“The Media: An Introduction Edited by Adam Briggs and Paul Cobley.” “Chapter 17 Audience research by Ray Kent”. Longman 2002. ISBN 0-582-42346-5 * “The Media Magazine. The English and Media Centre.” “How I make things. Garth Jennings on making a TV commercial”. Issue 39 / February 2012. ISSN 1478-8616 “The Media Magazine. The English and Media Centre.” “Adjudicating ads. Claire Forbes”. Issue 23 / February 2008. ISSN 1478-8616 “The Media Students Book 4th Edition”, “Chapter 9 Advertising and Branding”: Gill Branston and Roy Stafford: Routledge 2007: ISBN 0-415-37143-0 “Top 30 Programmes” : Broadcasters Audience Research Board http://www.barb.co.uk/ www.barb.co.uk/viewing “How we do what we do”:Broadcasters Audience Research Board http://www.barb.co.uk/ www.barb.co.uk/viewing “Viewing data”:Broadcasters Audience Research Board http://www.barb.co.uk/www.barb.co.uk/viewing “Five controversial TV and internet ads – video” - The Guardianwww.theguardian.com › News › Media › Ad break : “Advertising Standards Authority”: https://www.asa.org.uk/
“AS Media Studies: The Essential Introduction Second Edfition. Philip Rayner, Peter wall and Stephen Kruger.” “Part 4: Three Case Studies. Case Study 2: advertising and marketing.” Routledge 2005. ISBN 0-415-32966-3
“Advertising | How to Advertise on Channel 4 and its platforms”: http://www.channel4sales.com/advertising.
Where You Can Find Information on Television Ratings and Why This Information Is Useful
You can find information on television ratings from reliable sources such as BARB. BARB stands for 'Broadcasters' audience research board' and around 11,500 individuals have BARB within their homes and this records what programmes they watch and who is in the room watching. The data is collected overnight and ratings are published at 9:30 AM the following morning for use by TV stations and advertising industries. This information is useful because it allows the industry to focus on the not so popular shows to boost publicity and hopefully boost their ratings. The reason some people may not be watching some shows is because they might not know that they're showing so knowing the ratings can help with this problem. Also it shows key strengths within the industry and it gives shows objectives, I.E getting a certain rating morning and if it drops, to change their regime.
What A Programme Profiles Is and Why An Advertising Company Might Find One Useful
Programme profiles is a breakdown of who watches the programme. This is useful to an advertiser because it allows them to target adverts to specific programmes. For example, the majority of people that would watch Downtown Abbey are women 50+ therefore the adverts shows during the breaks would be ones that are aimed to that audience. Another example would be if the a football match was on. The majority of people that watch the football are men therefore, the adverts that would show in the break would be things such as: Gillette, Razors, Nivea Men etc.
What A Rate Card Is and Why It Is Useful For An Advertising Company (ITV Media)
A rate card is how much it costs to put an advert on. Rates depend on hours, for example 'Coronation Street' is much more expensive than other programmes that are shown at a earlier, unsocial hour. This is useful for an advertising company because it creates competition in the sense that not all advertising companies can afford to pay the rates for their advertisement which allows other companies to then swoop in and take the slot.
What Information Can Be Found In An Online Advertisers' Information Packs (Channel4sales&ITV)
Both of these popular TV stations show the advertising industry what is new to their channel which gives advertisers the choice and the understanding of what audiences would be watching which they can then compare to what they want their target audiences are. They also include sponsorship and why they should choose their channel. Sponsorships are useful to advisors because it brings in money for the advertisers; they get money for trying to make money, basically. They also get publicity which makes whatever they're advertising more popular.
Throughout the media industry the audience and their desires, preferences and opinions plays an important role. The entire media texts are made with an audience in mind. The producers can even make some money out of the audience, not always; sometimes. Therefore, it is important to understand what happens when an audience is introduced to a media text. Also, advertisers want to sell their products, so when they study their audience they will have a better understanding in trying to connect their product with the audience. That is why advertising industries gather information before they start producing a new advertising campaign. There are four types of audience research; descriptive, analytical, predictive and tracking In the advertising industry audiences are carefully studied so that advertisers can understand exactly how to sell to them.
