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Unit 10: Engaging with an audience in creative media production
Unit Aim: This unit will require students to develop a more in‐depth knowledge and sophisticated understanding of a specific creative media production activity and the means by which the audience for that activity might be reached and addressed. The unit provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate an understanding of audiences for their chosen area of activity, and the importance of collaboration and communication with those audiences during engagement with complex problem solving tasks.
What we're doing, how we're doing it and why we're doing it
What we're doing, how we're doing it and why we're doing it
Intent: To give you the knowledge and skills to identify and create detailed target audience profiles for game design and beyond
Implementation: Through discussion and investigation. Delving into demographics and psychographics
Impact: Foundation for understanding target audiences
Soft skills: Research, communication, analytical thinking
Industry: Understanding target audiences is a valuable skill for pitching, creating within industry and finding your fanbase
SMSC: Discussions, ethical considerations, moral awareness, cultural connections
Context
Context
You are making a small animation either as a cutscene or promotional material for your game.
Your game must:
Be local
Appeal to a target audience that is local + a niche hobby/activity/demographic. We're recommending you look at cryptids and local monsters but you're not limited to this!
Examples:
A stealth game where you're a young black shuck pup trying to get away from an angry mob
Point and click adventure game about a ITFC fan sneaking in to the stadium to watch a match
Skateboarding game set in Ipswich
Educational game aimed at visitors of Ipswich museum
Idea generation will come later. For now, we're focusing on the idea of target audiences.
Discussion
Discussion
Target audiences or finding your people, your cheerleaders
Target audiences or finding your people, your cheerleaders
What is a target audience?
How are they advertised?
What do we think about this?
What is a target audience?
How are they advertised?
What do we think about this?
CAGEI
CAGEI
It's important not to stereotype but you should demonstrate focus when thinking about your target audience. Just because you're appealing to one demographic does not mean you are excluding others.
If it helps try this exercise: Close your eyes, imagine one person that would love your idea. What do they look like? How do they dress? How old are they? How wealthy are they? Their gender? Their politics? Their interests? All of this will give you a valuable starting point.
Age
Age
The age of your audience is important in defining your target demographic. You should not just give a single age but a range of ages like 18-25. This is a target group, the age group of people that your product will most appeal to. That is not saying that your product won't appeal to those younger or older but the number of people is less.
The graph shows how a potential target audience is selected. The biggest group (indicated wth the green lines) is the biggest age group. This will be my target audience. The two orange groups (21-29 and 46-60) may be interested in my product but the numbers are less. Therefore I will ensure my product is aimed at 30-45 as this is my key (biggest) audience group.
Gender
It’s important not to stereotype. Gender, same as age and class is not as straight forward as products aimed at specific genders. Focus on attracting more of one gender, rather than exclusively. Advertising
Ethnicity
Our society and culture are also important in informing what we like, what we don't like and what appeals to us. Our culture is also influenced by entertainment, music and technology and therefore it is always changing and evolving. So again, identifying the ethnicity of a demographic group can be problematic. The best way to identify ethnicity of a target audience is to consider continental location and consider whether it would appeal to people in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa or Australia. Even this might not be simple enough and instead you could split the world into 2 groups - a Western Culture (The Americas, Europe and Australia) or Eastern Culture (which includes Africa and Asia). Again this might not be straight forward or as clear cut but it gives an idea of where in the world you plan to get your biggest audience.
Our work needs to be set in or uses Ipswich in some way. This does not mean you have to appeal exclusively to certain ethnicities! Census data
Interests
The last area focuses more specifically on what people from that particular group enjoy doing in their free time. You may be aiming your new PS5 at women aged between 14 - 24 from a Western culture who are in the socio-economic groups of C2-E but if they're mainly playing Xbox or aren't interested in video games then it will be harder to sell to them.
Consider what interests your media product may appeal to your target audience with. This could be as simple as a genre of film or music, a hobby, a specific celebrity or personal interest.
This is where I want you to start thinking about your niche!
Your Target Audience profile:
Your Target Audience profile:
If your game was released tomorrow who would love it? Don't say 'everyone' this is simply not true. Imagine one person in the world that would love your game more than anyone else! These people will be your superfans, the cheerleaders of your game. Pyschographics
If your game was released tomorrow who would love it? Don't say 'everyone' this is simply not true. Imagine one person in the world that would love your game more than anyone else! These people will be your superfans, the cheerleaders of your game. Pyschographics
Who are they?
