Initial Target Audience Profiling

In order to secure a products success, it is crucial to identify a target audience early on within the planning stage of development. Identifying a target audience will have an effect on the construction of the product as it will feature a number of signs specifically included to identify with the target audience of the product such as specific costumes, narrative and other elements of the mise en scene.The target audience of a band on an independent record label will often be pre-existing fans of said artist who will instantly be aware of the videos release and know where to find out without little support from marketing campaigns. However, in order to reach a wider, secondary target audience, a band would have to advertise their product through a number of different platforms such as the Internet, television as well as radio. Depending on the genre of music in question, the secondary target demographic will be an older generation than the existing primary demographic who will rely on these platforms in order to discover new media products. A primary niche audience will have been identified before the production of the video as the artist is likely to seek the approval of existing fans and people who already enjoy similar music. However one possible secondary demographic may be followers of mainstream media products who exclusively use large institutions in order to consume music therefore making marketing an intricate stage in the production of a music video.

The target audience which I plan to access is extremely similar to the target audience of artists such as Swim Deep and FIDLAR who I have previously analysed. I have chosen to create my media product with this audience in my as the research I have already completed has given me a great understanding of the codes and conventions of music videos from this genre of music therefore I believe I will be able to create a video which some of these codes and conventions which will appeal to fans of both Swim Deep and FIDLAR. Although the music of Swim Deep and FIDLAR differ in a variety of ways, they both share a similar primary audience within Britain of teenagers from a working and middle class background, that read magazines such as NME and seek lyrics they can identify with or make them want something more fulfilling out of their lives. At this stage in order to identify with this target audience I plan to include a number of aspects of youth culture within my product such as smoking, as well as include references to drug culture which will engage with teenagers from the ages of fifteen to twenty years old. Even though I am currently within the research stage of this process, my initial plans for the video suggest to me that the demographic for this product will mainly consist of female teenagers due to the envisioned image of the band and the songs upbeat tone. I believe that this will mainly engage with a female audience due to the likelihood of close ups focusing on band members as well as the romantic ideas portrayed through lyrics. However this does not mean that male teenagers will not enjoy the video as they may still feel as if they can relate to the songs lyrics and feel gratified to hear a male singer portraying this ideology from a male's perspective.

Demographic Breakdown of the Audience

15 - 20 Age Range

The lyrics within the song are likely to include references to modern drug culture as well as skater culture which are both considerably popular amongst teenagers, with some thanks to social networking sites such as Tumblr for this. Through including these elements, young adults within this age range may find it easy to relate to what the band are saying and may envy their lifestyle and see it as something to strive towards.

Predominantly Female

The combination of romanticised lyrics and frequent close ups of the band which I am proposing at this early stage will provide the band with sex appeal and make them desirable to female members of the audience within the target age range. However the inclusion of references to drug culture, as mentioned above, will also allow the band to connect with male teenagers.

Classes C and D

The band members costumes may connect with teenagers within these classes as they are likely to be dressed in old clothing in order to reference the modern 'vintage' culture within fashion that has recently blossomed. I believe that teenagers will look at the band in these worn clothing and still see them as fashion icons as they are able to carry an element of sex appeal without having to spend a great deal of money and may wish to attempt to replicate this.