Design Practice - Effective Communication
This weeks tutorial considered the role of effective communication in the design process. The class looked at some advertising campaigns of established brands Cadbury’s, Crayola and McDonald’s and their perceived relevance and brand messaging. Even in large brands it is sometimes unsuccessful. This occurred recently in the Bud Lite campaign when a dramatic turn in advertising format featuring Dylan Mulvaney confused and even angered the target audience causing loss of sales: https://theweek.com/business/1023244/marketing-bud-lights-ill-fated-campaign. This illustrates the continued importance and awareness of the target audience where a brand is attaining or maintaining its market share by adhering to core values that are inherent to the target audience.
Market Segmentation and Defining Target Audience
In defining the target audience in the water safety project, it was felt that due to the wide amount of information that the segmentation should be applied to coastline users in the UK only.
Coastal visitor information and demographics have been researched by Sheffield Hallam University and the National Coastal Tourism Academy (NCTA). Available at : https://www.cabi.org/leisuretourism/news/25444.
Demographics – It can be viewed that slightly more men than women frequent the coast with over half being 45 years or over. Further information from the Great British Tourism Survey revealed that over 75% of beach users were over 35 years of age. Please view: https://coastaltourismacademy.co.uk/coastal-tourism.
The data also reveals that visitors stay at the coast between 4-7 nights, more than other popular destinations. The most popular breaks are for family, those over 55 whose children have grown up and independents over 35 years of age (See charts below).
The South West is the Most Popular Region, so the app will be segmented to Southern England.
Most international visitors are likely to understand English, so at this stage the app will not need to be multi lingual.
Business Considerations
Travel and tourism contribute £237bn to the gross domestic product (GDP) (Statista, 2023). Domestic and coastal tourism is valued at £8bn of which 32% is domestic overnight stays and 8% of day visits.
The 2016 NCTA report have developed a vision plan to improve coastal economy through four key areas:
1. To improve visitor economy to support wider growth
2. To develop distinct experiences
3. To foster greater collaborative ventures
4. To raise awareness of the coast and its offering
The research reveals the target audience and how the personas can be developed and their likely aspirations:
A mother checking beach safety for her family.
A businessman checking the tides for water sport activities.
A older couple checking the weather and local amenities for coastal walking.
The app will also aid collaborative working with coastal areas, which will aid awareness and drive visitors to beaches that have up to date safety features.
References
National Coastal Tourism Academy and Sheffield University (2016) 2016 Coastal Tourism Report. Available at: https://www.cabi.org/leisuretourism/news/25444 Accessed: 05.10.2023.
Statista, 2023 Total Contribution of Travel and Tourism to GDP in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2019 and 2022 (in billion GBP), Available at: Travel and tourism in the United Kingdom – statistics & facts | Statista. Accessed 05.10.2023.