Evaluate Audience Research (Log 9)

From the audience research I undertook, I gathered many results that will influence the design of my products. Initially, the questionnaire found that the average age of my target audience is 20 (young males), therefore it was advised that the use of clear, bold text and a simple design/layout of my products would suit this target audience, as well as others I also want to attract. A greyscale colour scheme, including one or two complimentary main colours related to the main football club within the region (Leicester City) would also have a broader demographic, which would carry over to all the other products. I also gathered from the target audience that a football tournament was the most desired event, as it can be fun, sociable and competitive at the same time, where I will aim to promote under and over 18 teams, as well as how it will be played at the Leicester City ground.

 

Additionally, from the research I gathered, an editor's section was an aspect that was recommended to be included, for the reason that some may value this aspect and the opinion of the editor in relation to the specific theme/topic of the magazine. A related sport was another small aspect that was seen by the target audience to have an attraction, perhaps that the main player may like also, to encourage the audience to try something different in the local community and be more active. I was advised that the double page spread in my magazine should be 50:50 images to text, where a large image is positioned on one side of the page, with the text on the other, for a simple design that would be pleasant to look at, where some smaller images linking to the text on this page would again make it more friendly to read. Also specific to my magazine is the main image that will be used on the front cover, where the target audience said they would want a popular player that the magazine will be focussed on, who is presented in an action shot, as well as with attractive colours being used to draw in the audiences. The content involving backroom information seemed the most desired topic from my research, as it is not covered a lot, therefore my magazine would stand out because it wouldn't be the same as every other football magazine. The price of the magazine was recommended to be between £1 and £4, however, because it is only a regional magazine it should be a low price, for the purpose of having more of the local audience buy it and become involved in events, promotions etcetera that are included within the magazine. Therefore, offers and promotions are a clear aspect that would be wanted on the products, as a further attraction to potentially get more out of their time and money.

 

Specific to all products, social media links are an aspect that was said to be the most important when focussing on a younger demographic, as this is the best way to interact with this specific audience, to better promote the products at them and allow them to be more active online. Even though from the questionnaire 'Instagram' was the most favoured/used by the target audience, all of the social medias are important to focus on/promote equally. Specific to the website, it was said that this product should be more visual than written (media rich) as this would best suit the younger target audience. Finally, the billboard product was also discussed with the target audience, where a large image of the magazine and large bold persuasive text such as the brand, a slogan, the known player's name and some sort of offer would be the most attractive to use. All of this would follow the same house style as the other products, to allow the audience to see the link with the same brand.

Focus Group

 

From this focus group, I gathered useful information from my target audience that will help me in my production. The questions I asked focus on more specific questions related to parts of my production that I would like more information and opinions on, to best attract the audience.

 

Question 1

"What main image would you like to see on the cover of a football magazine and why?"

Sam: "On the front cover, I'd like to see a large picture of either a featured player in the magazine, or any players at the top of their game, so I could tell that there something in the magazine that I might have interest in."

Sahil: "I think the middle image featuring Lionel Messi is what I'd like to see on the cover of a football magazine; it includes an action shot, its bright and colourful like the kits nowadays, its got pictures of more players, I think its definitely the best one out of the three. The other two look more like adult, less sporty magazines, where the one with Sir Alex Ferguson looks like a business magazine, although they do look good, I think the middle one is definitely the better of the three."

From the responses of this first question, I gathered that including a popular footballer over the entire front cover is what would best attract the audience, with possibly including an action shot of the player for aesthetic appreciation, with attractive colours also, to make the cover stand out. I will try to use these features on my front cover to best suit the needs/wants of the target audience, by displaying visually attractive features.

Question 2

Would you want exclusive backroom information from owners, managers and players of clubs and why?

Sam: "For background information if the information itself came from my club, so any players, anything to do with my team, I'd be a lot more interested, however, if it was of others clubs I still think I'd be interested because it might be able to give me tips that I could use for my own match preparation."

