Soap Advert Target Audience

Our target audience will be predominantly for mid teens to early 20’s students.
It will be primarily aimed at girls as traditionally soaps were aimed at female
audiences; however, episodes including fights, homicides and situations including
lesbians will interest boys, resulting in the soap appealing to a wide range of
people. By targeting a younger audience, the soap can appeal to people sharing
similar problems as to those shown in the soap.
Parents or guardians may also watch our soap to gain some kind of insight into
attitudes towards sexuality amongst the younger generation as it is displaying a
less restricted view on sexuality. This could cause controversy between the
generations as the older generation may be shocked at the content, whereas
young people may find it a realistic representation of what goes on in their lives.

The issues in the soap may also reflect real life situations for the target audience,
such as confused sexuality. The fact audience members can identify with
situations in the soap would encourage them to watch the season, so it is
important we include key plot points in the advert. By enabling the audience to
identify with actors or actresses in the soap, we are taking into account uses and
gratifications. We also have a range of diverse characters to allow audiences to
identify with a particular character.

Watching episodes on the homicide, suicide and kidnap will allow the audience to
escape from their real life situations and take comfort in the fact other people
have problems of their own. This will help them to solve their own problems as
well.

The audience is of the age, where they are able to empathise with the characters
in the soap, as well as socialise with peers and become involved in discussion with
friends about the soap. Our audience will be a Niche audience, aimed at a
specific demographic audience. Due to our soap including subvert conventions,
our target audience is niche soap. This subvert conventions make our soap have
differences from the normal soap conventions. This includes a meeting place or a
main setting being a place.

With soaps being promoted independently through the audience, the audience
raises ideology issues, when referring to individual beliefs and values. This can
make soaps controversial as people with different beliefs have different views on
the soap. However, this is beneficial to the soap’s promotion as more people are
discussing and spreading the soap.

By using a wider target audience, it benefits the soap when referring to

institution and the profit making of the soap. Through independent or
mainstream promotion, more people watching increase the profit. We would
start at a smaller audience of Early Adopters, by advertising on social
networking sites. This small audience could promote the soap through word of
mouth. Our soap would increase in viewing numbers due to Tribe Wired
audiences hearing and watching the soap.
Our target audience when referring to Demographic groups are in the group
bands C2 D E. These groups are lower in profession and people who may live in
the same surroundings as the soap. By choosing these groups the people
represented in the soap opera, can reflect the demographic audience.

Like many British soaps, St. Andrews Road is centred on a neighbourhood to

make it more appropriate for our younger target audience. Because soaps need
to be produced on a tight budget, a few locations are chosen in which the action
happens. To relate to the audience, our settings are: A living room, a pub, the
woods and a car. By using these settings, the younger audience are able to
identify with settings.

We would be looking to create a series of about 12 episodes rather than a long-

serial narrative which goes on for years. This results our soap being a sub-genre.