Female Representation on Television: Little Mix win X Factor 2011

I had recently wrote about a case study I was doing - using ITV's X Factor. Like gaming companys, the X Factor's purpose is to create and sell a product to an audience. Little Mix - a manufactured girlband put together by the judge's, are now the latest winners of X Factor. But how did they succeed were other girl bands failed?

It was interesting to watch how week after week - the judge's stressing about how these girls are 'normal girls' who 'would not go out and steal your boy friend'.

How did Little Mix beat the 'curse of the girl bands'?

Year after year - girl bands have entered the X Factor and been voted off with in the first and second week of the live shows. In 2008, we said goodbye to Bad Lashes as they became the first act of the final 12 to be voted out by the public. Just one week later, the public chose to vote out the second and last standing girlband in the competition, named 'Girlband'. With the live show's starting with a strong line up in 2009 - De Ja Vu occured when 'Kandy Rain' became the first act voted out by the great British public in the first week. Unlike Little Mix, they sold all three girl bands on sex appeal instead of talent.

Girlband

Bad Lashes

Kandy Rain

And finally, Little Mix - who unlike the above, dress what could be stereotyped as 'normal' for girls. Instead of dressing how they possibly could on a night out.

Although individual female singers are aimed towards a male and female audience (Amy Winehouse, Adele, Florence and the Machine) Girl groups are aimed mainly towards the female gender. I was lucky in my case-study to learn about the advertising techniques they did with Little Mix to distribute them as a product towards female, with the positive criticism they recieved by the judge's towards young females. The comment's they gave Little Mix, sold them to a targeted audience and helped them become the X Factor winners 2011.

The tactics used to sell Little Mix to an audience could be vital in selling games towards the female gender. The X Factor targeted what was missing from the market and researched what the female audience wanted; Something that was not unrealistic, but relateable.