Sahil: "I would definitely want exclusive background information from owners, managers and players of the clubs, because finding out the little things that you don't see on the TV or when you go to watch football, are exciting and interesting to know about your favourite players and clubs etc."

From these responses, I gathered that including backroom information of the audience's favourite club would attract them more, as it would be different from what is normally seen on TV, existing football magazines, etc. I will mainly include Leicester City related backroom information as it is the main team within the local community/region I am basing my magazine in, therefore, more of the audience would support them and be attracted to content provided about their team. However, not too much will be about this team, as some may not like them and would prefer more general information about a variety of clubs.

Question 3

Should I make my products appear to more than just my target audience, and how could I do this if so? E.g. typography (text) and colour scheme.
 

Sam: "If you didn't feel it would take much adaptation to any of the different things like to make it appeal to a wider audience, if it wouldn't take too much to change then you should definitely make it appeal to more people because it will make it more successful as a magazine. For the design, I think a more simplistic design would achieve a wider audience, because no one could be put off if there's nothing wrong with it. I'd use more of a greyscale colour scheme, but with two complimentary colours, either like a blue or a yellow sort of thing just to fill in the rest of the magazine's colour scheme."

 

Sahil: "I think its important to have a target audience to focus on, but brighter and bolder text to stand out to all football fans rather than perhaps younger ones would definitely benefit the person trying to sell the magazines, profit wise.

 

 From these responses, I gathered that I should make my products appear to more than just my target audience, for the purpose of attracting more people to my magazine/website. I could do this by making my design more simple in terms of the typography and layout in order to target multiple audiences, and by using a greyscale colour scheme with one or two main brighter colours it wont be as gender specific, therefore a divide wont be created between the audience who uses my products (e.g. between men and women).

Question 4

Would an editor's section be an aspect you'd like to be included on a football magazine/website and why?

Sam: "Personally, it wouldn't affect me either way if there was an editor's section or not because I personally wouldn't read it or find it interesting. However, I'd put it in anyway as a safer bet so that other customers who might want to read it aren't disappointed."

Sahil: "An editor's section is not particularly something that I'd be interested in personally, but I can imagine that some people who may respect a certain editor's opinion might like to read what they have to say about a specific topic in football, so I can see it being a good aspect to include."

The responses from Question 4 gave me the idea that an editor's section may not be wanted, but to include it anyway as some may like the opinion of the editor and may value it, therefore, I will include an editor's section on my magazine and website.

Question 5

What ratio of images to content would you like to see on a double page spread and why? And which of the examples below do you prefer?

Sam: "On a double page spread, I'd prefer to have a large image that was filling say a third to a half of the spread, with the text all together in the remaining section because that way I'd find it easier to read as a format. And for the two examples that were provided I would prefer the Juan Mata design (left example)."

Sahil: "For the ratio of images on a double page spread, I think the more images the better because I think football magazines are more visual rather than wordy magazines. And the target audience is a little bit younger, so I think pictures are probably better than just having more text. I prefer the image with Samir Nasri (right example).

From the gathering of responses from this question, I came to the conclusion that I will have a large image on one side of the double page spread, and have the other side text, with an aspect ratio of 50:50. By having text to images being an equal ratio on this page, it will not seem as dull as having just text/information, so a positive visual look will be presented to the audience. However, I may include a few small images within the text section as well, to attract the audience to parts of the written content that they would link to.

Question 6

Would you like or dislike it if additional sports were promoted within a football magazine/website and why? Give example?

Sam: "In my opinion I'd prefer the magazine to be solely focussed on football, because this is my main sport and it is for this reason that I would have bought the magazine, but if there was going to be other sports in there I'd prefer them to be either American Football or an unusual sport like Ultimate Frisbee for example that not many people have heard of, to give that more advertising to show people what it's like."

Sahil: "I wouldn't necessarily dislike it if any additional sports were promoted within a football magazine, but I'd buy a football magazine to look at football not other sports. But it's not something that would really bother me."

