Coursework research – magazine

Industry, form and genre

Bauer:
• Bauer Media Group is one of the world’s largest privately-owned media business with media assets all over
the globe. Founded in Hamburg in 1875 and now in its 5th generation of family ownership, the Bauer Media
Group reaches 200 million consumers worldwide and operates in 13 countries including the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA and has
15,000 employees.
• Bauer Media UK is part of the wider Bauer Media Group and is the No.1 UK Publisher and the No.1 Digital
Commercial Audio broadcaster. An entertainment network of iconic and innovative multi-platform brands
reaching 25 million consumers using insight and instinct to tell stories that are relevant to audiences and
advertisers alike delivering cultural impact.
• They use audience insight to get a deep understanding of their audiences – knowing that it is no longer
enough to understand what consumers are doing right now but it’s crucial to understand where behaviours,
values and attitudes are changing.
• They are the UK’s biggest selling magazine publisher, creating iconic and influential magazine media brands
for diverse, passionate audiences.

These are the magazines that Bauer own. They own a lot of magazines, there are 41 shown on their
website. This shows that they have a lot of power in the media industry, and that they are a big brand. This
also could suggest that the kind of things they produce and distribute, may not be niche, or for smaller,
more particular audiences, this means they produce things for maybe a more mainstream audience. But it
depends on which magazine it is of course.
However, at the same time, some of the magazines they publish are for niche audiences, so it can just
depend on the magazine itself.

Their magazine heritage stretches back to 1953 with the launch of Angling Times and the acquisition in
1956 of Motor Cycle News, both still iconic brands within our portfolio. More recently, Closer was launched
in 2002 and Britain’s first weekly glossy, Grazia, was launched in 2005. 
Their Women’s Weekly magazines include Take A Break, which has long been the UK’s best-selling
women’s weekly title, and TV Choice, the UK’s biggest selling magazine.  In 2015, they created a new niche
within the growing gardening market, with the launch of Modern Gardens, for an audience who want to
enjoy their outdoor living space, without having to become expert gardeners. 
We are committed to innovating and growing our publishing business expanding into digital, broadcast and
experiential areas.

Industry, form and genre

What is the purpose of cross-media production?

Cross-media production allows further promotion and marketing for the product, and allows it to reach to
further audiences.

Having an active web magazine signals your consumers that your magazine is well-loved and maintained.
Gain more credibility by publishing frequently and keeping your audience well-informed with the valuable
and high-quality content. A web magazine is highly cost-effective as compared to the previous print
methods.
It’s also good because as years go on, print magazines are becoming less popular, and obviously online, and
social media has become a big part of businesses. Keeping people engaged online, as well as the print
magazine is a good way to maintain an audience.
Also, having an online presence is a good way to promote and market your product, as nowadays this is the
main way of marketing. Having a good-looking website, with good information and good features draws
people in and makes it way more likely to buy your product.

Industry, form and genre

Real life story magazine:

They are magazine that include stories from real people- the public, who wright in with stories that they think other
people would be interested in. These stories are usually quite obscure, and crazy, like the examples below.
Journalism that is defined as ‘soft’ news/stories. Personal stories and problems, motivational. Weight loss, phobias,
romance, medical, sexism, racism, grief. Readers want to be emotionally engaged.

Also, cosmopolitan
have lots of real-life
stories, especially on
their website.
 Genre conventions in real life magazines
• Bright colours – RED AND YELLOW
• Crowded covers, lots of stories on the front page, chaotic layout
• Far-fetched stories, crazy stories.
• Big, bold fonts, capital letters, and generally white letters for the main story.

• Masthead – title block for the magazine – most eye-catching convention

• Strapline – subheading (usually at the top)
• Slogan – catches the reader’s eye – engages audience against rivals
• Centre image – main model (usually close up) – direct address – main feature article
• Bold colours
• Bold text
• Main headline: dramatic story – engages audience – main magazine focus, target 16-25 target
audience
• Top corner: incentive (persuades audience to buy magazine)
• Price/barcode
• Date
• Cover line – what articles are featured
• Feature – many different stories
• Menu – list of contents
 Audience research

Target audience:
Most of these magazines target audience are maybe middle-aged, more woman, and probably working
class. This links to the way the magazine is marketed, and the kind of stories that they publish in their
magazines. This may be because they relate to the stories, or they may just enjoy reading the kinds of
things in the magazine.

But for my brief, I have to make a real-life magazine for my age group, 16-25-year olds, so in my magazine I
need to make the magazine something that this age group would like, and maybe relate to. I need to work
out how to change the style of the magazine to something this age group will want to read, and enjoy.
So, I will need to alter the magazines style and genre, to fit something that my target audience would like,
and be drawn to, while still keeping the real-life-story genre for it.

16-25 years olds:

This audience is different from the normal real-life story magazine, as the normal target audience are
usually middle-aged, and more female. My target audience also isn’t gendered, so I will need to make it for
any person from that age group. This age group may like pop culture, current events, but also include
politics, maybe more left-wing, and liberal. Also, I need to make cover lines that would intrigue this age
group.
I need to try and include things that include all social groups that concern this age group, class, gender,
ethnicity, sexuality etc.
Attracting an audience

There are many things you can do in a magazine to attract an audience:

• The use of media language – colour, typography, props, lighting, images etc – these things can be
the reason why someone will initially look at a magazine.
• The use of social media – if you link your magazine to an online presence, then you are more likely
to get a wider audience, as you can reach them both in real life, and online. It also means you can
reach a wider range of people. it also shows people that you care about your brand.
• Another way to attract an audience, is to include things like competitions, and prizes. This makes it
more likely for someone to want to buy your magazine as there may be something in it for them.
• Another way is making it so there is audience interaction, like crosswords etc, or to get them to call
or text in things and ideas, this make the product even better for the audience.
 Analysis (chat)

