Main Task - Research and Planning

Tuesday 29^th November 2016

Why do audiences read magazines?

People read magazines that are specifically tailored for their interests. Target audiences are categorized into small groups which include age, gender, ethnicity and social class. The most important part of a magazine is the front cover. The images on the front cover will show the audience what is included in the magazine and what they are interested in. An example of a generalised magazine is ‘heat’. Heat is a voyeuristic magazine as it allows the audience to see inside people’s lives, heat shows that not everyone is perfect as media shows. People enjoy getting to know about celebrity lives when there is something fascinating going on, or even when it’s nothing special. Heat shows binary opposites, showing celebrities with and without make up and exposing them in various ways.

Monday 5th December 2016

Brand identity-Heat magazine

A brand is described as 'product plus personality'. This means that every magazine has its personality that matches the consumer. A brand represents the lifestyle and what it holds for the user. People read 'Heat' because it makes them feel a certain way. Heat is primarily a white, urban, female working class magazine. The audience demographic is C2, D and E. In terms of the psychographic category, readers tend to be mainstreamers and have similar interests, in this case it being celebrity gossip. Heat magazine also has its benefit for audiences. These are linked with Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory which states that an audience has four types of needs: Diversion, Personal Identity, Personal Relationships and Surveillance. 

Heat magazine is saturated with colour, bold letters that are lowercase, its very clear and recognisable. The magazine is filled with paparazzi pictures of celebrities that present them in a way no one would like to be showed. The 'heat' magazine is almost iconic as most people know what it is. 

Friday 9th December 2016

Audiences- Questionnaire

In order to improve my research and planning from that of my preliminary task, I conducted an online survey to find out what my potential target audience would want in a music magazine.   Below are screenshots of my survey.  I used Hartley's Classification Theory in order to ask the right questions of my reader and ensure that the magazine I created would meet their needs.  I asked about previous experience of accessing information about pop, use of other media platforms etc.

Brand identity- Analyzing the 'closer' magazine

My own magazine Brand Identity

Bauer media research from nikola szydlowska

In the slide share above i did a bit of research to do with Bauer and how they had control over Kerrang. The research shows how powerful Bauer actually is and how it would be a very good thing if they had an input in my magazine. Bauer is a very strong independent company with a lot of money so if they invest in a magazine it will instantly be very good.
Below i have attached a link to a Prezi done by me which briefly shows how Kerrang is a good magazine.

https://prezi.com/view/g1XDrRblKro2ecR4lHiT/