Degree Men's Deodorant: Promotion

“Stories are a way for people to communicate and relate. In the course of a day, each of us tells stories to connect with others, to work things out, as a way of explaining what happened or what we are thinking and feeling,” (Landa, Advertising by Design, 41). Through the course of this project, I had one main story in mind. It may have changed a few times, but I had the basic idea of what I wanted to say, and how I wanted to say it. The story of this ad campaign is that no matter what guys choose to do with their day, Degree will keep them fresh and prepared for anything. It’s a powerful product that could affect every little detail.

I chose to use my photography background during this part of the project because it was something that came very natural to me. Don’t get me wrong, I did have some help with the editing, and I am very thankful for that added inspiration. Without it, I couldn’t see my ad as being as impressive as it is now. This was the one part of the project I was so sure on, and yet, somehow, my ideas changed, or maybe grew is a better way of phrasing that. According to Robin Landa, author of Advertising by Design, “Some people think in words…Others think in images. Still others are switch hitters. It really does not matter which comes first, as long as both line and visual work synergistically and are based on a solid idea,”. For the majority of the time, I was thinking only in images, knowing what exactly I wanted to create, and letting the rest fall into place. The copy came somewhere in the beginning, giving me the added jump I needed to better place my ideas. The slogan Prepared for Anything fits with my images in that the men in the picture are doing activities on opposite sides of the spectrum, from something seeming so energetic, to something not quite so back breaking, but still sweat inducing, which fit perfectly with a deodorant advertisement.

During this process, I also had to find some way to make Degree deodorant relatable. I had to create a way for this product to find a way into men’s hearts, because if not, it turns into just another deodorant. “Before advertising comes a core branding idea—the idea that imbues a brand or group with character that differentiates it and builds a relationship with the audience,” (Landa, Advertising by Design, 50). To ‘brand’ Degree, I created the Degree men who can be seen in multiple aspects of my ad layout, as seen above.