Audience Classification Work

Audience Classification Questions

1.
a)

The Mainstream audience is the audience that thrives on familiarity, they hate change or to be taken by surprise. The majority of people will be able to enjoy a media text that has been aimed at a mainstream audience. Companies like Coca-Cola, Ford and ITV aim a lot of their advertising towards the mainstream as they know they're something that the audience can trust, they're a well known and respected brand. New brands aren't as able to push their way into the mainstream audience's eyes without following the rules that have been set by the old brands. Familiarity is key when appealing to the mainstream. Radio broadcasts like Nick Grimshaw's show on Radio 1 in the morning are familiar, they abide by what the mainstream expect, as well as being on at a time that the mainstream will be able to easily access it. The aspirations of the mainstream audience are not to become world leaders, but more to have a sense of belonging and to be content in their lives. Mainstream texts like Britain's Got Talent, Jeremy Kyle Show and the aforementioned Breakfast Show from Radio 1 are something that gives the mainstream audience something to talk about with their fellow mainstream audience members. Conversing with others is essential, it meets our needs of Love/Belonging according to Maslow, so mainstream media is giving their audience the opportunity to do this.


The Succeeder audience is an audience that consume media that will benefit them. They are always looking for an advantage, may that be in the business world or even just advantage over their peers. A succeeder will be oriented toward the media that will let them better themselves, such as a health magazine. 'Time' magazine is a weekly news magazine published in New York and targets the more business-savvy audience member. Their yearly 'Time Person of the Year' makes the succeeder audience member look at how they can improve their own lives, most likely by looking at how that person gained success and taking tips from that. The covers of Time are very iconic and never cluttered with adverts as the creators know that this will not appeal to their target audience of succeeders. The weekly releases of Time allow their audience to take in the content without being bombarded by daily texts containing tabloids they are not interested in but still allowing them to keep up to date with the world on a weekly basis. The typical succeeder will not be glued to one publication and will be keeping up to date on what is new in all fields of media as that is how they can stay one step ahead of their peers.


The Aspirer audience is one that looks for the absolute best for themselves, they don't care how much it costs, they need to have the best. An aspirer audience member absorbs their media for ideas on the next thing to buy, the thing that everybody seems to be wanting. Famously, Apple have multiple adverts that appeal to all audience types but a theme is within all of them in that they always contain the newest, some would say overpriced, technology that regular folk long for. The aspirer will be the first to grab this new toy and flaunt it as what others think of them is equal or more important to them than their own thoughts on themselves. An aspirer's esteem needs are fulfilled when they promote jealously in others. A text such as the advertisements created by Adidas to show off their line of Kanye West designed shoes, Yeezys, contains everything an aspirer looks for. The advert has over exaggerated terms for basic features, for example it calls the flap on the shoe a 'dynamic strap'. Being real, it's a flap. Aspirers are keen to be ahead of everybody else, the only audience for this exclusive product is the aspirer as the connotations surrounding the shoe such as Kanye West's influence on the media world appeal directly to them and really nobody else.


The Explorer looks for everything different, they enjoy the unique texts. An explorer audience member is wanting something unusual, something physically difficult to experience. Films such as Se7en, A Clockwork Orange, Shutter Island and The Silence of the Lambs appeal to explorers. Clockwork Orange appeals because of its actual difficult scenes to watch, the camera is positioned in ways that make it hard to decipher what is happening on screen and there are sequences that only an explorer can appreciate fully, the mainstreamer would probably switch it off after the first scene. Explorers are looking to get more from their media, unlike the mainstream who are looking for familiarity and something quick and easy to entertain them.


b)

Generally, these four classes for audience types are accurate. In terms of usefulness, it is hard to deny that these categories are useful in the media world. To be able to categorise things is functional for many reasons, one being ease and speed when discussing audiences - it takes much longer to describe the audience for a text every single time than just saying it is for a specific audience type like Mainstream. The sheer accuracy of the audience types helps, it's incredible that such a huge amount of people can be put into at least one of the four main audience types. A lot of people do fit into more than a single category, which is fine and actually more helpful for media text producers as it gives them more room to work in and lets them appeal to a wider audience.

c)

Friends is on the television right now. Honestly, when is Friends not on television, it feels like it's on at every hour of the day, every day. It probably is. It's so unbelievably mainstream that it's hard to find a person on this planet over the age of 10 that hasn't seen at least the first season. It fits everything that the mainstream audience is looking for and more. The reliability aspect as well as how accessible it is puts it straight into the mainstream audience category. Sitcoms as a whole are mainstream, there are some outliers such as Heil Honey, I'm Home (a sitcom set in the 50s depicting Hitler and Eva Braun in their suburban home which is hilarious by the way) but mostly sitcoms are mainstream. They feature normally a small main cast that is in every episode, in Friends case there are 6 main characters and we follow their lives in the typical way. Friends is extremely quotable and the mainstream audience are able to quote it to their friends (hah) to create bonds and fulfil the social needs according to Maslow.

d)

Britain's Got Talent appeals to the traditionalist because it follows the formula of a judging panel show, the traditionalist audience has gotten used to this format. BGT is something very accessible, it is appropriate for all ages and is on at a time that is perfect for nearly all audience members and it isn't hard to understand. Groupies can also enjoy BGT as it is something that seemingly everybody watches, something that can be discussed the next morning over a coffee at work. Arguably, drifters might watch an episode of Britain's Got Talent now and then as it always features a range of different talents, perfect for the drifter who doesn't know exactly what they want.
Time Magazine appeals to the egoists and possibly the trendies. Egoists will be drawn to the business side of the magazine and will see it as a way to better themselves by reading the articles inside, it's a reasonably well respected publication so egoists will trust the word inside. Trendies can read the text to find out ways to gain their peer's admiration but that is about all.
Yeezys and the advertisement that comes along with them is exclusively for trendies. Trendies actively seek out the advertisement itself, not just the product. As evidenced by one internet user's comment on the text stating that his friends would be so jealous if he came into school in a pair of Yeezys. Trendies buy into the media that will make them the aspiration of their peers so this is perfect for them. Advertisement is something that works exceptionally well on a trendy.
A Clockwork Orange is for the rebellious, the cynical and the drifters. Rebels will be able to experience the film in a way that might shock the regular viewer, but a rebel would enjoy this fact. The violence within the film is not for the faint-hearted as well as the disturbing themes throughout. Even the opening is difficult to watch, the flashing of blue and red makes it physically painful to watch, a rebel's dream. Cynics will enjoy the film for the themes, and the drifters may be able to buy into it because it is something they won't have seen before.
Friends is for groupies and traditionalists in the main. While it appeals to most lifestyle categories, these two are more obvious in the fact that the program is extremely formula-reliant and really appeals to the traditionalist because of this. Groupies will need to see Friends, all their peers have seen it and the groupie needs to know what all the fuss is about.