Magazine: Niche or Mass?

There are thousands of different magazines which attract us, but what makes the magazine mass and what makes the magazine niche. In this post I'm going to be discussing two magazines which I think are mass and niche and explain the reasons why.

What is Niche marketing?
'Concentrating all marketing efforts on a small but specific and well defined segment of the population. Niches do not 'exist' but are 'created' by identifying needs, wants and requirements...' [1]

An example...

FEB 23 2013
Issue 1454
[Taken with camera]

Kerrang! Magazine the worlds biggest weekly selling rock magazines. This shows that the magazine are aimed at people who enjoy rock music. In the magazine they include posters, interviews, tours, advertisements, reviews and fantastic updates of bands! Its for those who are in love with their favorite rock bands and keeps them updated with the latest gig guide or interview.

Selection of content...

The words on this magazine lure the audience to buy the magazine, they want people to see the 'World exclusive' caption. This suggests that the producers are trying to address to the audience that this is the only place to find out this 'world exclusive' story within their magazine. '5 AMAZING POSTERS' is another eye-catching word which the producers want the audience to know that these are the best posters out there to make them want to buy this media product. Furthermore, 'JESUS CHRIST, the crucifixion of Asking Alexandra' Could be represented wrongly to someone who doesn't read these magazines. This is one example as to why this product is very niche to it's market.

The images that are shown are bands, people from bands, concerts and poster previews! The main image relates to the main heading (the splash) 'Fall Out Boy' . In everybody who reads Kerrang magazine their will be one of your favourite bands on the front as the main subject. I think that the producers do this so that if a fan of the magazine sees their favourite band they are more likely to buy it to read about why they are on the front. It may also be the case that they are trying to get a bigger market however, they are also trying to stay in their comfort zone of 'rock'. 

Examples of the fonts
[Taken with camera]

The colours are a key part of the magazine, rock can be represented in different ways but Kerrang! presents the colours according to the feeling of the magazine. Therefore on the first example uses the colours orange, this could represent the fiery 'world exclusive' of Fall Out Boy's return. The colours represent what the magazine is going to include inside also. Mostly they use red, blacks and white but occasionally in this example they have included orange.

The magazine uses a wide variety of fonts to present itself. This includes using different fonts fonts for different sections, such as the splash heading 'Fall Out Boy' which is orange the producers obviously want to address to the audience that this is important. The smaller stories have different sized, colour and box-out fonts which are always underneath the image. One of the captions is a distinct font from the rest, its unknown as to why it's like that, it's probably to lure the reader to find out why so they buy the magazine. Finally, the logo is in red at the top of the magazine which stands out to distinguish the magazine difference to others.

Construct of content...

OCT 20 2012
Issue 1437
[Taken with camera]

FEB 23 2012
Issue 1454
[Taken with camera]

The layout of the magazine is similar but has slight change in the way each they are set out. Firstly, there is a different image on each one. This is so the reader doesn't get tired of seeing the same face and the main image relates to the splash of the magazine with the bands name 'GREEN DAY' and ' FALL OUT BOY'. The poster advertisement is on Issue 1454 is at the top spread across, however on Issue 1437 the poster advertisement is on the left hand down the side. All of the stories on the magazine to the left are near the bottom (apart from the splash) however, the magazine to the right the stories spread down on the right hand side and only one at the bottom. These differences are not very noticeable as they are still in similar places just are slightly off to the side so the continuity in this magazine doesn't matter and can go unseen by the reader.

Codes and conventions...

A poster inside
[Taken with camera]

Caption
[Taken with camera]

There are many different codes and conventions of magazines and the most important one I think is the 'masthead' or the logo. This has to be distinct and stand out of the page so the competitors like 'The Rolling Stones' magazine do not get picked up first by the reader. Kerrang is in big, red bold words and is the same font in different colours on each magazine. The secondary lead is a sneak preview of a story on the front cover which is inside. An example of this would be 'SYSTEM OF A DOWN... New Album! New Danger!' , this is a heading and photograph just something simple to lure the audience into the magazine especially if they like that band. (this is what makes this media product a niche market). The splash has been mentioned many times above, it's the main heading in the middle which is the name of the band who is displayed on the main image. Some of the words have blocks of colours behind them to make them stand-out. It also could be because the reader wouldn't be able to read the words as the image may hide them. These are called box-outs. The feature headline 'World Exclusive' produces that this is the only magazine your going to find out this featured story. There are many more codes and conventions but those are the basic ones which are important.





What is Mass marketing?
'An attempt to appeal to an entire market with one basic marketing strategy...' [2]

An example...

Britain's best selling women's magazine! The magazine produces stories of real life happenings, competitions and puzzles. I believe that it's a mass magazine because It's aimed at an entire market 'women' with one intention of telling reality stories which other women (some men) could relate too. It also has competitions for the readers to be involved in this appeals to a mass market for those who enjoy entering competitions.

