Digipak Analysis

A digipak is a special edition case that opens up to give a few extra parts of the case. It is typically priced a significant amount higher than the standard edition and is also usually only available in stores for a limited time only. The point of this is to build a quick amount of hype for the product so that sales can grow in a shorter space of time. Even though not everybody may be able to afford the digipak, it can also build hype for the standard edition as people will still be hearing about the new CD/DVD being released.

As a group, my partner and I had to analyse a set of digipaks as we were going to be making one ourselves for our chosen musical artist. We chose to use Katy Perry's"Teenage Dream" (analysed by Abir), Beyoncé's "Greatest Hits (2009)" (analysed by me) and Christina Aguilera's "Bionic" (combined).

This presentation can be seen below: 

In terms of how this will affect my music video project, I believe that they all inspired me in some way.

With Katy Perry's"Teenage Dream" I am now confident with using two themes in one. As she had a childish and sensual choice with her theme I believe that if I'd like to market my item at two completely different markets, it would be possible if I use one in a similar manner as the other theme. As Katy had the naked photo as well as symbolism used in her CD and photographs, she had made up for it in terms of her youthful market by having a lot of sweets included.

With Beyoncé's "Greatest Hits (2009)" I liked the idea of having an elegant woman that also showcases her "fierce" side to her. I was extremely fond of this as it gave off a very respectful representation that has been showcased through the current appreciation of the artist right now. I would like a similar aspect for my artist as it enables them to be liked by the markets, thus being a successful musician.

Finally, Christina Aguilera's "Bionic" was extremely racy. Although I do not want to go as far as she did with, I did learn that if I wanted to represent only one theme then I should go for exactly what she did. However, as the album did not do too well in terms of sales there was obviously something wrong with the marketing plan. Personally, I believe that it was because the product was more than just this promiscuous outlook. As I stated in the powerpoint, she had two sides to her, the one we all know and the "bionic" one. This "bionic" side was showcased on the cover, but it was soon taken over by the racy images inside the digipak, plus the negative media attention that Aguilera received at the time. From this I have understood that timing is key when promoting an artist; bad times with the press need to be out-waited as well as the use of photography needs to be very specific and not include two completely different representations. If I did this then my public feedback would possibly be as low as Christina's, which is something I do not want.