From this final question and the responses I received, I gathered that a small section of another sport would be beneficial to the target audience, as they may be encouraged/inspired to try it out and become more involved in other activities besides football. This would be especially good for the local community also, as the audience can be given additional ideas as to how they can be active and socialise with others. It is for these reasons that I will try and include a small aspect like this on my products.
 

Focus Group Questions

For this focus group task, I made my questions more specific to what I would like to find out from my target audience about my production, that I did not find out as much about as I would have liked in my previous audience research tasks (questionnaires and social network audience research). These questions will aim to trigger more relevant responses from my target audience, that will enable me to make more detailed decisions for my production. I will also include images for certain questions so that it gives the target audience more of an idea of their meaning.
  

What main image would you like to see on the cover of a football magazine and why?

Would you want exclusive backroom information from owners, managers and players of clubs and why?

Should I make my products appear to more than just my target audience, and how could I do this if so? E.g. typography (text) and colour scheme.

Would an editor's section be an aspect you'd like to be included on a football magazine/website and why?

What ratio of images to content would you like to see on a double page spread and why? And which of the examples below do you prefer?

Would you like or dislike it if additional sports were promoted within a football magazine/website and why? Give examples?

Social Networking Audience Research

Below are screenshots from conversations with my target audience over social networks such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

 

This is a conversation with two people from my target audience on Facebook Messenger.

This first section asks the target audience what they would like more to be included on a football magazine/website. Their responses included tips and advice in general from professionals and others, which I will try to incorporate into my products. They also said that a younger male audience should be the focus of my products, which backs up what I originally thought of myself.

Here I asked what sort of typography they would associate more with my target audience, where they responded with 'large, bold text' to best attract them and display the information/content in a clear, readable manner. This backs up my original thoughts for the text of my products. I then asked about the colour scheme they would more associate with my target audience, where they responded with black, white and another colour such as blue or red, again backing up my original thoughts.

For this screenshot, I asked what would attract them the most to a football magazine/website/billboard, where they responded with discounts related to football, so they audience would gain something else from buying the product. I agree with this and will aim to include some sort of football related offers/discounts within my products. The next question asks about the price they would be willing to pay for a regional football magazine, where they replied with the prices of £1-£4. I will take this into consideration but I will try to set my magazine at a lower price, for the purpose of encouraging more to buy it and focussing on improving the community over making money. This then gave me the idea of donating all profits to the local community, to improve local sports clubs, parks etc. 

 

From the question on promoting local events I just need to make sure I make them appear entertaining, fun and sociable, so the target audience will gain experience from attending. They also said that fun football competitions or involving bigger clubs within the region would be attractive the most, therefore, I will try to include these aspects when I advertise events in my products.

This screenshot asks the target audience their opinion on what they would expect an effective billboard to include, where they said a picture of the main magazine that is being advertised, a slogan and some other attractive information linking to the magazine, with possibly including recognised/professional players. I will try to include all these aspects to best attract my target audience.

This last screenshot asks the target audience how they would expect a football themed website to be laid out. They responded with saying it should be more visual than written, and to try and make it visually entertaining with animations and videos that can be interactive. This response backs up my original thought of wanted to focus on visual aspects of my website over written, so I will try to include videos, pictures and animations that allow for interaction, however, written content will be included, but in an attractive and appealing manner. Lastly, I asked if having social media accounts advertised on the products is good for the target audience, where they agreed and said that social media is a good way for them to get more involved, because of their large use of online.

 

Next, I asked another person from my target audience questions about my production on WhatsApp. 

This first screenshot gathered the responses from a person in my target audience that said they would like to see more of a managers participation in a clubs process, as well as the ambition of the owners. These aspects are less commonly reported on and written about in general, therefore it would be a beneficial area to use in my own products, which I will try to do in an effective way.

 

Next, I asked what colour scheme they would more associate with football products, where they said colours related to the main club in the region. This would therefore attract supporters/fans of this club to the magazine if they see these colours. I will aim to include this in my products, but I will mainly focus on what looks best and most attractive during production, by trying out all colours that would be associated with my target audience, such as black, white, blue and red. I also asked what sort of typography they would associate with the target audience of my products, where they outlined making more important content bold, in order to stand out over less important information, and also use clear, readable text that appears to all. They again reiterated that backroom information would be interesting aspect to read about. Lastly, they said that they would not want to pay for these products as this information can be accessed online for free. From this I will want to use a lower price, and make it worth the target audience buying the magazine, by including discounts and promotions, as well as making it clear that the money will go towards the local community.