Audiences are divided and labelled into the following categories:
Standard Occupational Classification (sometimes called social grade by advertising companies)
This is a method of dividing and labelling consists of using letter codes to show their income bracket. I.E - A - Bankers, lawyers, doctors and other highly paid professions. B - teachers, graphic designers. C - nurses, office supervisors. D - skilled workers, tradesperson. E - semi/unskilled manual workers and finally F - students, unemployed, pensioners and casual workers. It is important to divide the audience into these letter codes so researchers give the correct information that is relevant to each profession.
Psychographics (a common attitude)
This method is when you divide audiences depending on the common attitudes within the audience. This includes: personality, values, interests, attitudes and lifestyles. Within this category, the publishers focus on the audiences interests activities and opinions. This is important again so the publishers know their audiences and understand them in a deeper way.
Geodemographics (where they live)
This is another method on how to get a clear target audience. This is when the publisher focuses on where the audience lives and is based on two rules. 1) People that live within the same area are more likely to share the same characteristics rather than two people from two different towns and 2) two neighbourhoods can be placed within 1 category because although they live in different areas, they may still have similar personalities. This is important to publishers because they could publish different adverts in different towns depending on the attitudes of them.
Age
Age is important when it comes to audiences because interests and occupations depend on the persons age. For example, 16 year olds aren't going to care about gardening, however, people that are 50+ are more likely to have a greater interest within the matter.
Gender
This category is important, although some people may like to categorise some aspects as sexist; it is the truth. Girls and boys have different interests, for example, girls would be more interested in makeup rather than football and vice versa. That is why it is important for publishers so they understand the generation and interests of the generation at hand.
How Information About Audiences Is Gathered By Advertising Companies
Information about audiences is gathered through 4 basic types of research. These 4 types are: descriptive research; describes the audiences characteristics. Analytical research; understands 'how' 'why' and 'what' motivates the audience. Predictive research; considers 'what if' situations and questions the audience. Tracking research; long-term research.
Usually a audience research agency, such as BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) sample a population and monitor them over a period of 7 days. The data that was received is then spread across the whole population, based on percentage sample. All individuals ages 4+ are measured by BARB to get an overall idea of what to publish. The advertising agency pays the television station a certain amount of money based on its viewers.
BARB research:
Ofcom research:
Ofcom carries out research on the markets that they regulate. This includes things like their communications market report, annual report into the consumer experience, etc. Their research helps keep others informed on the new technology developments and the impact on the things that their markets regulate such as: TV, radio and on demand, telecoms, internet and many more.
Audience measurement panel is how many people are within the audience. Whether that be how many people are watching TV, listening to the radio or reading the newspaper. This helps producers understand their audience because if they're losing viewers they will change what they're advertising in order to regain interest in people. However, The Panel is just a representation, it's not exactly accurate because each person represents a number of people in the universe (particular country/area) and if 1 person represents the universe that means that every person represents 10,000 people which isn't correct. In contrast, it is impossible to interview every single person on the earth to get an exact preference so therefore, it is the most accurate way to go about it. if you want a representation of the world.
Before planning a new advertising campaign it is important to conduct research. This is because in order to advertise a new product, you are going to need to know what the audience are in need of or what their desires are so then you are able to provide the correct information that will help them understand your business and draw in customers. Doing research will also help you understand the audience as well as them understanding you. The understanding of your audience will include: their age, their interests, their living area. These are important so you know how to conduct your advert.
There are 4 main categories, them being: Primary research, secondary research, quantitative data and qualitative data and three different purposes of why the research is carried out, them being: audience research, market research and production research.
Primary Research
Primary research examples are: carrying out questionnaires, surveys, internet forums and interviews/group research. Primary research is when you carry one or more of them examples to find out specific issues from your target audience and all your research is original data personally produced by the researcher. Researchers might use primary research to ensure they can trust the information that they are given and so they personally can interact with the audience and come to their own conclusions. An example of when to use primary research would be if you are trying to find out how what sort of music 15-18 year olds listen to using a questionnaire/survey.
Advantages:
- Greater control on how the information is collected.
- Focus' on specific issues.
- Being able to explore secondary research.\
Disadvantages:
- Expensive because the information has to be independently collected without an insight of any data prior to their research.
- Time consuming due to the fact that primary researchers start with no existing data so they have to find everything out from scratch.