What are their greatest difficulties, problems or desires?
Where do they find information they need daily?
What is the benefit of your product?
What draws their attention negatively?
Who do they trust?
What do I actually need to do?
What do I actually need to do?
Satisfactory
Satisfactory
On your google sites:
CAGEi (defined, research, your own thoughts and feelings on it)
Your niche (with additional research and why you're passionate about it)
Target audience profile (supported by research, reflection)
Commendable
Commendable
On your google sites:
CAGEi (defined, research, your own thoughts and feelings on it)
Your niche (with additional research and why you're passionate about it), investigation into other games that explore this
Target audience profile (supported by research, reflection). Some investigation into your niche, are there local societies, etc
Outstanding
Outstanding
On your google sites:
CAGEi (defined, research, your own thoughts and feelings on it), investigation into other ways of identifying target audiences, examples relating to games field/your own interests
Your niche (with additional research and why you're passionate about it), investigation into other games that explore this, analysis of how this niche has been represented in media
Target audience profile (supported by research, reflection). Some investigation into your niche, are there local societies, primary research with that target audience
Extended task:
Extended task:
What do I do? Go further by engaging with some of the recommended media.
On your google sites:
Reflection on recommended media engaged with.
Recommended media:
Recommended media:
Watching
Watching
Reading/Listening
Reading/Listening
Available as a book/audiobook in most places you can get books (including libraries, which are completely free)
Available as a book/audiobook in most places you can get books (including libraries, which are completely free)
What we're doing, how we're doing it and why we're doing it
What we're doing, how we're doing it and why we're doing it
Intent: To generate an idea informed by your target audience (people of Ipswich/local to you + a niche hobby/activity/demographic)
Implementation: Through investigation and idea generation
Impact: Understanding how target audiences can inform your ideas. Strong foundation for ideas going forward
Soft skills: Research, communication, analytical thinking, empathy, creativity
Industry: Understanding target audiences is a valuable skill for pitching, creating within industry and finding your fanbase
SMSC: Discussions, ethical considerations, moral awareness, cultural connections
Your Niche
Your Niche
Having an idea by something you're interested in outside of gaming is an excellent way of bringing something unique to the field and creating something other people have been waiting for.
Bug collecting + Old School RPGs = ?
Bug collecting + Old School RPGs = ?
Pokemon
Growing up/Teenage social life + Decommissioned military bases = ?
Growing up/Teenage social life + Decommissioned military bases = ?
Oxenfree
Farming sims + That feeling of wanting to sack it all off and move away = ?
Farming sims + That feeling of wanting to sack it all off and move away = ?
Stardew Valley
Dating Sims + Corporate marketing hoping to go viral = ?
Dating Sims + Corporate marketing hoping to go viral = ?
I Love You Colonel Sanders
What do I do?
Target audience research (use this morning's resources to support)
Niche research
Reflect on both, analysis the research
Your Idea
Your Idea
What do I do?
Create an idea suitable for people of Ipswich/local to you + a niche hobby/activity/demographic
You could: Create something physical (like a zine) and then have a QR code linking to your animation. You can interpret this however you see fit! Consider your own skills, what you enjoy and scope of the project.
Satisfactory
Satisfactory
On your google sites:
Target audience research
Niche research
Idea informed by above
All should be supported with research, links and reflection
Commendable
Commendable
On your google sites:
Target audience research
Niche research
Ideas informed by above
All should be supported with research, links and reflection
Research goes beyond what's provided and initial google searches, looks into gaming trends and local events/communities
Outstanding
Outstanding
On your google sites:
Target audience research
Niche research
Ideas informed by above, justifying decisions made, relating to real world experiences
All should be supported with research, links and reflection
Research goes beyond what's provided and initial google searches, looks into gaming trends and local events/communities
Reflection:
Reflection:
- What happened?
- How did you feel?
- What were you thinking?
- How did things go?
- What might have helped?
- What might have hindered?
- What else could you have done?
- What have you learned?
- What can you change in the future?
- If the situation arose again what would you do?
- Anything you need to know or improve?
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