LO1: Task 3

Understand the nature and purpose of research in the creative media industries

Purpose of Research:

Research is done by many individuals and the purpose of research varies depending in what the usage is required for. The purpose of research can revolve around the following:

Exploratory

This is where an investigation is taken place due to the fact of little knowledge, this therefore allowing the use of research to increase what is needed to be known. This is most common in organisations, for example when producing a new product researching around interests of individuals and existing products in contrast allows better understanding in their interested subject.

Speculative

This type of research is when researchers look at the current situation and consider the future possibilities. This may be the use of media looking into different storylines on a current film, for example Final Destination and the possibilities that current situation can lead to and in this case providing the film from Final Destination - Final Destination 5.

Descriptive & Explanatory

Descriptive research is the gathering of information that clarifies patterns, similarities and differences. An example of this would be the links between student's GCSE results and Dropout rates in 16+. Whereas Explanatory is the presentation in reasoning of patterns links and relationships that are made. E.g. How GSCE skills help students in their A-levels.

Predictive & Evaluative

This type of research purpose is for the development of a model that allows a prediction of the outcomes and variables that may cause errors or problems in the circumstances allowing restrictions to be made and allows more knowledge into why they occur. Evaluative research has the purpose of looking into an area of impact created this being a policy change in customer's service.

I will be looking more specifically at these following types of purposes listed below:

Audience Research

One purpose that the use of research may be done is to find audience research. This can be a great method in finding out more about what market you're aiming towards. It is important for research on the audience in order to make sure that those whom view, buy and so on are satisfied by what they are being presented.The use of audience research can be done in different methods, this being the following:

Audience Data - This is a measure of demographic profiles and household data of the national audience for a television network at certain times when something is aired. The use of audience can be used in order to gain feedback on whether or not an advertiser is reaching out to the intended target audience. The use of the demographic number look into the number of individuals in the selected demographic in each household. 

Demographics -  these are statistical information of the human populations, this including their age and income. This can be used by many especially businesses in order to identify to market their goods and services. In relation to myself the use of demographics can be a great method in being able to see weather or not to put our advertisement that we as a group produced. Demographics are used in order to identify who the consumer are.

Audience Profiling - this is finding out the profile of your audience before putting across your message, product and so on in order to make sure that it is effective and produces the best results. It can include information such as an individual's gender, age, educational qualifications, work experience, field of work, interests, financial background and so on. An example of this is shown below: 

This example is of audience profiling for age, this looks into the listeners for Radio 3's listening hours, When looking at the results you are able to see that they are categorized into the different age groups.This is audience profiling as from this research identification has been made that the proportion in age group of 55 and over is now at 60% as mentioned in the print screen above. Collecting this type of information for example insure that Radio 3 know who their audience consists of. 

Geo- demographics 

The use of geo-demographic research considers the ethnicity, gender, class, and age of the audience. Furthermore to this the use of geo-demographics looking into where the audience is from in terms of their nationality. The use of geo-demographics can be a great method in gaining a better understanding of what the target audience is. 

Consumers behavior and customer attitudes - This type of research can allow better understanding of consumers and their interest in what you have to offer. This use of information can be a great method to see what you are offering fits in well with consumers behaviors and consumers attitudes. An example of looking into consumers behavior and attitudes is shown below: 

 

Looking at this example, you are able to see that by identifying what consumers interest is towards specific things, you are able to see what is a successfully and weather or not you should market what you have on offer to consumers. If I decided for example to advertise a watch collection for women I am able to see that in terms of shopping habits that more women buy jewelry and watches than men, therefore giving me more reason to market my product. Looking at the example above from looking into consumers attitudes and behavior I am able to see that it can be a good way to look into weather or not it is a good idea to market your product and if it can be successful. 

Market Research

This area of research for will look into the market that the item or product is being aimed into. It will look into the market itself as their is a wide range of markets. Furthermore to this it will also look into other in the market. This will a be good acknowledgement of what is being offered will be in the market and where it stands.

Product Market

Product Market includes marketing the product and identifying where the product is in the market segment. For example for my unit 30 our product for Zeus Sport it would be that the product is based in the sport section underneath the drinks, therefore specifically being in the market for Sport drinks. Being able to identify the market and their interest towards that market can mean that a product that is place in can be more successful and also can mean that the business are able to insure that the product that they are putting out in this market is suited well. 

