Evaluation Task 3What have I learnt from audience feedback?

How did I gather my audience feedback?

I gathered my audience feedback using a variety of methods including Focus Groups, Surveys, Interviews and Questionnaires.

I used my phone to record the focus group and interviews in order to analyse the content of the video and gain more detailed responses.

All the information I gathered can be found on my blog.

• I found that the vast majority of people who viewed my video said to enjoy it. People who weren’t in our target audience still said they enjoyed the upbeat style of the music and the catchy melodies as well as the aesthetic looks of the band as a whole. I went to target a more niche market of people but in the end the mass have ended up liking the video more than expected due to its positive message of friendship.

Statistics

• The focus group I conducted showed this. I did a focus group with a number of people in order to create a talkative atmosphere in which questions could be asked to get some qualitative feedback on the video.

FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT PROFILES

The target audience for my video was 15-24 year olds who are into the punk genre. In the focus group that was conducted, only one of the 4 members had an avid knowledge of the punk genre,

but the other 3 knew a limited amount about it. The feedback from the knowledgeable member of the group was very helpful. He suggested that ‘punk is not about individuals’ but rather the collective. This is why he did not agree fully with the front cover of the album presenting only the lead singer. However, once he was informed about why this decision was made and about the

picture of the band on the inside cover, he was more than convinced.

The other three members of the focus group liked the image of the frontman on the front of the cover. So this means that despite my thinking that the music video and campaign would be more interesting to punk rock fans, it’s ended up being more liked by the mass market. Punk rock fans may expect to see something more antiestablishment and a more embodied sense of togetherness against a power as the front image, rather than promoting what seems like a solo artist. However, the way the lead singer is looking away from the camera is challenging normal pop cover conventions, as he’s acting as if he doesn’t care about the audience, which is something punk fans could relate to.

The sources that I used for my research were varied in reliability. All the people used were members of

my school and so this may have effected their answers as they may have wanted to avoid too

much criticism. However, most people were fairly truthful about their responses in answer to my

questions and in my opinion are worthwhile having. A questionnaire was sent out and the results were anonymised to avoid this type of bias results and it showed the same result as what the focus groups showed, therefore meaning the focus group was in

fact reliable.

Reliability:

The research that was conducted showed that my video is appealing to the vast majority of people, which is a very good thing. It shows that the star

image of the frontman is easy to buy into and suggests a good USP for the product, meaning it

may be able to take a place in an already saturated market. Unfortunately, the product isn’t quite as popular with the punk fans as I thought it would be; however, it seems as though they can

still appreciate the music and the style of the video, but maybe not enough to invest themselves

and their money into it.

Strengths:

The audience mainly seemed to like the digipack and the video. However, a few weaknesses were pointed out in the form of style

errors in the digipack. Some people questioned suggested that the track names be rearranged to make it more aesthetically pleasing,

which I agree with. It was also mentioned that the video should have more narrative, as there is a definite focus on the

performance element, and it was not quite enough to get fully involved in the video.

Weaknesses/Flaws:

It was suggested by a few people who were questioned that the fashion choices in the video

reflected mod culture. This was the sort of style I was trying to achieve so this is a success. The YouTube Statistics go on to show that this has led to a large

viewing in Italy and Spain as fashion is very important in that part of Europe and the band members all have a unique sense of style. It’s also suggested that punk

and mod culture in Italy is still prevalent in the society, so this video may have reflected their culture.

The YouTube analytics also show that our viewers were of the age that we predicted. Saturated around the 16-25 area. However, what I was surprised by was the 50/50 split

between male and female viewers. I would have expected a much more male dominated

audience

The members of focus groups said they very much liked the logo of the band. It is simple, easy to read, well designed and eye catching. Some people pointed out that the style of it was similar to that of the All American Rejects as well as The Stooges.

The Logo:

Encoding and DecodingEncoding:

I intended to have a number of meanings behind my music video, the first being the

idea of strong friendship being valued higher than anything else. The boys in the band all want the same record, but instead

of fighting, they become friends, thus forming their band.