Final Questionnaire Results and Analysis

Below are my results and analysis for my Final Questionnaire, where certain questions were improved to allow for better responses and feedback from my target audience, to therefore give me additional ideas as to how I can make more effective and attractive products, based on what the audience wants to see.

For the first 4 questions I didn't change anything, therefore the responses were the same as the pilot questionnaire. The responses for the questions reassured me of my target audience's age, amount of exercise done and football related involvement, to get a sense of what to include in my products.

Question 5 is the same as the pilot questionnaire and gathered the same results, however, I included a 'why' section below it, allowing the audience to expand on their choice of answer, by making this question more open to their response. The responses to this question outlined that the audience want a good deal/discount on products related to the theme of football, so the magazine has another aspect that makes it worth getting, other than for the content within.

Question 6,7 and 8 have similar results to the pilot questionnaire, giving me the same ideas on what I will do in my final production, including a black, white and blue colour scheme and advertising of local events that will interest the audience.

This question received the same results as the pilot questionnaire, with every social media being voted for, but with Instagram being the leader, however, this time I included an 'other' option to allow the audience to recommend any other social media platform they may use that isn't mentioned, so I can see their own open response. One chose the 'other' option and stated that Snapchat is one which they use the most, therefore allowing me to focus on this area as well as the other social medias. Snapchat is a growing social media that is becoming more and more popular so it would be a good idea to be involved somehow in this area. When I mention social media links on my products, I will include all of those stated above, to maximise online social media involvement with the audience, to become more recognised and allow for easier interaction with those who view my products.

The last question that I changed from my pilot questionnaire gives the target audience a chance to give opinions on anything extra they would like to be included in my products. They said a mixture of responses, including, a house style appealing to the whole community, tips on training drills and skills, suggested alternative sports and opportunities to meet/train with pros. All these responses I have taken into consideration and agree with, therefore I will try and include them in my production over the three products I create, to better attract my target audience and more of the local community that is within the region.

Overall, adding comment boxes asking why the target audience chose certain options allows them to give more of their thinking and opinions, which can therefore aid me in my production ideas and create products that they would see as more interesting and appealing.

Final Questionnaire

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Pilot Questionnaire Results and Analysis

 Below are the results and analysis for my pilot questionnaire, where I created some draft questions that I would like my target audience to respond to in order to allow me to gain more ideas for my production.

 My first question was to ask the audience how old they are, in order for me to determine the age of the majority of my target audience between 16 and 35. The results show that the average age of those who answered my questionnaire is 19, showing that I should focus my magazine on targeting those of a younger age (16) and those who are more mature (35) with the content I include, so that it suits a variety of people, therefore best giving my magazine recognition and publicity.

The second question I thought of asked my target audience how much exercise they do per week. The purpose of this question is to help me with what type of content I could potentially include, such as training tips, routines they could try out and copy, or even offers/promotions relating to a local gym or something. Because of the results I received back from my target audience, they showed that they are very active and could potentially be interested in

physical/active related offers or content etc.

For this question, I asked if they play football often, for the purpose of seeing if my target audience would want to see content related to in-game tips and advice they could use/incorporate into their game. The results show that 60% do play football often and 40% don't, so it is pretty split, therefore showing that it could be risky to include content about in-game tips, however, as the target audience enjoy football, I would see them still liking content to do with this.

 This question asks the target audience if they watch football often, where I expected the majority of results to be 'Yes', therefore giving me the support and idea that the content I will use in my products about the game will be targeted specifically to my audience. This also means that all the technical jargon and closed communication I use within my products will be understood by those who are reading it (my target audience).

