MASS Group Evaluation

This group evaluation will be based on the research conducted by Melis Hussein, Aaliyah Inglis-Mangal, Sophia Papadopoulos and Sara Plumbly. Our main product is to create a regional magazine that is targeted towards Londoners. There will be four pages included in each individual issue; a front cover page, a contents page, a single pages spread article page and an advert page. All of our issues will conform to our house style, however the individual research that has been conducted will apply and be used in our individual products.

We have conducted a number of textual analyses of front covers for existing regional magazines to further develop our understanding of them and their conventional features. Firstly, we have identified from all the front covers of regional magazines, in particular from Sophia’s analysis of Irish Country magazine that the title of the magazine is represented in a large, bold typography. This ensures the title stands out to the target audience to enable them to immediately visually identify the name of the magazine (uses and gratification), which creates brand awareness within the regional magazine market. Therefore, we have decided to represent our title, iLondon in a bright red, bold font which will be placed conventionally at the top of the page. This draws the target audience’s attention to the top of the page to allow them to immediately identify the name of the magazine and the page as a front cover. The use of the colour red is a unisex colour which will appeal to both males and females in our target audience. This therefore does not limit our target audience to a specific gender and ensures both genders are attracted. The colour red is also eye-catching and will ensure our front covers look appealing and attractive for the target audience. This will draw them to the magazine and will make them want to buy the product for their entertainment or information purposes (uses and gratification theory).

From Melis’s textual analysis of Cornwall Life magazine, we have identified that the primary image is stereotypically iconic to the region that the magazine is targeting. For example, the primary image represents a beach in Newquay, which is an iconic tourist location in Cornwall. We will be applying this to our front covers by using iconic London places for our primary images. This targets our target audience of Londoners as they will be able to identify the iconic locations in London and will therefore be attracted to the magazine. For example, for Melis’s front cover, she will use a long shot of the Houses of Parliament. This is an iconic London location and will directly correlate to her feature article which is cantered on the topic of Education from the perspective of Stephen Twigg MP, who is the Shadow Secretary of State of Education. Also, Sophia will be using a long shot image of Whitecross Food Market, which is a well-known location for food markets and therefore relates directly to her feature article which is focused on Whitecross food market. Sara will also be using an iconic music venue to relate to her feature article on music. Further research which has helped us come to this conclusion is from Melis’s graph analysis. We identified that the majority of our target audience agreed that they expect to see famous London landmarks on the front cover of a regional magazine.

Our research of contents pages has also helped us to identify what is conventional to a contents page on a regional magazine. We were able to identify from all the Time Out contents pages, that an editor’s introduction is used to introduce the target audience to the magazine and welcome them to the issue. It also gives the target audience some information on what will be included in the magazine to attract to the magazine and make them want to read on. We will incorporate an editor’s introduction into each of our contents pages. This is personal to the reader and makes them feel involved as the use of direct address will speak directly to them and make them feel engaged.

MASS Group Evaluation

From Aaliyah’s textual analysis of Time Out contents page, we have identified that they used five boxes representing secondary images of what will be included in the magazine. We have taken inspiration from this and have decided that we will include four boxes to represent secondary images of what will be included in our magazine. For example, Aaliyah will use a secondary image of a pair of heels in a box to represent the fashion topic in the magazine. Those interested in fashion will identify this and will be attracted the magazine (uses and gratification theory). To add, Sophia will use a secondary image of David Burrowes MP to represent the education topic in the issue.

From Aaliyah’s textual analysis of Cornwall Life contents page, we have identified that they have used a secondary image of the front cover of the magazine on the left of the page is a secondary image of the front cover of the magazine. Below it the title ‘cover stories’ is placed. This is done so that when the audience previously looked at the front cover they would be able to identify the page numbers on the sell lines they have previously seen. Below the image of the front cover it lists each story that has been mentioned on the front cover and the page numbers for each article. This shows how they are meeting the needs of their target audience as it is easy for them to access the articles they are most interested in or the feature article that has been added on the front cover. This is part of the magazines house style as it is used in all issues for loyal customers to identify where they need to go in the magazine if they do not want to read the contents page. This is the uses and gratification theory as it is quick information on the magazine which their target audience are looking for. We will incorporate this into each of our contents pages and will represent the issue of each of our magazines on the right hand side of the page. Beneath this, the features subheadings will be represented to allow the target audience to identify what feature articles will be included in the issue of the magazine (uses and gratification theory).

From Sophia’s research of graph analysis, we have identified that our target audience expect a wide range of topics to be included in a regional magazine. This is conventional to a regional magazine and therefore we will incorporate this within the house style of our magazine by including the topics of Food, Education, Music, Fashion and Film in every issue. This allows us to attract a mass audience as they will identify with the topic they are interested in and will therefore buy the magazine for a number of different purposes e.g. information, identification, education and entertainment (uses and gratification theory).

