What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

QUESTION 3

CLASH

CLASH is an independent company and does not have its own media institution to distribute the magazine. This is

due to the fact that CLASH is not a mainstream magazine with large funding, common magazine such as Q, NME and XXL. Consequently, I feel that as a result basing the

majority of my magazine on CLASH, I too wouldn’t have a media institution that distributed my magazine. However if

I were to have one then it would be a decision from the following…

IPC MEDIA

Time Inc UK is the UK’s biggest publisher of print and digital magazine content by circulation, housing more than 60 brands in its iconic Southbank Blue Fin building. The

publisher's roots stretch back to The International Publishing Corporation, formed in 1963 following the merger of the UK's three magazine publishers - George Newnes, Odhams

Press and Fleetway Publications. IPC Magazines was officially created five years later, in 1968. Brands within Time Inc UK's portfolio today include Wallpaper*, Country Life, Livingetc, What’s on TV, Horse & Hound and Woman. It creates content for multiple

platforms across print, web, mobile, tablets and consumer experiences, from the NME Awards to the Decanter World Wine Awards. The publisher claims to reach nearly half of all UK adults in print and reaches 28 million global web users each month. I feel that this

will be a very good institution to work with as they control Cartoon Network and MTV. Since my target audience is 16-20 year olds, a large proportion of whom would watch

MTV, I therefore think that this would be the best publisher to partner with for my magazine.

BAUER MEDIA

Bauer Media connects and engages 19 million consumers every week with the most influential brands in the UK. The value of our in-depth understanding of these

audiences is reflected in our unrivalled research initiatives.

Bauer Media is in a unique position to be able to deliver groundbreaking consumer insight to media professionals, having more market leading brands across a wider

breadth of markets than any other media owner.

Although my magazine is an Indie and a unique style of magazine, I would be worried that it wouldnt stand out on the shelf and would be lost amongst all of the other great

magazines such as Q, NME and XXL etc. Despite this being an extremely different genre to mine, the target audience of Bauer Media is 16-25, which is very similar to that of

mine, 16-20 years.

My magazine is aimed at the audience of 16-20 year olds and the genre is Indie Pop/Hip-hop. I would like my magazine to be mainly published and distributed from companies such as Bauer and IPC.

Many institutions may be suitable but I think that the one that would suit my magazine the best would be Bauer Media. The fact that Bauer doesn’t just specialise in music magazines, but also fashion magazines could possibly mean that Tempo could branch out and cover fashion articles as well; this could really increase the number of readers that we have and would tie in well with the stylish and unique layout of my magazine.

They manage a portfolio of more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. The portfolio extends to include print shops, postal, distribution and marketing services. Bauer Media Group has a workforce of approximately 11,000 employees in 17 countries, hence, they would be the ideal institution to distribute my magazine.

In addition to this I feel that social media sites are very good for promoting new products and with my target audience being of the age of 16-20, these are the most likely users of social media. Links and hyperlinks can be easily accessible on these sites and I think that free trials should be available for a subscription to the magazine as we are aware that most of our target audience will have a small allowance, weekend job or no job at all. This therefore allows the magazine to go viral and for our customers and viewers to be able to access it at home, online.

MY DECISION