Analysis of Soap Poster

Production companies use many different techniques to attract a viewer to their show, one of the biggest and well known about one is posters. These can be placed in full view to many people which would increase the number of people thinking about the Soap. There is not one set of ideals which would create a perfect poster but when attracting a new audience there are certain conventions which the poster can follow which would attract many people.

I have found 3 posters for three of the biggest Soaps in the UK, from these I will be able to see what they have done well and what conventions are found in a good poster.


Eastenders:

Positives:

This poster has many positives, it gives the impression of being a film by having the characters names at the top, this would increase interest as people would be unsure about what the poster is telling them. The background can be viewed as a positive or negative due to it not being a scene that is usually coupled with Eastenders, it is this which could cause people the want to find out what is going to happen or would lower interest.

Negatives:

This poster doesn't have any timings or channel information on it, this means that new audiences would have to become an active audience and find out when it is on, this in turn would lower demand for it. The titles are catchy but aren't big enough to capture the attention which they need. Another issue with this poster is the pictures of the characters doesn't give any clear reasoning of their motives or what is about to happen.

This poster could be improved by making the titles and tag lines larger and having a more stereotypical background which would cause the audience to familiarise themselves with.

Hollyoaks:

Positives:

This poster has kept to many conventions found in a strong poster, it has a good tag line and gives the audience the timings and channel it is on, this will encourage people to watch it. The theme of fire connotes death or mystery which would again create a buzz surrounding the plot. This poster is very strong with the use of attractive females and males, this would cause the poster to be viewed in a different light to others. The use of colours makes the characters very eye catching which would in turn cause many people to become interested in this poster.


Negatives:

This poster is very well laid out but the theme of the drama is not clear to the audience as some viewers may find different story lines offencive.

This poster is much more eye catching and allows the viewer to be pulled in and begin to wonder what issues are going to happen, this poster is very well thought out and would encourage many people to start watching that soap.


Will Howlett