Also, Melis’s research of a textual analysis of Cornwall Life contents page allowed us to identify that the page number is always represented in the bottom right of the page as a part of their house style. This makes the magazine easy for the target audience to read and use as they can easily identify what number the pages are from the same placement of the page number. For our magazine, we have decided to represent the page numbers in the bottom right corner of the pages which represents our house style as it will be placed in the same way on every page in every issue.

AaliyahThe layout that Time Out magazine use on the article that I have annotated will be the layout That I will take inspiration from for her article. This is because I especially liked the use of columns in this article and the way the pictures are above them. This is because it is a formal layout for a magazine in which many regional magazines use therefore is conventional. The layout of the Time Out magazine is appealing as it is easy on the eye, this is because the column layout enables people to go to the column they want to read if they do not want to read the whole magazine. This means that

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the audience can get the information they need straight away which uses the uses and gratification theory. Also, this is not too daunting for our target audience because we are appealing to 15-25 year olds and they are very impatient when reading articles so if they see it is broken up and clearly head lined the audience are most likely to read it. The effect of having images on top of the text is because people will get engaged by the image. My feature article is going to be about ice-cream and milkshakes therefore, having images placed before the text will entice the reader to read the article because they will long to find out the correct information about the product being advertised to them.

After analysing all my contents pages (Cornwall Life, Shropshire Life and Time Out) I could see that food and drink was a regular feature in each of their magazines. As these magazines appeal to mass audiences of both genders therefore creating an article on food and drink would target my audience. As we are creating a summer edition I have decided to base my food and drink article on ice-creams and milkshakes. This is because after analysing additions of current magazines I was able to see that the content of the magazines has to appeal to the seasons otherwise people aren’t interested as the main reason they read Regional magazines is to find out what is occurring in their region. Therefore the content of my magazines has to be relatable, this uses the uses and gratification theory as it allows the audience to identify seasonal traits and engage in the article to gain entertainment. Also as I would want people to read my article and go and buy the products I have reviewed which is why it needs to be relevant to the time; this is so hypodermic needle can be used and people can see the products I have reviewed and go and purchase them straight away.

Shropshire Life and Cornwall Life have similar writing styles in which I’d like to adopt to my article. This is because they use a lot of persuasive techniques in the writing to draw the reader in. For example in Shropshire Life they use alteration on the front cover of the magazine stating ‘ A long way for little legs’ the use of the ‘L’ here makes the sentence sound long emphasising what is being said. This also makes the sell line more memorable to the audience which means they are more likely to read the article when reading the magazine. However, Shropshire Life and Cornwall Life have a formal writing style and Time Out magazine has witty more informal style, which I intend to incorporate in my magazine. This is because adopting some humour into your magazine gives it a conversational feel; this allows the audience to connect to the information being obtained in the article. This uses the uses and gratification theory as the audience get entertained by the article because the writing style gives them the ideology that the magazine is their friend and they are talking to them about a topic that interests them.

After looking at the Costa Coffee advert and Starbucks advert It was clear that in every drinks advertisement the in the centre rule of thirds the primary image of the drink being advertised is placed. This is why in my drinks advertisement I will place an image of the drink in the centre, this is done as it appeals to the audience right away as the Starbucks and Costa coffee advertisements do. This allows the audience immediately to gather what is being advertised, this uses the hypodermic needle as when the audience see the drink we hope they will want to go out and purchase it straight away because it is so appealing. The use of the company’s brand name on the drink and slogan also allow the audience to recognise that this is a trusted and high recommended brand which will make them want it more. This uses dyer star theory as it shows present the brand name on the advert uses

MASS Group Evaluation

iconography to create high sales revenue. The advertisements are placed within the first page of the magazine which is conventional for magazines, this is why I will be placing my advert on the first page of my Regional magazine. I have chosen to create a drinks advert after looking at summer issues of my magazines for example Time Out, a summer drink is placed at the front because it is relevant. Therefore, having an advertisement that is current engages the audience.

Sophia For part of my research, I conducted a textual analysis on three single page articles for regional magazines which helped me to identify the conventional features used in an article. I have drawn ideas from all three articles (two from Devon Life and Time Out) to help me create my single page article. I identified from all three articles that the heading of the article is represented in a bold large font to ensure the target audience can easily identify it and know what the article is about. This is conventional to article pages and therefore, for my single page article I am going to use a bold heading in a large typography at the top of the page as this will ensure my target audience are instantly attracted to the page. As my article will be focused on food markets, I will use a heading that will instantly relate to this topic and link to the article so when the target audience read the heading, they will know from the title that my single page article will be about food markets. Those who are interested in food will be interested in this and will be drawn to the article. They will then want to read on to find out more information or to gain entertainment, which links to the uses and gratification theory.

