Zoella

Question 1

Primary Target Audience Profile

Answer 1

13 - 17

Female

Question 2

Language Theorist?

Answer 2

Roland Barthes - Semiotics

Question 3

Language - Website Tagline?

Answer 3

‘Life, beauty & chats’ connotes that Zoella is friendly - ‘chats’ connotes informal mode of address = the viewer will have an opportunity to ‘chat’ with Zoella.

Question 4

Secondary Audience?

Answer 4

Parents of the views who Zoella must win over by regulating the content of her videos so they are safe for younger viewers.

Question 5

Audience; What is para-social interaction?

Answer 5

direct mode of address creating the illusion of personal, face-to-face communication, a sense of intimacy, even though she is potentially talking to over 12 million subscribers.

Question 6

Audience; Marketing techniques used by Zoella to target her audience?

Answer 6

• The content of her videos
• Collaboration videos with other you tubers to broaden appeal.
• Meet and greets to engaging with her audience.

Question 7

Audience; impact on audience?

Answer 7

• Younger Audiences now spend more time online than they do engaging with traditional media forms = 5-15 year old spend more time online than watching TV (Ofcom 2016)
• The effects of cultivation are likely to be more pronounced when the media messages we encounter resonate with our own day-to-day life experiences.

Question 8

Audience Theorist?

Answer 8

Gerbner - Cultivation Theory
Shirkey - End of Audience
Jenkins - Fandom Theory

Question 9

Representation; Who does Zoella represent?

Answer 9

young woman with stereotypical interests

Question 10

Representation Theory

Answer 10

Gauntlett - Pick & Mix theory

Van Zoonen - Feminist theory

Question 11

Industry; Change in digital media?

Answer 11

Zoella’s blogs and vlogs have a similar construction of gender to that of teenage girl magazines – and could be seen as a direct replacement.

Question 12

Van Zoonen - how have messages on gender been enforced?

Answer 12

Gender reinforcement can be seen through the promotion of particular products and brands – Zoella’s channel is financed by the beauty industry through sponsorship and deals

The emphasis on Fashion and beauty that is commonly found in blogs and vlogs aimed at teen and pre-teen girls could be seen to reinforce stereotypical understandings of gender

Question 13

Industry: who owned youtube & since when?

Answer 13

Google brought youtube for 1.6 billion in 2005

Question 14

Industry: Impact of increase in user generated content?

Answer 14

enables ‘ordinary’ users to create and distribute their own content - removing traditional gatekeepers.

Question 15

Industry; What is user-generated content?

Answer 15

material created by everyday users of media platforms rather than professionals working for media organisations

Question 16

Industry; What is Monetisation?

Answer 16

process through which a product is converted into a source of commercial revenue - Zoella can be economically lucrative due to the amount of web traffic generated.

Question 17

Industry; What are the requirements for a youtuber to generate money through their content by running ads alongside?

Answer 17

4,000 hours watch time in the past 12 months & 1,000 subscribers

Question 18

Industry: How do Sponsorships act as another important source of revenue?

Answer 18

Zoella is paid to review, endorse or promote particular products or brands on her YouTube channel and Instagram - Also has discount codes on online items.

Question 19

Industry: How can Zoellas Merchandise be brought?

Answer 19

sells both online and in physical retail

Question 20

Industry: What does Zoellas merchandise consist of?

Answer 20

beauty products, fragrance & ‘lifestyle’ products aligned to her fan base (such as phone cases, stationary, journals, diaries etc.)

Question 21

Industry; What impact can the endorsement of products have on sales?

Answer 21

significant effect on sales - encouraging companies to pay or send vloggers gifts in return for publicity.