Task Six: Audience information

Before creating an advertisement it is important to gather some audience research however we would also have to gather some audience information that would be useful to us. Gathering audience information allows advertisers understand what the audience would want to see and how to sell the products to them.

The audiences are divided into different groups, when creating an advertisement you have to check off as many people as you can from these groups in order to create the best advertisement possible however advertisers have to always remember that you can never please everyone. The Groups and labels of the audiences are as follows:
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC): Also classed as 'Social Grades' by advertising companies the SOC which classifies all the working class people, one person may have a higher social grade due to their occupation which means that to be sold something would mean that they would require an advertising structure suitable to them. For example a Businessman would want an advertisement about how they can use the product in their work.
Psychographics: This is about the common attitude of the audience such as the study of personality, values, interest and lifestyles. When working to advertise to this group you have to show how they would use the product.
Geodemographics: This is about where the general audience live and what the general population need, For example a Japanese sweet company would not have much success advertising their sweet product in somewhere like the UK or France however not to say that they would never be successful. Some companies have had success advertising in areas that would be Geo-demographically inept.
Age: This is about the age range of the general audience targeted for the product, this is one of the biggest group factors and would require completely different advertisements depending on what age range your aiming at for example little children would require colourful pictures and animation while the older generation would have different advertising means.
Gender: This is about the sex of the general population and different genders would think differently about advertising means for example an advertisement about sports would generally aim towards the Male gender however the Female gender may be interested also.

Dividing the audience into these groups make it easier for advertisers to produce an advert as they can tick boxes if they think they sparked an interest of the general audiences from these groups.

How is information gathered by advertising companies?
Information is usually gathered through BARB which stands for Broadcasters Audience Research Board which was set up in 1981 to provide the advertising industry audience demographics and television ratings for the UK. BARB is owned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky and IPA

Advertisers use an Audience Measurement Panel which measures how many people are in the audience from radio, television, newspaper, magazine and web traffic on the internet. The pros are that it allows advertisers to understand what the general public likes to watch however the cons are that they can't tell what individuals would like.