.

We can see that in the centre.

The catchy slogan in this poster is Milk on the moo-ve! So that's something that you might remember about this product.

The key details are that it's has 100% natural ingredients and it's packed full of vitamins.

So those are its key features about the product that are important.

Positive language, so it says uses words like favourite and natural, packed full of are all positive ways of looking at things.

And persuasive language.

So maybe things like saying it's the number one selling dairy drink means that it's the one that you should be buying.

It's the one that everybody's buying.

So that's the kind of language that might persuade you to do it.

And by saying that you can have it on the go gives you another reason to buy it.

So you can just use it, drink it while you are out and about as well.

So lots of examples in that poster of the things you would need to include in a poster.

A quick check before we move on then.

What type of language and information should be used on promotional posters? Should we use negative and false information? Should we use positive language and persuasive language? Should we use negative and persuasive language? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said: we should be using positive language and persuasive language as well to make people want to buy our product.

So the second type of promotion you might create is a video and a video is a recording using a camera or a tablet.

And in your video you should include the product itself.

So by having a prototype of the product, it can actually be shown in the video.

You should have action shots of the product being used or the people who might be buying the product.

They might have music or sound effects to go in your video.

You should have that positive language, but this time it's being spoken in the video and those persuasive language and statements should be there as well.

But again, they'll be spoken or they could be visual on the screen as well.

And as Alex is saying here, a video for a promotion is a bit like a TV advert or a live action version of a poster.

So we are seeing the same kind of information but in a moving picture way.

So let's have a look at presentation.

So if you choose to do a presentation to promote your product, this is where you get to present the product to the customer.

So the customers are in front of you and you get to talk about the product.

If you're doing this type of promotion, you need to make sure you include a clear spoken presentation.

So you're speaking very clearly about the product.

You have information about the product that you can give to the customers, you can talk about the products unique and special features that make it different or better than other products.

You have some facts or data about the products or maybe about how many packs have been sold and you maybe even have some samples of the product to give to the customer so that they can try it.

So a bit like when Lucas tried the chocolate in the shopping centre, it persuaded him to buy it because he liked it.

You could do the same thing in a presentation.

And Alex is saying that it could be live, so you could be right in front of the customers or you could record it first and then it could be played to the audience as well.

So the final method of promotion that you may choose to use is an exhibition.

An exhibition is a bit like a display that people get to explore themselves.

They get to explore the information and the product by themselves.

An exhibition should include: the product itself, including some samples and the packaging.

So people can see what it actually looks like.

It should include information and images showing the product and maybe how it's made.

It should include facts and data that the customers can read about and it should include some photographs and images of the product, the product being used or maybe how the product is made.

So it's similar to a presentation, but the customers get to explore the information themselves instead of you presenting it to them.

A quick check then before we move on.

In which of these methods of promotion would you get to clearly talk about your product? Would it be through a, poster? An exhibition? Or a presentation? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said a presentation.

So a presentation is where you get to present or talk about your product to the customer.

Well done if you got that right.

Time for the second task in this lesson.

So this is where you get to create the promotion to sell the strawberry cream biscuits for the biscuit company.

So first of all, you will need to plan your promotion.

You need to think about and decide what type of promotion that you're going to make.

Are you going to make a poster, a video, a presentation or an exhibition? You'll need to think about how you're going to make it and the things that you'll need in order to make it as well.

And you need to make a note of the ideas so that you're ready to move on and create the promotion.

Pause the video while you do your planning and come back when you are done.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? So hopefully you've got a clear idea now of what type of promotion you are going to create.

So to make your promotion now, you're going to make sure that you highlight the special or unique features of the product.

You're going to make the product appealing to the customer and you're going to persuade the customer that they need the product.

So whether you are doing that through a poster, a video presentation or an exhibition, you need to achieve those three things.

So you're going to think about how you're going to do that a little bit more and you're going to actually start creating the promotion now.

So pause the video while you do this part of the task and come back when you're done.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? So let's review your promotion then.

So you've spent some time planning and making your promotion.

You needed to make sure that it highlighted the special and unique features of the product.

You needed to make sure that it made the product appealing to the customer and you needed to make sure that it persuaded the customer to buy it that they needed it.

So make sure by reviewing your promotion that you have all those three things in there.

It's time to move on to the final part of the lesson.

So this is where we will get to evaluate your promotion to see how effective it is.

In order to evaluate our promotions, we need to know what other people think about it and we call this feedback.

Feedback is somebody else's opinion of how something or someone has performed.

So how well something has worked.

It can help us reflect on our designs and to make improvements to it as well.

A quick check then.

What is feedback? Is it someone's opinion? Is it your own thoughts? Or is it the changes that you have made? Pause the video, have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said that feedback is: someone else's opinion of how you have done or how you have performed.

We can think about our own work as well and how well it went and we call this self-reflection.

Feedback from others as well as our own self-reflection can help us understand how well our promotion worked.

This helps us make improvements or to try different things in the future.

So true or false? Feedback and self-reflection can help us to evaluate a promotion? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

Is it true or false? Of course it is true.

But why? And that is because hearing other people's opinions on how well a promotion has worked and reflecting ourselves on how well it went gives us a better idea of how successful it was and how we can improve it in the future.

So it gives us some clear things that we might want to work on straight away or something that we might change if we did the same task again in the future.

Well done if you got that right.

Time for the final task in this lesson then.

So this is where we're going to evaluate your promotion.

So we're gonna start with the feedback task.

So first of all, you're going to get feedback from two people who saw or have seen your promotion and you're going to ask them these questions.

Did you know what product was being promoted? What stood out to you? What do you remember about the promotion? Would you buy the product and why? What made you want to buy that product? You're going to record their answers onto a sheet so you can use that as information to help you reflect on your product as well.

Pause the video while you do that and come back when you're done.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? So now you've got your feedback from two people.

You're going to self-reflect on your promotions.

This is where you think about your own work yourself.

So you're only going to think about these questions now.

Is it clear what product is being sold? So when you look at your promotion, do you think it's clear what product is being sold? If not, how could you make it clearer? Is the branding, so that's the logos, the colours, the slogans that you created.

Is it visible in your promotion? Can you see it? Does the promotion use positive and persuasive language? So look at all the words and languages you've used in there.

Is it positive? Is it persuasive? And is there anything that you would change to improve the promotion? So this might be your own thoughts, it could be influenced by the feedback that you got from other people as well.

Did you might agree with or disagree with them on that? Pause the video while you think about these questions about your own promotion and come back when you're done.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? Well, feedback and self-reflection have helped Alex evaluate his promotion as well.

And he's saying that his feedback and reflection told him that the branding was clear on his promotion, but that he could have used more persuasive language.

Everyone remembered his slogan though, so that was a positive thing that came out of his reflection and his feedback.

So he's got something to work on there.

He can maybe change some of the language that he's used on his promotion and that's what feedback and self-reflection can help us to do.

So if those there are things that you can change on yours, you might want to improve that now or there may be things that you think about when you do another promotion in the future.

Well done for completing that task.

So it's the end of the lesson now and we have learned a lot about promoting products and even got to have a go ourselves.

We've learned that promotions can be drawn, photographed, or even filmed using the logos and prototypes that we have come up with.

We've learned that promotions are there to persuade the user to purchase a product or a service, something that a company is offering to its customers.

And we've also learned that feedback can help us like it helps designers to reflect upon their designs and either make immediate changes or think about different ways they can do things in the future.

I've had fun learning about promoting products today and hopefully, you manage to create your own successful promotion for your product as well.

I hope to see you again in another lesson, but it's goodbye for me for now.

Goodbye.