HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE? Charlotte Page

A DDRESSING AN AUDIENCE This PowerPoint presentation identifies the way that my media product attracts its target audience. All features of my magazine has the potential to address and attract an audience and also connote various messages through aspects such as images, text and features. To decide how I would attract my audience I considered the proposal that I made from my previous questionnaire results. These results identified specifically what my target audience were looking for in a new music magazine.

I MAGES I have chosen to use female models for the images who all fit within the age group of the target audience. This is aimed to directly attract a female reader to the magazine whilst also perhaps being considered as aspirational for them. Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory can be applied as the images could be seen as visual pleasure, attracting a male audience also. Typical to the genre, rock magazines often include images of males therefore in this sense my magazine may attract an audience because the choice of images challenge the conventions of rock.

T EXT I have chosen to use bold text to attract an audience throughout all three pages. In particular the font style, Charcoal CY, stands out as this sans serif font appears bold as it does not have serifs so overall makes the magazine more noticeable to a reader. C OLOUR The audience suggested that the colour scheme red, black and white would be suitable for this type of magazine so I have ensured that I have acted upon this. I have carefully chosen the arrangement of the colours so that maximum attention is drawn to each page. For example, using white on black appears quite bold and the colour red appears bright and bold making it more eye-catching.

F EATURES The target audience of REPLAY appear to play an active role in music therefore I have chosen to address the audience with articles which are likely to be of interest to them including a festival guide and gigs/tour dates as this will help to fulfil their needs for a live music experience. The target audience also wanted to see an interview feature on the double page spread, along with other articles such as reviews. Furthermore, the most desirable offer to feature in the magazine was discounts for concert tickets therefore I have met all of the requirements that my audience had asked for by including the features which addresses them.

L ANGUAGE I have addressed the target audience by using an informal tone as this can be considered to be most suitable for the age of the audience I have written for and also appropriate for the C1C2 rating on the NRS grading scale. Words such as ‘Exclusive’ provide an idea that the article featuring can only be found in REPLAY which may make the magazine more attractive to a reader.

D ISTRIBUTIO N REPLAY magazine is released on a weekly basis as from the feedback I received, this was seen as ideal by my target audience as this way they can keep regularly receive music news and exclusive offers. I have aimed to attract readers by giving REPLAY magazine a price of £2.00. The target audience felt that this was a reasonable price to pay therefore I have acted upon their feedback. With this cost being at the lower end of the pricing scale, this suggests that my target audience have a small disposable income and perhaps are more likely to buy this magazine on a regular basis because of the reasonable price.

F OCUS G ROUP R ESULTS In order to see how successful my product has been I have carried out a new questionnaire and presented it to a focus group. My focus group consisted of 4 participants all of which fitted within the target audience of REPLAY magazine. Their feedback included their opinions of various aspects of my new music magazine which I have presented over the next few slides.

F EEDBACK 1 Female, 26 to 30, Harlow, Full-Time Employment “The layout of each page appears modern, making it quite attractive. The colours used are easy on the eye, and suitable to genre. Plus the way that the colours are consistent create a professional feel. The text styles are all easy to read, and also suitable for rock music. The articles all look interesting but particularly the double page topic as it is an interesting choice and the appearance of the page would make me likely to read it. A strength of the magazine is that it links well to the target audience. Overall I would notice this magazine as it is very bold and the articles would be something I am interesting in.”

F EEDBACK 2 Female, 15 to 20, Harlow, College Student “The layout is easy on the eye as looks neat and there isn’t too much going on and the text and images look interesting from a distance. A strength is the fonts as they appear big and gain attention. I like the layout of the contents page as dividing it into 3 sections creates a professional feel whilst also being easy to read. An improvement could be to perhaps use some more images. I would be interested in the festival guide as this is something I am interested in and I would definitely use the 15% voucher. It’s also clever how the model’s clothes, colours and texts all linked together. Overall I would buy Replay magazine as it is a good price for someone my age and the features are interesting.”

F EEDBACK 3 Female, 15 to 20, Harlow, Full-Time Student & Part- Time Job “The pages are easy on the eye as the layouts work well with enough going on, but not too much. The magazine’s style is quite unique as there isn’t anything currently like it on the market and this would make me likely to buy it as it is different. The choice of articles are a strength as they are good for a music fan, especially the festival guide, and it’s a good idea to have a feature introducing a new artist to the public. An idea for an improvement could be to perhaps add something to the background for the front cover but overall I would give the magazine 9/10 and would be likely to buy it as it is suitable for my age and interests.”

F EEDBACK 4 Female, 21 to 25, Harlow, Full Time Student “This magazine looks realistic and has clearly been planned as the text, images and style is the same throughout each of the 3 pages. The layout of each page is well structured which makes them easy to understand and adds to the realism. All of the articles link well to the rock genre, and the articles all appeal to me. Plus I would use the discount voucher as attending various gigs is a hobby of mine so the voucher would definitely help me. I like all the colours as these make the page bold and stand out. An improvement that I could say would perhaps to be to work into some of the backgrounds which are white perhaps by adding a pattern or image but overall I would pick up this magazine and would be likely to buy it.”

C ONCLUSION Overall I think that my new music magazine has been successful as it addresses its target audience through various aspects. I have received positive feedback from my focus group in which all of the participants said they would be likely to purchase the magazine.