Secondary Research
Secondary research is data originally found by someone else that is usually used alongside primary research. Secondary research is usually published in pamphlets, newsletters, trade publications, magazines and newspapers. People may choose to use secondary research when trying to educate other people whereas primary research is when you are trying to find out research for yourself. An example of when secondary research is used would be in magazines when you read about celebrity lives and all the 'rumours' that are said about them; rumours are secondary research. Advantages:
- Easy because you are using pre-existing information.
- Cheap because you don't have to pay to carry out your own research.
- Quick.
Disadvantages:
- You aren't aware of who did the research and how honest/accurate it is.
- The research could possibly be biased
- Inaccuracies cannot be checked
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is research that contains numbers and measurements. Quantitative data is usually shown as a set of numbers, displayed as charts/graphs and it can also be measured. This method of research is usually used to find out basic information about their targeted audience i.e questions such as: 'how old are you?' or 'how often...?' and these questions often feature in questionnaires. Quantitative research is useful for when you are trying to discover the number side of your research and because it is based on real data (facts) rather than opinions. Advantages
-Large samples, Large quantity of data.
-Easy to administer Disadvantages
-Difficult to design a suitable questionnaire that reveals the desires of your audience.
-Mostly get asked closed questions (yes/no questions)
-Not knowing whether the participant understands the questionnaire.
-Not knowing whether the participant is being honest.
-Closed questions cannot be adapted.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research helps you find out how people feel. They use open questions so they can elaborate their answers which makes their responses personal to the participant and they can't be measured. It's important to know what your audience is thinking. Qualitative surveys are usually in focus groups or could be a one-to-one interview.
Advantages
-You can ask subsidiary questions, to get in touch with your audience.
-Find out personal information about your audience.
Disadvantages -Small sample
-Time consuming
-Not representative
-Based on opinions rather than facts
Purposes
Audience Research
Audience research is when the purpose of the research is solely to find out more about your audience. There are four basic types of audience research and they are: descriptive research; describes your audience and their characteristics, i.e how old they are etc, analytical research: seeks to know what motivates your audience, why that motivates you and how it motivates you i.e 'Why did you buy the last Justin Bieber album but not his latest?', predictive research; considers 'what if' situations, i.e 'if we changed the name of our company, in what way would that affect us?'
tracking research; long term research that monitors changes taking place over time i.e 'how has the pattern for subscription season ticket sales changed over the past three years?'. Audience research is useful because in order to have a successful poll you need to have an understanding of your audience in one way or another, it also makes the participant feel as if you care about them rather than just your data.
Market Research
Market research is when you gather information about consumers needs and preferences for a product. Questions they may ask are: 'What other products are on the market?' or 'What can be done to improve out product?' etc. Research made by companies to understand what is needed in the market, that when you may use market research, that way you can learn about how to adjust your product to your audiences preferences and you can get rid of any competition within the same market. They are useful because it helps both the consumer and the provider, the consumer because they are getting what they want/need and the provider because they are selling it to them.
Production Research
Production research is used to gather material to allow a company to develop new products and ensure the whole process will run smoothly. In order to do this they investigate the technology and personnel available. You may use production research if the audience research goes well and the market analysis is favourable a media company may decide to launch a new product within that market. They are useful because they allow companies to develop new products.
Advertising needs to be regulated. Regulation takes place through two main bodies, the ASA and Ofcom. The ASA stands for advertising standard authority which was established back in 1962 by the advertising industry as a response to the complains about non-broadcast advertising. The ASA are responsible for 3 things, them being: the content of advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing in the UK, they ensure the advertising standard remain high by administering the Advertising Codes. The ASA are there in order to respond to public complaints of advertisements that may be misleading, harmful or offensive; they also conduct surveys of sensitive sectors. ASA cover all media advertisements. The second form of regulation for advertising is Ofcom and they are the commutations regulator which means they cover TV, radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. Ofcom duties are to ensure that the UK have a wide range of communicational services including high speed broadband, a variety of genres in association with high quality TV and radio programmes to appeal to a range of tastes and interests, they deal with offensive/harmful content and make sure that people who watch TV and listen to the radio are protected from this content, they protect people from discrimination in TV and radio programmes and from having their privacy invaded i.e when peoples faces are blurred in a documentary. Ofcom respond to complaints by reviewing it against the criteria (code of conduct) to ensure the complaint is valid. Any adverts that breach these codes will have to be amended or withdrawn and the advertiser will not be allowed to use this approach again. An example of codes for TV advertising would be environmental claims, they need to be up to date and not false information this also leads into another code which would be misleading the audience and prohibited advertising.
