Task 5

Audience Demographics

One of the most common ways of identifying a target audience is the socio-economic model.  Although this model has been in use for a very long time, it is still a useful tool in identifying a target audience. The basis for this system is level of earnings.  An AB audience, for example, is assumed to have more spending power than a CDE audience. 

A	Lawyers, doctors, scientists, managers of large-scale organisations – well paid professionals
B	Teachers, senior managers, some middle management – fairly well paid professionals (and very poorly paid teachers!)
C1	‘White collar’, junior management, bank clerks, nurses
C2	Skilled ‘blue collar’ workers such as electricians, plumbers, carpenters
D	Semi and unskilled manual workers such as drivers, post sorters
E	Students, the unemployed, pensioners

Audience profiling

There are many other ways that an audience can be segmented or profiled.  Whenever a TV advertiser is producing a commercial, they will always take care to identify the target audience as accurately as possible.  After all, if the audience is identified and targeted well, the product is likely to be successful!  That is why audience is considered a key consideration – because it is fundamental to the planning and shaping of an advertisement.

Audiences can be segmented in other ways as well as the socio-economic model above:

• Age
• Gender
• Demographic (where the audience live)
• Profiling (this is often done by advertisers to identify ‘types’ of consumers)
• Values, attitudes and lifestyles (in other words the types of products which are likely to appeal to those with these values, attitudes and lifestyles.

Watch a series of adverts and identify as accurately as possible the target audience for each, provide a link and give explanations to back up your conclusions about why the advert appeals to the specific demographic.

1 – O2’s ‘Live the Good Life’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5wnXT7Su7Q

In the advert, you see a cat is motivating a crowd of people to live the good life. The slogan is ‘Be More Dog’. I think the demographics range from B to C1 because when you look at the people in the crowd, they are generally older than what a new young intern is. Basically all of them are in, what appears to be, office work clothes. This is a room full of people who have hit their midlife crises in their early to late 30’s and O2 is taking advantage of that. How? By making O2 look more ‘hip’ and ‘fresh’. More active and motivated. Cats are generally seen as lazy and nothing exciting appears to happen to them, something the bored office white collar worker can relate to. By seeing this relatable talking cat that has reinvented itself, apparently, through O2 Priority, it helps to promote the product. At one point, a balding man jumps up out of his seat and rejoices the fact that he has downloaded O2 Priority on his phone. Another subject to relate to.

O2 Priority offers great deals such as having lunch for £1 or getting tickets before general release. People who are interested in this are either money conscious, parents who have kids that like concerts/gigs and generally just buy their love, or both. Or maybe they are childless and lead an uneventful life and they think “Oh, since I have O2 Priority, I might as well get these tickets to see this band I never heard off just to get out the house. Man, the mortgage for this place is killing me. Good thing I can eat a decent lunch for just £1”

2 - Zara Woman SS15

https://vimeo.com/1219011533

This is a campaign ad for the spring/summer collection for ZARA in 2015. In the video, you see that the girls all have dead straight hair as they dance awkwardly to drum and bass electronica. This ad is appealing to everyone in the fashionista world who are quirky and stoic just like the models used. Zara being a rather popular and seeming middle class amongst the high street, I imagine that the demographics of this ad are B/C.

The reason why I think this is because they are popular amongst the young and hip who happen to work in relatively  educated jobs. Another point would be the casual wear clothes look a bit like office clothes, but obviously, more casual. Their actual office clothes look like they could cut a man because they look so sharp.