target audience research

For a local Newspaper, the target audience isn’t so specified as other products such as a music magazine, or an action adventure film. Because this product is designed for all members of the local vicinity, it is important that it appeals to both genders, and range of ages. To make my product look as realistic as possible, and to ensure I achieve a high grade, I will do thorough research into the target audience of the existing products.


Firstly, I conducted a questionnaire to find out exactly who reads news papers, which will enable me to know who to aim my articles and features at in my Local Newspaper.

 

1.      When conducting my research, I felt it was key to get the basic information from my interviewees, which will help me find what kind of audiences read local newspapers. I recordered the gender and age of the audience concerned, and portrayed It in a graph, making it easy to analyse

2.     Now that I collected the basic information about the audience, I asked them if they read the local newspaper. This would give me a cross range answer, and an insight idea of what ages actually read the Local Newspaper the Most. The chart above has reordered information for Males. The most popular age amongst the males to read the local newspaper is 41-60 year olds. Local Newspapers are proven unpopular towards teenage boys, leaving the 16-20 column empty. This research tells me that Local newspapers, amongst the male gender is most popular to middle aged men. I will continue to pursue my research into this, by conducting more questionnaires designed specifically to that age. Because the ages 61+ and 21-40 year olds came a close second, I will also consider them in my research.

3.Likewise to how I ordered my research from the male Gender, I did the same for females. My research shows that Local Newspapers are quite more popular to females than males. The most popular age amongst the people I asked are 41-60, and the 61+ year olds. Again this suggests the middle aged is more inclined and enjoy reading a local newspaper compared to other ages. The fact that the 16-20 year old female that I asked has selected yes, shows me that Local Newspapers may be more appealing towards female teenagers than males. I will conduct further research on this, to find out exactly what my target audiences want out of my Local Newspaper, and make my Newspaper look as realistic as possible.

From collecting some basic audience research, I am going to study the audiences further, to gain a greater knowledge and understanding of the types of things the readers like in a Local Magazine. Because for both Genders, the most popular age range that read Local Newspapers was 41-60, I will start with that age group, and try to appeal to them most. Taking this into consideration, I showed the front 2 pages of the Sunderland Echo two both male and female in the age of 41-60, and asked them a few questions.

1.      What factors highlight that the newspaper is local?

Women: The masthead name and colour scheme together

Man: The word choice ‘Houghton woman & Local Area’. Also there is local advertising.

2.      What appeals most to you on the front page?

Women: The main image is bright and cheerful, shows a happy family, gives a happy vibe!

Man: The adverts, and the price.

SECOND PAGE

3.      What do you notice is different to the layout of the second page to the first?

Women: No heading, more info on emergency numbers and general useful contacts.

Man: Is an index

4.      What appeals to you most on this page?

Women: Again the images, show happy people, makes you want to read the articles. Also the heading is quite knowledgeable because you learn about national milk day.

Man: The article headline about the dad is quite infuriating and makes you want to read more.

ADVERTISEMENTS

5.      What advertisement on the front page appeals to you more?

Women: Personally, the Frankie and Bennies one as I have a big family and it would be nce to treat them to a Breakfast there! The foods great!

Man: The Frankie and Bennies advert, the car advert is too small in comparison.

6.      Do the advertisements distract attention from the main article?

Woman: Yes it’s very colourful and the words are very large and big, easy to see.

Men: Yes the food side tracks you.

INCLUDING AND APPEALING TO A TEENAGE AUDIENCE

(Research/questionnaire/analysis)

Target Audience research!

In order to broaden the target audience of my local newspaper and appeal more to teenagers, I used the social networking site ‘Facebook’ to do some target audience research. The target audience of Facebook is mostly teenagers and having a Facebook account at my disposal, I decided to ask my friends what they thought on Local Newspapers. The answers I receive will help me adjust and subvert existing conventions of local Newspapers so that they appeal more to teenagers.

  Already, I can see that the teenage audience I asked enjoy reading local Newspapers. This fundamentally tells me that teenagers are interested in the news of their City. I intend in my own product to make it exciting and interactive for this audience. Interestingly, the genders who answered this question balance out. Again this suggests that a Local Newspaper is gender neutral.

The intention of this question was to find out how involved teenagers were in the purchasing of Local newspapers and whether they would spend their pocket money on it. The answers I received tell me they read it from a family member, suggesting they wouldn’t themselves go out their way to buy one. This tells me that marketing strategies towards the teenage audience aren’t as emphasized and promoted as other audiences. By improving this for my own product, I will be able to appeal more to that age.  

