Focus group results (Final designs) Age For this focus group, I used a variety of age ranges from my target audience; two 16 year olds, three 17 year olds and two eighteen year olds. I chose to use a variety of ages at it allowed me to get feed back from all age ranges to find which the magazine was best suited to. Gender I used a mixture of boys and girls for my magazine, two boys and 5 girls. Even though my magazine is aimed at females, I wanted to receive male feedback to find out if there was any content included that would appeal to males too; and if not, what could be included if I decided to one day make the magazine aimed at both genders. Employment Status There were various employment status’ within the focus group; 6 were students, 2 unemployed, 1 full-time worker and 4 part-time workers. By having a variety, this allowed me to find out which features appealed best to which employment status’ and why. Also the feedback will allow suggestions to be given as to what could be included to appeal to a specific status more. Music Taste I wanted to find out which genre of music my focus group was most into. 5 said Indie, 1 said alternative and 1 said folk. I feel that these genres are all very closely linked together, and often artists that I have included in my magazine will fall under 2 or more of the genres mentioned. By finding out about the music taste of the target audience, it allows me to use similar or the same artists as those that fall under these genres to ensure that the content of my magazine will appeal and be of an interest to my target audience. Do you feel the artists included are suitable for this genre? The overall opinion for this question was that the artists included were suitable. The Killers, Bastille, and Lana del Rey proved to be some of the most popular from those featured in the magazine. However, it was suggested that there should be more focus given to bands such as Mumford and Sons, FUN and The Lumineers as they are the current bands that are in the press a lot from this genre of

music. I feel this was a valid point. As a fan of this genre myself, I feel these artists would fit in well with my magazine. Do you feel the images are suitable for the genre of magazine? The female members of focus group agreed that the images were suitable for this genre and type of magazine. It was said that due to the magazine being aimed at females, the use of iconic females on the cover would help to attract the target audience to the magazine. They felt that the model used was a good choice due to being a similar age to the target audience, which allows the reader to relate to them. In regards to the male members of the focus group, they felt that the model was too a good choice, however said that coming from a males perspective, the model can be said to have been included for the ‘Male Gaze’ (Laura Mulvey) as they wouldn’t be interested in the clothes, hair make-up etc of the model that female readers would be. Do you feel that the content of the magazine is suited to this genre? The overall opinion was that there was a good variety of content, which ensured that all ages, and employment status’ were catered for. It was noted that some features such as ‘the 10 destinations for holidays abroad’ was more suited to those of 18+ as this is the sage that most people go on their first holiday without parents. This lead to a discussion about maybe raising the target audience age from 16-21 to 17/18 -21. The festival and holiday content were the features that appealed largely to both genders as neither are suited or aimed at just one gender. Do you feel the target audience is suitable for this magazine? This came up in a discussion about the holiday and festival content that was included. It was agreed that the age range should be increased to 17/18 – 21 as the holiday content interests all the ages, however, probably isn’t an option for those under the age of 18. In terms of the music taste, the two 16 years olds that were included in the focus group commented on the fact that at that age, most people haven’t made their mind up as to which genre of music they like, whereas those who are around the age of 18 are more set on the genre that they best like and have an interest in. Do you feel the colour scheme is suitable? The focus group agreed that the colour scheme is suitable due to the fact that a large proportion of the target audience is females. The bright pink gives a feminine feel and appearance to the magazine,

which helps to stop men from purchasing the magazine as the content probably wouldn’t be suited to their interests and wants from a music magazine. Are there any other features that you would include in the magazine? It was agreed that there was a good variety of content included in the magazine, which ensures that a vast majority of interests are met. Even though the focus group couldn’t see the entire magazine, from the listings that were present on the contents page, a suggestion made was that the tour dates should be moved nearer to the front of the magazine to ensure that all readers will notice and read them. A second suggestion that was made was that an iconic artist from this genre had a weekly column in the magazine as this would allow regular readers to keep up with the events in their lives as well as being about to feel as if they are building a fake relationship with the artist. How do you feel the magazine could be improved? There were a few suggestions made from the focus group about how the magazine could be improved. The first was that there should be more features included on the front cover, or a larger image to fill the space more. At the moment it looks a bit empty which may make the potential buyer choose not to purchase the magazine due to believing there won’t be a lot of content included inside. The second suggestion that was made was that the images could have had a larger variation between them; all the images that were included were taken outside and with the models wearing similar clothes in each. I agree with this suggestion as I feel there is a link within all the images which I feel there shouldn’t be due to the images covering different topics, especially on the contents page. Would you purchase this magazine? (why/why not) The focus group was split on this question; The females said they would purchase the magazine, whereas the males said they wouldn’t. The reasons for not purchasing the magazine was due to the magazine being aimed at females. They felt that the content (with a few exceptions such as the festivals and holidays), the images and the colour scheme were all suited to a female audience and did not appeal to them. Whereas the reasons for buying the magazine included the fact that they felt as if they could relate to the artists and people featured within the content of the magazine. They were attracted by the magazine due to its colour scheme and font that was

used on the title as it stood out from other indie magazines, which tend to use darker, colours such as greys, blacks, reds etc. What would you rate the magazine out of 10? 8/10 was voted 3 times 9/10 was voted 3 times 9.5/10 was voted once Reason for these scores include: The front cover looks quite empty which potential readers may feel is an indication to the content inside. However the rest of the magazine looks and feels like it is up to publication standards. It is suited well to the target audience. The colour scheme works well to achieve a feminine feel to the magazine, which make men feel this this isn’t a magazine for them, therefore it increases the chances of those who do buy the magazine feeling they have chosen a good magazine which is suited to them. The images were the only thing that let the magazine down. I feel that if they had a bit more variation to them, it would work in the magazines favor. However, in terms of the rest of the magazine, it works well together and is suited to the target audience.