This ad was actually originally created for my advertising class. I have edited the image and modified the format slightly for each platform. It was designed to enhance branding and create more overall awareness. I am not attempting to sell a particular product (though the t-shirt is for sale), but instead engage individuals who are interested in the lifestyle portrayed. Through Facebook’s advertising tools I chose men, 16-31 who have an interest in drifting, sports car racing, or Initial D (drifting cartoon in Japan). For $12, I can reach 6,400 to 17,000 people. Judging from my past advertising experiments, that is a good mix of broad audience (and thus cheaper price) and targeted advertising. There is a good chance that someone interested in one of those three things will appreciate my brand.

The campaign is intended to reach my target market — fashion conscious young men interested in drifting and Japanese culture who tend to be reckless and rebellious. The image was designed to connect with this audience through the props and framing. First, the image was purposely shot at night as the majority of my target audience works during the day and plays at night. A dark sky has a positive association. The picture was taken at such an angle that a car enthusiast could see it is not stock. The extended spiked purple lug nuts stick out suggesting Japan influenced styling. The Colt 45 is of course intended to appeal to the brand preferences and low-budget spending habits of my target market. The t-shirt being worn is one of my own designs that I am selling. The Marlboro design on the shirt compliments the Colt 45, and the logo at the bottom has also been designed to be uniform with the shirt. Finally, the yellow tint and grain enhance the vintage feel.

The Facebook ad required the least amount of modification. Tall images are displayed well on Facebook and are preferable for mobile screens as it takes longer to scroll past and fills the screen. The link sends users to my “lookbook” page on the website rather than the store itself. The product placement is vague and is intended to show brand image rather than the t-shirt itself. Individuals will be interested in what Insincerely is rather than actually purchasing at that moment.

Twitter ads on the other hand use a horizontal image. Thus, it was cropped to display like this:

Instead of LinkedIn (not really applicable to my business) I designed an Instagram post. Recently, I’ve had great success “splitting” an image into multiple squares and uploading them to create a canvas on my profile. I’ve been swapping the images out a few times per week. I get much better overall engagement due to the number of images and exponential profile views. Here is a mockup of how I would do the Instagram post:

The bottom middle post is the image I would actually boost. It contains the advertisement text and stands on its own. Anyone who responded to this boosted post by viewing my profile would see the whole image.