3) What kind of Media Institution might distribute your product and why?

What is a media institution?• A media institution is any company that produces, distributes, or regulates any form

of media, for example television programmes or magazines.

• Some key examples of Media Institutions in the UK are:

www.developmenthell.co.uk Mix Mag, The Word

Classic Rock,

Metal Hammer

NME

Mojo, Kerrang!, Q

www.ipcmedia.com

www.bauermedia.co.uk

www.futureplc.com

IPC is one of the largest magazine distributors in the UK. It publishes products which are similar to mine including: NME and Teen Now.

IPC publish a wide variety of magazines in the UK, from magazines aimed at a niche market to magazines aimed at a grass roots audience. Some examples of brands are: Now, Look, Marie Claire, Nuts and Homes and Gardens. They publish two music magazines, NME and Uncut, suggesting that there is already a demographic for specialist music genre magazines in IPC. The fact that they also have many brands aimed at women shows that they have experience in attracting the female market.

NME is a music magazine published by IPC Media with an average reader age of 24 and a target audience of primarily men. NME’s main music genre is Indie, which is similar to my magazine as Indie music often features in the charts. If IPC chose to distribute my magazine then they would be adding another magazine with Indie elements, therefore cementing their domination of the market, NME already circulates over 40,000 copies.

My target audience of 16-19 is slightly younger than that of NME, giving IPC the opportunity to expand their appeal to a wider audience; therefore selling more magazines.

IPC distribute a large number of magazines designed for women such as Marie Claire, Now and Chat, so they obviously have a good knowledge of representing female brands.

It would appear to create more competition in the market place, but IPC would still get the benefits as the extra sales would greatly increase their profits.

Teen Now is another magazine published by IPC Media. Although not a music magazine, it is a magazine aimed a similar target audience to mine; 11-17 year olds compared to 16-19 year olds.

At the moment IPC only distribute one teen magazine compared to the many that are in the market, so publishing mine would allow them to compete more, increase their market share and direct more resources to appeal to teenagers.

Many Teen Now artists will also appear in my magazine due to the Pop element, so they will be able to create more competition in the market but still take all the profits.

My magazine is different from other teenage magazines out there because it focuses primarily on music, therefore it has a unique selling point and will attract more buyers. It is mainly aimed at girls which is similar to Teen Now, and with over 7000 likes on the Facebook page it is clear that this is a successful target market to aim for.

Bauer Media is a division of the Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group. The Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations.

Whilst IPC only concentrates on magazines, Bauer also has an extensive radio and television network that crosses over into many of their magazine brands. In addition to music magazines, Bauer also produces publications for the: car and bike market, women’s lifestyle, angling and gardening enthusiasts. They produce two music magazines that are similar to #1 including Q and Kerrang!; this shows that there are distribution channels available for music magazines.

Kerrang! is a rock music magazine aimed at 15-24 year olds that is published by Bauer Media. The average age of a Kerrang! reader is 19, which is similar to my target audience of 16-19 year olds. This is the only magazine Bauer publish which is aimed at young people as opposed to adults; therefore by publishing my magazine they would be entering more products into the market and be more likely to control a larger market segment.

The majority of the readers are male, whilst the majority of my readers will be female, so again this would allow Bauer to enter a different market and to make more profit. It appears to create more competition within the market, but the extra profits will clearly benefit Bauer.

Should I want an Institution that publishes similar magazines, or not?

• I think that a company that already publishes similar magazines to mine is the best option because they will already know how to attract and retain the consumer. There will be channels of distribution open to help make my magazine available in as many different places as possible, including nationwide supermarkets and small newspapers.

• IPC and Bauer both publish magazines with an average demographic of ABC1. 65% of NME readers are classified ABC1, and 68% of Q readers are classified ABC1. This is a similar audience to my magazine where many of my readers will fit into ABC1 with some being classified as C2DE therefore it will fit into their product portfolio.

NME

Niche or Mass Market, Big or Small?

I considered whether the teenage girls who are the target market for my chart magazine could be described as a niche sector. I concluded that they could not, so I have chosen a mass market and a large publisher/distributor.

Both companies publish women’s lifestyle magazines, which are relevant to the mainly female target audience of my magazine. IPC produce brands such as: Look, Woman, Marie Claire and Now, whilst Bauer produces: Closer, Grazia, Heat and More!. Although these are aimed at an older age group, they are targeted at the same gender so it shows that they both have expertise in appealing to women.

Bauer Media deals with both niche and mass markets; it reaches over 19 million adults per week. This suggests that they are an affluent brand which attracts the attention of many UK citizens, therefore my magazine would be seen by a large number of people. In comparison, IPC Media engages with 26 million UK adults, almost two thirds of UK women and over 40% of UK men. These impressive figures highlight their competency at appealing to all kinds of target markets across the UK, so my magazine would again attract the attention of many browsers or potential readers.

IPC Media publish NME which is an Indie music magazine targeted at a similar age group to my magazine and the Indie genre appears under chart music. Teen Now is also similar to my magazine because it focuses on Pop music that is also present in the charts and the younger female target audience is very similar to mine. This suggests that they have experience in attracting a teenage audience and, just as importantly, retaining their interest.

In a similar way, Bauer Media controls Q Magazine which often features chart bands even though it is aimed at an older target audience. They also publish Kerrang!, which is aimed at a similar market but with a different music genre: rock. However they also have Kerrang! Radio, and the Kerrang! Tour, as well as the Q TV station. This shows that they are highly skilled at multi-platforming and therefore would be successful at keeping the audience entertained and engaged with my brand. There are many popular TV, radio stations, tours and festivals for chart music, so they clearly are aimed at an audience that will keep this a sustainable business, as there is a lot of demand for them. Any tours or TV stations created will have a USP because they won't just concentrate on one music genre, but include the many that appear in the charts such as Pop and Indie.

Overall I believe that Bauer Media has the edge over IPC for my choice of company because of their more diverse methods of attracting and retaining the target audience.

Which company is best for me?