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ENG 4C – May 2nd Lesson
Commercial Advertising – Target Audience
Lesson
Background:
TV commercials are much more complex than print advertisements. They can have
many more elements in them such as narrative, dialogue, music, various shots and
editing techniques.
Target Audience
In marketing and advertising, a target audience, is a specific group of people within the
target market at which a product or the marketing message of a product is aimed at. For
example, if a company sells new diet programs for men with heart disease problems
(target market) the communication may be aimed at the spouse (target audience) who
takes care of the nutrition plan of her husband and child.
A target audience can be formed of people of a certain age group, gender, marital
status, etc., e.g. teenagers, females, single people, etc. A combination of factors, e.g. men
aged 20–30 is a common target audience. Other groups, although not the main focus,
may also be interested. Discovering the appropriate target market(s) and determining
the target audience is one of the most important activities in marketing management.
The biggest mistake possible is trying to reach everybody and ending up appealing to
no-one.
Target market
A target market is a group of customers that the business has decided to aim its
marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise. A well-defined target market is the
first element to a marketing strategy. The target market and the marketing mix
variables of product, place(distribution), promotion and price are the four elements of a
marketing mix strategy that determine the success of a product in the marketplace.
Once these distinct customers have been defined, a marketing mix strategy of product,
distribution, promotion and price can be built by the business to satisfy the target
market.
Strategies for reaching target markets
Marketers have outlined four basic strategies to satisfy target markets: undifferentiated
marketing or mass marketing, differentiated marketing, concentrated marketing, and
micromarketing/ nichemarketing.
Mass marketing is a market coverage strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market
segment differences and go after the whole market with one offer. It is type of
marketing (or attempting to sell through persuasion) of a product to a wide audience.
The idea is to broadcast a message that will reach the largest number of people possible.
Information taken from: http://elementarymedialiteracy.wordpress.com/advertising
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Traditionally mass marketing has focused on radio, television and newspapers as the
medium used to reach this broad audience.
For sales teams, one way to reach out to target markets is through direct marketing.
This is done by buying consumer database based on the segmentation profiles you have
defined. These database usually comes with consumer contacts (e.g. email, mobile no.,
home no., etc.). Caution is recommended when undertaking direct marketing efforts —
check the targeted country's direct marketing laws.
Target audiences are formed from different groups, for example: adults, teens, children,
mid-teens, pre-scholars, men, women.
To market to any given audience effectively, it is essential to become familiar with your
target market; their habits, behaviors, likes, and dislikes. Markets differ in size,
assortment, geographic scale, locality, types of communities, and in the different types
of merchandise sold. Because of the many variations included in a market it is essential,
since you cannot accommodate everyone’s preferences, to know exactly who you are
marketing to.
Information taken from: http://elementarymedialiteracy.wordpress.com/advertising
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Task:
1. Watch the different Commercials that are posted on the wikispace, and any other
appropriate commercials if you choose.
2. After watching each ad, discuss the following as a group;
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Who is the target audience?
How do you know this?
What is the message of the TV commercial? In other words, what do the commercial’s
creators want the target audience to believe about the product?
What techniques does the company use to effectively target this age group?
What social class is being targeted?
How do you know this?
Do you think that the ad is effective in targeting this demographic?
Do you see any bias within the commercial?
What would you do differently to make this a better ad?
Information taken from: http://elementarymedialiteracy.wordpress.com/advertising