05 Audience Production + 06 Audience Website

Now that you have made a start on the research into codes and conventions, you can also start to think about researching your target audience and in particular what they want from a Magazine, T.V. Show, Radio Show or Music Video and the accompanying website.

Start by creating a focus group of people within your target demographic. You should have a minimum of six people, but ten would be optimal. Ideally, they should be easy for you to contact and should span the entire age range. 

FIRST POST: Should describe your focus group:

e.g. - 16/03/2022: Formed focus group

3 x Female (Ages 16, 19 and 25) 5 x Male (Ages 16, 17, 21, 24 and 25)

All members of the focus group identify as readers of lifestyle magazines and would consider themselves aspirational. All group members have agreed to email contact/MS Teams meetings to ask for responses to questions.

SUBSEQUENT POSTS: Should read like a simple diary. 

e.g. 25/03/2022

I contacted my my group with three questions:

Which lifestyle magazines do you read?

The two most common magazines read by my focus group were GQ (read by four of the male readers) and Cosmopolitan (read by two of the female readers and two of the male readers). 

How well do you feel lifestyle magazines cater to your age group?

The older GQ readers felt fairly well catered to, but not the younger ones. 

The Cosmopolitan readers felt well catered to because of the range of different sections of the magazine, but felt that their might be more elements aimed at younger people.

What do you feel is missing that would make them more enjoyable for your age group?

Readers felt that a focus on things like social media and environmentally conscious topics would make the magazine more enjoyable for younger members of the target audience. They explained that they liked the glossy style of the existing magazines, but that they would like to see more models and stories about younger people, especially teenagers and those in their age range.

Conclusions:

I will be focusing my research on the codes and conventions of Cosmopolitan, as it seems to have wider appeal, but will aim to include more stories of an environmentally conscious nature and representations that reflect the target demographic. 

Deadline: Ongoing