OSP: Audience and Industries blog tasks

 Audience


1) Who are the potential target audiences for Marcus Rashford and Kim Kardashian's online content? Try and cover both demographics and psychographics.

The potential target audience for Marcus is young boy/men who have a passion for football or who is Rashford as a role model of sort. Whereas the target audience for Kim is young girls/women who have a interest in fashion 

2) Marcus Rashford’s online presence is partly driven by his excellent use of social media. How does he use social media to engage with his fans and make them feel part of his brand?

Rashford is in a lot of adverts and uses social media to promote brands like Nike or Burberry and others. This could influence young boys to be more/feel like Rashford as some consider him as a role model since he has helped a lot of people

3) What is Instagram engagement rate and what engagement rates do Marcus Rashford and Kim Kardashian have? 

Instagram engagement rate is a measure of how much audiences engage with posts (e.g. likes, comments). An engagement rate of 1-3% is considered good and anything 6%+ is extremely high. Marcus Rashford’s power as an influencer is shown by his engagement rate of 6% (although recently this has dropped to 3.2% due to increasing his follower count and focusing more on football rather than his brand development). Whereas Kim Kardashian's engagement rate is lower at 0.33% but she has over 350 million followers so can still reach and engage with huge audiences.

4) Go to Marcus Rashford and Kim Kardashian's X or Instagram account. Find and screenshot/link three posts that show the different aspects of their brand e.g. Relatable person (normal, down to earth), Campaigner (interested in politics), Celebrity (e.g. awards ceremony or fashion), Brand promotion (e.g. selling a product).





5) What audience pleasures are provided by Marcus Rashford's online presence? What about Kim Kardashian? Try and apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory here. 

Marcus Rashford and Kim Kardashian’s online presence is partly driven by their excellent use of social media and through that Marcus Rashford provides Visceral pleasure since he plays football which gives audience a sense of thrill as they consider Rashford as someone who young boys can look up to. Whereas  Kim provides Voyeuristic pleasure since she is in a reality tv, The Kardashians. She also uses the tv to self promote to influence her audience that are interested in fashion

6) Applying Stuart Hall's Reception theory, what would a preferred and oppositional reading of Marcus Rashford and Kim Kardashian's online presence be?

Preferred reading (people who support Rashford/Kardashian): 

Rashford - Rashford is a sincere, community-oriented individual using his platform for social good. Audiences are encouraged to see him as an admirable figure who genuinely cares about helping struggling communities due to his own background

Kardashian - Kardashian is a successful, glamorous, and aspirational entrepreneur with an enviable lifestyle. The audience is encouraged to admire her business acumen (e.g., SKIMS), emulate her beauty and fashion choices, and engage with her content as a form of escapist entertainment and social interaction.

Oppositional reading (people who criticise Rashford/Kardashian): 

Rashford - Critics, including some politicians and members of the public, may argue that he is merely "virtue signalling" or seeking attention and using his campaigns to make money from related projects like his books

Kardashian - Critics, including some politicians and members of the public, may argue that he is merely "virtue signalling" or seeking attention and using his campaigns to make money from related projects like his books


Industries


1) What is Marcus Rashford and Kim Kardashian's net worth and how does their online presence help them to make money? 

Marcus Rashford - 60-65 million: Self promote 

Kim Kardashian - 1.5 billion: self promote 

2) What companies/brands are Rashford and Kardashian associated with? Why might they want to be linked to those celebrities?

Marcus - 

Nike: Rashford has held a long-term sponsorship with the sportswear giant since he was 11 years old. The recent deal includes a significant contribution to his community efforts.

Burberry: The luxury fashion brand has partnered with Rashford to support youth literacy programs and school libraries.

Kim - 

Skims: Her primary venture, a highly successful shapewear, loungewear, and activewear company, is valued at over $4 billion. It is the official underwear partner of the NBA, WNBA, and USA Basketball, and has collaborated with brands like Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, and Swarovski. A joint activewear brand with Nike called NikeSkims was also introduced in 2025.

SKKN by Kim: Her high-performance skincare line, launched in 2022 after she shut down her previous KKW Beauty and KKW Fragrance lines for rebranding.

Skky Partners: A private equity firm she co-founded to invest in consumer, media, and luxury businesses.

3) Research Twitter/X and Instagram. Who owns the companies, how do they make money and how much profit did they make last year?

X (formerly Twitter) is owned by Elon Musk's X Corp, while Instagram is a product of Meta Platforms, Inc. Both primarily make money through advertising, though X also has a subscription model. Last year (2023), X's financial performance was volatile with significant declines in UK revenue, and Meta reported that Instagram generated an estimated $39 billion in revenue

4) What are the worries about Instagram’s negative effects?

Worries about Instagram's negative effects include negative impacts on mental health, such as increased anxiety, depression, and body image issues, particularly among young people. The platform is also linked to poor sleep, cyberbullying, and FOMO. Exposure to idealized and often manipulated images is a major concern, as it can lead to unrealistic expectations and damage self-esteem. 

5) How do social media platforms manage online abuse on their platforms and why has Marcus Rashford drawn attention to this? How might this change in the future?

Social media platforms manage online abuse through a combination of automated technology, human moderation, and user-empowerment tools, while Marcus Rashford has highlighted the issue due to the widespread racist abuse targeting him and other Black footballers, particularly after high-profile matches. In the future, this is likely to change due to increased government regulation and more sophisticated platform-led solutions. 

6) What happened by law in 2022 that changed the way the internet is regulated? Write three changes that this new law may bring in and explain why it is difficult to regulate the internet.

The strongest protections in the Act have been designed for children. Platforms will be required to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they do arise. The Act will also protect adult users, ensuring that major platforms will need to be more transparent about which kinds of potentially harmful content they allow, and give people more control over the types of content they want to see.



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