Focus Group

Focus Group:

On Saturday 19^th March, I organised a focus group to show my final draft of my promotional package, with the aim of fixing any little things picked up by the group as well as giving a form of evaluation from which to form my answers to the evaluation questions I will answer at the end of this blog. The group were all within my target audience, consisting of:

-          Ryan (18)

-          Joanne (17)

-          Amie (16)

-          Ashleigh (19)

-          Alice (18)

-          Shaun (16)

Having this mixture of both male and female feedback, from an age range within my target audience of 15-20 is very helpful in helping me analyse how the general public would respond to this promotional package, as opposed to the hot desking task I completed which gave me responses from a media student’s perspective.

To begin with, I showed the group my video, then asked several questions and noted down their responses, encouraging them to just speak their minds and give opinions, not just answering the questions, using them more as a prompt.

1.       Do you think this video suits the genre of music that the song is in?

The response for the most part is yes, they responded well to the mixture of a narrative they could follow along with, as well as the performance sections which they said were done very professionally.

2.       Do you like the mixture of performance and narrative-based content within the video?

They responded well to the mixture, saying that having only narrative or only performance could have been a little too much and been boring, but having the mixture within the video helped it remain interesting. They said that the narrative section linking in to the performance worked well, showing the singer going from nothing to performing in the studio.

I then showed them the digipak and poster and asked questions regarding these:

1.       Do you think the digipak and poster link well with one another?

The response was yes among all people in the group, they said the used of a consistent font and colour for the album title and band name worked well and made it recognisable in the scenario of wanting to pick out that album from a shelf having just seen the poster. They said the consistent use of paper and sketches worked in creating a theme for the two.

What improvements could you suggest to help them link?

They said changing the font used in the main body of the ‘About Us’ section would help keep a consistent house style among the promotional package, other than that they were unsure on improvements.

3.       Do you think enough information is present on the poster to convince and audience to buy it?

They said the information present would more than likely be enough, with particular mention to the inclusion of hit singles, which people may have heard on the radio, the album title and band name, and release dates, as well as it being available digitally or in a physical form, giving all necessary information needed to buy it, as well as a review that helps to promote it.

4.       Do you think enough is included in the digipak to buy it over a regular CD?

They said the inclusion of an ‘about us’ section helped sell the product, especially considering this is under the guise of the band being brand new, having an introduction to the band and its members and multiple advertisements for the band’s internet links for more information helped it promote a new band well, and the use of extra photos in the digipak helped it stand out from a normal CD case.

I then asked questions about the promotional package as a whole:

1.       Do you think that the promotional package as a whole works together, showing a solid and consistent branding?

They responded by saying that the promotional package worked together very well, the inclusion of a single actor who was also present in the poster and digipak helped tie the video in with the ancillary products, the use of a consistent house-style for fonts helped it remain within the distinct brand, and the use of a handheld font made it seem more personal, which was what I was going for, due to the band being a break-out band, rather than a pre-established band.

2.       Do you think this promotional package breaks any conventions of a music video and advertising products associated with this genre of music? Adversely, does it stick to any conventions?

They said the conventions of a house style were stuck to, which was a positive in continuing a consistent theme within the products. They said the use of a narrative in my video was breaking a convention of the genre, especially for a newer band, who were more likely to stick to a full performance due to it being cheaper to produce, the use of performance in mine helped keep the feel of my song’s genre, but it was a nice change to have a narrative mixed in.

3.       On the whole, what minor improvements would you suggest before submitting a finalised promotional package?

The main point raised was the font in the ‘About us’ section being inconsistent, as well as the editing in the video being slightly over the top, and could do with refining.

I will take on board this feedback before submitting my final artefacts, and I will use the feedback given here to evaluate my final work.