DEFINING AN AUDIENCEBy Sophie Baker

What is an audience?• Whenever anyone is making a product, or seeking one out, the media producers need

to define their audience. This is so they can know who is more likely to buy, watch, download, interact, etc. with their product in order to keep it an ongoing product by generating its sales. This is otherwise known as audience profiling.

• This can be done through key element to define what they are looking for. By looking for their audiences age, gender, socio economic status, geodemographics, psychographics or whether or not they are a mainstream or niche audiences.

• There are two different types of research that take place in order to find those key elements which will help find and define their targeted audience. ‘Quantitate audience research’ and ‘Qualitative audience research’.

Quantitative Audience ResearchQuantitative research are methods taken to find and analysis the mathematical data from your research. For instance, finding out how many people were interested in your product. This can be carried by a number of ways. Such as:• Structured data – Information referring to any form of data which is held within a ‘fixed field’, such as a

file or record. These kinds of formats hold information such as relational databases and spreadsheets.

• Statistical analysis – A database that collects and organizes data samples into to select items in which the samples can be then drawn.

• Primary research – This is a form of research where you are finding out specific issues and you’re wanting certain answer for said issue(s). This is found carried out through questionnaires, surveys or/ and interviews.

• Objective conclusions – Decisions that were made through an unbiased opinion. For instance, finding your answers through facts and figures giving you the direct answer that is on paper.

• Surveys – A series of questions on certain points and issues giving to different subjects to answer directly. This kind of research can be done in an interview format but is mainly done by the means of a written questionnaire.

• Experiments – An investigation in order to test the researchers notions and wants to find out what will happen with their subject when tested. The result of said experiment will conclude the researchers method of continuing and development.

Quantitative Audience Research• The advantages of using quantitative audience research is that you get factual information about

what they are looking in to. It gives them the opportunity to measure and analysis data they’ve found. This all in all gives them an objective point of view with there research before doing qualitative research and become subjective to there subjects of research.

• The disadvantages of this kind of research is that the researcher is ignoring the environment and nature in which their information is coming from and is only focusing on the data. If doing research primarily with quantitative research the context of this information is forgotten. You don’t get any depth or meaning with your overall studies and finding.

• An example of research that used quantitative research is the sociology experiment ‘The Census’. This used a structured questionnaire which was sent out every 10 years to every household in the UK. The idea of using the structured questionnaire was so that using a fixed set of questions with a set number of possible answers to choose from gives the researcher the answers that they are wanting rather than allowing those who answer to elaborate their answers.

Quantitative Audience Research• One of the ways in which quantitative audience research is conducted/ and collected through

statistics for print and digital based advertising is through the ‘National Readership Survey’. This way publications can keep track of who their audiences are, from age and gender, to how those readers read the the printed product or online, or both, etc. This survey collected in June 2015 to June 2016 shows the difference in sales and appeal in Britain alone.

June, 2015 June, 2016

• What is shown in the charts is that for GQ magazine has kept the same primarily male audience for a year but the readers have decreased in both printed copies of the issue and readers digitally online. This shows the publication of this magazine that the data of their audience collected has decreased over the year for their June issue, or sales of the magazine overall. It can give them a chance to look over why with previous issues.

Qualitative Audience ResearchQualitative research is when a researcher is wanting to find out the reasoning behind the subjects answer. Such as; Why did they do that? What did they think of it? How did they come to think of that? Etc. This inevitably gives the researcher a deeper understanding of their audience and how they can add this to their research to contact with their audience on a higher level. Qualitative research can be carried out through:• Unstructured data – Unstructured data is information that is many text. However it can contain

info. such as dates, numbers and facts. This data is not organized in a pre-defined manner, meaning it can be difficult to navigate unlike structured data on filed databases and annotated spreadsheets.

• Interviews – A face-to-face talk with someone where you discuss the topics of information you are wanting answers for. Similar to a questionnaire but you meet with the person one-on-one and can gather more information through talking.

• Focus groups – Similar to interviews but there are more people and you can gather more opinions and thoughts due to the subjects interacting with one another.

