TWENTY ONE PILOTS

AUDIENCE RESEARCH

4C Characterisation: THE STRUGGLERStrugglers live for today, and make few plans for tomorrow.Others often see them as victims, losers and wasters- aimless, disorganised people with few resources apart from their own physical skills.If they get on in life, it will depend more on a winning lottery ticket than anything to do with themselves.They are heavy consumers of alcohol and junk food.Visual impact and physical sensation are an important element of their brand choices.In essence, they seek escape.

ASSUMPTIONS

BAND ASSUMPTIONS• Punk/rock/emo vibe seen through the skeleton

costumes and masks/balaclavas, crazily dyed hair, black and red face paint

• Therefore these type of qualities can mirror audiences who listen to their music.

Predominantly females but there is a sense of mixed genders.

Quirky and inspired style from the band that aren’t afraid to express new styles

OVERALL ASSUMPTIONSBased on images of fans and popular lyrics, we made these final assumptions:• Mostly females and teens aged around 15-22 year olds

“angsty teens”• Would have crazy dyed hair/multiple piercings/wear black

(typically angsty/grunge look) • Quite rebellious and loud, somewhat outgoing and life

for the day

Q1By posting the survey on a music video on YouTube we had limited control over the gender demographic we could reach. However, I think we have gotten, as far as possible, a good split between male and female. We did however put on the comment to only complete the survey if they were a fan of the band Twenty one pilots so we could see what 4C the audience of the band was. Due to this, it could mean that there are more female fans of the band, however we cannot conclude this as there are too many confounding variables to consider. This shows our assumptions were correct, to some extent, as we thought that the majority of the audience would be female.

Q2Similar to the previous question, for determining twenty one pilots we had limited control over the ages we could reach to make the survey fair. In our research we found that the majority of people which responded to the survey were of 12-15 which gained 48% and 16-20 which gained 42%. Due to this, our assumption that the audience would consist of 15-22 years old was accurate. However it also showed that they had a younger following than we expected. This may however be due to the survey being posted on music videos and these ages frequent music video site more often that others.

Q3Our assumptions of the audience of Twenty one Pilots was that they would be heavily pierced however our research showed that our assumptions were wrong as large majority, 58% of people had no piercings at all and only 4% had 7 or more, which we expected to be the most popular. This shows that our assumption were wrong, as the audience didn’t have many piercings.

Q4 We asked what their current hair colour as we thought that the audience of twenty one pilots would have either dyed hair of obscure colour like pink or green. We however were shown through our research that our assumptions were wrong as the colour brown was by far the most popular with brown getting 50% of responses. The eccentric colours we expected only received 4 for purples, 2 for pink and 1 for green. This shows our assumptions were wrong as the most popular answers were brown, black and blonde.

Q5 We wanted to see what genre of music audiences of Twenty one pilots listened to as we felt twenty one pilots feel under alternative so we wanted to see if the audience just listened to alternative or had other influences and genres. We thought that as Twenty one pilots fell under alternative this would be popular. We were mainly correct as alternative was the most popular however rock, indie and pop proved also listened top by fans.

Q6 Our research showed that the most popular item of clothing worn by twenty one pilots fans were black skinny jeans and a plain tee. We thought that the fans would be minimalist with black and dark colours being favourable. Through the results it was shown our assumptions were correct as black skinny jeans gained 22.22% and plain tee getting 23.23%. This shows that the audience for twenty one pilots do favour simplistic so our assumptions were correct.

Q7We thought that as “Panic! At the disco” have been compared to Twenty one pilots before that this would be popular. We were correct as it proved most popular with it gaining 69.07%.Alongside this, fallout boy was chosen 69.07%This shows our assumptions were correct, but because of the large variation it shows that the audience of Twenty one pilots are into many different kinds of artists as well.

Q8- Why do you like twenty one pilots?

They seek escape. This shows that our assumption that the audience of twentyone pilots would fit into the category of “the struggler” is true as their motive is to find a release.

They respond to brands that offer new sensations, indulgence and instant effects.

Q9- What makes twenty one pilots different to other

artists?

Admiration and awareness for physical appearances.

They respond to brands that offer new sensations, indulgence and instant effects

Uniqueness is key, mirroring ideas between both top and fans. This new mix of genres is living for today without any consideration of society’s need to have a genre and behave a particular way.

Q10- ‘twenty one pilots has a predominantly younger audience’. How far do you agree

with this and why?

This links to our assumption of “angsty teens”.

Relatability seems to be key when strengthening bonds between fans. Some fans see themselves as outcasts and strugglers in society, which fits with our assumptions that they want to seek escape due to their personal issues.

Despite people mostly agreeing that their music is most responded by younger audiences, top also appeals to a wider variety of ages.

Overall findingsWe found we were generally correct with our assumptions matching with ‘the struggler’ but also found were off and that at times, twenty one pilots fans matched ‘the explorer’, particularly with these criteria:• Need for discovery, challenge and new frontiers• First to try out new ideas and experiences• Difference is what they seek out.

Challenging new aesthetics and creating new experiences for audiences seem to be important. Difference is key. All these seem to strongly match the 4C for the explorer.

Difference compared to other bands is important, individuality and uniqueness in talents makes the band attractive to fans.

Evidence to support 4C of THE EXPLORER: