RESEARCH: AUDIENCE

We make a SlideShare presenting our research on audiences. 
We have learned about various approaches and frameworks relating to audiences.

Here is the information on AUDIENCE RESEARCH that we have studied:

1 - AUDIENCE: A KEY CONCEPT
All media texts are produced with an audience in mind - that is to say a group of people who will receive the text and make some sort of sense out of it.
Understanding audience research will help me plan my own production.
So audience is part of the media equation – a product is produced and an audience receives it. Television producers need an audience for their programmes, so they can finance those programmes and make more programmes that the audience likes. Advertisers need an audience who will see or hear their advertisements and then buy the products.
A media text is planned with a particular audience in mind. A television producer has to explain to the broadcasting institution (e.g. BBC or ITV) who is the likely audience for this particular programme.
Are they under 25 years old or older, mainly male or mainly female, what are they interested in? The television audience varies throughout the day and night, and television and radio broadcast for 24 hours, seven days a week. How do we know who is watching or listening at any one time? This is where audience research becomes important.
A media producer has to know who is the potential audience, and as much about them as possible.
My  next task is to create / devise / design an audience profile for my own production 

2 - AUDIENCE PROFILING

TYPES OF AUDIENCE RESEARCH

Marketing uses audience profiling such as socioeconomics,demographics, psychographics and GEARS to identify different audiences. 

A common and traditional method of audience research is known as DEMOGRAPHICS. This defines the adult population largely by the work that they do. It breaks the population down into 6 groups, and labels them by using a letter code to describe the income and status of the members of each group.
GEARS segments audiences by Gender, Ethnicity, Age, Region,Socio-economic group.

      

PSYCHOGRAPHICS (above) is a way of describing an audience by looking at the behaviour and personality traits of its members. Psychographics labels a particular type of person and makes an assessment about their viewing and spending habits.
With cookies tracking consumers' online behaviour when they leave footprints, it is easy for brands to collect data on consumers' spending habits and interests.
The advertising agency Young and Rubican invented a successful psychographic profile known as their 4C’s Marketing Model http://www.4cs.yr.com The 4 Cs stand for Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation. They put the audience into groups with labels that suggest their position in society

MARS another way of looking at this model : Mainstreamers, Aspirers, Reformers, Succeeders

3 - AUDIENCES AS PASSIVE (4 items)

THE MEDIA EFFECTS MODEL

This approach was originally developed to explain the effects of media that are powerful in positioning audiences, such as television. It supports positions that advocate regulation, as does Gerbner's cultivation theory, which argues that strongly-delivered media messages that are consistently delivered have long-term effects on audiences.
The media effects (hypodermic syringe) model is an outdated model, as it positions audience as as passive. It has been replaced by the uses and gratifications model of audience behaviour, which positions audiences as active.

STUDIES USED TO SUPPORT THE EFFECTS MODEL 

Bobo doll (Albert Bandura, 1961) We read David Gauntlett's article 10 Things Wrong With The Media Effects Model (1998). In it, he refers to the artificiality of such studies shown by researchers such as Borden (1975).

THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN MORAL PANICS  Read The Guardian article (screenshot below) Include the article below about how films have been implicated in producing copycat crime. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 - ADORNO AND THE CULTURE INDUSTRY

For Theodore Adorno,  advertising creates false needs that audiences (consumers) passively embraced. Adorno (1903-69) argued that capitalism fed people with the products of a 'culture industry' - the opposite of 'true' art - to keep them passively satisfied and politically apathetic.

Adorno suggested that culture industries churn out a debased mass of unsophisticated, sentimental products which have replaced the more 'difficult' and critical art forms which might lead people to actually question social life.

False needs are cultivated in people by the culture industries. These are needs which can be both created and satisfied by the capitalist system, and which replace people's 'true' needs - freedom, full expression of human potential and creativity, genuine creative happiness.

Products of the culture industry may be emotional or apparently moving, but Adorno sees this as cathartic - we might seek some comfort in a sad film or song, have a bit of a cry, and then feel restored again. 

 

5 - AUDIENCES AS ACTIVE (3 items)

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is a theory which suggests there are 5 stages people go through in life. The theory says that at each stage we have different motivations that drive us. We use different media, for example, to meet different needs:
" Safety- Linkedin, where you are able to find jobs and networks that could open doors for your career path.
Love/Belonging- Facebook, Google +, where you are able to reconnect and gain relationships, whether it is in the form of acquaintances, friends, lovers or family.
Self-Esteem- Twitter, where you are able to share your experiences, achievements that will help you boost your confidence and gain respect from others.
Self-Realization- Tumblr, Blogspot, Wikipedia, where you are allowed to share your knowledge, interests, inner thoughts and your creativity." (Source https://socialmediaandtheself.wordpress.com/)

 

WHY AUDIENCES CONSUME TEXTS: THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS MODEL

We look at different models of audience behaviour. Mediaknowall will remind you of what we discussed.
The uses and gratifications model of audience behaviour (Blumler and Katz, 1974)

THE TWO-STEP FLOW MODEL

Katz and Lazarsfeld assumes a slightly more active audience. It suggests messages from the media move in two distinct ways.  
First, individuals who are opinion leaders, receive messages from the media and pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content. The information does not flow directly from the text into the minds of its audience, but is filtered through the opinion leaders who then pass it on to a more passive audience.
The audience then mediate the information received directly from the media with the ideas and thoughts expressed by the opinion leaders, thus being influenced not by a direct process, but by a two step flow.
This theory appeared to reduce the power of the media, and some researchers concluded that social factors were also important in the way in which audiences interpret texts. This led to the idea of active audiences.

6 -RECEPTION THEORY - STUART HALL AND CULTURAL STUDIES

RECEPTION THEORY positions audiences as active. 
It focuses on the scope in textual analysis for 'negotiation' and 'opposition' on the part of the audience. This means that a text ( a book, film, advert, poster or other creative work) is not passively accepted by the audience but that the reader / viewer interprets the meanings of the texts based on their individual cultural background and life experiences.
Stuart Hall’s encoding / decoding model; dominant (or preferred), negotiated and oppositional readings; why Hall says he studies culture instead of media specifically, and media hegemony. Audiences are no longer considered passive recipients.

A 40-year-old man and a 10-year-old girl would not interpret an episode of The Simpsons in the same way.

 

7 - EXIT POLLS 

The BFI carries out exit polls to assess audience response at film screenings. Here is one example (name, director, date). '71, directed by Yann Demange, 2014

8 - THE ROLE OF THE BBFC

The BBFC looks at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, dangerous and easily imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, and violence when making decisions. The theme of the work is also an important consideration. They also consider context, the tone and likely impact of a work on the potential audience. Audiences are therefore guided in their viewing; vulnerable audiences are protected. Similar regulation applies to the viewing of video games which are regulated by PEGI

RESEARCH: AUDIENCES

We make an infographic presenting our research on audiences. 
In class, you learn about various elements relating to audiences.
Use Piktochart to present it.

Here is the information on AUDIENCE RESEARCH that we use:

1 - AUDIENCE: A KEY CONCEPT
All media texts are produced with an audience in mind - that is to say a group of people who will receive the text and make some sort of sense out of it.
Understanding audience research will help me plan my own production.
So audience is part of the media equation – a product is produced and an audience receives it. Television producers need an audience for their programmes, so they can finance those programmes and make more programmes that the audience likes. Advertisers need an audience who will see or hear their advertisements and then buy the products.
A media text is planned with a particular audience in mind. A television producer has to explain to the broadcasting institution (e.g. BBC or ITV) who is the likely audience for this particular programme.
Are they under 25 years old or older, mainly male or mainly female, what are they interested in? The television audience varies throughout the day and night, and television and radio broadcast for 24 hours, seven days a week. How do we know who is watching or listening at any one time? This is where audience research becomes important. 
A media producer has to know who is the potential audience, and as much about them as possible.
My  next task is to create / devise / design an audience profile for my own production 

2 - AUDIENCE PROFILING

TYPES OF AUDIENCE RESEARCH

Marketing uses audience profiling such as socioeconomics,demographics, psychographics and GEARS to identify different audiences. 

A common and traditional method of audience research is known as DEMOGRAPHICS. This defines the adult population largely by the work that they do. It breaks the population down into 6 groups, and labels them by using a letter code to describe the income and status of the members of each group.

      

PSYCHOGRAPHICS (above) is a way of describing an audience by looking at the behaviour and personality traits of its members. Psychographics labels a particular type of person and makes an assessment about their viewing and spending habits.
The advertising agency Young and Rubican invented a successful psychographic profile known as their 4C’s Marketing Model http://www.4cs.yr.com The 4 Cs stand for Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation. They put the audience into groups with labels that suggest their position in society

MARS another way of looking at this model : Mainstreamers, Aspirers, Reformers, Succeeders
GEARS segments audiences by Gender, Ethnicity, Age, Region,Socio-economic group.

3 - AUDIENCES AS PASSIVE (4 items)

THE MEDIA EFFECTS MODEL

The media effects (hypodermic syringe) model is an outdated model, as it positions audience as as passive. It has beenreplaced by the uses and gratifications model of audience behaviour, which positions audiences as active.

STUDIES USED TO SUPPORT THE EFFECTS MODEL 

Bobo doll (Albert Bandura, 1961) We read David Gauntlett's article 10 Things Wrong With The Media Effects Model (1998). In it, he refers to the artificiality of such studies shown by researchers such as Borden (1975).

THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN MORAL PANICS  Read The Guardian article (screenshot below) Include the article below about how films have been implicated in producing copycat crime. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 - ADORNO AND THE CULTURE INDUSTRY

For Theodore Adorno,  advertising creates false needs. Adorno (1903-69) argued that capitalism fed people with the products of a 'culture industry' - the opposite of 'true' art - to keep them passively satisfied and politically apathetic.

Adorno suggested that culture industries churn out a debased mass of unsophisticated, sentimental products which have replaced the more 'difficult' and critical art forms which might lead people to actually question social life.

False needs are cultivated in people by the culture industries. These are needs which can be both created and satisfied by the capitalist system, and which replace people's 'true' needs - freedom, full expression of human potential and creativity, genuine creative happiness.

Products of the culture industry may be emotional or apparently moving, but Adorno sees this as cathartic - we might seek some comfort in a sad film or song, have a bit of a cry, and then feel restored again. 

5 - AUDIENCES AS ACTIVE (3 items)

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is a theory which suggests there are 5 stages people go through in life. The theory says that at each stage we have different motivations that drive us. We use different media, for example, to meet different needs:
" Safety- Linkedin, where you are able to find jobs and networks that could open doors for your career path.
Love/Belonging- Facebook, Google +, where you are able to reconnect and gain relationships, whether it is in the form of acquaintances, friends, lovers or family.
Self-Esteem- Twitter, where you are able to share your experiences, achievements that will help you boost your confidence and gain respect from others.
Self-Realization- Tumblr, Blogspot, Wikipedia, where you are allowed to share your knowledge, interests, inner thoughts and your creativity." (Source https://socialmediaandtheself.wordpress.com/)

 

WHY AUDIENCES CONSUME TEXTS: THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS MODEL

We look at different models of audience behaviour. Mediaknowall will remind you of what we discussed.
The uses and gratifications model of audience behaviour (Blumler and Katz, 1974)

THE TWO-STEP FLOW MODEL

Katz and Lazarsfeld assumes a slightly more active audience. It suggests messages from the media move in two distinct ways.  
First, individuals who are opinion leaders, receive messages from the media and pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content. The information does not flow directly from the text into the minds of its audience, but is filtered through the opinion leaders who then pass it on to a more passive audience.
The audience then mediate the information received directly from the media with the ideas and thoughts expressed by the opinion leaders, thus being influenced not by a direct process, but by a two step flow.
This theory appeared to reduce the power of the media, and some researchers concluded that social factors were also important in the way in which audiences interpret texts. This led to the idea of active audiences.

6 -RECEPTION THEORY - STUART HALL AND CULTURAL STUDIES

RECEPTION THEORY positions audiences as active. 
It focuses on the scope in textual analysis for 'negotiation' and 'opposition' on the part of the audience. This means that a text ( a book, film, advert, poster or other creative work) is not passively accepted by the audience but that the reader / viewer interprets the meanings of the texts based on their individual cultural background and life experiences.
Stuart Hall’s encoding / decoding model; dominant (or preferred), negotiated and oppositional readings; why Hall says he studies culture instead of media specifically, and media hegemony. Audiences are no longer considered passive recipients.