• Observations – Observations allow the researcher to get much more real answers and attitudes to what they are looking into. However, if the subjects knows they are being watched there could still be a lack of realism. Whereas if the subject is unaware they are being watched the researcher gets better results but there is a lack of ethics involved.

Qualitative Audience Research• The advantages of using qualitative audience research is that it gives the researcher a better

understanding of what they are going to be studying early on. Their findings are there for much more natural and beings to show depth quickly. As the research progresses the researcher get very detailed answers to there study in comparison to just collecting data on the basis of how many people are there whereas looking for why there are there.

• The disadvantages to using qualitative audience research is that due to the researcher being so involved with the thoughts and feelings of their subject(s) they being to create subjective opinions on them. As time passes they form bonds and focus on their personality traits more than just focusing on what they’re saying in a less sentimental way. This can result in the researcher becoming dishonest with their findings due to them twisting the answers because of not liking what they have found out over time.

• An example of qualitative research being used is for an sociology experiment by Dobash and Dobash with unstructured interviews about domestic violence. Unstructured interviews are done face to face by the interviewer to the interviewee. But rather than having a set of answers for someone to answer there are only a set number of questions and topics and recording the answers that can either be lengthy or simple from who answers them.

Age• Defining an audience by their age is a very important part of audience profiling because age is a

key element in understand your audience. It can help the creators of their new product make assumptions based on their age alone, even when they have a target audience in mind it can help determine what they are looking for even further on an average age range to aim their product at. Audience profiling on age can help understand personality traits, interests, hobbies, marital status, possible occupations, incomes from those occupations, etc. purely based on how old someone is.

• The advantages to this are that by knowing someone's age it can give a broad outline on what their personality, in terms of interests, will be like.

• The disadvantages to this however are that it doesn’t give the creators a guarantee to what their audience is like, or what they do like based on their age range alone.

The first magazine is aimed at young girls aged 9-14 years. One of the ways in which this is shown is through the language that us used. The language on the front cover, and throughout the magazine, is more simple and bold towards key words such as ‘Cute’, ‘Pets’, ‘Sweet’, etc. to draw the attention of that age group and gender. The bright and more ‘girly’ colours attract the younger audience because it shows that the magazine will be fun, girly and youthful. However, the colours are more garish and fun aiming towards a younger audience. The pictures on the front cover draw an audience of young girls in with the use of animals (real or cartoon), movie characters such as ‘Minions’ and a tween idol such as the Youtuber ‘Zoella’ pulls them into wanting to look at more images with those subjects on them.

This second magazine is aimed at young girls aged 13-18 years old. Compared to the ‘Girl Talk’ magazine this one shows a much more grown up edge to it. The articles have a higher level of spoken and written language to appeal to an older audience and the articles talk about fashion, role models and the cover star. Rather than aiming to what teenagers like this magazine is more aiming to show them what they could be interested in. The magazines advertising is full of clothing, make-up, perfume, skin care, brands that are more accessible to teenage girls rather than ‘Vogue’ magazine which is for an older audience. The colours for the magazine are less garish compared to ‘Girl Talk’ but still shows a youthful edge to it but it’s more mature than over the top to appeal to an older audience. The key indication of target audience is in the title ‘Teen Vogue’ to everyone who reads it. Adult readers of ‘Vogue’ will see it for a younger audience and teenagers will understand it’s more targeted towards them.

‘Cosmopolitan’ magazine is aimed at an audience aged 19-30+ years old. The main feature of this magazine is sex and relationships to appeal to a young female audience about having boyfriends. Due to the media, such as romance movies and books, encouraging young woman to be in relationships this magazine pulls that young female audience in with articles about men and what they want from you. As well as articles on confidence, fashion, business and self love. Whether they be informative with advice or interview from those who have it or not. A young female audience in their adult years are drawn to this because of the want to be more confident and to be in a relationship. The colours and font choices are more striped back and sophisticated to show that the magazine is more grown-up compared to others. The advertising will be similar to those of ‘Teen Vogue’ but higher end and higher in price for an older audience who can afford it.

