Beyoncé, brand or artist?Task 4 : Audience Research

Charlotte Dale

Career

Beyoncé is an artist who since the start of her career has acted as an innovator, pushing the boundaries set by the music industry and crafting her own world-wide brand.

Destiny’s Child lead the way for Beyoncé's success, with the band quickly creating a strong female public image, particularly through the release of their hit single ‘Survivor.’ Billboard magazine coined Destiny’s Child as “feisty female empowerment anthems, killer dance moves and an enviable fashion sense”, a legacy continued by Beyoncé after the band parted in 2006.

Upon launching her solo career, Beyoncé worked with other big-name artists such as spouse JayZ and toured with Missy Elliot and Alicia Keys on the Verizon First Ladies Tour. This alongside the numerous albums she consecutively released in the span of 5 years built her career up to the form the solid platform she has today.

This has enabled her to reach the point where she can push and push the limits to make political standpoints such as the themes displayed in latest album Lemonade which features controversial single ‘Formation’ supporting the Black Lives Matter campaign and fight against police brutality.

Beyoncé has also built a successful business empire working with brands such as Pepsi and Tommy Hilfiger and partnering with Topshop and JayZ to create her own products and services. Beyoncé always works as a philanthropist founding the Survivor Foundation and working all around the world providing aid to those in need.

However, her success raises the question, is Beyoncé an artist or a brand?

Career

Website

The opening page of Beyoncé's website is simple yet striking, much like herself. It is very professional through its layout, fonts, titles and images, yet as you scroll down the homepage which displays several recent images of Beyoncé and her tour, it is endearing and inviting, making you want to be a part of the

brand that is Beyoncé.

Some of the images on the opening page display her incredible artistry and performances, however it is an image of a young fan looking up at the stage that stood out to me a being one that sums up her as an artist and her target audience. Beyoncé wants to be the role model figure, a woman who young girls could look

up to and her website works to represent this alongside her other ventures and medias.

Website

Social Media

Beyoncé's social media reflect the business and brand and act as tools of promotion as opposed to personal social medias.

Both her Facebook and Instagram display up-to-date photos and videos of her current ventures – in this case the formation world tour. This is a form of interaction with fans as they are able to be a part of her life and follow what she is doing.

This contributes to the idea that her target audience are young as they are more likely to keep up to date with and use social medias.

Social Media

Albums / Music VideosAlbums/Music VideosFrom her Destiny’s Child days now into the Lemonade era, Beyoncé has noticeably evolved both in her music and as an artist.

After her initial success in the R&B genre with Destiny’s child, her first album Dangerously In Love featuring hit single Crazy in Love continued this. Her music from this album right through to her album “4” released in 2011 was feel good, the songs were catchy and her albums featured both up-tempo dance tracks and ballads. Some of her hits included If I Were A Boy, Halo, Countdown, and Single Ladies. This genre of music (a mix of pop and R&B) is generally stereotyped to attract a young female audience because of the lyric narratives and catchy sound.

It wasn’t until the release of self-titled fifth album that Beyoncé ventured into new territory and began to fully explore a more urban and electronic sound. Her new music aimed to attract a wider audience with her notions of empowerment now reaching out to more than just females. She also took her music down a more sexual route with the release of Partition which alongside the visual accompaniments could be credited as trying to attract a male audience.

Finally in 2016 came her latest album ‘Lemonade’ which can only be described as an artistic masterpiece. The albums followed political as well as personal themes addressing Black Lives Matter and infidelity and anger. She also released a short film to accompany which split into 11 chapters Intuition, Denial, Anger, Apathy, Emptiness, Accountability, Reformation, Forgiveness, Resurrection, Hope, and Redemption. The purpose of this movement overall is to expand her audience base and this latest notion can be enjoyed by an older audience and from all backgrounds.

Audience Profiling

Using the YouGov.com profiling tool, we are able to establish a target demographic for the brand Beyoncé.

The average demographic is a female aged 18-24 of a CDE social grade. This is traditionally working class.

Through the tool we are also able to pinpoint the lifestyle of a member of Beyoncé's target audience. Some of the conclusions made are they enjoy reality TV shows such as Big Brother, X Factor and MTV. They have a strong social media presence and have an interest in fashion both through their profession and as a hobby. Some brands include Urban Outfitters, Asos and American Apparel.

This profiling links with Beyoncé's latest endeavour releasing a clothing line with Topshop.

Conclusion - Target AudienceConclusion – Target Audience

Overall, Beyoncé's target audience has evolved and matured with her career. However, one thing remains in the fact that a high proportion of her fan base remains female through her continuation of songs of female empowerment throughout all her albums.

Her success is often pinpointed to the extensive marketing lengths her team go to and the new and exciting campaigns they create to engage with her young (18-30) audience. Her multi-media releases consistently galvanise this audience who in our online age are always seeking to see something new. She also makes sure her releases are directly targeted to this age category by announcing them not through a press release or TV event but rather on her social media – Instagram to be exact.

Finally, her authenticity and honest, non-sugar coated accounts of events engage people in the brand that is her life. Being polished and perfect in modern society is no longer desirable, an audience wants someone who isn’t perfect but is able to rock and assert themselves with full confidence. In her recent releases she entails her sex life and her relationship with JayZ, this is something that while an older audience would find reprehensible, a young audience applaud and idolise. Beyoncé is an artist of empowerment and has used her platform of music to create and perfect a global brand.

Conclusion - Target AudienceBibliography

www.Beyonce.com

www.Facebook.com/Beyonce

www.Instagram.com/Beyonce

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/w-magazine/the-beauty-evolution-of-b_b_9851628.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyonc%C3%A9

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destiny%27s_Child

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/music/midnight-sun-blog/bs-ae-beyonce-20160609-story.html

http://kcclaveria.com/2014/01/marketing-lessons-from-beyonce/