- It's impossible to design anything
without understanding the audience.
Without that information,
I'm playing darts with my eyes closed while spinning around.
I always ask a new client who their audience is.
Most of the time, the answer is, "Well, everyone."
Unfortunately, everyone is a little broad
and probably not accurate.
With a bit of digging, you can reach a more specific answer.
Every company, product or organization
has several audiences.
Targeting a specific market
does not mean saying no to the others.
It is a way to use resources as efficiently
to get the most bang for the buck.
The target audience may not necessarily be age,
education or location-related.
While it's common to plan on reaching 18 to 24-year-olds
with a college education in Smallville,
you might find the audience based on attitudes or values.
Perhaps it's all people who love model railroads,
or rock and roll, or great food.
Maybe it's about attitude,
people who are irreverent and don't trust authority.
When I want to have a better understanding of the audience,
I ask, "Who is your existing customer?
Is that the customer you want?
Who does your closest competitor target?
In five years, do you want to maintain the current audience
or change it?"
I define the audience with simple demographics:
age, gender, location, income level, occupation, ethnicity.
I also look at something a little fuzzier.
What are their values, goals and fears?
What is their personality and lifestyle?
Values can encompass political and cultural issues.
Printing a lavish brochure with gold engraving
will not be successful
if the audience is deeply concerned about sustainability.
Goals and fears help me focus on a message
and alleviate any negative concerns.
Understanding the personality and lifestyle
helps me determine the tone of copy and imagery.
An irreverent and comical approach is probably wrong
for an audience using a high-end financial planner.
For example, if my client is an expensive luxury brand,
I would focus on people who could afford the product
and value quality or status.
Now I know that the material that I create
cannot ever be cheap or flimsy,
and must have the perception of excellence.
However, the current audience may not be the correct one.
I had a client with a solid target base
of urban professionals between 45 and 70.
Unfortunately, there was no attempt
to grow the market to include younger people,
so the audience aged, five years later to between 55 and 70.
The trend was a slowly disappearing base.
The research told me to find solutions
to include younger professionals with suitable materials,
such as email and online resources.
I know this is a complex subject.
Don't worry, you don't need to do focus groups
and extensive field research.
You can gather much of this information
by sitting down with your client for a good hour
and focusing on defining their audience.
Do it over lunch
if it helps to lighten the pressure for an answer.