Bannerate #1 - Jelly Belly
So what is Bannerate? Well, we rate banners...simple as! By banners, I should point out we're talking about those advertisements you see on almost EVERY website. Granted some people have adblocker...but hey, I can't escape them even with adblocker most the time. So who's putting them up? How good do they actually look? Most importantly, do they sell!
These are all things that will be looked at. How we'll do this is each article, I'll post a website/companies web adverts and review them. Yes. I have too much time on my hands. Could it take money out of corporate wallets and into my fridge, hopefully (but unlikely)! However! I'm skint and I'm a miserable dork which means I make a good reviewer...I think? Still, I'm excited!
Jelly Belly is our first stop on our corporate tour! Jelly Belly was formed in 1976 as a family operated candy company. Nowadays it produces almost 20,000 annual tonnes of jelly beans! That's a lot! It's widely regarded as everyone's favourite source of Jelly Bean and who can blame them, with 50 original flavours and more, everyone seems to have a favourite. Flavours include chocolate, kiwi, raspberry, popcorn, bubblegum and so many more! They've even started releasing new and weird flavours such as Tabasco and Cheesecake. Nevertheless, lets check out their first banner.
Jelly Belly is our first stop on our corporate tour! Jelly Belly was formed in 1976 as a family operated candy company. Nowadays it produces almost 20,000 annual tonnes of jelly beans! That's a lot! It's widely regarded as everyone's favourite source of Jelly Bean and who can blame them, with 50 original flavours and more, everyone seems to have a favourite. Flavours include chocolate, kiwi, raspberry, popcorn, bubblegum and so many more! They've even started releasing new and weird flavours such as Tabasco and Cheesecake. Nevertheless, lets check out their first banner.
Well, we sure have a lot going on in this one. Immediately my eye is drawn to the HUGE red 50 that takes up just under a quarter of the banner. Obviously they want to emphasize the range of flavours they have in their stock. Its hard to ignore the cute little jelly bean dude too, he just seems to be their company logo...with big eyes. Speaking of their logo, three times it appears in this add, so its hard to overlook who's add this is. Although, each image of the logo becomes less or more obscured depending on how you look at the image. The strong red appearance is a striking feature in all the key images in this banner.
Here we have a strong latch onto another massive brand. Baring in mind their core demographic is children, fair play to them. What stronger kids brand is there internationally than the BritWiz himself. I have to admit, when watching the film or reading the book, I wanted to try Every Flavour Beans...and now I can! The use of the Harry Potter font also shows how much they want people to appreciate their link to the Harry Potter brand. On a negative side, the small font at the bottom diminishes the image as the font is poor and the purple tone doesn't suit the thicker purple tone in the rest of the image.
A much simpler ad here but Jelly Belly still gets their branding in THREE times. First the text at the bottom, second the logo in the centre and finally the faded logo in the background. However the main focus is the delicious looking jelly bean in the centre. Notice how they have used the more mysterious looking flavours avaliable. What I notice is the fact that its solitude in the image makes it appear a lot bigger than it actually is...and thus more delicious. Simple yet effective!
Which would I choose for my website out of the three? Probably the third, it feels more subtle yet its simplicity added to it. Now to finish mine off...I just hope I don't get coconut!
