EVALUATION Q4

HOW DO YOUR PRODUCTS ENGAGE WITH THE AUDIENCE?

We identified our target audience as middle aged women typically in higher social groups, although the age gap is somewhat flexible and can stretch down to women in their 20s to 30s. Some of the qualities in our products that I think would appeal to our audience are:

The narrative (music video) - Although at first glance it may seem like this appeals much more to a younger audience, I feel like the narrative that we have presented in our music video can appeal to an older audience as well, especially since this is such a relatable thing in many people’s lives. With an older audience, they are able to single out moments, be it consciously or unconsciously, that they feel speak to them and this will therefore create a sense of empathy towards our artist.

The song itself - I believe that, even without listening to or giving much thought to the lyrics, this song can be appreciated by our audience. The tempo is relatively slow and there is hardly any percussion, which makes it easy to listen to at any time. Since our music video serves to enhance the ‘storyline’ of the song visually, and possibly emotionally, I believe that this heightened sense of relatability is what our audience will enjoy.

The merchandise (website) - I feel like this is more focused to the younger half of our audience. The merchandise serves to give our audience a larger sense of connection with our audience and, while stereotypically older audiences tend not to buy merchandise, I believe the way that we have designed it will allow an older audience to appreciate and support our artist.

The colour scheme (all three products) - We have kept the colour scheme of all three of our products quite consistently and have interwoven them all so that they link back to each other. Especially with our digipak, I feel like the white marble background is something different from what other artists would do and perhaps appeal to an audience that prefers minimalism over the stereotypical album cover.

David Buckingham on audiences:

“Buckingham believes it is essential to situate young people’s media use within the context of their other social activities and experiences due to the fact that many young people are using the media as a wallpaper: a wall of noise to fill up their ‘down time’ or just to pass the time due to boredom. That many of their interactions with the media are not contrived, committed or concentrated but fleeting, visceral and meaningless.”

I believe that a more focused audience would be drawn to the symbolic connotations of the cards and chips. The chips are a physical, objective representation of the protagonist’s love and the fact that her love interest is continuously taking it away from her serves to suggest a bigger picture than just a couple playing cards, which may be what a non focused audience will take from the music video. A more focused audience could also be left to wonder as the last scene of the music video takes place and since it is quite open-ended, maybe he left her in an unexpected way, it could be food for thought. A non focused audience, on the other hand, may be more attracted to our use of imagery and our shots. Even though we jump from one colour scheme to the next quite a few times in the music video, it is done in a subtle way that is aesthetically pleasing and places emphasis on the performance.