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Critical Approaches
Jamie Mellors
Audience
The audience in the term relevant to marketing and research is referring to anyone that may have interest in a product. The audience is not the same as consumer, the consumer is someone who is actively or has previously bought or invested money into a product. The audience is usually a group of people who have been selected by those behind the advertising campaign as the people most likely to become a consumer. Initial research can be done to find this narrowed down audience the best way to do this is though the two main research techniques. Quantitative and Qualitative…
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is research that can be collected together into numerical format. Data is collected usually through use of surveys and questionnaires, it operates on a basis where only a select amount of answers can be chosen. For example if a survey were to have a question asking “What is your preferred type of chocolate?” the options presented may be “Dark” or “light”. From this data it can be compiled together into organised format. Visually they can be presented in graph form. This is where the real advantages of quantitative come in.
Data that I found in this kind of research can be analyzed in graph form and other forms of viewing information. This allows for trends and anomalies to be seen. On the other hand this method of gathering research can mean that the audience does not always have the opportunity to express what their own point of view is. This is where Quantitative research has its uses. When information is stored in such a structured way Quantitative Research allows conclusions to be reached as clear patterns can be seen. With a large amount of participants the average becomes more and more accurate. Surveys can be completed online which allows the to spread with easy meaning that responses in the hundreds can be submitted overnight. Something else useful also comes with this ease. Experiments can be easily carried out using surveys that may not come to fruition. With no significant time or money wasted a bad campaign can be avoided and surprisingly good ones realised. Information in graph and statistical form can be easily shared and read with outside parties as an added bonus.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is an alternate method of gathering research. Through the use of this method more detailed and rounded opinions can be recorded. In a situation that would normally be presented as a list of options qualitative method of input allows opinions to be stated that were not previously considered.
Qualitative research can be conducted in three main ways. It can be gathered person-to-person interviews, similarly a focus group can be held which consists of a group of two or more people in an interview type situation. This can produce debate of contrasting opinions. Getting a grasp of more than one opinion on a topic is crucial to research as it can inspire debate in your head as to whether the idea is good or bad. Finally a survey can be filled in that features open-ended questions.
The key reason to use this type of research is because more detailed opinions can be added on after the initial response is given. Opinions can be expressed beyond what they would normally be allowed in a piece of quantitate research. Conversations string together between people as different issues, opinions and retorts are offered into the discussion. For example someone may believe one thing then as someone else cross-examines the statement a deeper and more realistic final answer can be achieved. The answer will most likely split the group in two creating two different target markets or possibly only one. Or the group will collaborate allowing the interviewer to understand range of the market and also the desired product as a collection of people agree it should be.
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Age
The age of your audience can make a great impact on the final product. It is a good idea to establish categories that define groups of people such as gender, age, class, ethnicity and so on.
Age is one of the biggest considerations when producing a product. If the age is very young the colours may be bright, the tone light, font large etc. When compared with the other end of the spectrum, if an older audience is more dominant according to research your final product might travel down a route that leads more towards realism.
For example a backpack for some under the age of 10 as shown from existing products may feature a cartoon character and bright colours. Possibly even further features that will appeal to children that might not have practice uses. This could be a glow in the dark emblem or that it can produce sound effects. This would certainly not sell to an older audience. Using people in their 20s as a comparison the bag is more likely to be more fashion orientated. Practice features will be established over toys designed to appeal to a totally different audience. A practice feature such as a laptop compartment will fit the age group better.
The reason age should always be taken into account when designing a product is because it will radically lower the chances of selling products if the two age groups are undistinguished. Using the previous two examples, would an adult be likely to purchase a bag that they liked the look of even if it features a microphone that made sound effects build in. A combination of two audiences like this results in neither party wanting the product so sales are not made, making the business plan a failure. To maximise profits an audience must be targeted to make the product for people that will actually buy it and age is one of the most defining features about an audience making it a priority.
Gender
Gender works similarly to age in how it defines an audience. Opposite results can mean very different final products. Gender is equally important as age when designing a product. One of the two should be chosen in most situations some products can be uni-sex.
Conducting research into what appeals to what gender is a good investment. On a basic level there are certain colours that are generally used for products for each gender. Using children's toys as an example: girls toys are often pink, purple, cream whereas boy might be blue, red, green. Stronger bolder colours are used for toys for young boys. As the audience gets older it is not so predictable what each gender prefers. This is where useful research is carried out by the NRS. Gender preferences will differ from product to product this is why finding this information through both research methods is important.
The differences go deeper than colour changes. Small subtle difference in appearance can be all the difference. For example women's ski helmets have use fur on the inside whereas men's do not. This is not no do with warmth or ergonomics but in relation to the fact that women’s product may try to look cute to appeal the a maternal nature. This is one method used in the industry.
Conduction gender research can allow you to learn if the theory mentioned above is true at all. But more importantly whether this theory and OTHER marketing techniques will apply to the product being sold.
