Audience Profile Analysis

Audience Profile Analysis  

The first essential step of creating a media product is  a good understanding of the product/service being advertised. A producer  cannot create an advert for  a product  without knowing what it is. 

Another necessary step is establishing the target audience. The audience is the only reason why this media product is being made, obviously  this creates a mutual and reversible relationship between the media producer, the media product and the audience of this media product.

To establish the target audience the producer must conduct research. Without research the producer wouldn’t be able identify the people that need or are interested in the advertised product. Different producers use different methods of research, the most popular are questionnaires and surveys. Both these methods can reach a large amount of different people, they can be easily deciphered and turned into statistics. Questions such as : ‘ Do you find cook books useful ? ‘ help the media producers understand what part of society is interested in his/her product . The questionnaire can include more detailed questions that will provide the producer with the background of his/her audience. 

To begin my target audience research, I conducted a short questionnaire to start establishing my target audience. 

The questions asked were:

1. Do you enjoy reading Biographies?
2. Do you only read Biographies about people you know ?
3. Do you prefer detailed Biographies ?
4. Do you prefer Autobiographies as opposed to Biographies?
5. Would an entertaining Ad encourage you to read a Biography about someone you have never heard about ?

I asked these questions because the product is a biography about an artist that is not very well known to the mainstream audiences. The questionnaire was given to 15 people, ages varying from 17 to 56. From the results I acquired, I found out that middle aged people do not mind reading detailed biographies about people that they have never heard about, but younger people prefer not reading detailed biographies. For the question about the Advert, the younger people seem to be more easily influenced by media products than the older ones. When it came to biographies vs. autobiographies, most of the people said it wouldn’t make a difference. From this research I also understood that my target audience falls under the category of Niche, although no particular background knowledge of the artist is important because the biography is in itself very detailed. 

I think that the advert should be focused on creating curiosity rather than being informative. It should also be revolved around the ‘blues lifestyle’ that will be easily recognized by the target audience and it will encourage them to read the book. 

Pre Production folder-Ideas

Ideas

Idea Generation

After reading the book and researching more about the author I have some ideas on how I would like to do the advert. My main aim is to promote the book and make people interested in reading it. In order for the advert to do this, it has to be entertaining and it has to raise curiosity in the audience. Since the book is about an artist that is very mysterious, I think the advert should be shot in a gloomy setting, with an actor that never shows his face. Obviously music has to be a big part in the advert, but I don't think that it has to be informative (apart form showing the book at the end) .

Style 

Apart from the book itself, I looked at video clips from Tom Waits' performances and also some pictures of him to get inspired. A lot of his pictures are seen in b&w and always have that 'smokey' atmosphere, so I think I should create this atmosphere in the advert.

First Ideas

My first idea is to create an advert, focused on a man that is running away, or hiding from the camera. My plan is to treat the camera as a person that is following the actor. The camera will symbolize the people that are interested in the book, or more specifically in Tom Waits. The actor's face will be hidden from the camera, this means that I have to be very careful when planning the shot angels. The advert has to be one minute in length, so I'm afraid that it will be a bit boring with only this concept, but if the shots are interesting and the atmosphere is right, I think that one minute will be ideal. 


Content 

Till now I am sticking with my initial idea (camera following the actor), but I have some other ideas that will make the advert more entertaining. The first shot of the ad , will be a WS of a big room, with a piano placed at the right hand side and a man playing it. The man will be shot from behind , and the song being played will be one of Tom Waits' songs. This will introduce the artist by showcasing his song. The other shots I have in mind are of the actor walking in narrow streets and the camera following him . In order to get the message across that the camera is following him , I think it would be best to work without a tripod on these shots, I have never hand held a camera of that size , but I think that that is the only way to get the 'stalker' feeling across.
Another idea that I have is that between every shot/scene , there will be a split second black screen. It will symbolize the camera(person) blinking. Also I have the idea , that as the ad progresses the scenes will become shorter, and more hectic, to add the agitation and curiosity.

Production Folder

Background Research

Brief 

Broadway Books Publishing house is starting a new way of advertising it's published books. Adverts will be made and broadcasted on diverse television stations. The main aim for this campaign is to promote their books. As another part of the campaign they are organizing a fictional world wide competition for the best 1 minute advert. This competition is open for young creative media students. The competitors are to produce a fun and entertaining advert for a non narrative book published by Broadway Books themselves. 

The rules are : The advert must be 60 seconds in length 

                        Must be about a non-fiction book of your choice 

                        Must fall under the 'G' rating criteria as regards to regulation

                        It must be short, fun and entertaining 

Client



Broadway Books, from the parent company Random House, are a production house founded in 1996 and situated in the United States. Random House Inc. is the largest English- Language general trade book publisher.

 Broadway books publish books that come from different categories like: Narrative Non-Fiction, Memoirs, Health and Fitness, Inspiration, History, Travel, Pop Culture, Politics, Finance, Humour and Contemporary Fiction. They are mostly known for Memoirs, like 'Elizabeth Edwards' Memoir ' and  ' Bill O'reiley's Memoir' . Other famous publications are 'A bold Fresh Piece of Humanity' , 'Liberal Fascism' and ' A Lion called Christian'.

