4. What I have learnt about the content and appeal of television, radio and print adverts and how I intend to demonstrate this knowledge and understanding in my production in order to communicate successfully with the target audience.

During my research I have learnt lots about how print advertising uses its content to appeal to its target audience. Below are existing adverts that do this successfully and how I have used this knowledge to use my advert to appeal to my target audience of males and females aged 16-25.

Print adverts must appeal to an audience and gratify their needs. They do this in a variety of ways. Print adverts appeal to their target audience by representing them in a certain way. The model in the advert will be an aspirational figure to them and encourage them to make a purchase. An advert for a deodorant may make the model appear attractive and confident, which is something my target audience of males and females aged 16-25 desire to be.
The uses and gratifications theory also highlights four audience needs that the advert will need to gratify, that will encourage them to purchase the product;

• the need to be informed- informing the audience about the product and the thing that it achieves, which will encourage them to buy the product.
• to improve social interactions- the advert must be something they wish to talk about with their peers- either about the advert or the product itself.
• to provide escapism/entertainment- the audience must enjoy the advert and be entertained in order for it to appeal to them, it also make the advert more memorable.
• to create a sense of personal identity- the figures and scenarios in the adverts must reflect the audience or their desires in order to create an emotional appeal that encourages them to buy the product.

This is an advert for unisex deodorant Axe Anarchy, which targets 16-25 year olds.

This is an advert for Oxfam found in Total Film magazine, which has a 75% male readership, with an average age of 26. They are dedicated film goers.

My target audience are males and females aged 16-25, who read Total Film magazine. This means that they;

• dedicated film goers
• often young film professionals or young students or graduates
• enjoy sharing knowledge of film
• enjoy mainstream cinema
• may have aspiration of working in the industry
• are drawn to Total Film's full colour images, bold fonts and bright colours

To appeal to the target audience of my own production, I will use London landmarks, like Tube stations,    

red telephone boxes and street signs to give an edgy feel of contemporary London to the advert. This will appeal to my target audience by providing escapism and creating a sense of personal identity by creating figures of their age who they will find aspirational, which will encourage them to buy the product in order to achieve this. I will also use poses from iconic movie posters which will appeal to them through their love of film and cinema. 

This is what I have learnt through my research and how I will use this information to appeal to my target audience in my own production.