‘Woman’s Weekly’ magazine is aimed at an audience of woman aged around 40+. Compared to ‘Cosmopolitan’ magazine where the talk about how to get an a relationship this magazine talks about gossip and things that are more mundane for a day to day lifestyle. The magazine mainly consists of lifestyle topics such as shopping, style and recipes to appeal to everyday activity rather than what could be done in the long term. This magazine is aimed at an age range of woman who will have busy lives so the content is fast and reusable for long terms effects. The advertising will be on bargains and brands that are less expensive and accessible.

Gender• Defining an audience by their age is a distinctive part of finding your target audience because the

two genders can show different personality traits which can determine what products can appeal to them. Depending on the gender, male or female, it can show the difference in values, interests and personality types purely on their gender. However, this isn’t always the case. Early socialization makes these assumptions about gender. Such as girls only liking pink and boys only liking blue.

• The advantages of building your target market off of somebody’s gender is that it gives a quick broad outline of what you can work off of. You get a basic outline of what could work with based on gender and what would and could appeal to it.

• The disadvantage to this is that it’s a large assumption and exaggeration a lot of the time. Nowadays people aren’t as concerned and can even be offended to the stresses that products put on gender. A lot of the times it isn’t even needed, such as with children's toy brands making something pink for a girl and blue for a boy even though it could be something as gender neutral as building blocks or a teddy bear.

Early socialisation comes into play with how we genderise products. Girls get dolls which are clean, thin, glossy females who wear pink, girly versions of jobs and activities suitable and passive for a young girl to learn from. Such as a nurse, vet, teacher, athletic (not with boxing or fencing but volleyball and cheerleading), etc. Whereas boys get male ‘action’ figures that are muscular and strong who have weapons and fight for their characteristics. Teaching, almost encouraging, boys to be non-passive and play ‘rough-and-tough’. These are two very distinctive things that are learnt and taught from a young age in a number of ways but one of the earliest is through children's toy brands and the marketing they entail.

Modest, girly, passive, almost ideal of what a girl should be

Strong, tough, weapon using men who encourage fighting (good and bad) for their characters

Battlefield for boysHouse-life for girls

The gendering of products goes on into adult marketing. Skincare, drinks, colours, etc. Products such as razors and face creams are targeted much different to men than to woman. In fact most beauty products are aimed at woman alone. That’s why something such as sun cream. A product blatantly for all was advertised as such by ‘Banana Boat’ until they made a separate version just for men. The original product, still sold is not aimed at woman alone but can be assumed for woman mainly to the skincare element, the colours, the fonts, etc. So the one made for men, which is the same product exactly is only changed in packaging. Making the colours darker, the font bolder and stronger, putting ‘For Men’ on the bottle to appeal to men more in case they were shying away from an important product due to marketing aiming more to woman. The same for ‘Diet Coke’ and ‘Coke Zero’. There is only a mild difference in taste between the products but the ‘Diet Coke’ is aimed to woman whereas the ‘Coke Zero’ is aimed at men. The use of words and marketing pulls that gender in. ‘Diet’ appeals to woman due to the media encouraging it for woman and something much bolder and stronger appeals to men such as ‘Zero’.

Mainstream • Mainstream audiences, otherwise known as mass media audiences, are people who follow the

latest news worldwide. Publications such as magazines, newspaper and social media platforms like ‘Twitter’ encourage this by showing what is popular within that week, month and year in the hope that audiences will make it more popular meaning it’ll become more mainstream. A lot of mainstream media comes from music, fashion trends and movies.

• The advantages of having and appealing to a mainstream audience is that you get a clear idea of what people like in the here and now and that way you will know what will sell. The key idea of a mainstream audience is that a set theme happens with the audiences. It’s comfortable to the audience and it’s what they know so the marketers and products know what the audience likes and what they will want to buy.

