Client requirements and audience

A client is the person or organisation that commissions a media product. They ask a producer to make something for them. A client does not have to be a large company: it can be a single person, a charity, a business or another organisation, such as a school or a local sports club.

Before work begins, the client sets out the client requirements: the details of what the finished media product must be and do. They are the headings a producer works through when reading a brief, so that nothing important is missed and the client's wishes can be turned into a plan.

The standard requirements

The requirements you are expected to recognise are:

• type of product
• purpose
• target audience
• client ethos
• content
• genre
• style
• theme
• timescales

Together they pin down what the product is, who it is for, why it exists, what goes into it, how it should look or sound and when it is due.

What is not on the list

Cost (the budget), the number of users, designing a brand identity from scratch and choosing which software to use are not normally treated as part of this list. They still matter to a project — a small budget might mean filming in one room rather than three — but they are limits the producer plans around, not one of the standard requirements to identify in a brief.

For example, a climbing centre might commission a 30-second video to play on a screen in its reception. As the producer reads the brief, they tick off the type of product (a video), the timescales (ready before the new climbing wall opens) and the other headings, then plan the shoot around them.

The type of product is the client requirement that states which kind of media product is needed. It answers the question: what will be made? You spot it early in a brief because it affects the roles, equipment and production stages that follow.

Common product types

Media product types can include print, video, film, audio and music.

Identifying the product type early stops you planning the wrong kind of work. A poster and a podcast could carry the same message, but they need different roles, equipment and stages, so the product type shapes the whole production.

Client ethos is the set of values or beliefs that guides a client’s vision, direction and the products or services it creates. It is the client’s overall character and what it stands for, not just its ethics or environmental policy.

Media products made for the client, especially marketing products, should reflect that ethos so the audience sees a consistent organisation. A client with an ethos of honesty and care for animals would not use shocking or misleading images in a pet-rescue poster; it would show real animals and clear rehoming information.

How ethos constrains a project

An ethos can constrain content, operational practices, creative direction and marketing methods. That means it limits some choices and pushes the producer towards others.

When you interpret a brief, identify the ethos because it affects what can be said, how it is shown and how the product is promoted. If the brief says a client values openness and community, you should plan language, images and promotion that feel open and community-focused, not just choose your favourite style.

A house style is the set of rules a client uses so that every product it makes looks and sounds consistent. Brand guidelines are the document that records those rules. They support the style requirement in a brief by stating how the finished product should look or sound.

What the rules can cover

Guidelines can cover the logo, slogans, typography and colour palette. For example, a youth theatre group might insist that its logo sits in the top-right corner of every poster, that only its two approved colours are used, and that headings use one particular bold typeface. The guidelines may also set sizes, say exactly how a slogan is written, and explain which versions of the logo are permitted.

Why they matter in a brief

Following the rules makes products recognisable: an audience can spot the theatre group's poster among many others. The rules also stop the brand being used incorrectly, because everyone works from the same instructions. In a brief, brand guidelines limit your design choices. You cannot choose any font, colour or logo placement you like; you must use what the client has approved. Highlight them as a constraint when you plan.

Genre is the category or type of content or product the client requires. It tells you what kind of thing is being made: a disaster movie, a puzzle platformer game, a motoring magazine or a sea shanty. Genre is one of the client requirements you check for in a brief, alongside the product type, purpose and audience. A brief may name it directly, as in "a five-minute comedy sketch for our school radio show".

Genres differ across media forms

Genres differ between media forms, and the same genre can be built in different ways in each. A ghost story on screen builds tension with dark corners and sudden sounds, while a ghost story in print builds it by letting the reader imagine the shape standing in the doorway. The table gives a few examples.

Why genre matters

Naming the genre helps the producer pick suitable conventions: the familiar features an audience expects from that category. Someone making a cookery video knows to use close-ups of each step, spoken measurements and a shot of the finished dish; someone making a racing game knows to include laps, a timer and a leaderboard. Genre also helps the audience recognise what they are getting, so they can choose it or avoid it.

Genre is not the same as style, which is how the product looks or sounds, or theme, which is a recurring idea. Two cookery videos can share a genre but use very different styles.

A theme is a recurring idea or message that runs through a media product or a product line. It is the big idea the audience is meant to notice again and again, such as friendship, adventure or protecting the environment. A theme is not the genre (the category of content) or the style (how the product looks and sounds).

A theme can connect a whole product line, which is a group of related products from the same client. When the same idea appears in a poster, a website and the client's advertising, the audience starts to link those products together and recognise the message, so the theme acts like a thread running through everything the client puts out. For example, a youth theatre group might use a theme of finding your voice across its audition poster, its newsletter and its short promo video. Each product looks different, but the same idea ties them together and makes the group easy to recognise.

Theme is one of the client requirements, so a brief usually states the theme the client wants. It guides the content you choose, the images you use, the language you write and the overall message. If the brief asks for a theme of healthy living, you would choose active imagery and encouraging words rather than, say, pictures of fast food. A theme can appear in several products over time, not just one item, so it is worth identifying it early in planning.

