What is a Focus Group?

A focus group is a group of people assembled to participate in a discussion about a product before it is launched, or to provide feedback. The point of us doing a focus group is to adjust our product to suit the needs of the target audience, which is mainly teenagers. A focus group creates a direct line to the audience (market), which essentially means that we are receiving feedback from the buyer, before they even buy the product. By holding a focus group, you are obtaining a fresh and outside view of your product, which is valuable during this stage of production, as the only people that are viewing our product, are ourselves, so we have a different ‘obsessive’ perception of what our product is, which could be very different to what it actual is. 

The reason why we are holding a focus group at this time is because we still have time to adjust and change our products, to better suit the needs of our target audience. This means that if our products were way ‘off the mark’ with addressing our audience correctly, we still have sufficient time to meet their demands. In addition to this, the reason why we chose to do the focus group now, rather than during the planning stage, is because at the moment our products are at a stage where they are close to being finished, and so will likely represent our final product. 

In order to have a positive focus group experience, you need to have several things prepared. Firstly, for the album artwork, copies of the current artwork should be printed out for each participant, and questions should be decided in advance. For the website, you should have it online and able to be read by the participants. Similarly, the music video needs to be playable, and appropriate questions need to be asked. It is also a good idea to show the audience the digipak and website first, in order to not influence their choices about their stylistic elements, which could be done if the music video was shown first. When conducting a focus group, you should also insure that no leading questions are asked, such as “what was the best part of the music video?” and the interviewers should not try to question their participants’ answers. Focus groups should also be recorded for future viewing, and this is best done through a camera, out of their vision, and note taking.