This magazine is Chat. It is a generic real-life story

magazine.
First thing you notice on this front cover are the bold
colours, bright reds, yellows, and blues. This is to
attract the audience, and so it maybe stands out from
other magazines. This is quite a common convention of
real-life magazines.
The next thing is the layout, it has quite a busy layout,
lots of things going on, and many different things to
catch the audiences attention.
The typography used here is mainly capital letters, and
bold fonts, especially from aggressive words, again to
make them stand out.
They have used an image of a smiling woman as the
main image, this is to show the audience that they may
also feel this happy if they read/buy the magazine. This
is then contrasted by the other images they use next to
the stories, which can represent some of the quite
horrible stories that are inside. This shows the audience
that there are interesting stories inside, but the smiling
woman reminds them that they will be happy reading
the magazine.

This is the contents page from Chat magazine.

The kind of language used here mentions things like
‘destiny’, and saying that if you read this magazine, you
will believe in it. This encourages the audience to read
the magazine, as it makes the magazine sound enticing.
It also uses coverlines with language like ‘your
favourites’. This makes the audience feel the magazine
is for them and that they are going to enjoy it.
They have again used bolt fonts and lettering to attract
the audience. This can also be seen with the language
like ‘come on in!’ and ‘get it touch!’. This is also
reinforced with the use of the exclamation mark.
The images used here, attract a stereotypical female
audience, and probably more middle-age women. This
can be seen with the clothes being sold, and images of
baked goods, and the pictures of primarily women.
They have also used the bold colours again, but this
time with pinks.
They also mention a ‘get in touch’ section, which
encourages the audience to interact with the magazine.
 Analysis (take a break)

This magazine is Take a Break. It is another generic real-

life story magazine.
First thing you notice on this front cover, again, are the
bold colours, bright reds, yellows, and blues. This is to
attract the audience, and so it maybe stands out from other
magazines. This is quite a common convention of real-life
magazines.
The layout is another thing you notice, similar to Chat, it
has a chaotic, and busy layout, trying to fit as much action
as they can.
The typography have used less capital letters, but still bold
fonts, and lettering. Again, this is too drawing the
audience in.
Again, they have used an image of a smiling woman as the
main image, this is to show the audience that they may
also feel this happy if they read/buy the magazine. This is
then contrasted by the other images they use next to the
stories, which can represent some of the quite horrible
stories that are inside. This shows the audience that there
are interesting stories inside, but the smiling woman
reminds them that they will be happy reading the
magazine.
Also, the language they use, is quite harsh.
On this cover they also mention things like prizes to get
the audience interested, and more likely to buy the
magazine, of they think somethings in it for them.

This is the contents page from Take a Break magazine.

It is very similar to chat.
Here again it has again things about winning and prizes,
and things like “Don’t miss” which suggest exclusive
content.
It also uses coverlines with language like ‘your
favourites’. This makes the audience feel the magazine
is for them and that they are going to enjoy it.
They have again used bolt fonts and lettering to attract
the audience. This can also be seen with the language
like ‘Win!’. This is also reinforced with the use of the
exclamation mark.
The images used here are targeting slightly less
obviously to women, but still show things like happy
children, skin care, and furniture, which may be seen as
stereotypically female interests.
They have also used the bold colours again, but this
time with pinks and blues.
They also have a ‘find us on’ section, which has links to
their social media. These include Facebook, Instagram
and YouTube. This is good as it means that they can
have cross-media production, and means they can get a
larger audience through the use of social media.
 Analysis (grazia)

This magazine is Grazia. This is not a real-life story

magazine, it is more of a fashion, as well as some celeb
gossip and current affairs.
The colours are different on this cover. The main colour
comes from the image rather than the typography, and also
the colours are much less bold and intense. The main
colour is blue, and there are hints of yellow but that’s
mostly it. This makes it more subtle.
The layout is much more different. There is a lot more
negative space, and it is much less chaotic as busy. Also,
you notice how there is only really one main image, which
is Clara, opposed to the other magazine es which had
many main images and stories.
The typography here still uses some bold fonts, but also
there are some much more subtle ones. The main
typography you notice is the masthead.
This magazine has a more sophisticated feel to it, with the
more muted colours, simple design/layout. Also, with the
more sophisticated stores, than to the real-life story
magazines.
Also, the language is different, like they say ‘6 smart new
buys’ which sounds much more sophisticated.
They also talk about celebrities in this magazine.

This is the contents page from Grazia magazine.

Even though it has a very different look, it still has a
similar layout to the other magazines. With the page
numbers down the side, and other images and stories
dotted around the page.
This contents has a much more classy feel to it, and
used colours that blend well together.
This page has used actually more colour than the front
page, as it has used yellow blocks of colour, as well as
oranges, greens and blues, but keeping the white
background so it’s not all too much.
The font is much more sleek, and looks more
professional.
It also uses coverlines with language like ‘welcome to
the issue’ which sounds very professional. And their
headings include ‘news’ ‘fashion’ and ‘beauty’ which
are much more simple and sleek than the headings from
the other magazines.
The images used here, attract a stereotypical female
audience. This can be seen with the bags, makeup,
fashion, and the content in the magazine.
They do mention a free gift if you subscribe to their
magazine, which then encourages audiences to
subscribe as thy get something out of it.
Other inspiration