To approach this section of my target audience on a less formal tone and make the questionnaire more comfortable for them, I asked them a basic question to get to know their personal opinion. The most popular choice was ‘Main article and headline’. This research will help me when it comes to construction my product as I will know to include more conventions into this feature to make it appeal more to teenagers. Article image was also selected which tells me that my main image will make an immediate impression on the audience and therefore more be tailored suitably to my target audience.

The purpose of this question was to see how much the local conventions of a newspaper had an effect on the audience and what differences they notice from national to local papers. It is evident from my research that the masthead is the main feature that enlightens them the paper is local and therefore for my own product I will concentrate on the masthead of it and make sure it has a catchy and eye catching name that registers to the audience its purpose.

This question will not only help the construction of my product, but my ancillary task which is to build a website to help the promotion of the paper. It is a stereotypical assumption that teenagers and the younger children are very interested in developing technology. The main audience of the internet and social sites is teenagers and by creating my product on a platform that is more adaptable and accessible for them is a way of promoting my product to that target audience.

I asked an open question in the questionnaire to draw a more evaluative conclusion and also be on a more personal level with my audience. I wanted to know whether they felt Included in the audience of a local newspaper. Nearly all my response tells me they think Local Newspapers are more targeted for middle- older aged locals. Because the teenagers I have asked have built this assumption on the grounds of looking at previous products, this tells me not many features included appeal to them. This has gave me the initiative to stretch the target audience of a local paper even further with attempt to make them feel included and welcome of hearing news from their local vicinity.

How has this research helped me/what have I learned?

·        Out of my research I Was hoping to get an idea of what teenager’s thoughts and emotions are towards local newspapers. For my own creation I will manipulate some of their response and use them to my advantage to appeal more to that specific target audience.

·        I have learned that the format of the news being online will be more appealing to their age and more dynamic for them as they frequently use internet and social networking sites. This will meet their needs and gratifications to a more successful level.              

·        I have differentiated teenage expectations of a local newspaper to middle-older aged locals.

Production

To make sure my creative decisions were appealing to my target audience, I printed off the work I have done so far and asked a fair representation their opinion on it.

Lauren Kirtley and Kirsti Anderson, aged 18 said that

·      They like the Crayola article as they thought it was something different and created variety.

·      The image was their main attraction to the article, the bright red colour of the costume.

 James Redford, 18 commented

·      There was a variety of articles and something that could appeal to everyone. The review as really helpful as I’m interested in the Empire.

·      I really like the layout; it’s easy to follow!

Points they didn’t like:

Lauren ‘There’s a lack of images and too much text, may add a couple of more images to break the text up!

James “The box at the bottom of the page doesn’t look very professional because of the big gap. Maybe get rid of that

Talking to my target audience has really helped me evaluate where I’m at with my product. It has been helpful, as I know what areas to improve with. 

genre research

For my newspaper product, the Genre is going to be ‘Local’. It is extremely important that before I construct my product, I do thorough research into the existing genre, to make my product as realistic as possible. Genre is seen as a structuralist approach to literary, print, film theory and much more. Studying the ‘Local Newspaper’ genre, I will be able to find and examine the structural elements that combine and put together the telling of a story, or events in the case of my product. I will be able to base my product on these elements, also known as ‘Paradigm’. I will analyse and take apart several different local Newspapers, to see if a fundamental pattern emerges. Here I will distinguish the Genre, and with it the conventions that belong to it.

There is Genres for almost every creative product, for example, films, tv shows, newspapers, magazines, documentaries, books and much more. It is important that when whatever product you are going to construct, moving image or print, that you have a genre in mind, with conventions that will help you produce the product to a successful level. Some Genres, appeal to audiences more than others, for example some people prefer reading a tabloid newspaper than a Broadsheet, so with the importance of Genre, comes the importance of appealing to the correct audience. Directors of films can look at existing Genres to see how well they appeal to audiences, and this will determine whether they will base their film on that Genre.

For my product, the genre of my Newspaper will be Local. With a local Newspaper, it is deemed important for it to appeal to the full extent of the city/town it concerns. The rules of genre can be applied to my product, and promote the organisation of my product. Over the years, the boundaries between genres have decreased, and some critics say it’s hard to define a products genre. Some conventions overlap, and one product could include elements from several different genres. In order to make sure I keep to my correct genre, I will follow the description by Jane Furere, who divided ways to categorize genres, into 3 separate groups.  