An example of particularly controversial advertisement would be the Maria Stopes abortion advert. The advert was deemed inappropriate because the audience interpreted the video as a promotion for abortion which is a sensitive subject for many viewers. As a result of this there were 1.088 complaints which was then dealt with by the ASA who then thought it was clear that the advertisers were promoting their post-conception service and offering advice on their hotline. It was ruled that the advert was neither advocating one course of action over another. However, in addition to the complaints there were over 3,600 other objections received some prior to the broadcast and some via petitions. As a result the complaints were not upheld.
An example of a recent that has been removed from the air would be the 'Beach Body Ready' advert. This advert was deemed unsuitable because it gives off the impression that in order to have a 'beach body' you have to look like like the model in the advert and this made women feel uncomfortable with their bodies and due to the concerns over its weight loss claim. There were over 360 complaints mostly because it was said that the advert objectified women. The ASA met with the company to discuss its health concerns and decided that the advert would be down within 3 days. The advert is shown below:
The apple music advertisement is in the style of famous faces due to it using celebrity endorsement and featuring faces such as Taraji P Henson, Mary J Blige and Kerry Washington. Due to the nature of this advert being a music advertisement i would say the target audience would be teenagers and young adults as they are the people that often interact with music the most in this generation; also, they are the people that are most likely to know the people in the advert because cinemas target audience is, although more broad, still for the younger generation more than the older generation. In an emotional sense, this advert triggers excitement because you see the people in the advert having fun, laughing, listening to music; as if the music is bringing them together which makes the audience want to purchase the app because you can listen to anything at anytime with anyone and have a good time. This advert uses a brand identity and this would be 'Apple'. Throughout the advert it shows various Apple products such as the Macbook,iPhone and Dr Dre Beats which encourages the audience to buy some of their other products too; you won't find a Samsung in this advert because it is specifically for Apple. There aren't any persuasive devices used in this advert. There aren't any special effects in this advert however, in relation to the camera work the director has used he uses a lot of long and wide shots. He uses long and medium shots as well, only close ups on the actual product to focus specifically on what they're trying to sell and its associates because usually apple music is complimentary to the apple iPhone so therefore they would be selling more than 1 product within 1 advert. Initially the advert begins in the form of an eye line match because the camera is showing what she is looking at which is the Apple Macbook. Straight cuts are used throughout the entire advert, the sound computer graphics have been used to enhance the music in the background that all of the women are dancing to. There is bright lightening throughout the advert due to the natural source of light used.
Advertisers are carefully when they make adverts. They choose their target audience carefully and styles that would appeal to different people.
Humour
An example of a humorous advert would be this Pepsi advert. This advert is based around the Pepsi can and its content; throughout the advert the main monk has a sign on his forehead that seems to make him significant over all the other training monks. Towards the end of the video we find out that the Pepsi can is imprinted on the main monks forehead, so when you bow down to the Pepsi can after you drink it thats when you are marked with the amazing mark of the 'all powerful Pepsi'. The humour found in this advert would be at the start of the video where he is just a young boy trying to do all of these adult activities but he is failing because he isn't as strong as the others. The humour is also found at the end of the advert when he gets an imprint on his forehead because the way he earned it was funny. The advert is memorable because of the effect of the advert and the imprint of the can it is as if you are now imprinted with the advert and you won't forget it. This advert is appropriate for the product because drinks are seen as a source of energy so if you have been given that much strength and power after being given a can of Pepsi, they will buy it. Which will also explain why the device is successful - other than it being a popular brand, they are also creative when it comes to their advertisements.
Parody
An advert in the style of a parody would be the John Lewis Advert. Though there isn't anything being advertised, it is as if they are advertising the penguin, Monty. The style make the audience feel a sympathy emotion for the penguin because he wants to find love and he's seeing couples everywhere and that is the thing he most desires. This makes the advert memorable because when you have an emotional connection with anything, you don't ever forget it. I think this style is appropriate because it is promoting christmas and christmas is all about love, family and desires. Therefore it makes this device successful because it spreads emotion around the audience.
