Task 7 - Audience Research

Task 7

Audience Research

There are many sources of information. They are very useful. The first one is Television Ratings. Television is the ultimate world of advertising media and finding out vital information. Television is useful because the TV doesn't lie. Advertisements have to be 100% truthful no matter how they may twist words. I find television a useful way of finding the cheapest but best beauty products because there are always adverts on TV about them and I evaluate which products would be most benefitial for me. 



The second one is Programme Profiles. They are a breakdown on who watches certain programmes and clarify them into certain group sectors so they kmow how to target different audiences and make a good impact. This is useful to an advertiser because they can justify what spcific audiences like from the results of these programmes. Also this means it's easier for advertisers to target specific programmes.


 The next one on the agenda is a Rate Card. For a 30 second advert it averagely costs £350,000. Remember, that's for a 30 second placement on TV. A rates' card is a document containing prices and descriptions for the various ad placement options available from a media outlet. There are many websites and companies which sell rate cards or advertise them. This is because they have already done the research to see which rate works the best in the media and on television. This makes it useful for an advertising company because some of the hard work is done for them. Although their will be different prices depending on which programme it's for. For example 'Coronation Street' will be much more expensive than a minority programme shown at an unsocial hour.



Online Information Packs are the next thing. I am having a look at ITV's and Channel 4's media information packs. In ITV's it shows viewing figures of the week. You can also see information about programmes that are on these channels. That's the same for Channel 4. 

Task 4 - Regulation

Regulation

Advertising is an essential part of modern economy. It informs consumers about the things that are available to them. It also makes consumers aware of the sales on products which is vital information for saving money; which is a very big issue at the moment with the society that we are in. But this information must be true, not biased and clear for the consumer. The advertisements must be trusted.

Ofcom

Ofcom is the government-based regulatory and competition authority for broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. it has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from what might be considered harmful or offensive material.

ASA

Ensuring that advertising can be trusted is where the Advertising Standards Authority comes in. The ASA started 50 years ago, and it's job is to ensure that advertising in all forms of media - from newspapers, magazines and billboards through to television, radio and the internet is legal, decent, honest and truthful. If an advert fails those tests, then the advertising is either amended or withdrawn. 

Some good points about Regulation: 

Advertising helps promote and stimulate competition
Advertising draws attention to a product or service
Advertising tells consumers how much things cost
Advertising makes us aware of different brands
Advertising helps fund media
There are 20,000 jobs in the advertising industry
Advertising helps businesses make a profit 
Advertising helps change society's behaviour 
Advertising tells us where to access products and services
Advertising warns people about dangerous activities
Advertising can be funny and entertaining

The work of the advertising standards authority covers advertisements in:

Magazines and newspapers 
Radio and TV
Television shopping channels 
Posters 
Cinema

Task 2: Styles of Television Advertising

When advertising, you have to pay attention to what audience you are targeting at. 

In this blog I will be explaining the different types of advertising.

Humour

The first type of advertising is humour. Humorous adverts are designed to make the audience laugh. A lot of adverts are humorous. This is because when something's funny, it usually sticks in your head. Humour adverts are targeted at a large range of audiences. You get humour adverts targeted at children, adults and teens. Funny adverts are more intriguing than adverts about lectures etc. This is because it's more appealing therefore it makes the audience more open to being influenced. An advert humour is used in is the 2013 Pot Noodle advert. In the advert, there is a man dressed up as a woman pretending to be a 'wag' who loves pot noodle. This advert compliments the product because it is sarcastically copying adverts with 'wag's in to show that everybody loves pot noodle. It is rememberable because the man is dressed as a woman and has a male voice. This advert is also known as a parody advert.

Parody  

Parody adverts are adverts which copy others in a sarcastic way. They are interpreting other adverts in a   funny way. They are also known as fictional adverts. This style of advertising makes the audience laugh or find the advert funny, which creates a good atmosphere. Parody adverts are made to be remembered. Comedy is remembered because it makes people laugh, which makes them feel happy. Parody's are good for selling informal products - like Pot Noodle because with an informal product you can put an informal, light hearted twist on the adverts for it. The clip below is an example of a parody advert.

 

Shock

Adverts that are 'shocking' usually have a dramatic twist, dramatic story or even have 'shocking' facts in them. Dramatic story lines usually draw in the audience. They can be used by having real facts, communicated to the audience in a scary/shocking way. The audience will usually remember shock advertisements because they are usually outrages. This makes the advert rememberable. Shocking adverts do have some disadvantages though, for example some people may be affected by some adverts like this. This could then create negative feedback and even complaints and eventually have the advert banned.

 

Surrealism

Surrealism adverts are usually abnormal, strange and weird. They catch your eye. They can make you laugh. They make you feel as if you are in a surreal world yourself because the adverts are so controversial that you begin to become drawn in to this new experience. They are usually funny like the advert shown below (Rubber Duckzilla). Although they can also be weird and can be terrifying .

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Task 5 - Methods Of Research

Why research before conducting an advertisement? What's the point?

Research is extremely important when producing an advertisement. Why you ask? Because advertisements are made for the public. The people you want to influence. How can you make an advert without any knowledge of who it's for?

Let's say you were conducting an advert for a kids toy. In this advert all you were talking about was how it's 'at an affordable price'. What child would be engaged in an advert like that? On the contrary, if you did some research on how to effectively persuade kids that this toy is extravagant, you would realise how much of a difference it makes.

Knowing your audience is the most important thing. If you can't put yourself in the audience's shoes, and how they'd feel watching it then how would you make an effective advert?

Primary Research

Primary research is research about the public. What they like, what they dislike, what engages them, what repulses them, what makes them laugh, what irritates them. Surveys are the most common way of collecting this data. The advantages of primary research is that it gives you an insight of how the general public would be influenced by adverts. The disadvantage is that it is not 100% correct. Remember you're only using a certain percentage of the public, you're not surveying the whole of the UK. 

Secondary Research 

This then brings me onto secondary data. Secondary data is data collected by someone else, and compared by you. This way you're looking at both sets of data and seeing what is most popular for your chosen audience's perspective. The advantage of this is that you get to have a general overlook on the public and having that contrast between not only the public's idea on advertising but comparing your ideas and the general public's ideas together. The disadvantage is that you obviously can't base on these results that everyone who sees this advert is going to love it. You have to think outside the box a little bit. Yeah, the general public likes these ideas, but how can I make this advert powerful enough to attempt to grab everyone's undivided attention?

Quantitative Research

Opinions. Quantitative research is based around YOUR opinion. But the questions asked should be in a structured manor best suited for the information that you want to know. This way you can find the best statistics and facts. The advantage of quantitative research is that you'll get true answers. Why? Because you're sking the public for THEIR opinion, and making them feel like they have your undivided attention. The disadvantage is that the people you interview could potentially not give their real opinions and so you have to make the questions asked comfortable for the public.