A 40-year-old man and a 10-year-old girl would not interpret an episode of The Simpsons in the same way.

7 - EXIT POLLS 

The BFI carries out exit polls to assess audience response at film screenings. Here is one example (name, director, date). '71, directed by Yann Demange, 2014

8 - THE ROLE OF THE BBFC

The BBFC looks at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, dangerous and easily imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, and violence when making decisions. The theme of the work is also an important consideration. They also consider context, the tone and likely impact of a work on the potential audience. Audiences are therefore guided in their viewing; vulnerable audiences are protected. Similar regulation applies to the viewing of video games which are regulated by PEGI

2 CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION

HOW DO YOUR PRODUCTS ENGAGE WITH THE AUDIENCE AND HOW WOULD THEY BE DISTRIBUTED AS REAL MEDIA TEXTS?

HOW DO YOUR PRODUCTS ENGAGE WITH THE AUDIENCE?

You make an audience profile that demonstrates understanding of the fact that all products are targeted at specific audiences. You show that you know the target audience for your film by creating a profile of them. You then show how you engaged them through marketing strategies. You also write about your production itself: the ways in which the film diverts your audience and how the opening creates suspense /enigma, how the people in your film interest your audience, how its genre is signalled, thereby making it easier to understand. When reading this, do you recognise some of the strands of the uses and gratifications model of audience behaviour?

WHAT YOU WRITE

SLIDE 1
TITLE: MY TARGET AUDIENCE
or DEFINING MY TARGET AUDIENCE
or..
I needed to plan how to reach my target audience. Therefore, I needed to know who they are (factors that may be relevant include age, gender, ethnicity, social class), what their media needs are (so that I could produce a product that they will want) and how to reach them (to market my film). I will show how my research has shaped / influenced my planning.
......................................................                 .................................             ..................................................
SLIDE 2
TITLE: HOW BRANDS DEFINE AUDIENCES

I started by investigating how brands define audiences in preparation for creating my own audience profile for my AS Foundation Production. 
For example, I saw how Bauer Media, NME and Sky defined audiences. This helped me profile my audience. ADD YOUR 3 SCREENSHOTS HERE ON THIS SLIDE 
Mine are below; I have emailed you the same but feel free to use your pwn)
................................                         ...........................................................                  ..........................................
SLIDE 3 
TITLE: AUDIENCE THEORY
I have researched various aspects of audience theory, such as whether audiences are considered passive or active, how audiences are defined and segmented, what audiences aspire to and how they use media to gratify their needs. I have considered how the notion of audience is linked to theories about how audiences interpret texts, such as reception theory. I have also looked at current ideas about the notion of audience, such as participatory culture.
ADD YOUR SLIDESHARE ABOUT MEDIA AUDIENCES
...................................              .......................................                 .........................           ...............................
SLIDE 4 
TITLE: MY AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE

I devised an audience questionnaire and analysed the results
Your Slideshare goes here
When you have results, they go here BUT you need to get more respondents to you audience questionnaire.

.....................................              .......................................                 .........................           ...............................
SLIDE 5
TITLE: MY AUDIENCE PROFILE
or WHO IS MY TARGET AUDIENCE?
I analysed my questionnaire data and I created an audience profile
Who Is My Target Audience: Action Steps

1. Who is my primary target audience? For example: British, male and female 18-45+ who love thriller films, TV crime drama and psychological thrillers.
2. What kind of films and television are they likely to prefer? 
3. What platforms do they choose to watch films and where are they likely to see information about films?
4. What brands do they prefer? (food, clothing, media)

Make your audience profile in PP or in Photoshop 
See examples below on Audience Profiles 

Lewis Harland: audience profile for Out Of Sight 2012

You can easily make an Audience Profile in PowerPoint, like the one below for the year 12 film Fractures which is half finished. It took about 5 minutes.
Remember to use social media visuals as your target audience will use Instagram, FB, Twitter, YouTube for info about films.
WHAT TO WRITE: draw attention to the new ways in which audiences interact with films, such as FB, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube trailers as well as the traditional film website and P&A.