A newspaper is a source of information in print for the public to read. It is the equivalent to what is on news channels, however in a written format, which can be read on busses, trains or simply in the house for morning reading. There are different formats of newspapers available to suit different audience types. A tabloid newspaper has news based on celebrities and gossip that will interest the mass audience, whereas a Broadsheet newspaper touches on political and business matters, for example the Guardian or the Independent.

Newspapers have both a visual and literal element available to the audience, and can be referred back to and re-read. Special editions of newspapers are available for things of mass interest to the audience, for example Royal Weddings and the Olympics which can be kept as souvenirs of the events. Audiences have a chance to get more involved with the news by reading a newspaper, as news articles are wrote more directly, some using first person pro nouns. Typical conventions of newspapers that allow a closer relationship are competitions and quizzes, and even posters.

An audience reading a newspaper may digest more news than someone watching it, as they are paying their full attention to the article, and may feel more obliged to read the stories in depth as they have paid for it.

Paradigms is the explanation of all conventions of a genre being put together, and being recognised as a genre.
view this link to see my research of codes and conventions of Local Newspapers
Before I researched into the conventions of the existing products, I analysed a front page of a local Newspaper to see what my initial knowledge is. I will later compare the comventions before and after.

please click on this link to view the text more closely!

Analysising existing products-

To construct a Local Newspaper to the best of my abilities, I am going to deconstruct several Local Newspapers so that I am familiar with the standard conventions and layout. This will help me when it comes to constructing my own Newspaper, as I’ll use and develop the existing conventions that I learn about.  

click here to see my research on codes and conventions of existing Local Newspapers
click here to view my research on anchored images

click here to see my deconstruction of the first 2 pages of the Sunderland Echo 

EXTRA THOUGHTS

In this particular local Newspaper, ‘The Wear’, two main stories are featured on the front page, own with a political theme, the other about a house fire. Positioned to the right of the front cover is a ‘spoiler’ column of what the audience can expect to find inside, constructed similar to a contents table. There are several features from the contents page that will attract different audiences, maximizing the overall potential audience of the Newspaper. For example, there is a News section with a ‘Politics special’. This can interest a range of different ages who are interested in politics, persuading them to pick up the Local Newspaper. The next column down is ‘On Campus’, which is specifically for teenagers attending college/ University, so immediately we can see the Newspaper is appealing to different types of audiences, and aren’t specifically appealing towards an age group, or a gender. Also on the ‘What’s inside’ table is a ‘Fashion’ column, and further down a ‘Sports’ column. Those who pick up the newspaper will immediately be able to see that it has something in for everyone. This persuades when I construct my own newspaper to include features that will appeal to both genres, of different ages.

According to Galtung And Ruges theory, the more new values a story has in, the more popular and newsworthy they prove to be. The news articles on the front page of ‘The Wear’ are most likely to be chosen according to the amount of news values they have. Within the ‘New Mayor vows to do city proud’ article, there is lots an abundance of new values that together, will make the article News worthy. One of the news values included is ‘Reference To Elite Person’. This is when a rich person or someone with a high status of power is featured in an article. In this particular article, this concerns the mayor, who in the article picture is having his chain of honour placed around his neck, clearly showing the audience he is the new mayor adding a visual factor. Another news value included is ‘Meaningfulness’. For the people of Sunderland, this articles definitely concerns them as they are been given a new mayor. The target audience of the Newspaper is initially, the people of Sunderland; therefore this article achieves the goal of appealing to the intended audience. Another news value included in the article is ‘Conflict’, although it is only minor, and can be considered quite humorous. The new mayor I said to be a Newcastle fan “The chains of the office were passed down to Sunderland’s new mayor Dennis Richardson this week, despite his being a Newcastle United fan”.

  I took a closer look at the articles on the front page, and deconstructed what slection values, news values and treatment values were included by the journalist.



























Deconstructing the articles has helped my understanding of how an article is written. I have learnt that it is important to consider what newsvalues and treatment values will appeal to your target audience, to ensure they will have an enjoyable read. When making my product, I will refer back to my notes on article writing to help me achieve a high grade.

poster ancillary task

FLAT PLANS!

I have constructed a flat plan for what my initial thought for the layout and presentation of my poster will be. Here is my rationale explaining my choices.