• The disadvantage to this is that you have a lack of change and when trends change here and there that audience may or may not favor them and go to buy what’s new over what they know. There will be a lack of range or surprise to a mainstream audience because they know what is most likely to happen. Such as they superhero saves the day, the singer will bring out a pop album about love, the fashion trends will be in high end retailers such as ‘Topshop’. Mainstream audiences tend to become looked down upon because of them being too used and bought by such a large audience. People will start to look for something more unique to stand out from the crowd.

Mainstream

These two artists are very popular in the media with a large audience and fan base. Away from the fact that both of these artists top music charts once their albums are released, even before they are released through pre-ordering the album, but the way they look and identify is classed as ‘mainstream’. All boy-bands are labeled as mainstream because their music is always ‘pop’ and themes of their music are predictable. For instance, the vast majority of their songs will be about the love of a girl and will either be very upbeat or slow and romantic. The fan base for these boy-bands can be seen as mainstream as well because they tend to be obsessive and very defensive of the band they like. However, these popular boy-bands are favorites for music publications because there’s a strong chance they will be popular and will sell more albums, tours, merchandise and gain more views for their music videos in comparison to a solo artist. Whereas many solo artists who are female are or convert to pop to appeal to the masses of listeners. Singing about love and heartbreak regardless of the beat and tempo of their songs. Even if the album has a theme as long as the music is pop and is sold well to the top charts it’ll be seen as mainstream.

Niche• Niche audiences are much more exclusive and specific to their interests. These are small groups

of people who have the same unique interest of collecting, listening to or watching. Niche audiences are a lot harder to target and gain momentum because you don’t know who will like them and if it will appeal to a specific age range or gender. Niche audience also tend to stay away to what is deemed as ‘mainstream’.

• The advantages of a niche audience is that the marketers will collect a select group of people who will be dedicated to the trend as it progresses because they feel as though they are apart of something. They will want to feel the need to keep with that niche audience because they want to keep that title away from being apart of a mainstream audience.

• The disadvantages of a niche audience is that it can be very hard to catch on to a small group of people. You want it to be small but without a certain amount it won’t sell and more or less won’t be heard of. As that small group forms and stays dedicated it makes the sales steady but without it the product will not be heard of by anyone. And there is that slip into the product becoming very popular and the audience goes from niche to mainstream. That is good for sales in the long run but that niche audience, and consumers, may be lost. Artists such as ‘Bastille’ and Ed Sheeran were known to a niche audience until they became extremely popular and the original niche audience has an angry approach to people who only know them because they’re in the top 100.

Niche

The comparison between these artists to the mainstream artists isn’t much. Niche music artists tend to stay away from ‘pop’ music and rather be classed as ‘Singer/ Songwriters’. Their music is much more stripped back and focuses on more complex lyrics rather than repetitive fun ones with a strong beat. Because these two artists are not very well known they are known to a niche audience. Just because they aren’t as popular with sales to a wider audience their listeners are very much dedicated to them and show more excitement in a smaller community because it’s shared more freely than those artists of a mainstream label. Products with a niche audience tend to have more freedom with what they produce as well because there’s less fear of change to a small audience. Mainstream audiences tend to be products that are comfortable and familiar. Niche audiences have products that span far away from safe and comfortable. Such as the music having more of a quirk and depth.

Mainstream and niche audience products go into a wider world of things. Not only music and fashion trends but upcoming movies. There are many movie companies that have a vast audience that anticipate new movies to franchises, such as ‘Marvel’s’ superhero movies that have so many characters that so many movies can be branched off of them keeping the fan base going and even growing. However, for a niche audience they tend to look for movies that are short and made purely by the creator away from well known actors and creators. The Youtuber Bertie Cilbert makes multiple short films with other less known youtubers and actors to show something new and interesting as opposed to what is really out there which is prominent when appealing to a niche audience.

Geodemographics• Geodemographics is the study/ observation of where someone is from. The reasoning behind this

is because people living in the same area will most likely have similar lifestyles and tendencies within their personalities. Doing this type of study allows the production companies to get a better understanding of where to target their products. The areas in which people live in can determine their age range, income, job professions from their income, class and even race in some areas.