Shock
An example of a shock advert would be the St Johns Ambulance Advert. The style of the advert makes the audience feel sympathy and sadness because it is as if the advert built up hope that the woman in the window was the little boys mother so she could help him after he fell out of the tree but in reality she was running outside to get her washing. However, if the father knew first aid he wouldn't have to rely on other people he could have saved his son himself. Makes the audience cautious for the near future and aware that it doesn't take long to learn first aid so that makes them eager to learn first aid so they are able to help anyone in any situation. That also explains why the advert is memorable because if you do take the advice into action then you will remember the reason as to why you chose to do so. This is appropriate for the service being advertised because ambulances are always a matter of life or death and in this case the little boy faced his death. In conclusion, this device is successful because it shows the worst possible scenario that is very likely to happen with young children and it tells you how you could avoid it.
Surrealism
An example of a surrealism advert would be the Terry Crews Odour Blocking. Surrealism isn't the only style that has been used in this advert; the other ones would be famous faces and humour. However, in this case i will only be focussing on the surreal element of the advert. Due to the surreal nature of the advert it may make the audience react in a different way that they would have aimed to - because the advert is so unrealistic they may think it is a good advert but the product won't live up to it's expectations. The style makes the advert memorable because it would get people talking about how funny, unrealistic it is featuring Terry Crews. The memorability might change if it was a random person. The style is most appropriate for the service it is trying to sell because it does refer back to the purpose of the product throughout the entire advert. Whether it is successful or not would depend on the person watching it, some people may buy it because Terry Crews uses it and the emphasis on 'Odour Blocker' has an impact on the product. However, some people may think the reasons i discussed earlier about it the product not living up to its expectation.
Famous Faces
An example of an advert which features famous faces would be the Iceland's advert with Peter Andre. Within this advert, they also use humour within this advert, however like i said before i will only focus on the initial one being famous faces. The fact that this advert uses famous faces to sell their product would make the audience feel as if it is a good place before it is being promoted by a famous person; as if Peter Andre himself actually shops there. They may also think they may see him in the supermarket like they did in the advert; they are perceived as being as normal as we are. Using famous faces makes the advert memorable because the face is a familiar face to everyone so people will discuss things like "oh did you see that advert featuring Peter Andre" - it gets the audience talking. This style is appropriate within the supermarket industry because like i said it is as if they are normal people, everyone needs to buy their food from somewhere, everyone goes to the supermarket - including celebrities. The advert and its style of famous faces is successful because it makes people want to shop at Iceland's if someone like Peter Andre shops there too.
Intertextuality
An example of an advert in the style which includes intertextuality would be the Sony advert. The style used makes the audience feel as if they're watching a movie rather than watching a an advert and where James Bond is a very popular movie, the audience will enjoy it because who doesn't love James Bond? - This is also the reason why the advert it memorable because it links in with features of a movie as well as selling its product. It's appropriate for the product being sold because James Bond is becoming a more technical movie so if it was being advertised by a technical franchise it just makes perfect sense. The device is successful because both James Bond and Sony are popular so them working together to make an advert is destined for success.
Repetition
An example of an advert that uses the style of repetition would be the Hastings Direct Advert. The repetition used makes the audience feel moved by the melody so therefore if they remember the number of '0800001066' then they are more likely to call them for their car insurance when in an emergency. Thats how it makes the advert memorable, the style used is the most appropriate for the car insurance because all you need to memorise is either the number or the email to be able to get a hold of cheap car insurance. Thats how they sell the device and thats how its successful.
Sex
An example of an advert that uses the style of sex would be the Lynx advert. The style being used gives the advertisement a sexual emotion to the audience because it is as if the man is attracting all these beautiful angels and turning them into bad girls. This advert is memorable because it uses the style of sex and in this generation that style is very popular amongst teenagers and young adults; it's a very popular thing therefore it is easy for people to remember because they are interested in that style. The style is appropriate for the product because it is said that 'If a person smells nice it automatically makes them more attractive' therefore if you wear their product then you will attract all the beautiful girls. Therefore, it makes the device successful because it makes the boys want to attract a lot of women.
