Exemplar essay: Discuss the issues raised by an institution’s need to target specific audiences within a media industry which you have studied. Make detailed reference to examples from your case study.
Magazine publishing has long been a volatile industry with only three in ten titles surviving beyond their first four years. It’s a crowded market place and competition for audiences is intense. Magazines are subject to fluctuations in the economy as they are seen as luxury items which people cut back on when times are tough. In the past decade technological convergence has significantly altered the publishing landscape leading to a decline in circulation of printed titles and incredible developments online. To survive, magazines must face these issues head on in order to effectively target specific audiences, which is the key to their ongoing success. To make a profit, magazine publishers need to generate more income than they spend on production. Traditionally income was raised through advertising and the cover price. However circulation figures for the majority of consumer titles have fallen over the past decade. For example, NME’s circulation in 2000 was 74,000 but by December 2009 it was just over 38,000 (ABC). A fall in circulation has a direct impact on what a magazine can charge for advertising space. NME currently charges around £7000 for a full page ad in their print version which is a lot less than magazines with larger circulation such as TV Quick. Chris Dicker, Advertising Manager for IPC Inspire - Men and Music, said that NME makes about £200,000 per month from advertising. Add this to the income generated from the cover price, around £300,000 and it is clear to see how important the print version is to the profit margin. The monthly income from online advertising on NME.com is £150,000 and this is based on 4.2 million unique users per week. The number of unique users was 1.5 million in 2006 (ABCe). Thus, whilst online users don’t pay to use the site, they do enable IPC to charge more for advertising on the site and this will become increasingly important as print circulation declines. IPC can charge a subscription for readers of their titles on www.zinio.com , a website that enables users to flick through a virtual copy of the printed magazine. A key issue for publishers is to ensure that they are targeting an audience that are not already catered for by other publications. Too much competition for the same audience will reduce the number of potential readers. In 2000 Melody Maker merged with NME in order to survive. It is difficult enough to compete when your magazine has a long history. For example, Smash Hits ceased to be printed in 2006 because of competition from Top of the Pops. However, for new publications, it is even tougher and we have seen numerous gossip magazines come and go throughout the last decade. An interesting exception is Clash, a music monthly which started in 2004 and is published by the independent company, Clash magazine Ltd. Despite the number of music magazines targeting mainstream, 20 something urban males, Clash’s current circulation figure is higher than NME’s at 40,000 (ABC). Another key issue for publishers is the recognition that audiences are fragmenting. The number of magazines both printed and online has increased enormously to try to cater to ever increasing niche interests. Demographics are only one concern, psychographics and subcultures are also very
important factors in defining and targeting audiences. This can be difficult for print publications but online ones can cater to niche audiences because they have much lower start up costs and can create a greater sense of community with their readers such as www.themusicmagazine.co.uk, ilikemusic.com and pitchfork.com. With fragmenting audiences and falling profits from printed magazines, publishers have to exploit their brand identity through marketing, advertising and synergy. Marketing initiatives such as sponsoring awards (TV Quick), festivals or tours (NME) or even being associated with television programmes (Glamour and Channel 4’s Top Model) promote the brand amongst the target audience. Advertising the magazine via the publisher’s other titles is another technique used to target specific audiences. For example, Time magazine advertises heavily on AOL, Conde Nast titles are advertised between each other’s titles and IPC name check their other titles at the bottom of NME.com’s home page. Opportunities for synergy have increased in line with technological advances. Now every magazine must have a presence online at the very least. Entertainment magazines including film and music titles need to offer music downloads, video clips and more if they are to attract their target audiences. IPC have created an NME radio station, a TV channel and music downloads. It can also be read and downloaded via Zinio. It’s interesting to note that it does not yet offer an App for downloading like Empire magazine. When the print publication of Smash Hits closed in 2006, it continued electronically in the form of a radio station and a music channel on digital TV. Magazines need to understand their audiences; their lifestyles and interests if they are to remain relevant and continue to appeal to them. Before online magazines emerged in the mid 90s, the printed versions relied on audience feedback via readers responding to questionnaires and sending letters. Today, online magazines enable masses of opportunities for instant feedback. Every time a users clicks on a link the information is captured. When we say what films we like on our Facebook page someone is analysing that information and sending relevant ads in our direction. If viewers of NME.com read the article on The Fowls but not the one on Courtney Love, then the publishers will use that information. Online voting, online merchandising, downloads, responses to blogs, conversations on Twitter and visits to their Facebook page all help to extend the brand, create a sense of community, enhance the pleasure for readers who identify the magazine as part of their world and provide really important information for the publishers. Accurate targeting of audiences, beyond simple demographic profiling has become much easier. This is due to many recent advances such as technological convergence and the proliferation of hardware which has provided more ways for online magazines to reach their audiences. Synergistic initiatives have helped brands reinforce their identity and provide alternative ways of generating income and mergers and takeovers have helped magazines survive and experiment with new developments. I predict that in the future magazines will have to work even harder to target audiences and extract income from them as young audiences are becoming increasingly reluctant to pay for their electronic entertainment or, indeed, buy printed magazines. Printed versions will continue but they will have to offer something special. This seems to be the case for Clash who provide a collectable, glossy publication with enough interesting content to enable it to not only break into the competitive market of music magazines but also to eclipse the sales of the longest running title NME. Online versions will grow in popularity and this will enable them to generate ore income
through advertising. Opportunities for synergy will need to be exploited and, most significantly, magazines will need to rebrand, relaunch (NME relaunched in April 2010)and reflect the zeitgeist if they want to survive.