3. PROGRAMME EXAMPLE – WAGS BOUTIQUE

The WAGs Boutique homepage, part of the ITV website, is the official online home page of the TV show Wags Boutique which is on ITV 2 every Tuesday at 9pm. It shows how interactivity plays a huge part in the promotion of a TV show through the web and for WAGs boutique in particular, the role of advertising within the web page. It uses the internet in order to produce the web page.

The target group for WAGs boutique the show is female teenagers and young adults between the ages of 14 and 30, and this is similar to the website target age group. This is due to the clothes that the shop sells and also because these people can relate to the WAGs in some way as even though they are going out with footballers, they are still relatively normal people, trying to work. The fame side of the situation may also attract some parts of the audience. When visiting the site it is generally accepted that you know something about the show already, as the site uses first name terms for all the WAGs. The audience who are interested in the show use the site to find out more detail on the WAGs themselves, and also on the shop as a whole, as well as discussing elements about the boutique in the forums. This is different to before, as the discussion of such TV programmes would have been restricted to people’s friendship groups, whereas now anyone from all over the world can put their input in.

There is a lot on offer for the audience and people who are interested in the boutique. On the main page, there is a video which plays little clips of the programme with Diet Coke advert breaks built into this, as they are the sponsors of the programme. The colour scheme is blue and there are diamonds scattered over the page to fit in with the lavish life style of the WAGs. There is a competition featured on the main page, and there are two pictures with the Wags from either team centred around their team name, which as you scroll over them, causes their names to appear. The things on offer to the audience are located on the right and left hand side of the page framed in grey scrolls. There are a lot of different things for the audience to do – read about recent episodes, get more information on the teams (Bows and Better Half), general news on the show and the boutiques, a link to the forum under the name “Wagging Tongues”, general information on the shows, behind the scenes gossip, a gallery of pictures from the show and finally downloads. There are also the opening hours of the shops listed, reminding the audience that as well as being a TV show, there is also a shop which they can go and visit.

Diet Coke plays a part in this website as they are the sponsors of the programme. The have an advert which plays, which as well as generating revenue for ITV, also creates extra advertisement for Coke. The benefit of this technology for ITV however, is that they can see how well Wags is going down with the audience, especially with the viewer vote, which this week is “Which is worse?” – Cassie closing early to prepare for the sale, Michaela leaving early to get ready for a party or neither – both girls did nothing wrong, which allows ITV to see how active the audience are on the site, as well as through the forum, where they can get honest impressions on different aspects of the show, from viewers all over the world. The fact that the website allows the audience to receive extra gossip entices them to the website, as this is something they wouldn't be able to get from just watching the TV programme.

This website shows interactivity, as there a lot of features that the audience can look at, immediacy, due to the use of the internet meaning the audience can quickly get onto the website, and democratisation, as the forum allows anyone to contribute their views to the site. Convergence can also be seen through the use of videos and vertical integration through the ITV logos and links back to the main website, and to Diet Coke through the adverts built into the WAGs boutique information. Reach is also increased, as the internet allows a global audience to access the website, and finally online surveillance, as ITV can see the audiences view through the forums and the voting opportunities.