Also, textual analysis of Devon Life’s article on the ‘buzzing bees’ allowed me to identify the use of colour flow in articles as an effective feature to allow the target audience to be drawn to the colour and therefore read down the page. This article uses the bright pink colour in the primary image as well as in the heading of the page; this allows the target audience to be drawn to the eye-catching colour and attracts them to both the primary image as well as the heading on the page. This ensures that the target audience are attracted to all the parts of the article and read every part so they do not miss out any information. This is highly effective in attracting a target audience and therefore I will use colour flow in my article to ensure the target audience is drawn to all parts of the article and to make it attractive and appealing for the target audience.

From my textual analysis’s of single page articles, I was also able to identify the language used and how the language used in Devon Life differed from Time Out Magazine. The language used in Devon Life was more formal and sophisticated which would appeal to the target audience of adults and the older generation. Contrastingly, Time Out magazine uses more informal and witty language to appeal to a younger target audience. For example, informal words such as ‘aint’ are used which is stereotypically used amongst younger people therefore they will identify this word and will be able to relate as they speak in the same way, therefore attracting them to the article. As my single page article will be aimed towards a youthful audience of 15-25 year olds then I will take inspiration from Time Out magazine and incorporate colloquial language as this creates a more conversation tone and will help to attract my target audience. I will also take inspiration from Devon Life as they have used word play in one of their articles. The heading ‘Dipping into mezze’ uses a play on the word ‘dipping’ which is appealing for the target audience as it will instantly make them think about the title which creates an enigma code for the target audience as they may want to find out more about the article. From this, I aim to incorporate word play into my article as this creates a more humorous

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tone and will help in attracting the youthful target audience. Also, I will use alliteration in my article as I identified that Devon Life did this in their heading ‘are the bees still buzzing?’ This makes the heading sound catchy and memorable and serves to draw and engage the target audience. Therefore, I will use this literary technique to keep my article sounding interesting for my target audience and to keep them engaged in the text.

In all three articles I analysed, a simple conventional layout of columns is used to represent the article’s text. This allows for the target audience to immediately identify that the page is an article and allows for the target audience to easily read the article. This is important and I will adopt the conventional style of columns as this is not only conventional to regional magazines, but all magazines generally. Therefore, my target audience will immediately identify the columns and will be able to identify that it is an article so will be attracted as they will know where to read from and where to gain information or entertainment which links to the uses and gratification theory.

As a part of my research, I also analysed two advertisements – one which promoted a farmer’s market and the other which was marketing a food market. I identified from both of them that not much text is used on the advertisement apart from the major details such as the title, date, time, place and possibly a slogan. This ensures that the target audience gain enough information about the markets but also ensures that there is not too much text on the page to put off the readers. It is important the target audience can gain information quickly through advertisements in a concise and quick way without having to read through a lot of text. This creates an enigma code and can be linked to the Barthe’s narrative theory as it doesn’t give away too much information and therefore leads the target audience wondering more about the markets. This means the target audience are attracted to the market and will want to go to see what it is like and to answer their own questions. Therefore, I will adopt this style in my advertisement of an upcoming food market in London and will represent the name of the market, the date, the time and the address. This gives the target audience all the necessary information needed and they will identify this text on the page and will be able to immediately identity when the food market is taking place, where it is and at what time. Those who are interested will be more likely to visit the food market as they have been provided with all the information they need to be able to go when the time comes – therefore making the advertisement an effective form of marketing. This also links to the uses and gratification theory as the target audience uses the advertisement to gain information about an event.

To add, I have also identified from my research that bright colours are used to make the advertisement look eye-catching and appealing for the target audience. The farmer’s market advert I analysed used the colours of red, blue and green. The use of primary colours allows the advert to stand out and draws the target audience to it. Also, the food market advert I analysed used the colours of orange and green to make the advertisement look appealing and draw the target audience’s attention. This is conventional to adverts so I will therefore use bright colours to ensure my advert is enticing and eye-catching; ensuring that the target audience are attracted to the advert.

Ancillaries We also carried out a questionnaire to find out what our target audience are expecting from our ancillaries – a radio advert and billboard. From this, we were able to produce graphs which were

MASS Group Evaluation

analysed to give us a clear indication as to what generic conventions should be included to attract our target audience of 15-25 year olds and make our ancillaries effective as a marketing campaign.

We identified from Sophia’s graphs that our target audience think that colours are an important feature on a billboard. Colours allow the target audience to identify the genre as well as the tone of the magazine. The use of bright colours for example creates a fun and positive tone which will attract a youthful target audience, while black and white is more sophisticated and would therefore stereotypically attract an older generation. The target audience would identify the colours used and would be able to identify the tone of the magazine, which links to the uses and gratification theory. The use of colours also ensures the billboard advertisement is attractive, eye-catching and does not blend into the location in which it is placed. This research has helped us to identify that colours are important so we have decided to use bright eye-catching colours for our billboard to draw the target audience’s attention to the billboard and ensure they are engaged in the advertisement and will therefore be attracted to our magazine. They will also identify our magazine which will help to establish brand awareness and identity.

