The target audience for the media products was 16-26 year old British and American females from working class backgrounds. To attract this demographic, the music video drew inspiration from empowering videos like Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" and included a female-dominated dance routine. Feedback identified casting of similar-aged talent and scenes set in popular youth locations as strong aspects that resonated well. Weaker conventions included a lack of wealth, fame and sensuality typically featured in pop music. It's important to consider audience feedback to ensure the product appeals to and is marketed towards the intended demographic.
2. WHAT ARE THE MAIN DEMOGRAPHICS OF YOUR
TARGET AUDIENCE?
• AGE: 16-26
• SOCIAL CLASS: E
(Unemployed/Student) and D
(Working Class)
• ETHINICITY: British and
American.
• GENDER: Female
3. IN YOUR FIRST INITIAL EDITS, HOW DID YOU TRY
AND ATTRACT THIS DEMOGRAPHIC?
We tried to attract this demographic by starting with several ideas that we thought would
work well to capture the attention of the right people and to represent the songs
meaning. To start off, we began to look at inspiration from existing industry standard
music videos. When researching we found other videos that followed a similar theme of
female empowerment that we wanted to portray. An example of this would be Beyoncé –
Single Ladies, this video made us come up with ideas such as a female dominated
dance routine which we included in our final product. We also had multiple group
discussions to decide on different conventions that we could use in the video and print
products such as which gender to use as the main character, what props we could use,
locations we could film/shoot in and what costumes we could use to portray the right
image. These discussions helped us decide on having a young female as the main
character, using props such as microphones, filming in a busy City Centre and house
and finally to wear expensive/fashionable clothing. Final discussions also confirmed what
colour schemes and fonts we would base our print products on to keep a constant house
style.
4. WHAT CONVENTIONS DID YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE IDENTIFY AS THE
STRONGEST ASPECT OF YOUR MEDIA PRODUCTS (MUSIC VIDEO,
DIGIPAK & MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT)?
The strongest aspect of our media products were casting, scenes we used and content
of the music video.
Firstly, choosing the right cast played a big part in targeting the right audience that we
picked the demographics for. For example, We used a female and male of a similar age
to the target audience we set. This meant that people of a similar age to the ones in the
music video and print products would be able to recognize them easily and also relate
because they are going through a similar time in their lives.
The scenes we chose to film at were also key in trying to attract our demographics. We
based part of our music video in a big city. This is associated with all generations but a
modern park setting is where mostly youths would hang about. This also is a secret way
to attract the attention of people we are trying to target because they will come from a
similar background and surrounding.
Finally, the content of the music video played a big part in attracting the demographic.
We included relationship scenes and energetic dance scenes to remain youthful and not
date back to the time the song we chose was made for. We also added sassy and female
empowerment signals in the content of the music video to relate to females that we were
targeting. If females watched and related to the video they are more likely to want to
watch the video again because everyone loves to relate to things they are watching.
5. WHAT CONVENTIONS DID YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE IDENTIFY AS THE
WEAKEST ASPECT OF YOUR MEDIA PRODUCTS? WHAT CHANGES DID
YOU MAKE TO IMPROVE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCTS TO APPEAL TO YOUR
TARGETED AUDIENCE?
The weakest aspects of our media products would be the typical pop conventions of
Fame, wealth and power. Most pop music videos aim above their age range as their
target audience will want to look up to how they want their lives to be in the future. In my
opinion this was a weakness by us as we didn’t aim higher that our age range of 16-25.
We stuck to a young relationship with very realistic themes such as sitting at home
watching TV. Instead, other videos include expensive cars, big houses and exotic
sceneries abroad.
Another convention we didn’t use to target our audience would be male gaze or female
gaze. We kept the video very low key and kept all cast completely covered up. In other
pop videos/products artists use males/females showing flesh to attract male and female
gaze. This brings in more viewers because of fantasies. For example, In a justin bieber
video he will have his top off to attract the young teenage girls that his usual target
audience is.
6. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU TAKE INTO
ACCOUNT AUDIENCE FEEDBACK WHEN CREATING A MEDIA
PRODUCT?
Taking in audience feedback when creating a media product is vital because it is the link
between what people want and what you are creating. There is no point creating a
product that people aren’t interested in as it wont make any sales and money will be lost.
Feedback is also important as it indicates where to promote your product and how to
market it. For example, if your product was targeted at elderly women it would be best to
promote it in an elderly home or places like a local hairdressers. It can also be useful as
it indicates what conventions to use to attract the attention of your targeted audience. It
will tell you what colours the audience likes, content they like to watch/read, people they
will recognize. Finally, knowing what conventions to include will also help your audience
associate themselves with your product. If you had a magazine advert with Kanye West
on it and it was targeted at elderly people they won’t be able to relate to your print
because they wont know who he is whereas if you had a picture of cliff richard on it they
would be able to relate to it because they recognize who he is.
7. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOUR MUSIC ARTIST TO
TRY AND APPEAL TO A MASS/NICHE AUDIENCE?
It is important for our music artist to appeal to a mass audience because this means more sales, a bigger
reputation and more fame. If the artist has a wider target audience it means that their products will appeal to
more people and will potentially make more sales. It also means that the artist will have a bigger reputation
on the line, this could be a good or bad thing but if more people love what they do then they will have a
strong reputation that will ensure their career lasts because people will get attached and be fans this means
they will continue to buy their future products giving the artist a longer career of making money. Finally, more
fame as more people will regonise them from their music if it targets them. Fame can then lead into different
industries yet again giving them a longer sustainable career. It is also easier to create a product and look of
an artist that will appeal to the general public because people tend to follow trends and copy each other in
their social circles.
It is important for our music artist to appeal to a niche audience because there are a lot of people who enjoy
being different. If our artist created a unique look and products that worked well then they would have a
constant stream of fans and people who are committed to buying their products. A niche audience tends to
stick to what they know in their unique style of music so continuing to produce products that fit to the
minority taste will generate just as much money as the popular music choices will in a mass audience. In
addition, there is less competition. An artist appealing to a mass audince is more likely to only have one hit
with a lot of fame and sales then their popularity might die down when somebody new is introduced into the
industry whereas in the long run an artist targeting a niche audience will be able to stick around in the
industry producing the same unique products as there is less competition.
