as media resit question 4 evaluation

1. Question 4
WHO WOULD BE THE TARGET AUDIENCE FOR LAZARUS MAGAZINE?

2. Basic Target
 My music magazine is all based on the metal genre. From my research on
other metal magazines and on some metal bands, I found that its key
audience were males, the age rages varied but they were all in the 18-40
category, meaning it is a more mature audience than a pop magazine or
indie who would target younger teenagers.
 However, it is my personal goal to be able to target the much more niche
market of the female metal fan , due to its under-representation in the
music, it is safe to say in the currently existing metal magazines there isn’t
much for them. So I want my magazine to be different and target all the
female fans who currently aren’t considered.

3. Appearance
 It is safe to assume people’s appearances are shaped by the people they
look up to and their hobbies. For the metal genre, their fans would dress in
similar ways to the artists they listen to which is influenced by the hard
edge and perceived anger in the music.
Metallica Mastodon
Sepultura System of a down
 Looking at some very popular metal bands, it is clear that the common way for them to dress is in
very basic t shirts and jeans, as well as leather jackets. They also often have long hair or facial hair as
well as tattoos or piercings. These are things that the fans of the genre have also adopted. I
targeted this in my magazine by having all the people shown in very basic clothes like plain jumpers
and t shirts with jeans.

4. Images of typical fans

5. Common hobbies and interests
 Some of the common hobbies of my target audience is playing musical instruments ,
most notably guitar, bass and drums. Playing video games, collecting items such as
vinyl, band t shirts and magazines. Being a magazine which is distributed in print helps
the collector aspect, as well as having lists of best albums to buy. There are also aspects
talking about the best cheap guitars which targets the people who play instruments.
 Some quotes I found from readers of other metal magazines were “I am happy to
spend money to support my favourite artists” and “ I enjoy seeing my favourite music
live” (metal hammer AND Kerrang- , yougov.com) I targeted these aspects by having
things included in my magazines talking about ‘ the best gigs of the year’ and which
albums to buy.

6. Demographics
 For Metal Hammer magazine, their key demographic audience was A, B and C1.
Whereas for Kerrang! magazine it was C2,D and E. This meant that I really had a lot of
leeway when I chose what I wanted my magazine to aim for. The 3 most important to
target for me was C1, C2 and D.
 C1-Lower middle class (1/4 of population) , skilled white collar workers
 C2- Skilled manual workers e.g. Builders
 D- Unskilled manual workers e.g. labourers
I decided to aim for these 3 groups for different reasons. Firstly it was the middle of the two
other magazines and encompassed some of both their audiences. Also, metal music is
considered a genre of the working class male in popular culture. However, the c1 category
is needed for the aspects of the magazines with references to expensive gigs (especially for
big name bands such as Metallica, their shows average at around £100 for the cheapest
ticket) and musical instruments as these are often extremely expensive hobbies to maintain.
I also felt that magazines in general were targeted more to c2 and D audiences as it is a non
intellectual hobby and something everybody can take part in.

7. Segments and Pyschographics
 The main segments I will be targeting are aspirers, they spend money on
branded items this may link to ads for musical instruments in the magazine
as many of the readers will have this hobby.
 Another segment would be explorers, this is baed on their focus on
experience. Music and live music is something that would appeal to them.
 A psychographic which would be a key target for my magazine would be
carers, they have a very low pay but tend to spend money on magazines
with their small disposable income. As well as hedonists, for the same
reasons as explorer, they spend most of their money on experiences life
music. By having this advertised in our magazine we would attract them.

8. Online
 Readers of Kerrang! magazine spend 36-40 hours per week online, where
as Metal Hammer fans spend 31-35 hours per week. This means that by
having our magazine available online, people who use the internet very
often will be part of our target audience.