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Socio-economic Status
The national readership survey is an organisation that gathers data on the public and sells the information to companies that sell products. There are other organisations such as the NRS who do similar work. However the NRS is UK based and is the most prominent. This can be seen on their website they boast that their “survey covers over 250 of Britain’s major newsbrands and magazines, showing the size and nature of the audiences they achieve”. The information they gather is based on education, income and occupation. They comprise it into 6 social classes. These classes are as follows A, B, C1, C2, D and E. The system decends in order from upper middle class to those at the lowest levels of subsistence.
The information gathered is crucial to companies. The information is used in every stage of selling a product. It allows them to understand where the more/less wealthy of their audience lives and therefore they can make educated decisions on where to advertise products. A budget product may be advertised in an area of socio-economic status grade E to maximise profit as it will be the affordable option. The Socio-economic status (sometimes known as SES) is evaluated in relation to others.
The system allocates people into one of categories as listed below.
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Geodemographics
Geodemographics is a system that is dedicated to finding correlation between peoples postcodes and the way they spend their money. Other factors are taken into account such as martial status, age and gender. This is a way of creating strong links between different aspects of a person, a single piece of data on one individual can be very in-depth meaning that correlation between smaller things can be discovered. What makes this system effective is that it becomes apparent what people who live in certain areas spend their time doing. Weather this is their occupation of out of work hours.
This information is very useful to manufactures as they can advertise appropriate products in fitting area. Therefore increasing profit. This kind of database also allows organisations to discover their markets interests and further tailor the product to fit them.
The information is presented in levels of detail. Areas are split into colour coordinated zones that categorise the type of resident at a basic level. This is called the ACORN system, it separates areas based on wealth. Five categories exist in total, in descending order as follows:
1-Affulent achievers 2- Rising prosperity3-Comfortable Communities4-Urban Advisory 5-Not Private Households
Other companies exist that use different systems such as CAMEO and MOSAIC.
The information becomes more specific and detailed further down as postcodes and individuals are analysed. The following slide contains example information to demonstrate the systems database. The postcode is displayed showing the area that is being analysed followed by the socio-economic status of the area. It has been documented as 7F or financially stable, this is a generalisation but of course the system would not work if anomalies and lower percentages of statues were allowed to monopolise. Category 7F falls into the 3rd (or possibly 2nd) level of ACORN listings as “comfortable Communities” (the two records are from ACORN and CAMEO UK making a con-version hard to place). Individuals in this area are on average administrative or secretarial, earn-ing over average income and own more cars than the average. This is how the level of wealth is determined.
People living in these communities are interviewed as to how they choose to spend their money. Or in politer terms what their hobbies and interests are. From this information it can be seen that walking and hiking are popular with 25.6% of the community tak-ing part in this activity. A company wishing to advertise a pair of walking boots will learn this in-formation when it is sold to them by ACORN. This then allows them to understand that placing advertisements in this area will have a larger chance of selling their product than that or a differ-ent area. This type of information gathering is called psychographics.
Other valuable information can be learnt for this database. They know that the area is not poor and earns above average wages. Therefore they might decide it is worthwhile to advertise a pair of boots more on the expensive side as it is affordable to the people living in the area. General demographics are also catalogued about individuals to contribute to an overall statistic. Marital status, age and gender help companies to understand their audience.
Psychographics
To conduct psychographic research is to gather information an individuals personality, lifestyle, interests and attitudes. This information leads to an understanding of the con-sumer market of those that are buying and using a product. Information of this kind is gathered typically through surveys and interviews. The data gathered in this way can be put into rough personality types.
These personality types were created by young and Rubicon.“Y&R (originally Young & Rubicam) is a marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting.”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_%26_Rubicam
Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation is what this theory has become known as. In the print industry they are frequently referred to as the 4C’s
The system offers many advantages the upmost being that a greater understanding of an audi-ence can be obtained. Knowing an audience at a personal level allow judgment to be made as to whether a product will be accepted. And if not allows the product to be redesigned to fit the market.
The personality traits created by Y&R are as follows on the next slide:
https://www.examstutor.com/business/resources/studyroom/marketing/market_analysis/8_psychographic_segmentation.php
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Mainstream or niche
Mainstream or niche are two different types of product they both target different audiences. Mainstream products appeal to the masses and usually already have some form of success. An extreme example of this would be an “Avenges” film, it is known to be successful and another attempt in this area is likely to be the same. A niche product however is one make for a more specific audience, the product is made for a smaller budget to allow for losses if it is unsuccessful. An example of a film like this is “In Burges”.
Wealthy media produces often balance the combination of niche and mainstream products. Niche films have the capability to become big and make a good about of money whereas mainstream media is a safer bet that can be used to recover from a failed attempt at a niche product.
Finding an audience for a niche media product is normally not difficult people love all forms of media. Using films as an example, is someone were to suggest making a dark comedy featuring less know actors there is a fan base that appreciates this more specific thing. If everything that is made is mainstream the industry quickly becomes mundane as new ideas do not come in to surpass the current trends. Some niche products can become mainstream. Riding the wave of the initial publicity of niche products can make a lot of money.
