HOW DID I ATTRACT/ADDRESS MY TARGET AUDIENCE?

EVALUATION – QUESTION 5

HESTER TEASDALE

WHO WAS I TARGETING?

Age 16 to 30

Males & Females

ABC1

Experiencers/Strivers

HOW DID I TARGET THEM?

Audience research helped me to make clear and precise decisions about what to include to appeal to my target audience.

‘It is crucial for every business and organization to connect with its audience and understand what they want, think and feel. Only when you stay connected with your target audience can you gain crucial insights into their needs and demands. This is also vital as your audience may be changing in terms of demographics, attitudes and opinions. This change is what makes a difference between a business becoming obsolete and one that grows and changes with its target audience.’

http://socialsmarty.com/social-media-the-sales process/connecting-with-your-audience/ Direct link to a useful website explaining more about the importance of knowing your target audience.

PHOTOGRAPHYFor my front cover, I wanted to emulate the photography used on the front covers of Q and NME as they always present their models in a strong, powerful iconic fashion with some drained colour images such as the image of Jake Bugg. I also wanted to create variety to attract different ages so I included some black and white images on my contents page, creating a classic appearance.

EXAMPLES OF MY PHOTOGRAPHY

‘ I would put a live shot on the contents page to show it could relate to a particular article’

‘I would put a black and white image on the contents page showing indirect mode of address’

‘A striking interesting image will be effective on the front cover as it will engage and entice the audience’

FOCUS GROUP RESPONSES

I have included black and white shots with attention to

lighting to focus on the instruments, highlighting the significant focus of the music

genre of my magazine, attracting the ‘serious’ music

fans.

For the double page spread images, I attempted different poses on the model to convey messages and add meaning, I

experimented with lighting and ended up using a warm, glowing effect and then later drained the colour to keep

with house style.

MODE OF ADDRESS

‘Exclusive Interview’

‘Meet the other two’

‘The best tracks for the end of the world!’

There’s a mixture of direct and indirect images to add interest and entice the audience. In terms of text, speaking indirectly helps appreciate almost the readers intelligence and maturity as they are not being treat like ‘kids’. Although mainly remaining the indirect style, I still engage the audience by a sense of VIP access with ‘exclusive’ – creating hierarchy. ‘Meet the other two’ is the only example of subtle direct language to make the audience read the special on MUSE.

GENERAL RESPONSE TO ORIGINAL FEEDBACK

“ I c

an’t

belie

ve the

qual

ity o

f thi

s w

ork,

the

imag

e an

d co

lour

sche

me

dow

n to

the

stru

ctur

e ha

s be

en

crea

ted

on p

urpo

se to

appe

al to

me

as p

art o

f

the

targ

et a

udie

nce.

I

also

thi

nk it

cou

ld

appe

al to

men

as

the

genr

e an

d th

eme

is

quite

var

ied

so the

onl

y

criti

cism

I ca

n m

ake

is

to a

lter th

e st

rap

line

to

appe

al to

men

.”

“ The contents page is

very unique and

original with a clear

structured layout, as a

current music magazine

reader I actually prefer

this style to that of

Kerrang! where the

page is quite cluttered.

I am extremely

impressed with the

images, they really do

look like they have

been taken

professionally.”

“ I prefer interviews

over articles so this

appealed to me

immediately. All the

conventions of a

double page spread

have been included,

making it look

sophisticated and the

columns were used

effectively, especially

the pull-quote – I would

make it more music

based rather than

fashion though.”

This was my audience feedback after I had made the changes from their suggestions that it was too much like a fashion

magazine.

FONT COVER

‘It’s quite classy and I like the fact the image is classy and sophisticated, showing it’s serious about music rather than immature.’

‘I also like ‘exclusive interview’ as it seems as though it’s a interesting story which I won’t be able to read in any other magazine, making it original.’

‘I think the red colour scheme is effective as it can attract both genders, and the main image shows us immediately that it’s a music magazine.’

‘I think the masthead looks professional with magazine inside the B and I like the structure and layout of the page, it’s easy to read and gives you a good, clear insight to the magazine content’

My front cover contains

anchorage clearly

structured around the

central image with a strapline

added at the bottom showing

the variety of the magazine.

CONTENTS PAGE

‘ I think it’s very effective and echoes the front cover with its black and white writing and splash of red. It’s easy to read and find what your looking for.’

‘I like the layout and structure as its simple and non-fussy and easy to navigate. The sub-headings are good and I the ‘every month’ for regular readers, creating a sense of familiarity and belonging’

‘Loved the images, there was something there for all readers. The ‘boys’ are giving an intense direct stare which will attract a female audience. I Also thought the introverted look of ‘Nadia’ was interesting as I wanted to find out more about her, the use of lighting on that photo was impressive ’

‘The stories interested me although the photos engaged my interest primarily so I looked to see the stories linked to them first (the red numbers worked better than the pink) The muse special interested me, as did the ‘Bass A list’ and the fashion article’

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

‘I like the fact it’s simple and easy to read. The large photo is very engaging and I like the structure of the interview – the column style makes it seems like it’s followed a newspaper layout, which echoes the serious feel of the magazine and that your not ‘dumbing’ down the reader and you appreciate their intelligence’

‘Love the images as they are not overtly sexual but still attractive, not too much flesh on show – again quite serious, although the slightly parted mouth hints at a more sexual nature – quite iconic as it holds intertextuality of Marilyn Monroe’s pose.’

‘ I like that it’s an interview as it’s a break from heavy reading and it gives you a personal insight into the actual person rather than just their star image.’

‘ Simple, yet classic features such as the drop capital and pull quote help give an effective introduction to the magazine and creates a professional polished look to it, as it is what you would expect to see in already selling magazines.’