.................................................................                         .........................................           ...............................
SLIDE 6
TITLE: OUR MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION STRATEGIES:
According to Matt Smith of Lionsgate, speaking on the FDA site, the spend on digital has increased enormously. Audiences expect to see information about film releases online. What is more, distributors now cut their films for phone screens, using portrait rather than landscape. They also make them shorter as attention spans are shorter. Because of this, distributors screening a trailer add an advisory notice at the start telling audiences  not to jump sites (clicking off) as a trailer that's worth watching is coming up.

As part of distributing my film, I have devised marketing strategies, such as reaching out to my target audiences through a film website, Facebook page, Twitter page, Instagram and P&A (a film poster). 
Here you put your film website, Facebook page, Twitter page, Instagram or P&A (a film poster). Divide up the work. There is no need to create one each: give an account of what YOU individually made first and then copy the others from your production team.
.................... .......
SLIDE 7
TITLE: OUR FILM'S USP

MY FILM'S USP

In addition to profiling my audience, I worked out why they would enjoy our film. 
Ask yourself: Why would they want to watch my film? What makes my film different from competing films ? How will my film appeal to viewing needs of my target audience?

What makes my film stand out from the competition? For example:  Our film is about a war photographer who suffers from post-traumatic stress and kidnaps a child.

Why should my audience watch my film? For example:  Total Film / Empire / Cinema Scope / Slant / Sight and Sound says: Most powerful psychological thriller since Don't Look Now!

This next hint is taken from the Teaching Trailers resource but what it says about a film's USP can apply to film openings, too.

How do Trailers help fill cinemas?
Trailers are part of the marketing campaign and they may use the genre to gain audience interest. However at the same time they must show how the film is different, new and something that hasn't been made before in that particular genre. This is the USP (unique selling point). The USP is the thing that separates each movie and they must convey this within the trailer. 
USP could be: 

• the innovative use of special effects

• an unusual mix of genres

• a popular star

..............    .................            ............

MY RESEARCH INTO HOW BRANDS PROFILE AUDIENCES IS BELOW:

Some brands go further than merely have Twitter feeds: I also discovered how a really big budget can buy cross-platform integration of a film launch with an existing successful product that engages an established successful audience. In this example, Lionsgate's Nerve (2016) was linked to Celebrity Big Brother by Sky Media

"We all know young people are big users of social media, and therefore to truly engage with this audience, the use of a social platform was key within the campaign. Furthermore, reports show that 74% millennials, particularly 14 to 17-year-olds, regularly use smartphones during TV viewing*. A programme was needed to unite the target demographic by driving social media conversations.
Since its launch, Celebrity Big Brother has been the most talked about TV programme on Twitter, topping the Instar Social leader board as Twitter’s most-talked-about TV show during the 29 day series. Offering a strong teen audience on-air and mass social following online, Celebrity Big Brother provided the perfect platform for the ‘Nerve’ film launch."

"The integration of Lionsgate film ‘Nerve’ was a great success for Celebrity Big Brother, demonstrating a seamless brand integration. The high-pressure challenges of ‘Nerve’ the film translated well to challenges for the housemates. They launched the task just 2 days before the opening night of the film and successfully integrated the look and feel of the Nerve brand. This partnership demonstrates that, when executed well, promotional activity in Big Brother can enhance editorial and leverage for brand awareness in show.” 

BELOW IS WHAT WE COVERED EARLIER IN THE WEEK: HOW WOULD THEY BE DISTRIBUTED AS REAL MEDIA TEXTS?

Follow the guidance on the OCR Claremont A2 blog here
See how my students have followed the guidance :Claremont student blogs here and here.

Work your way logically through all the steps of the question. Illustrate points with screenshots: a picture is worth a thousand words!

Update the FDA screenshots. Here is the FDA  website that you used for research.

RESEARCH ON THE FDA WEBSITE

The Role of the distributor is to sell the film to cinemas so that the film can earn a revenue. They do this by:

- Identifying its audience
- Considering why they'd go see the film
- Estimating the revenue
- Persuading exhibitors to play the film to the public (in a cinema)
- Developing plans and partnerships
- Building interest and buzz about the film

- Aiming to convert as much interest as possible into film visits

SLIDE 8 and the following slides (you decide how many & how much can fit onto each one).

TITLE: 

HOW WOULD MY FILM BE DISTRIBUTED AS A REAL MEDIA TEXT?