They publish approximately 70 titles every year, a good percentage of those become New York Bestsellers.

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/broadway-books/


Author

Barney Hoskyns is an English Music Critic. He is also the editor of an online music journal Rock's Backpages. Hoskyns is an Oxford Graduate in English. His first experiences began when he started witing for Melody Maker and New Musical Express. He wrote articles about music in general and some reviews about bands of that era. After some time he quit his job to start writing a book about soul music. The result was the book 'Say It One Time For The Brokenhearted: Country Soul In The American South' .
After this publication (1987) he became well known in the 'music business'. Since then he has written for varius famous music magazines and worked as a contributing editor for  The Times, The Guardian, The Inependent and Arena Magazine. He also contributed to the magazine Rolling Stone for some time.
During the 1990's he worked as Associate Editor and later on US editor of Mojo Magazine , one of the biggest music magazines in the whole world.

In these past few years he has devoted his time to writing Biographies and Memoirs of some of the legends in music history. Some of his most famous publications are : ' Waiting for the Sun: A Rock and Roll History of Los Angeles' , ' Across the Great Divide The band and America' , ' Low Side of the Road : A Life of Tom Waits' , ' Into the Void : Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath' and the list goes on.
In 2000 he became senior editor of CDNOW in London.
Budget 

Since I am a student, I will be working on a very tight budget, or no budget at all. Obviously I will not know how much this production will cost un till the story board is finished. Because of this I have to see how I can create this advert with spending as little as possible. 

Deadline 

In order for me to finish this advert on time, I have a number of deadlines that will keep me working throughout this period of time un till the final closing date. This is the plan for the first 4 weeks 

WEEK	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
What To Do	Research + Generate Ideas	Finish Pre-Production Paper work	Finalize Story Board and Script + Book Apparatus from school	Start Filming

Technical Resources 

The equipment I will be using is owned by the school. The school currently has 4 HD cameras and 2 Tripods. For the idea that I have till now, for my advert , these will be ideal. Apart from this, we are provided with computers that are installed with editing programs, obviously these will be needed during the post production stage. 

Technical Constraints 

Although the school is very well equipped with filming and editing apparatus, there are still some things that we do not have access to. One of the things that I wish I had access to is a dolly track. I think this would make the advert I am planning more entertaining to watch , since it would create more dimension in my shots. 

While researching similar equipment, I found methods to create your own dolly track, but I wouldn’t feel safe with a home made dolly cart and an expensive HD camera that isn’t mine. 

Target Audience

To help me identify my target audience I started out by conducting a questionnaire. The questions were :

1. Do you enjoy reading Biographies?
2. Do you only read Biographies about people you know ?
3. Do you prefer detailed Biographies ?
4. Do you prefer Autobiographies as opposed to Biographies?
5. Would an entertaining Ad encourage you to read a Biography about someone you have never heard about ?

I asked these questions because the book that I have chosen is a biography about an artist (Tom Waits) that is not very well known to the mainstream audience. I gave questionnaire to 15 people, their ages varied between 17 and 56. After looking at the results I found out that middle aged people enjoy reading detailed biographies, and do not mind reading biographies about artists that they have never heard about.For the question about advertisements, the younger people seem to be more influenced by entertaining adverts.

From my findings, I think that my target audience is :

• Music Oriented
• Aged between 15-50’s
• English Speaking
• Interested in the 60’s and 70’s lifestyle

Regulation

Since the advert has to fall under the G rating, this means it has to be suitable for all ages, I have to be careful about the content of the advert. There are various things that cannot go into the advert, for example things like drugs, violence, nudity harsh language and racism. Associations like the ASA and Malta Broadcasting Authority provide guidlines for producers in order for them to produce material that is suitable to be shown at all times for all ages.

Advertising

I came across this billboard while searching for unconventional advertising. This 65-metre wide billboard was created in 2006 just before the World Cup. The person seen is the German goal keeper Oliver Kahn. This billboard was placed on the bridge leading to the airport of Munich. The actual senders are Adidas. The ball that Kahn is holding was the new adidas creation that was used for that world cup. This definitely got the attention of football lovers, and anyone that saw it. 

Marketing research

Marketing research 

(http://managementhelp.org/mrktng/mrktng.htm)

In one assignment I have the role of marketing a blog created by my team for the MediaCast. Marketing is basically finding ways in which to tell people about your product and making them understand it’s aim. But before actually marketing your product, one has to understand what the customers need and how you can reach their needs. So to start off this project, me and my team are conducting some research about MediaCast. The research is mostly being done in the form of questionnaires and interviews, but I am focusing mainly on marketing this blog. 

Deb Roberts, an expert in product marketing said that ‘ A marketing plan is good for focusing your energy towards the right actions that will deliver on what you want to accomplish’. So an important thing I have to do is create a marketing plan or strategy. Obviously I have to take into consideration that we are working on basically no budget, so I have to plan activities that are cheap. 

To create my strategy, I have to really know my target markets (the audience).I know that my target audience are all the media students attending Mcast art and design. Needless to say, their interest in media is what makes them fall under one category. So to get their attention, I will focus on creating market products that I know will reach this audience easily. For example; I will create posters , make advertisements on social networks that are very popular with these students, advertise the blog by speaking to these students face to face etc.

After conducting more research I will have a proper marketing plan, including deadlines.  

Ofcom

Ofcom is a Uk regulatory body, that 'controls' television and radio.  It's job is to make sure that people in the UK get the best  out of their communication services, and that they're protected from scams. 
It also ensures that the UK has a wide range of high quality tv and radio programs that are diverse and interest all parts of the community, that it's audiences are protected from harmful and offensive material ( such as violence or nudity ). It also ensures privacy and the protection of people under the age of 18. 


Although it is responsible for the television and radio regulations, it is not responsible for the adverts shown or heard. The adverts are taken care of by another organization - ASA . It is also not responsible for inaccuracies on the BBC networks and BBC's license fees, and for press and magazines, the latter is taken care of by the PCC (Press Complaints Commission). 

Subliminal Messages in Adverts

Everyday we are bombarded with hundreds of adverts, both in print and on screen. Sometimes these ads use images, or text to send a 'hidden message' . Although we may not always see these messages, many say that they are still stored in our subconscious.


These are some examples I found of Ads with that something extra :

Not really hidden, it conveys Sex and Sexuality
                                    

This KFC ad, was created as a competition. There is a hidden dollar bill sign in the lettuce, who over found it  got a free burger. 

This one is much more subliminal. If you look closely you can see the words Absolute Vodka written on the ice cubes. 

Book Research 2

A Piece of Cake a memoir 

Author: Cupcake Brown

Publisher: Crown Publishers 

What are the benefits of that it offers 

It offers a an outstanding true story about a woman that deals with constant pain but gets back on her feet after a long struggle with alcohol and drug addiction. It is a very inspiring story that sends a message of hope for whoever reads this moving book. 

The unique Selling Proposition is 

Apart from the great story, it goes into detail about the consequences of drug abuse, how gangs operate in society, the trouble of unemployment and the struggles that a young orphan goes through. It is also a very entertaining heart braking and captivating story. 

What are the advantages over similar products

Although one can find many books about the same topics, this memoir is much more detailed, and since it is written from the same person that goes through these troubles the reader gets a very personal account about her life. This book can also be a good inspiration for those that are also going through similar situations.

What are the disadvantages 

This book is not for the faint hearted. The details may be too much for some readers, this means that this book is only suitable for mature people.

Does Brand Identity come into play 

This book was quite a hit when it came out, so many people are familiar with the name Cupcake Brown. 

Target Audience 

The target audience of this book is people over the age of 18 and people that enjoy autobiographies and amazing true stories.  




Cupcake Brown 

First Book Idea

Low side of the road life of Tom Waits 

Author: Barney Hoskyns           

 Publisher: Broadway Books 

What are the benefits that it offers:

It offers a very  rare detailed account about the life of Tom Waits .

 Since he lived an exciting life ( but always in the shadows) it is a very entertaining book to read, especially for Waits fans. Apart from going into detail about his life, it also touches upon the lifestyle of the 70’s and 80’s , especially the music scene and how it transformed from jazz and blues into rock. It also goes into detail about sound track making in movies. So it can be interesting for various people.

The Unique Selling Proposition is :

Biographies about Tom waits are quite rare , so it is something unique in itself. It shows his  life behind the stage and not only the show-biz aspect of his life , unlike other biographies about him . It does not only focus on Tom waits, but it also talks about other artists of that era like Joni Mitchell. The author discuses many aspects of that era and not only music. It talks about lifestyle of the unemployed and politic agendas of that time , so when reading this biography the reader is transported into the 70’s .

What are its advantages over similar products :

The other biographies are not as detailed as this one, This gives a lot of information including interviews with his family members and friends , and stories that are exclusive about his life and career. It starts from when he was a young boy and it is written in a certain way that it makes  the reader feel as if he/she is reading a novel and not a biography. 

What are the disadvantages :

It can be too detailed at some points, meaning that only extreme fans of Tom Waits will enjoy the book. It is also quite a long and heavy book and that may also be  a disadvantage for people that would like to carry the book around with them and not simply as a bedside book.

Does Brand Identity come into play :

 For the mainstream audience not really. The author is not a house hold name . This is because he writes mostly in music magazines such as Melody Maker and New Musical Express. He also worked for a short time as Editor of the magazines ‘Rolling Stone’ and ‘Spin Magazine’. He wrote some other biographies suck as : ‘Led Zeppelin Rock of Ages’, ‘Across the Great Divide’  and ‘Lowside of the Road Life of Tom Waits’. So for people that are into music he should be a renowned name, but obviously not for everyone

How does its Lifestyle Appeal come into play to its Target Audience:

The target audience is mainly those that enjoy reading biographies, those that enjoy Tom Waits’ music and those that are interested in the music scene in the 70’s and 80’s . The ages can vary from teenagers to people that lived in Tom Waits’ era .