Competition & Competitor analysis

During the stages of progressing within their market will want to insure that they gain better understanding of their consumers in an aim of keeping ahead of competitors. They will also want to insure that they are aware of their competitors. In relation for Zeus Sport this is a vital aspect as being aware of competitors can allow opportunities in overcoming competitors and also a method and aim in how to develop the business itself. Being aware of competitors is important in insuring that consumers are able to keep ahead of competition, for example if the business New look  were to start offering delivery within three days, whereas previously the procedure was seven days, consumers will immediately switch to faster services. Being able to identify another competitor's strong point and exploiting it within your own business is a great way to stay ahead of competition and maintain existing consumers and gain potential consumers within the business. This also being their unique selling point for example competitors such as Lucozade and them exploiting their product again water. 

One method in being able to identify and analyse the competition, is down by the use of research in the marketing section of the business plan. Knowing and identifying competitors is really vital and this can be done by finding out what competitors have on offer in comparison to your business. This in the sense that Zeus Sport will be looking at competitors such as Lucozade, Powerade and identifying what it is that they offer and provide that we don't.  Being able to identify the unique selling point of a competitor will be very important for and this can be done through the use of secondary research and looking at their websites and seeing what they have on offer that Zeus Sport does not.

Advertising Placement & Advertising effects

An important factors within the market research that is important is the use of advertising placement, this being the broadcast slots, looking at this I am able to identify that this is an important factor as where it is placed needs to insure that the interest of consumers are gained. This is a vital factor in the success of what is being put across and can help the business build and create more awareness from it. For Zeus sport this is a major factor that will have great impact therefore identifying advertisement placement interest of consumers can be vital to insure that Zeus Sport can gain their interest. Furthermore to this businesses can use BARB in order to see if their advertisement place on the channel set has been successful or not, it is a great method to monitor the success. 

The impact of advertisement and effect that had had on the target audience is very important as the organisation will want to make sure that individuals are interested in what is being provided and so that they are able to see success from what is being put across. This can be monitored in many ways one being by looking at the sales and seeing if they have increased from the advertised placement, another being that the business can look into the ratings that the product receives and finally to gain feedback from consumers and ask how they are able to improve in order to reach their expectations. 

Production Research

For production research I am able to identify that production research includes a wide range of factors, for the product or item to move forward then it is important to look into the production research and find out how to take forward the product. This can be a great method in allowing the individual to more organised and can allow the a more successful product as it manages the next steps that will be taken. These factors for research in the production are as follows:

Finance & Costs

The use of finance is very important, especially to our group. Finance controls what goes in and out of Zeus Sport this will then enable good investment decisions to take place. Finance records all the money that is spent so that Zeus sport know how much profit or loss they as a business are producing in each department of the organisation. The use of finance will allow Zeus Sport to have a good understanding in how much will be required in order to carry out the production for the advertisement.

Finance has an impact on the business Zeus Sport as when setting up the production for the advertisement, I will need the money to be able to finance Zeus Sport. This including being able to buy the equipment and materials for the product and this is where finance come in and the allocated budget amount.

Technological Resources

Technological resources are important to allow a production to be organised therefore by insuring that the business is prepared and equipped for any technical requirement  For a media industry this can be technical resources such as the equipment required fro the recording such as the type of cameras, tripods, microphones and so on. Furthermore to this it can include technological resources such as the media industry having the correct hardware in order to be able to do the editing required and so on. Furthermore to this it can also include the software's that the business have at the moment. All this aspects are important and will need to be looked over to insure that the organisation are able to produce what they want effectively. 

Locations

For many aspects the location is a vital factors, this including shops and their location in market but also the location in relation to my unit being the placement for recording this being where to record the advertisement.The locations are very important as within a production it is important to make sure that it fits in with the mis-en-scene and the message that is being aimed towards the viewers therefore meaning that it is very vital to insure that the message needed to be presented is reaching viewers. 

An example of meeting the requirements of location would for example for the advertising unit that having the product being Zeus sport, therefore the location may be sports related such as gyms, football pitches, changing rooms in getting ready and so on. This is very the likley placements would be in order to fit in with the product but also insure that the message of the energy from the drink can be presented through the use of sports.

Appropriateness of Research Techniques for different purposes

From the use of the research methods used there are different techniques used to gain the information required as some may not be possible to do so and others may not be appropriate. Also the use of technique will need to be effective for the purpose of the investigation. An example of the appropriateness in techniques is that if the business KFC decided to attempt interviewing each consumer that enters the shop they will need to require hiring a wide range of individuals to carry this out, this itself will be an unrealistic fund and not achievable. Therefore others techniques can be implemented such as sampling to make sure they meet there needs.