Media

1. Focus group analysis
WhenI askedmy firstquestionIwasdelightedthatthe participantsunanimouslysaiditwasa pop
magazine.Thisshowedthatmymagazine followedthe codesandconventionsof musicmagazines
and alsothe coloursI used signalled itwasthe popgenre.Ididn’twantthere tobe any doubtwith
regardsto the genre of mymagazine as thisconfusesconsumersandtheythenhave to search
throughthe magazine to getan ideaof the genre. Myfocus groupconsistedof boysandgirlsand
everyone saidthatitwasa popmagazine,myfrontcoverwentagainstthe usual pinkyouwouldsee
on mostpop magazinessoIhad to findotherwaysto clearlystate itwas a pop magazine.This
includeshavinganacousticguitarand popmicrophone aspropsfor mymainimage.Questiontwo
focusedongettingthe opinionsof myfocusgroupon myfront page,contentspage anddouble page
spread.It wasall positive butone thingthatwassuggestedwaspossiblyaddingabackgroundto my
frontcover.In the makingof myfrontcover I addeda backgroundbutI feltitlookedbetterwithout.
NeverthelessIwill acceptthe feedbackandtake itonboard. I recognisedthe importance of making
my frontcovereye-catchingbecause thisisthe firstissueandIwant consumers toknow aboutmy
magazine andsee itamongstrival magazines.Thereforequestion3wasto ask the participantsof my
focusgroup whetheritcapturestheirattentions.Theyall feltitdidespeciallydue tothe colourful
masthead.
The main image needsto indicate whatgenre of musicthe magazine issoI wantedtoknow if my
magazine didthisandalsoif the otheraspectsof my magazine didthe same. It wasclearaccording
to the group that thiswasa popmagazine mainlydue tothe use of props.I borrowed a pop
microphone toaccompanythe acousticguitar as these are keyfeaturesof popmusic.The props
were reallyimportantasitalsomade my model looklike areal life musician.Theyalsofeltthe cover
lineswere appropriatetothisgenre of music.The mastheadalsoclearlybelongedtothe popgenre
because the fontchosenandall the colourswouldnotbe usedfora differentgenre of music.The
nextquestionwasone Iwasapprehensivetoreceive feedbackonbecause one of mymaintargets
before Ibegan constructionwasto produce a pop magazine thatnotonlyappealedtogirlsbutboys
as well because Ifeel theyare oftenoverlooked.Myfocusgroup unanimouslyfeltitwouldappeal to
bothcoloursand I was pleasedthattheyfeltthe coloursIusedwere notgenderspecificbecause I
put a lotof thoughtintothe colours.There were several boyswhoparticipatedinmystudysothe
feedbackmeantevenmore.
I askedmyfocus groupif theyfeltmytarget audience of 13-19 year oldmale and femaleswas
realistic.Theyfeltthe age range wasslightlyincorrectintheiropinionsas19 may have beenalittle
too highandpossibly13 couldbe lowered.The groupwere splitlateronthoughwhentheylooked
closerat the articlesonmy contentspage and due to featureslike festival reviews theyfeltthat19
yearoldscouldbuy mymagazine.The penultimate questionaskedthe participantsif the frontcover
made themwant topurchase my magazine.Theyall saiditwasinvitingandthiswasgood tohear
because these people representmytargetaudience sothiswaspromisingformymagazine.The
final questionwasaboutwhetherthe article onmydouble page spreadandthe articlesfeaturedon
my contentspage were appealingandtheysaidtheywouldbe interestedtoreadsome of these
features andthis wasgood because Ithoughtverycarefullyaboutwhatfeaturestoinclude.