Wednesday, 28 November 2012

market research


Market Research

NME:  The image on the front cover of NME is in black and white which makes the image look a bit more edgy to suit the genre. The image is a mid-shot of Jake Bugg. The mid-shot is confirmative to magazine covers which helps the audience recognize that is a magazine. In the image, Jake Bugg is holding a drink as a prop which is quite common for alternative magazines. The audience can see that he is wearing a Fred Perry jacket which is a popular brand in the indie scene. In the top-right corner there are two photos of Kurt Cobain to go with the story mentioned on the skyline. There are no other photos used for any of the other stories mentioned but this is because the story about Kurt Cobain is about the ‘unseen photos’ of their pre-superstardom European tour. Under the masthead, there is a large plug displaying a competition to win tickets to see The Killers perform their first ever stadium show. This is a marketing technique because by using any of the words, “win”, “free” or “sex” on the cover of a magazine doubles the likeliness of people wanting to buy it. The date, issue number and price is under the masthead which isn’t the regular place. The audience would expect these things to be near the barcode which is in the bottom-right corner. The magazine has only used 4 colours, which stops the cover from looking too busy. The red and yellow text on the front cover and double page spread stands out from the monotone images.

          The Institution named in the magazine is NME which is owned by IPC Media. The bands/artists  featured are Jake Bugg, Noel Gallagher, Bjork, Paul Banks and The Killers which are al indie artists which suits the genre of the magazine. The other featured band on the cover is Nirvana, which is a rock band but is also appreciated greatly among the indie scene.

          The target audience of NME is people aged 15 – 28. The audience would stereotypically fit into the indie scene and their friends will also fit into this social group. The audience of NME are fans of music that enjoy being in-the-know about new and upcoming bands/artists.

          The images are mainly of male artists with only one image of a female artist in the contents page. This could reflect the target audience as the magazine is aimed more towards males than females. The monotone image on the front cover makes the magazine look like it is aimed at people in their mid-late teens or even a slightly more mature audience. The fonts of text also represent that the editor wants the magazine to be read by a slightly more mature audience as it is more formal than other magazines that sometimes use comical fonts. This will attract a wider audience as the content will make the magazine appeal to an older audience but the fonts will attract a younger audience.

          Overall, this issue of NME fits together well and will attract the audience that is set out to because it used features that will appeal to them. The contrasting text on the front cover and double page spread makes them stand out so they will look more appealing to the audience.           

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