A timescale is the amount of time set for pre-production and production, and it may include a final deadline. For example, a youth theatre group needs a 60-second promo video finished by its opening night on 12 March, so every planning meeting, filming session and edit must fit before that date. Deadlines often come from the client's planned release, broadcast or publication date, such as a launch day or a scheduled episode.

Requirements limit your choices

A requirement constrains planning and production when it removes some of the choices available to you. The brief may limit the timescale, product format, budget, content, style or creative approach. Each limit restricts your creative options, what content is included, the format, the schedule and the cost. You cannot plan as if the limits were not there; you plan around them.

In the theatre example, the fixed opening night might mean a simpler animation instead of complex special effects. A small budget might rule out hiring a professional actor. A 15-second vertical video leaves time for only one or two short scenes, so the script must be short. Producers who ignore these limits risk missing the deadline or going over budget.

A client brief, also called a specification, is how a client communicates the requirements for a media product. It spells out what the client expects the completed product to do and include. A client can be an individual, a charity, a small business or another organisation, not only a large company.

Once the brief is agreed, the producer and client have a shared, clear record of what is required. This helps both sides check the finished product against the brief and reduces disagreements later. For example, a community arts group might ask a freelancer for a two-minute video about its summer workshops. The agreed brief can be checked before the final edit, so nobody is surprised by the result. The standard requirements a brief sets out are covered in Client Requirements.

How a brief can be communicated

A brief does not have to be written and formal. A conversation in a meeting can start the process, but turning the agreed points into a written brief gives you something to check later, and it is worth asking the client questions before planning starts if anything is vague.

Interpreting a client brief or specification means reading it closely and separating the explicit requirements — what the finished product must be, include or do — from background information that describes the client but does not change what you make. Words such as must, needs to, by and for, plus names, numbers or fixed phrases, often signal a requirement.

Spotting requirements

A brief from Riverbank Arts Centre asks for a trailer for its youth theatre festival. Read it once for the general picture, then mark only statements that tell you what to produce.

Check each key piece of information: client, product type, purpose, audience, content, genre, style, theme, ethos and timescale. A brief or specification is likely to state the purpose, target audience, type of product, content outline and deadline, plus any brand image, house style or theme. If something is missing or unclear, ask rather than invent it.

From requirements to plans

Requirements inform planning because they set what must be produced, for whom, why, in what style and by when. They also constrain it: in the Riverbank example, 90 seconds limits the script to roughly 200 words, and a deadline of 12 May may leave time for only one recording session rather than several. A longer timescale could allow interviews with performers.

Checking your interpretation

A designer or art director should confirm that their interpretation is correct and suits the target audience before production. A product can follow every instruction yet still feel wrong for the people it is aimed at. Briefs are clarified and refined through meetings or discussion and by reviewing draft ideas. If a requirement is unrealistic, you negotiate — perhaps three social media graphics instead of six — and agree the change with the client. Settling this early is cheaper than rebuilding a finished product.

The target audience is the particular group of people a media product is aimed at, not everyone who might see it. Audience segmentation divides a broad audience into smaller groups with shared characteristics. The eight categories cover age and gender; occupation and income; education and location; and interests and lifestyle.

Segmentation categories

Combining categories

You can combine categories to define a more precise target audience. For example, a weekend climbing course aimed at students aged 18 to 25 who already climb indoors combines age, education and interests. This is sharper than saying 'people who like sport'.

Why it helps

Segmenting an audience helps a product focus on a particular group rather than trying to appeal to everyone. A product aimed at everyone often ends up bland and suits nobody well. Segmentation helps planning, design and production decisions about content, style, tone and media choices. A money-saving guide for young adults on low incomes might use short videos, plain wording and social media; the same topic for retired people might use larger print and a leaflet in a library. Each choice fits the group's characteristics.

Audience characteristics shape design and production because the content, visuals, language, style, themes and marketing approach should suit the target group. When you plan a product, your choices need to fit the people it is for; if they do not, the audience may ignore the product or misunderstand its message.

Matching choices to the audience

You should think about what the audience already knows, what they care about and how they like to receive information. A product for primary school pupils might use short sentences, bright colours and cartoon-style images. A product for adult volunteers might use calmer colours, more detailed explanations and a respectful tone. The content changes because each group needs different information; the visuals change because different images attract and reassure different people; the language and tone change so the message feels right for that group.

Same idea, different versions

A local animal shelter wants a poster asking for volunteers. For teenage students, the poster could use bold colours, punchy phrases such as 'Give an hour, help a rescue', photos of young volunteers with dogs, and a QR code linking to a social media sign-up page. For retired adults, the same idea could become a calmer poster with more detail about times, training and health benefits, a phone number and a place to collect a paper form. The theme — helping animals — stays the same, but the marketing approach and level of detail suit each group.

Tone, complexity and detail

Audience characteristics affect how simple or formal the product should be, how much text or explanation it includes, and whether it feels playful, serious, friendly or expert. A short version for social media might use one striking image and a single sentence, while a longer website version can explain the same idea in several paragraphs. You must check that each choice matches the audience rather than assuming one version will work for everyone.