Report Writing

I received the review brief on the 2th September, however I have recently made alterations to my course which means I am now required to update my report progress in the form of a blog. I will therefore give a brief backlog as to my achievement to date.


Please see below details of my initial project proposal

This review will discuss licensed characters across six brands in order to examine how different companies within a selected market level/market levels address promotional issues. Mike (2005: 119) defines licensed characters as: “characters from fiction, television, movies, etc. which are used, under licence from their creators, in the marketing of consumer goods” (Mike, 2005:119). These Characters, usually cartoons, are licensed by their creators for use by mass marketers.

Rather than have the categories ‘High end, middle market and low end, it is considered more useful to categorise licensed characters by the age of their target market.

The characters I initially chose to discuss were:

Basil Brush
The Simpsons
Spongebob SquarePants
Ben10
Peppa Pig
Postman Pat

Below is my explanation for doing so:

Peppa Pig originates in the form of a children’s television programme. It is a show that consists of various different five minute episodes. The brief length of these episodes is an immediate indicator of a young pre-school audience, with a short attention span. Also, the simple outline of the characters shape makes it easy for its core audience 2-5 year olds to recreate Peppa and co. Each shot is shown from the perspective of a child. e.g. drawing a house in isolation on a hill.

Area for exploration: Nutley (2006) Peppa Pig seems to be “uncertain about the age of its target audience”

Whilst Peppa Pig is predominantly aimed at girls (although being accessible for boys), Ben10 is aimed more specifically at 4-9 year old boys. Although these are the target audience for the shows, the merchandise (and therefore promotion) has a much more flexible target audience. This secondary audience can include adults.

On Twitter Basil boasts: “I am a posh and really quite obnoxious fox / dusty old puppet. Despite this, I have a very high opinion of myself.” The syntax and diction here are immediately indicative of an older target audience. The character features both on adult and children’s television shows. Although Basil is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet he has also been depicted in animated cartoon form.

Matt Groening states that The Simpsons is “focussed on all ages”. Due to its cartoon style one may initially assume this is a children’s show. However a lot of the comedy is directed towards an adult’s sense of humour.

Postman pat is aimed at pre-school children, aged 2-6. However older people are still fond of Pat and Jess, and the recent partnerships with Specsavers indicates a secondary audience.

I then produced a comparison chart. My next stage was to determine my area for investigation; please see this on the next post