Message 1 - Values of Friendship

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I also wanted to represent how much of a shame vinyl and CD’s is being replaced with digital downloads. I wanted to put

across the message that music shopping is much more fun and rewarding than

shopping for singles online, and one can even meet and become friends with some interesting people whilst doing so. Music is

becoming much less sociable.

Message 2 - Music is becoming less sociable.

Encoding and DecodingEncoding:The idea of ‘Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover’

is also prevalent in the video. These boys don’t think anything of each other at first, but as they get to know each other they become great friends. Give everyone a

chance is the message.

Encoding and DecodingDecoding:

From the audience feedback we saw that the people involved actually saw most of

the messages that we intended to put into the video. It was mentioned in the focus group that the values of friendship were

obvious in the video. One member of the audience feedback group said: ‘It’s obvious that the friends

were brought together by fate. A coincidence caused them to be friends. It

shows how little it can take to make friends for life.’

Encoding and DecodingDecoding:

The audience also noticed that the fact the video was shot in a record shop promoted the values of the past, and the fact that

shopping for physical vinyl records looked much more fun than browsing iTunes or a

similar site.

?“The record shop is quite indie, like it helps show that the band aren’t just regular teenagers, they prefer vinyls, which means they really enjoy music. I think it

makes them look much cooler”

Encoding and DecodingDecoding:The audience didn’t like the original name

of ‘Sharma Marmalade’ as they didn’t think it was serious enough for the nature

of the band. This was obvious from the analysis of the facial expressions from the focus group after the name was mentioned

for the first time“I don’t like the name… It just doesn’t sound great. You need something more catchy and less weird, otherwise

the band wont be taken seriously”

Encoding and DecodingDecoding: From the new name of the band, most

people didn't understand the ‘Thin Blue Line’ was a reference to the Police Force.

However, once explained, everyone thought it was a good name for the band

and helped enforce their values. They thought it was quite ironic to call a punk

band with an antisocial agenda a nickname of the police.

“Yeah, I much prefer that name to the last, it sounds

much more like a punk band. It’s memorable and also has a

double meaning, which is clever”

The Gratification Model

Uses and Gratifications Theory is a popular approach to understanding mass

communication. The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the

actual message itself by asking “what people do with media” rather than “what media does to

people” (Katz, 1959).

It assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in

interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theory also holds that

audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs. The approach suggests that people use the media to fulfil specific

gratifications. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other

information sources for viewers' gratification

The Gratification Model

Over the course of the two focus groups, the key elements that came up were what we expected. It was mainly talked about that the audience liked the

style of the band and also liked the attitude of the band as well as their friendship. It’s evident that the balance of the attitude compared to consumer

relations is good, and the lead singer comes across as moody, but not rude or unlikable.

The Gratification Model

The Gratification Model

It’s clear the the audience like our product as their facial expressions during the watching of the video all show intrigue and interest, as well as satisfaction.

Quotes: “I really like the way this is shot. Also, I think the way it ends sums up the whole video for me, which is nice.”“The friendship is clear in the video, even though they’ve only just met, you can tell they’ll be good friends. There’s also a clear chemistry in the

performance shots”

I have learned from my audience feedback that I have constructed an intended star image and an effective

campaign. My target audience has informed what went well, for example, the costumes in the video, as well as

area’s for development. If I was to make any future changes to the campaign I would edit the website and

make the continuity something that is impeccable, I’d also like to make my own font to use for the logo of the band.

Taking note of the audience feedback I understand how the audience inform me the success of the campaign is and

indeed allowed me time to make adjustments to the campaign before it went to distribution. Audience feedback

is important market testing in post-production to see if I created the right star image and marketed this

purposefully. As Henry Jenkins informs us that we live in a ‘participatory culture’, where fans and audiences are

important in circulating meaning and the strength of media messages.

I also recognise that my audience has engaged with the meanings in my music video in different ways, bringing

their own contexts to the reading of the star image – what Hall argues is reception theory. I can understand

how my audience can either reinforce or challenge intended meanings in the text.