Question 5 asks my target audience if they would more likely buy a magazine if it has offers/promotions/discounts included in it, where the majority said yes, which therefore suggests I should include some aspect of this to further attract people to my magazine. The offers/promotions/discounts I would like to include would relate to football/active memberships/products, for example, I may display an offer of a 'FREE' local gym membership to be won, as this would attract the audience more to the magazine. In my final questionnaire, I would like to change this question slightly, by making it aimed at my ancillary products, as well as my main product (magazine). For example, I would change the question to: Are you more likely to buy a magazine or be attracted to a billboard/website if it includes offers/promotions/discounts?

Question 6 asks my target audience if they would visit local places of interest/take part in local events if they are advertised in a magazine, where the majority said yes. This shows that including local events/businesses within my products would benefit the local community more, with being persuaded to take part in events/visit local places. As the majority said yes, I will include some events in my products to get more people involved within the local community. In my final questionnaire, I would again like to change the question to make it appear to all my products, including my ancillaries. For example, I would change it to something like: Would you be more likely to visit local places of interest/take part in local events within the community if they are advertised in a magazine, on a website or a billboard?

This question asks the target audience which colour scheme they would associate more with a regional football magazine. The majority said 'Black, White and Blue' as the colour scheme they would best associated with the theme of my products, therefore giving me the idea of possibly using these colours throughout my products. As 'Black, White and Red' are also chosen by a few, this could be another potential set of colours I could use instead. In my final questionnaire, I will use the same question, even though it only asks about my main product's colour scheme, because I will just use this across all my products anyway.

This question asks the target audience was sort of events they would be more interested in, for the purpose of helping me with ideas I could use in my own products. The majority of the audience here said that a football tournament or family related day would be most favoured within the local community, therefore I will try and advertise a similar event in my products that may involve the two. In my final questionnaire, I will make it clearer to the audience that this question allows multiple answers to be given so I can see all that interests them, where I will also give more suggestions as to what events I could advertise.

For this question, I asked what social media my target audience used the most, for the idea of seeing which area I could promote my products to more than others. Instagram had the majority of the votes, showing that this was more popular, however, they were all voted for a few times each, indicating that my target audience uses social media a lot and that it would be a good idea to include social media links on my products that will allow the audience to become more active online with my brand.

 This question was to simply ask what my target audience rated my questionnaire so I could receive advice for potential improvement. I did not receive any improvements from my target audience, as they gave me 5 stars, however, I picked up on a few improvements that I could make and alter for my final questionnaire. For question 10, instead of rating the questionnaire, I will include a question that asks the target audience what else they would like to be included in a regional football magazine/billboard/website, for the purpose of giving them a chance to speak their mind and suggest something different. This question can be skipped if they can't think of anything else they would like to be included.

Overall, my pilot questionnaire seemed to work very well and gather a lot of relevant and useful information I could use for my products, however, there are a few things I would like to change in my final questionnaire. Firstly, I found that the questions with an 'other' option could not be selected themselves, so next time I will make 'other' its own option, where the audience can comment what this other option is they would like to say, therefore giving me more ideas to include in my products. Also, I will try to include a welcome and thank you message at the start and end of the questionnaire, to introduce the target audience to what they are specifically filling out, and to thank them for their time. Lastly, I will try to make the answers for each question more appealing, and possibly make the layout/colour scheme more eye-catching to the target audience, encouraging them to fill it out.

Pilot Questionnaire

Below is the pilot questionnaire I made for my products. I only sent this (via email and message) to people I knew were in my target audience so my results would be as reliable as possible, therefore I didn't publish it on social media sites for just anyone to be able to fill out.

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If the embedded file doesn't load, a link to the pilot questionnaire is shown below: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/X5QJR27

Log 8

I like the look of the effects used on Aguero in this youtube video, therefore I will find tutorials that demonstrate how to create similar affects on photoshop that I could potentially use on my images on my products. By using effects like these I will make my products more appealing to the target audience, therefore gaining more publicity and customers through word of mouth, in turn increasing the sales made.

Audience Profiling

Audience Profiling by Alex Bowles