Colour:

For my newspaper poster ancillary task,  I intend to use the same colour scheme as my newspaper, to achieve the product having a house style and proving recognisable to the audience. Since the newspaper is local, the poster will therefore be local to. Because of this I want my colour scheme to represent the local proximity successfully, to make audiences aware that the paper is local. I will use red, white and black as my main colours, as these best represent the city of Sunderland. These colour mean a great depth to the locals, especially those intrigued with football. It is important that these colours are gender neutral as it means both can relate to the product. Also the red and white colours unite the community, whatever age or gender you are, as people feel a strong passion and admiration towards the football club, and therefore the newspaper because they think it’s supporting it. The poster will immediately alert people of this and persuade them to seek the newspaper and purchase it. If I include an image on my poster, I want the colour palette to be natural so the audience can for see the paper as being relatable and realistic.

Images:

For my poster, I intend to have one main dominating image to captivate the audience and initially persuade them to go and purchase the newspaper. The role of the Poster is to introduce the audience to the newspaper and act as an icebreaker. This means that the poster needs to be welcoming and energetic, to best represent newspaper and show it as friendly. Therefore my main image will be a close up of a satisfied reader. This will act as a reaction shot and captivate their happy smile, showing to the audience that the newspaper is a joyous read. Because the poster includes a reader means the target audience can relate to it immediately, and share the same views on it. The mise en scene within the image is going to be basic, as to not distract attention away from the reaction shot. It will be in the local surroundings, a recognisable place so the target audience can immediately establish that the poster is advertising a local newspaper. Because the person featured is going to be a relatable device to my poster, she/he will need to be down to earth, their clothing will be simply yet attractive. The colour palette and lighting will be natural to portray a relatable person.

Text:

My poster will include text that will represent my local newspaper. The slogan will be catchy and I will consider using rhetoric devices to captivate the target audience and persuade them to purchase the newspaper. With text, elements such as syntax and lexica field have to be considered, which will influence my word choice. I will choose a slogan which will appeal to my entire target audience, even if it is interpreted differently. The masthead will be the largest text on the page (technical code), to initiate to the potential audience the newspaper it is advertising, (symbolic code). The slogan will be positioned directly under the image, following the natural human eye flow, making it easily digestible. Any extra information such as website links or telephone numbers will be positioned on the bottom left, following existing conventions. This also means it isn’t distracting the reader’s attentions from main conventions of the poster which will persuade them tp purchase the product more than the extra information.

After creating a flat plan of my poster, I constructed a hand drawing of a rough plan of my main image. Although it is just an idea, I made a few additional notes which will help me decide whether I wish to pursue this idea and carry out the photo shoot.

This promotional film poster can be expected to be found a place where the audience will have enough time to digest the information supplied, and get a taste of what the film is about. From the poster, we can guess this is a teaser poster as a date isn’t specified; however a time period is given. This poster would be found in bus shelters, when those waiting for the bus have time to look over it, and may even supply them entertainment while they wait. We can also expect to find it in cinemas, and billboards.

Passing the poster quickly, the main things the audience would notice would be the main characters as they are the biggest features of the poster and are centered directly in the middle. The colours of the characters are also more heavy darks, and appear to have a thicker texture, making them more noticeable against the washed out background. The other element of the poster the audience would notice would be the title as the heads of the characters are overlapping it, and the audience’s eye would be immediately drawn to it. The colour is also startling white, contrasting with the washed out background.

From the poster, the audience will be able to interpret that these characters may be the protagonist. It is clear from the positioning of the men that the man in front is Sherlock Holmes, and we can presume from his confident smile, that the man behind him is his accomplice.

In the background of the poster, several items are featured which will give an insight to the audience of what the fill is about. Firstly, we can see a gun. This suggests immediately to the audience that the film is an action adventure, or will have some levels of violence. A series of newspapers are also featured. Due to the large amount of technology platforms available for communication today, this suggests to the audience that the film is set in the past, and perhaps have some political views featured. Furthermore, suggesting that the film is set in the past, there is a bottle of poison, an old fashion method of killing.  

DECONSTRUCTIONS OF NEWSPAPERS:

For this poster, it is affective in appealing to its target audience as it is gender neutral. The features included on the receipt will equally appeal to male and female. Although this is an advert for a national newspaper, I learnt the generic conventions and will be able to adapt them to my own product. I have learnt that a simple style can be made effective.

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2.

By looking at existing products from both national and local products, I have learnt a great deal about the conventions included which will help me product my own product. For example I have learnt that the colour scheme is important and can connote emotions as well as represent a house style. Other things I have learnt:

• An image doesn’t necessarily have to be of a person.
• Layout can help frame the image
• Posters include websites, which helps portray the product as diverse.