AS Media Foundation Portfolio

Evaluation Question Four

Who would be the audience for your media product?

AUDIENCE PROFILE:

age range- 12-25.
girls- 70%.
boys- 30%.
social class- all social classes mainly 'C1' and 'B'.
Interested in other R&B media products.

R&B targets a vast audience, so my product could have the potential to reach all these R&B music enthusiasts, however that would mean making my product more diverse in order to make it appealing to each R&B enthusiast, as they all have individual interests that my product would have to take into consideration and cater for. Because of this, it is more suitable and viable to just look at targeting my product to a specific audience.

The audience of my media product would be teenage girls, aged about 12-25, that understand the English language, and mainly come from social classes ‘C1’ and ‘B’, although people of other genders, ages and social groups may also find my product appealing depending on their interests and personality.

My target audience would fall in the age range 12-25, this is because, stereotypically this is the age in which enjoy listening to music in the top charts. My magazine will also appeal to this age group as the use of colloquial and chatty language is something more familiarized with the youth of today as it is easier for them to relate to my product, therefore the magazine appealing more to them then it would of someone who was 10/20 years older.

Having started with the original idea of creating a magazine in which no gender was targeted, after assembling my focus group feedback, it's to say female readers took more interest in the magazine and what it looked like and had to offer. Despite it having a gold and black colour theme and a female artist on the front, it’s open to both genders regardless, although I now have an understanding that female consumers would dominate this product, so I have taken this into account when improving my product to add more elements which would appeal to both genders.

My audience can also be from any ethnic background, which makes it more appealing to wider range of people. Furthermore, my audience should have an interest in the R&B music industry to be interested in my product, although it also include feature stories about popular celebrities so other people that have a smaller interest in R&B music they might simply purchase my product to red about other celebrities, the gossip and the fashion and hobbies that I have included in the product.

Regarding the race in which my magazine targets, I believe it’s very well rounded in appealing to all races as the genre of the magazine is mixed as it’s based on music in the top charts which can vary from hip hop, R&B, country, rock etc.

Other issues of my product might appeal to a wider audience range as usually R&B magazines are consumed by 14-40 year olds, which is much greater age range than my product appeals to, this is due to the main feature story of my product which limits the audience s my story would interest older people less as she is new and upcoming artist, not someone who older people would be familiar with as they spend less time online than younger adults and teens, who have more time to explore and browse for new artists that inspire them and follow their work on the internet.

The audience of my product would also be determined by the price it is on sale for as many people have little spare money to spend on a media product often, so lower price would make it more appealing to a wider audience s this would be affordable for them to consume. However, by lowering the price of the product, you might be forced to compromise the quality so it then becomes less appealing. I believe that the price I have selected for my product to sell at makes the product affordable without compromising the quality.

The price of my magazine is £3.50 therefore is targeted at working/middle class and is affordable yet isn't a necessity therefore being viewed as a luxury which is an advantage. Magazines such as Billboard and Q are priced much higher yet are based on the same genre as my magazine which may influence regular buyers of those magazines to turn to mine as it’s much more affordable and may be more appropriate to what they want to get out of a music magazine.

Equally I have stated that I would possibly distribute my product on media platforms, which then makes the audience who consumes my product younger as they have to be capable of using sophisticated technology. This would however increase the numbers of consumers for my product s it then becomes cheaper and more convenient for the audience, meaning more people would be tempted to read the magazine, but it might be more difficult for older audience members to consume the product in this way as they are less digitalised, but simple software can make it accessible for all consumers.

Evalusation Question Four Continued

Evaluation Question Three

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Bauer Media Group is a large European-based media company, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany that manages a portfolio of more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. The portfolio extends to include print shops, postal, distribution and marketing services.

I would choose Bauer Media Group to distribute my magazine due to it being a large European based company with already founded success within the media and magazine industry. It is one of the largest distributors of magazines in the world and I feel it will be the best distributor for my magazine due to it operating all over the world. This means I can spread the name of my magazine and sell it internationally. Using Bauer Media Group as my distributor would be beneficial to me as they are a well-known company with great publicity and marketing which would allow me to expand out and target new customers. They also have a gap in the market for this genre of magazine as I have not seen many like mine distributed by this company.

media product might be distributed in music shops such as HMV as it appeals to the same type of audience as would use that shop. Equally, this is a shop that is dedicated to selling existing music products such as CD’s and vinyl’s, o the type of customer who would use this shop could be a potential consumer of my product and so it would be more accessible and convenient for them if my product was distributed there. Furthermore, while they may not be a potential consumer of my product, while they are in a music shop such as HMV, they might be tempted to make additional purchases they had not planned to, impulse buys, and so my product would maybe sell more successfully there as the customers using that facility are already consumers of music and have commuted to that specific location to make music purchases and will be more easily persuaded to make additional purchases.

It might also sell in super markets as there is a variety of people who use that facility and an R&B product such as my magazine might appeal to a selection of the users in a supermarket. I would distribute my magazine in well known, big brand shops such as Tesco, Sainsburys and WHSmiths. I would sell my magazine in these shops as they are very popular and as they are supermarkets, they are guaranteed a high number of customers doing their food shop which are likely to come across the magazines and take a look, and perhaps make an impulse buy, they had not originally planned to increasing the number of sales for my product. This is also where many other media products such as CD’s and DVD’s are distributed along with other existing music and media related magazines so my products target audience may already be using the stores as a way to purchase existing R&B products.

I would also sell my magazine in newsagents and music shops as my target audience of 12-25 year olds that are interested in R&B music are more likely to go in these shops.

However, another successful way to distribute my magazine I believe is online. This will suit my target audience of 12-25 year olds the best out of all the options as technology is getting used more and more everyday and plays a big part of the young generations lives. Due to digitalization, more and more people are consuming music online, which poses a threat to major labels as they are losing profit. This however is a new way to distribute music magazines to the consumer without the costs and time of printing, shipping, and distributing a physical copy of the magazine, so would same money during production of the product. Because of this, by selling my music magazine to consumers online, I would be saving time and money and the consumer would also have a more convenient and easy way to read the product. This also means my product would cost less for the consumer to use as there so much money being saved in materials.

By placing my magazine online, anyone around the world can access it and it is an instant and easy way of viewing the magazine. I would also be able to advertise my product on social media and media platforms, so by offering my product straight to the consumer over the internet this would make the advertisement more affective and make it more convenient for the consumer. This also means my target audience are able to access my magazine via their phones and from wherever they are, rather than having to make a special trip to a shop to actually buy it, making my product more portable and environmentally friendly as there would be not waste product or recycling materials. Furthermore, by having an digital product, there is no possible way of damaging the product and my audience would not have to make additional purchases if their copy has been damaged, meaning the duration of the product is not limited. This would also decrease the amount of sharing of copies which would increase sales as each consumer would have to buy their own copy and couldn’t pass it on as easily as they could with a paper copy, meaning the profit of the product increases. This means lower circulation of the product, which is good for the institution.

Another strength to distributing my product online means there will be less damage to the environment as there is no ned for ink and paper and production in a factory, so less trees are destroyed, less CO2 emissions and less litter and waste products as a result. It also means there is no requirement for lorries and cargo to distribute my product around the country so less greenhouse gasses making it a more environmentally friendly product which would make it more appealing to the audience as there is little if no damage during production and distribution.