The Target Audience of the Minnesota Wild
Figure 1. The Land of 10,000 Lakes |
The Minnesota Wild's brand is financially successful because of its specific focus on the target audience. Before analyzing the specific appeals directed at the audience of the Minnesota Wild, it is beneficial to first understand the basic demographics of this audience.
The broad target audience of the Wild is the population of Minnesota. Notable statistics of this audience are as follows:
Minnesota is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" (Fig. 1) and is generally viewed as an "outdoorsy" state. The state has many great outdoor features, including the following:
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Minnesota features a variety of different landscapes, from flat farmlands in the south to the jagged mines of the north. No matter the landscape, the population finds ways to spend time outdoors. The tourism industry in Minnesota tends to focus on outdoor activities as a main selling point of the state.
The focus, then, when developing the Minnesota Wild, was to create a team with which its audience could identify. Due to the population's focus on the outdoors, it only made sense to incorporate that into the brand's identity.
The focus, then, when developing the Minnesota Wild, was to create a team with which its audience could identify. Due to the population's focus on the outdoors, it only made sense to incorporate that into the brand's identity.
Specific Rhetorical Appeals
The Minnesota Wild uses two main rhetorical strategies to appeal to the audience: appeals to pathos and appeals to ethos.
Pathos, as defined by Ehses and Lupton (1988) is an "appeal to emotions [that] aims to move" (p. 7). This appeal is less rational than the two other appeals in Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle, but it is very powerful because of the powerful responses that it generally invokes from audience members. Pathos allows audience members to form an emotional bond to the subject at hand.
Ethos, as defined by Ehses and Lupton (1988), is an "ethical appeal [that] aims to delight or win over" (p. 7). This appeal is used mainly to establish credibility. Though different types of credibility exist, almost all appeals to ethos attempt to establish credibility through the presentation style of the subject matter and a position/societal identity. Appeals to ethos are effective because audience members are unlikely to trust the speaker if they do not see the speaker as credible.
The Minnesota Wild uses an appeal to pathos through invoking positive emotions and an appeal to ethos through establishing a trustworthy, "we're like you" credibility.
Pathos, as defined by Ehses and Lupton (1988) is an "appeal to emotions [that] aims to move" (p. 7). This appeal is less rational than the two other appeals in Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle, but it is very powerful because of the powerful responses that it generally invokes from audience members. Pathos allows audience members to form an emotional bond to the subject at hand.
Ethos, as defined by Ehses and Lupton (1988), is an "ethical appeal [that] aims to delight or win over" (p. 7). This appeal is used mainly to establish credibility. Though different types of credibility exist, almost all appeals to ethos attempt to establish credibility through the presentation style of the subject matter and a position/societal identity. Appeals to ethos are effective because audience members are unlikely to trust the speaker if they do not see the speaker as credible.
The Minnesota Wild uses an appeal to pathos through invoking positive emotions and an appeal to ethos through establishing a trustworthy, "we're like you" credibility.