1. Why do media create audience? How important is audience to the media institution?
Everyone in the world performs his or her task as the audience; we are all exposed to the media in daily life. Moreover we are part of different media audiences. Sometimes, we woke up in the morning watching TV program or reading daily newspaper before going to school or to work. While searching Google or surfing the web, we might listen to the radio. Most of the time while we are having lunch, we usually unnoticed the radio in the background; for example, KFC or McDonalds that have their own radio stations. Thus, we are consciously and unconsciously consume the media all the time, not to mention about the advertising hoardings around us.
One might ask why media create audience, there are many reasons to answer this but the most significance purpose is to attract and pull the advertisers to invest in their channels. The audience does not directly pay the money to watch the media, especially in free channels like TV3, TV5, TV7, TV9 or TPBS. These free channels get the income from the advertisers. Some people may ask how media create the audience, then. Media simply produce programs to satisfy our needs; for example, producing soap operas for female audiences. So the target audiences could discuss with their friends in order to satisfy their need to belong to the social group. Furthermore, when the channel make more attractive and interesting programs to gain larger number of circulation, the advertisers will pay more attention to that channel and buy their advertising time. In brief, media produce the audience in order to sell them to the advertisers.
Nevertheless, the media in present could not use a Hypodermic Needle Theory, the process of look down on the potential of audiences, to inject every information or media texts to stuff and congestive receivers. It is because the audience nowadays can select which media to consume due to these three dimensions of changes. First, changing in technology diverts the ‘broadcasting’ to be ‘narrowcasting’. Second, changing in the way we spend our lives gives us a convenience to watch a television everywhere in the world. The last one is individual changing; for example, when were child we love to watch kid movies, but when we grow up, we rather enjoy the film making in a children plot such as Fanchan (2003), Rak Haeng
For media institution, the audience is greatly significant in five dimensions:
1. Media text is crested in order to communicate with the audience and it is a part of communication; the sender, the text (message), and the receiver (audience). In having no audience, the media text is produced for what reason, then.
2. Audience size and reaction could say the success of the media; for instance, Sun newspaper selling over 3 million copies a day and having approximately 12 million readers.
3. Media companies that produce the audience will get income from their audience who buying media texts or the products. Considering the case of a newspaper as an example, we, the audience, only pay for 15 to 20 percent of its cost but some of the less, we already pay by buying the media products. Although, the advertisers have subsidized the price and make them cheaper for us to buy.
4. Advertisers use the audience to determine the ads. They want to know what types of audience and how many of them are seeing their advertisements.
5. Some people or researchers what to scrutinize the elements of media studies. They want to know how audiences consume media, what do we conceived from what we have exposed to, and what the media effects in our lives are.
Creating media audience gives advantages to the media several ways as aforementioned above. The media, therefore, spend a lot of time and money to looking at the circulation and rating of their products to sustain and at the same time to extend the circulation of the audience.
2. Imagine your group of target audience and assign seven Hartley’s subjectivities + four Fiske’s to it.
Seven Hartley’s subjectivities
- Self-image: modern, fashionable, glamorous,
and socialize women
- Gender: female
- Age group: 30 up
- Family: not specific
- Class: middle to upper class
- Nation: Thai
- Ethnicity: not specific
Four subjectivities from Fiske
- Education: at least bachelor degree
- Religion: not specific
- Politics: not specific
- Location: living in
According to the seven Hartley’s subjectivities and the additional four from Fiske, the core group of target audience will be females age 30 and above. They are both single and married women with their nationalities are Thai but the ethnicity is not specified. They belong to the middle to upper class. In addition, their income should be at least 30,000 baht a month with least level of bachelor degree in their education. This group of females should live in
The self-images and lifestyles of this female group are modern and fashionable. They love to be in trend and they are glamorous women. Moreover, they like to chit-chatting and eating outside.
3. Create a one-day television programme chart to cater for this particular group. Explain why the combination of these programmes would attract this group. Select advertisements (publicity) that has the potential to turn this group into their customers. Explain why (with reference to p. 139-144).
| TV Programme chart on week-end Target Audience: female aged 30 and above 05:30 Dharma and Practice 06:00 News of the Week 07:00 Morning Talk-Woman Talk (home decoration, cooking, etc.) 08:05 Global News in Fashion 09:00 Thai Catwalk Fashion Week (fashion show) 10:00 Music Intrend (introducing hot single in Billboard chart, 10:45 Japanese Game show 11:30 Horoscope 12:00 12:15 Lunch-break News 12:45 Thai and 13:30 Glamor O’Us 15:00 Series: Gossip Girl Season 1 16:00 Girls Gone Wild (introducing cosmetic products, Make-up tips, Dining out places, etc.) 17:00 News (local and national news) 18:00 Series: Heroes Season 1 19:00 Asian series: Cinderella Man (Korean series) 20:00 Loyal News/ Entertainment News 20:30 Thai soap opera 22:00 Series: Sex and the City 23:00 Breaking Entertainment News (Movie update) 24:00 01:00 Music Station around the world 02:00 --close station-- |
Selected Advertisements to publish
The advertisements that will be selected to publish are according to ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ in Maslow Theory with the reference of the effects of advertising.
An effective way of the advertising is to inform us, the audience, about the new products like news fashion trend. The advertising could also stimulate the product consumption; for example, daily products and cosmetic products regarding to this target audience. In addition, the ads also lead to domestic economic growth; for instance, Thai fashion brandname. Moreover, it can be a way for the government to promote, for example Drink Don’t Drive campaign, etc. The sponsorship can be a significant source of funding for fashion events such as Ell Fashion Week too.