• The advantages of this type of audience research is that producers can get a much better understanding of their audiences from where they live. Knowing whether or not they have a large or small family, their income, class, etc. lets the makers of their product know the correct pricing their products should be at, how it will appeal to them in terms of practicality and whether or not it is something that they will want to buy though their interests.

• The disadvantages of geodemographics is that you don’t get an assurance that the product will sell. There is an understanding of what will appeal to them and how it should be priced but you can’t get a confirmation that the product will sell. It may appeal but might not be wanted to be purchased.

Geodemographics• One of the ways in which people track geodemographics is through ‘CAMEO UK’. This is a

website that uses profiles of people in over 40 countries to talk about their income (on average), occupation, likes, dislikes, family life, relationship status, etc. The key element to this system is that the persons profile tells them where they live. Knowing the area in which people live can track what their income, class, occupation, likes, etc. can give a clear indication of what area would be interested and could afford what products.

Example of Household Composition. One of the first questions asked is about your family life to understand the area and if family life links to class. Other questions include whether or not you own your home and your educational background.

Psychographics• Psychographics is the study/ observations and classification of people’s attitudes, interests,

values and lifestyles. The purpose of this is so that production companies can get a better understanding of who is buying their product(s) so you can target said product more to appeal to them because what they like they will want to buy. Psychographics allow the production companies to understand their audiences on a new level away from their age and gender. Finding out someone's psychographics is usually done through questionnaires.

• The advantages of using psychographics for audience research is that the makers of the products will have a much higher understanding of what will make their consumers happy. Keeping those customers happy will keep sales up and going.

• The disadvantage of this, similar to geodemographics, is that there isn’t an assurance that the product will sell. You learn about their personality but not of their income, class, work or family life. For many woman they like perfume but a lot of perfume brands are designer meaning they will be more expensive. Asking a large group of woman, regardless of the knowledge of their income, what scents they like you will get what they want but

not what they can actually get. The higher the pricing the less appeal they can have on a customer depending on the product. However, the opposite can be said to those who have a much higher income.

Socio-economic status • Socio-economic status is knowing your audiences status in terms of class, education and income.

The higher someone's class the higher the price can be because they are more likely to a high income capable to afford the expensive product. Whereas someone who as a low income won’t able to afford that and will have products aimed towards their price range. Knowing someone’s class can help aim the level of education your product can hold. Such as certain magazines and newspapers have a different register and formality depending on how educated you are. To meet the standards of that class. For instance, The Guardian is aimed at a middle class audience where as The Sun is aimed at a working class audience.

• The advantages of this is that producer and makers of companies can get a better understanding of what is to be sold to who and what can be sold to who. That way markets can know how high they can sell their products, if they can be sold at a lower price they can sell more to a lower income community. And if they can sell the product at a higher price they can earn more through a higher class.

• The disadvantages of this is that it is making a clear difference between class and advantage. Marketers are limiting certain products to consumers because they will want to sell them at a higher price. This is closing out potential buyers because of

their class and income and they’re wanting to sell their product at a high price. There’s the argument that if you sell something of good quality at a lower price then more people would be likely to buy it. That’s why shops have sales so people can take out stock and are more likely to buy them if sold for a fraction of the price.

Socio-economic status

25ml = £43, 50ml = £50, 100ml = £69 One set size = £8

The difference in these two products is based on class and is thought about as well. The main reason why people will buy the ‘Dolce & Gabbana’ perfume is because of the designer label. Because of that designer label the price is much higher and is aimed at a higher class of people because of their income. The way in which the product is advertised. It becomes more extravagate and high-end to appeal to a more expensive crowd and show that the product is expensive. Whereas with the ‘Zoella: Sweet Inspirations’ mist is considerably cheaper in comparison the other perfume at £8 for one bottle (no other sizes). Knowing their audience the makers made the perfume a mist with a stronger scent so it wouldn’t be as expensive because the audience is for young woman of all classes so it can be excisable.