Aaliyah’s graph analysis helped us to identify that tube stations are an effective location to place a billboard advertisement. Placing it at a tube station means the billboard is visible to a large amount of people and the target audience will identify the billboard and therefore the new product easily which is the uses and gratification theory. This ensures that a large target audience are attracted and will be likely to buy the magazine when it is released. Therefore, this has helped us to come to the conclusion that we will be placing our billboard in London underground tube stations as the London underground is a busy place used by a huge amount of people on a daily basis, meaning that many people would see our billboard and identify our new magazine. It would also strongly link to the region in which our magazine is focusing on as the London underground is situated in London itself meaning that those who live in London or commute to and from London will be in this area and will identify the magazine and will be attracted to it.

Also, Melis’s graphs allowed us to identify that the target audience believe that a distinctive visual a billboard is the most important convention. Having a distinctive visual would help to make your billboard original and unique as well as memorable which would make the target audience more likely to buy the magazine. We have decided as a group to incorporate a distinctive visual on our billboard which will include the outline of an eye. This represents the title of our magazine ‘iLondon’ as well as also being representative of the famous ‘London Eye’ landmark. Inside the outline, there will be images of London landmarks and in the pupil of the eye the four issues of our group’s magazine will be represented. This is an original visual for our billboard which will certainly become memorable and easily recognisable for the target audience.

Our graphs have also allowed us to gather information about what our target audience would expect in a radio advertisement. Sophia’s graph analysis showed us that the majority of our target agreed that they expect a radio advertisement to last for 30 seconds. This duration ensures that enough detail and information is given to the target audience about the product to allow them to be attracted. It also means that it is not too long and the target audience are less likely to lose interest. Therefore, we have taken this into consideration and have decided to do our radio advertisement for the duration of 30 seconds to ensure our target audience can identify (uses and gratification) enough information on our new magazine and are therefore attracted to the product. It is important our

MASS Group Evaluation

radio advert is not too long as we are aiming at a youthful target audience who are stereotypically impatient and would want information about the magazine quickly; therefore having our radio advert for duration of 30 seconds ensures our target audience will stay engaged.

From Melis’s graph analysis we have identified that tone of voice is important in a radio advertisement. Tone of voice is crucial as it establishes the tone and atmosphere for the radio advert which adds to the representation of the magazine. A friendly tone of voice creates a happy tone and would attract a young target audience whereas, a more formal and serious tone would attract an older target audience. These results have therefore helped us to decide that we will use a youthful person to speak in our radio advertisement. They will also speak in a friendly tone to ensure a happy and welcoming atmosphere is created to drawn in the target audience. Also, they will identify the use of a young person through the way they speak and will be able to identify with them which is the uses and gratification theory which will attract them to the magazine.

Aaliyah’s textual analysis of Time Out’s billboard advertisement allowed us to identify that Time Out chose to place their billboard on a bus so that they can appeal to all Londoners travelling to or from work or school. This is an effective way of gaining awareness and targeting the target audience of those living in London. As Time Out is an established and popular magazine, it has shown that their marketing campaigns have been effective. Therefore, we will choose to place our billboard advertisement on a bus also as this is an easy way to attract our target audience of Londoners.

Sophia’s textual analysis on Irish Country magazine’s radio advertisement helped us to identify that the speaker states the name of the magazine ‘Irish Country Magazine’. This is essential as it allows the listeners to instantly identify what the radio advertisement is advertising and works well as an introduction to the target audience by stating the name of the magazine. We will certainly be sure to make sure the speaker states the name of our magazine ‘iLondon’ at the beginning of the advertisement to create brand awareness and make the target audience aware of the name of the magazine so they can easily identify it in the future if they wish to purchase it.

Sophia also identified from this textual analysis that Irish Country magazine uses a soundtrack that consists of happy and jolly music including a guitar, reminiscent of country music. This creates a positive and happy tone which will attract listeners and make them want to continue listening, which will further draw them to the magazine. Also, this textual analysis represents how radio advertisements for regional magazines represent the region through the music. The country music used represents Ireland and the target audience of people from Ireland will identify this music used and will therefore be attracted to the radio advertisement. In the same way, our radio advertisement will use music with a positive and happy tone to appeal to our target audience and keep them engaged.

In conclusion, our research helped us to identify the key conventions and features used in existing regional magazines, including the conventions used in pages such as front cover, contents pages, articles and adverts. This helped us when coming to decisions about our magazine and helped us stay conventional to our genre of regional magazines in an aim to attract our target audience.