According to the four levels of five hierarchies of needs from Maslow, the first stage is physiological needs or the need for food and shelter for survival. The advertisements concerning in the food products, especially healthy products, such as cereal bar, Nesvita, Ovaltine White Malt, etc., will be interested to publish their ads in this channel. Since the channel has middle aged female and above as the specific target audience. Moreover, as I already stated that the audiences are the modern, fashionable and glamorous women, they could be suitable with the target scope of the advertisements concerning about the place of living. Exclusive luxury real estate such as Le Raffine and Le Champs, etc. are the examples of this field.
Insurance and bank ads will answer the need for personal security or safety needs for this group of audience. The insurance advertising for women could be a good example such as breast cancer insurance from Bangkok Insurance. The main target for this type of insurance is absolutely women. Our target audiences are women aged 30 years old and upper with middle to high income would attract these insurance advertisers.
Third, social need, the need to belong into the groups, fashion advertisements including clothes, cosmetics and entertainment ads including music industries and movie promoters; for example, CPS, Disaya, Topshop, CD, Shiseido, KATE, EMI, Universal Music, etc could turn our audiences into their market targets. Since this target group is glamorous and socialized female, they will absolutely love to be part of the groups. In other word, they want to be accepted, thus, these fashion and entertainment products will satisfy their need. This kind of advertisements will create the expectations and a ‘must-have’ society for them. So in order to be part of the groups, they will try to get the products with unconditionally.
Finally, esteem need; these modernized women also want to gain the respect and admiration of others which might be appeared through the display of status symbol like consuming expensive goods. This channel creates trends to these females audience, so it also motivates their need to be accepted and some women might buy the product they cannot afford to show their wealth also. Furthermore, they will be the products because they think that they are less than perfect if they do not own a particular products or brandnames that we have promoted. Examples of the advertisements are Mini Cooper, Autostella car, perfumes, Panerai watch and hi-end brandname fashion;
To conclude, the product advertisements for this age group are mostly concerned with the luxury, modern and fashionable style associated with the subjectivities of this target audience. Hence, this group of audience has a potential to be their customers. Moreover, this TV channel and these products will support each other in order to be an effective way of targeting their desired group.
4. Give a detail of one programme: format, content, topic etc. that you think would satisfy this group of audience. Explain why this group with such subjectivities would appreciate this programme.
Program: Glamor O’Us
Format
Program Type: fashion talk show
Time: 13:30-15:00 Period: 1:30 hours
MC: Chompoo-Araya A. Hargett, Paula Taylor and Marisa Anita
Content and Topics
1st period:
2nd period: Thai fashion (15 mins) Mc: Chompoo-Araya
3rd period: Fashion Talk show (30 mins) Mc: all of them
4th period: Fashion Mix & Match (15 mins) Mc: all of them
5th period: D.I.Y. Fashion shoot & activities (15 mins) Mc: Marisa Anita
Format of the Program
The name Glamor O’Us comes from the word ‘glamorous’. Glamorous means ‘especially attractive and exciting, and different from ordinary things or people’. I intend to use “O’”, an abbreviation of ‘of’, to represent an informal way of saying ‘of’ and ‘Us’ to create a relationship between the program and its audience. So ‘Glamor O’Us’ does not mean only the word ‘glamorous’ but also refer to the phrase ‘glamour of us’.
This program will be on aired in the afternoon to bring the target audience’s attention back to the channel. Since the afternoon period is the boring time of the day, thus, I decide to use their self-images of modern, fashionable, and glamorous and their lifestyles to attract their attention. Glamor O’Us will be presented one hour and a half and will use valuable awards to make them feel that it is worth the expense to watch this program.
Famous celebrities and models are chosen to be M.C. in this program. For the first celebrity, Chompoo-Araya A. Hargett, she can be called as the representation of Thai fashion brand. Chompoo is one of the celebrities who make Thai fashion becomes more famous because of her mix and match. She always wears the clothes from Heidi’s Secret and Disaya. Furthermore, she is a front line celebrity who wears Thai brand fashion.
Paula Taylor, half Thai and half English celebrity, is famous in the numerous commercials and print ads. Now she is a VJ in Channel V Thailand, music channel. Paula now has graced almost all of
Our last M.C., Marisa Anita, she is a sexy Thai-Dutch model. Marisa is one of the top Thai sexy models and she used to be in the cover of FHM. With her model profession, she could give advices in mix and match tips and fashion shooting.
Contents and Topics
The contents and topics in this program will be divided into 5 periods, respectively:
* In the 1st period; the M.C. Paula Taylor, will introduce a Hollywood trend and some fashion show in 2009 such as Valentino, Boudoir, Gateau Lingerie and
* The 2nd period, Chompoo-Araya will mention Thai fashion trend from Disaya, Kloset Red Carpet, Sretsis etc. She will also talk about fashion news and activities; for instance, Elle Fashion Week 2009: Autumn/Winter and BIFW: Bangkok International Fashion Week 2009.
* 3rd period, we will invite famous top designers in
* Fashion Mix and Match will be suggested in the forth period. The MCs will introduce the style of this season fashion, how to mix and match your clothes, or places for shopping.
* Last section of this program, D.I.Y fashion shoot, will provide the audience several tips to create your own fashion shoot and the activities will be offered for the audience; for instance, Rocky Rose shooting competition by Kloset. The audience will be encouraged to send their photo shooting with at least on fashion item mentioned in that competition, for this example is the Rocky Rose set from Kloset. Rewards will be gift vouchers, products like clothes or accessories from that cooperative brands or sponsors.
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