Audience Analysis for Website Front Page

My website front page is part of the viral marketing campaign for the movie Lost Redemption. As such its primary purpose is to promote the film in the most effective way possible. To begin with, this means assessing who the target audience for the film is and then looking at ways to address them properly.

Target Audience

Analysis – who is the audience?

The audience for the film is likely to be in their late teens and currently in full time education. They will associate with the practices of the modern teenage culture such as the proficient use of technology (e.g. phones, game stations, computers etc.), strong association modern music, an interest in films and celebrity culture and a strong identification with fashion. The internet is now an integral part of every teenagers life from which they will almost certainly look for information on new films which indicates this may be an effective form of promotion for the target audience.

Understanding – What is the audiences’ knowledge of the subject?

When first engaging with the film on the website front page, the audience may have some prior knowledge of it due to the radio advert or trailer. Whether they have knowledge of it or not they will be familiar with the codes and conventions of thrillers and those of the used on websites. By working with basic sign systems and ideologies through for example colour schemes (e.g. light =good, dark=evil), mise-en-scene and actors on the front page the audience should be able to understand the basic premise of the film such as its genre and maybe even some small aspects of its plot. By using these common ideologies and signs the audience should be able to easily interpret the messages being portrayed and will hopefully engage with the film.

Demographics – What is their age, gender, education background etc.?

Age: 15-20
Sex: Male
Location: Britain
Educational status: Currently in or recently left education

Identifying the demographic aspects of the target audience means I am able to identify some of their interests by analysing the collective identities based on age, sex, location etc. I can then use these to represent the audience in a way which they understand and associate with. For example, the main protagonists will be included on the cover both of whom are 19 which will be approximately the age of the target audience for the film. From this I know they will be familiar with a school/college setting and so can play on this aspect of the film’s narrative on the website front page. The youth of today use the website more than any other generation so the audiences’ age also indicated this is an appropriate form of promotion. The target audience is also going to be predominantly male which means I need to keep a masculine focus when designing the front page in terms of lexicons used and colour schemes etc.

Interest – Why they would view this website?

The internet is quickly becoming the widest used advertising medium. The great thing about the World Wide Web is that it is like a ‘web’ in that everything is connected. Therefore the audience member may have watched the trailer on YouTube for example and then followed a link to the website, or the link may have been on Facebook, a magazine website or any other of a host of websites which my target audience will probably use quite frequently. They would view the website as a source of information about the film, its narrative, plot, characters etc. They will probably also use it for information on its release date and so this is an essential part of the marketing campaign especially for a target audience of this age group.

Environment - Where will this be viewed?

With the film promotion taking place via the medium of the internet the front page will need to address the expectations and desires of the audience for this particular media. The vast majority of internet users are those in their late teens and so this form of promotion should be fairly effective. I am going to design my front page based on my research of contemporary film websites. More recently films have been creating fan pages for their products on social networking sites with links to and from the website. Social network sites have huge potential for below-the-line promotion through word of mouth and as such the potential audience for the website and subsequently the film is greatly increased by promoting it on the internet.