Selection of content...

Words are used to grab the readers attention into the magazine. It also is to address the audience by using words relating to maybe similar stories that the reader may have experienced or know someone may have suffered this. Word such as "She lost her legs.. 'but I can dance, Mummy'" is very blunt and the readers would be intrigued to know what happens. Furthermore, the words '£10,000 CASH TOP PRIZE' can tempt the readers to buy the magazine. It sends out a message that you 'could' win this money and therefore its the temptation which the producers address to the audience.

'Her new legs' (Charlotte)
[Taken with camera]

Images are used to prove the reality situations of the stories, it also allows the readers to create an image of what the story is telling them. To the left you can see the image of the girl 'Charlotte' who has got 'Her new legs' (the caption underneath), now by reading the story the reader is able to understand what has happened, but also able to see what has happened. The producers of this magazine want to address the audience by showing them  the perspective and reality of how the lives of others can impact them.

On the front page of the magazine many colours are used, this is to attract the attention of the reader, it also distinguishes the magazine from others. The producers would also want continuity within their magazines so that when the readers pick up the magazine they know what to expect. They wouldn't want to change all the colours, from bright pink to dark brown it may repel the readers away from the magazine.

Different style fonts
[Taken with camera]

The fonts would want to be the same for continuity reasons, the majority of the fonts are similar however they are set out in different ways. This could be because some of the stories are bigger than others and the producers want to address to the audience to read these ones more, here's an example of two different styles of font...
'MY GIRL BECAME A BOY' - Is in capitals and is in white colour font with a pink box underneath.
'Now he's marrying my best mate' - This is coloured yellow and is on the main colour of the magazine, it's also in italics.





Construct of the content...

Take a break [4]

Take a break [3]

Layout is important to magazines, knowing where to put what on a magazine so that the reader can clearly understand what magazine it is. Continuity is a big importance to layout, this markets the magazine therefore addresses to the readers, who they are and have a continual number of issues which are similar. The front cover is the most important part of the layout, it's the first page you see when you pick up it up off the shelf. On the left and right are two different 'Take a Break' magazines. As you can see at the top has 'WIN' advertisements, the logo is in the top left hand corner and the stories are spread across the page. In both of them are six stories on the front page which are in the similar places. One underneath the logo, the splash (main story) in the middle at an angle, three stories at the bottom (the one on the right is shaped into a bubble and the other two are a sort of rectangular shape) and finally the last on just underneath the photograph of the woman. The main image of a 'women' (supposedly represents that this is for women) is also in the same place, opposite the logo. The continuity shows that you know when you are going to be reading a 'Take a Break' magazine, and each of them show similar codes and conventions (discussed later). 

Caption example
[Taken with camera]

The captions on a magazine are their to lure the readers to read the magazine. The producers would address the audience with careful captions which do not give the story away but allow them to grab their eye with taglines that have an appealing approach. 'RAPED for calling off our wedding' A caption off of the front cover, this doesn't cover the whole story but tells the reader enough to want to read the story inside.

Anchorage a piece of text (in a magazine) which focuses on the message of an image and how it's interpreted of how it was intended. [5]   
The stories within a magazine creates the meaning of that media product, the producers do this by using the real life stories/situations which people have wrote into the company to connect with the readers.

Codes and Conventions...

Splash Example
[Taken with camera]

The visual codes and conventions of a magazine are very broad and there is a variety of them. Firstly the 'Masthead' this is the title block of the magazine, or the logo. This has to be 'eye-catching' convention as it needs to be distinct between other competitors like 'OK' magazines. Secondary lead, this is a sneak preview of a story within the magazine for example 'One last photo then... My family was SWEPT AWAY'. The splash is the main story on the front page in the photo right at the top on issue 9, 'Randy Rambo said: Move in with me... and my wife!' the headline and a photography beside it. A spread, or a two page spread is a story funnily enough 'spread' across two pages (or over more than one page). There are many more codes and conventions of a magazine, but those are the basic ones. Examples show below.

Two-page spread example
[Taken with camera]

SOURCES
[1] http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/niche-marketing.html (13/02/2013).,
Niche Marketing Definition [Online]
[2] http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/mass-marketing.html (13/02/2013).,
Mass Marketing Definition [Online]
[3] http://www.onlywayisupfoundation.com/press-and-news/img/take-a-break-magazine-77.jpg (23/02/2013).,Take a break magazine cover [Online]
[4] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0b/Take_a_Break_(magazine)_cover.jpg (23/02/2013).,
Take a break magazine cover [Online]
[5] http://www.dictionarycentral.com/definition/anchorage.html (23/02/2013).,
Definition of Anchorage [Online]