A video recording of the synchronous sessions for the week will be uploaded after each class to this folder (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s8lpbwnw768exvp/AAD_wCFERsLKwgi2EAHeBdGya?dl=0) (the password can be found on the “Welcome” page of this course’s Blackboard site – email me if you can’t find it)

Target audiences

In order for your campaign to be successful you need to define and understand your target audience: the people you are trying to engage and convince. A product or social issue may be relevant to a large audience, but you will get better results if you target your message to a more specific group. For example: a pro-recycling campaign should look, sound and feel different if it’s targeting adults vs. teenagers vs. young children.

Demographics

Demographics is the process of studying a group of people based on different attributes. Here is a list of characteristics you should consider when defining your target audience:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Income
• Occupation
• Level of education
• Marital status
• Race
• Religion
• Ethnicity
• Sexual orientation

In-class exercise: target audience

Select a website for a product or social cause and analyze its target audience. Look at the demographic attributes above and try to define as many as possible. How is the target audience addressed by the choice of colors, font, format etc.?

Personas

A persona is a fictional person with the attributes of your target audience. Creating a few personas can make your target audience feel less abstract and can facilitate the process of creating engaging content for them. Think of it like creating a character for a book or a film – your persona should have a name, gender, age, occupation, address etc. (fill as many of the demographics attributes above as possible), a personality, goals, hobbies values etc. Thinking of a real person in your life can be a good point of departure.

You will be asked to create persona for your campaign project (see Deliverables section below for details). 

Creative brief

Now that you and your team have had a few more weeks to think about your campaign and to take into account the feedback you received during the pitch presentations, it is time to formalize your proposal into a creative brief.

A creative brief is a simple but key document in any creative campaign/project. It outlines the goal of the piece, its target audience, visual, strategic and tonal approach. It allows everyone involved (creative team members and client) to have a clear understanding of the project and to align everyone’s expectations. The creative brief will serve as the guide for the entire production process. For this reason, it must be very clear and thorough.

You can use your pitch deck as a starting point but will have to add details. Make sure you address all the points in this template. Anyone reading your creative brief should be able to clearly understand what the final campaign will consist of and look like.

Time management

Once your project is clearly defined, you should assess and plan the different tasks it will require. A campaign project such as this one can be divided into several stages and is iterative: you create several  sketches and tests before producing the final piece. Sketches, storyboards, wireframes etc. are very important in order to achieve your goals within the time allocated for the project. They allow you to try out your ideas, edit and improve them before launching into the more technical and time consuming production phase.

Creating a task analysis document will help you plan the different steps required for the project. Each task should be described, categorized and assigned the week(s) during which it will be produced

Here’s an example of a task analysis document for an anti-bullying campaign aimed at girls between the age of 8 and 12 years old. The project includes a website consisting primarily of a web comic, a series of animated GIFs for social media and a series of stickers.

Deliverables

For next week:

• Create at least 2 personas (per group) that will serve as examples for your campaign’s target audience. Use this template and look at the finished example. Make sure it is clearly named (i.e: NameofTeam_persona1). 
• Fill the creative brief template with your group. Make sure it is clearly named (i.e: NameofTeam_creativeBrief_date)
• Fill the task analysis document with your group. Make sure it is clearly named (i.e: NameofTeam_taskAnalysis_date)
• Place all these documents in your shared folder.