Impact of New/Digital Media Case Study

5. Who are the primary target audience now and has this changed? Who was it before and how do you know?

3 Main Texts

Apple App Store

The current target audience of the Apple App store is comprised of adults and teenagers, as the apps available are more varied in terms of their purpose and may appeal to these groups as they have more money to spend on the apps and may purchase apps in order to fit into a crowd or for personal relationships.

In regards to the original audience, the app store was targeted at an A/B/C1 socio economic group and was exclusively aimed at adults, as they would have more money to purchase a smart phone and would be able to purchase apps.

Ovi Store

Like the Apple App store, the current target audience is comprised of adults and teenagers, as the OVI Store contains apps which are mainly aimed at socialising and entertainment. By purchasing these apps, teenagers gain instant gratifications out of playing games or accessing apps dedicated at social networking or for music.

In regards to the original audience, teenagers were targeted for the applications, as Nokia itself is a long serving brand of mobile phone which has been updated in order to cater to different audiences. Moreover, the OVI Store upon its launch did cater toward teenagers due to the quality of the applications and the purphose of the apps.

Android Marketplace

The Android marketplace is an example of one of the competitors to the Apple App Store. The Android Marketplace is primarily aimed at teenagers, due to the fact that a majority of apps available have the main purpose of entertaining, for example the Sims 3 app and Need for Speed app are aimed at gaming and would be used for escapism and diversion. Yet, there are also apps available which are aimed at adults, for example the American Express app allows the user to play their bills and access their account.

In terms of the original audience, the Android Marketplace is fairly new, yet the audience would be the same, as the apps are aimed at entertainment purposes or even for productivity. Though, like the Apple App Store, the Android Marketplace tries to cater for adults and young professionals , as apps such as American Express and ES Task Manager which is aimed at business and management.