1. Memo
To:
Kathryn
Houghton
From:
LeeAnn
Connelly
RE:
Audience
Analysis
Report
Date:
November
2,
2014
In
this
memo
I
will
be
discussing
the
results
of
our
class’
audience
analysis
surveys.
Using
the
multitude
of
information
collected
by
my
classmates,
I
will
discuss
various
issues
ing
Magazine
should
address
as
the
class
moves
forward,
including
magazine
awareness,
gender,
age,
and
article
topics,
and
will
conclude
with
a
list
of
recommendations
for
future
staff
of
ing
to
consider.
Introduction
Fall
2014
marks
a
new
beginning
for
ing
Magazine.
It
is
the
first
time
that
the
magazine
has
been
run
as
part
of
a
class,
and
the
magazine
has
transferred
ownership
to
M3.
This
is
the
perfect
time
to
step
back
and
reassess
just
what
kind
of
magazine
we
are
aiming
to
be
and
determine
what
it
means
to
be
an
arts
and
culture
magazine.
The
audience
analyses
we
conducted
as
a
class
provides
a
great
way
to
do
that.
It
is
an
opportunity
to
discover
what
is
hurting
the
magazine,
and
what
might
help
it.
It
allows
us
to
explore
what
people
want
to
read
about,
as
well
as
whether
we
want
to
write
about
those
topics.
Awareness
One
of
the
main
issues
that
was
made
clear
through
this
audience
analysis
is
the
lack
of
awareness
about
ing.
While
the
people
polled
were
considered
to
be
within
ing’s
targeted
audience,
it
is
clear
that
there
was
not
much
brand
awareness
in
the
people
polled.
In
nearly
all
of
the
survey
results
collected
by
the
class,
the
majority
of
people
polled
had
not
even
heard
of
ing,
and
even
those
that
had
did
not
read
it
regularly.
For
example,
in
Katie
Grimes’
survey
of
first
and
second
year
students,
only
5
of
the
63
she
polled
had
heard
of
ing,
and
none
of
those
5
read
it.1
Similarly,
70
percent
of
the
63
on-­‐campus
students
surveyed
by
Jade
Wiselogle
had
never
heard
of
ing.22
Clearly
this
is
an
issue,
if
many
people
in
our
target
audience
are
unaware
of
our
existence.
The
first
step
to
addressing
this
issue
is
to
firmly
decide
and
document
who
the
targeted
audience
is
for
ing.
The
more
we
narrow
our
focus
on
who
we
are
aiming
to
attract
to
the
magazine,
the
better
we
will
be
able
to
meet
their
needs
as
readers.
If
we
stretch
ourselves
to
thin
in
the
process
of
trying
to
please
too
many
different
1.
Katie
Grimes,
“Audience
Analysis:
First-­‐and-­‐Second-­‐Year
Students”
(survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014).
2.
Jade
Wiselogle,
“Audience
Analysis
Date:
On-­‐Campus
Residents”
(survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014).

2. 2
audiences,
we
run
the
risk
of
not
getting
any
of
them
to
continue
reading.
I
feel
that
even
in
the
groups
of
people
in
this
poll,
some
could
be
eliminated
as
possible
audiences.
For
example,
residents
of
East
Lansing
who
are
not
students
or
university
staff
may
have
little
to
no
interest
in
things
that
MSU
students,
which
contains
most
of
our
demographics,
are
interested.
If
we
were
to
write
stories
that
appeal
to
just
those
residents,
we
detract
from
articles
that
might
interest
a
variety
of
MSU
students.
Additionally,
I
feel
that
this
lack
of
brand
awareness
highlights
the
need
for
a
marketing
team.
During
the
landscape
analysis,
many
of
my
classmates
talked
about
the
strong
social
media
presences
of
our
competitors,
and
how
the
online
identities
they
create
serve
their
publications.
A
team
in
the
class
that
changes
each
semester,
or
perhaps
an
outside
team
of
freelancers
would
be
a
great
way
to
expand
the
magazine’s
online
presence
and
generate
interest.
In
addition,
it
might
be
an
interesting
addition
to
the
class
to
attempt
to
organize
some
sort
of
ing
event
each
semester,
maybe
a
giveaway,
free
coffee
at
the
rock,
a
collaboration
with
a
well-­‐
known
publication
like
the
State
News
or
the
Black
Sheep,
or
some
sort
of
organized
on-­‐campus
event
to
get
the
word
out
about
ing
to
the
students
who
have
never
heard
of
it.
Lastly,
I
feel
that
the
stands
for
ing
could
be
improved.
I
cannot
speak
for
the
rest
of
the
locations,
but
the
two
I
have
to
check
are
poorly
located
and
not
marked
at
all.
Even
something
as
simple
as
a
sign
above
the
stand
or
label
on
it
saying
ing
Magazine
could
increase
brand
recognition.
Gender
Another
important
factor
is
the
gender
of
our
readers.
Our
class,
and
the
professional
writing
major
in
general,
is
prominently
female,
and
many
people
reported
more
females
showing
interest
in
ing
than
males.
In
fact,
in
my
survey
of
East
Lansing
residents,
I
found
that
58
percent
of
females
were
familiar
with
ing,
as
opposed
to
only
14
percent
of
males.3
There
are
a
multitude
of
reasons
that
could
be
causing
this
gender
gap,
from
the
unchecked
bias
of
a
primarily
female
staff
to
the
idea
that
arts
and
culture,
and
even
magazines
themselves,
are
often
labeled
as
“feminine,”
and
are
largely
ignored
by
the
males
on
campus.
If
it
is
the
former,
the
solution
would
need
to
involve
a
large-­‐
scale
effort
to
recruit
more
males
to
the
professional
writing
program
and
then
into
this
course.
If
it
is
the
latter,
there
is
not
much
we
can
do
to
combat
misguided
societal
views.
I
feel
that
the
first
discussion
that
needs
to
be
had
on
this
topic
is
whether
we,
as
a
publication,
should
make
an
effort
to
fix
this
divide.
As
I
mentioned
earlier,
it
might
3.
LeeAnn
Connelly,
“East
Lansing
Resident
Data”
(survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014).

3. 3
be
beneficial
to
the
magazine
to
focus
on
a
few
core
demographics,
instead
of
trying
to
cover
too
much
ground.
A
lot
of
the
topics
that
would
appeal
to
large
groups
of
male
readers,
such
as
news
and
sports,
do
not
fit
in
with
arts
and
culture,
and
were
commonly
listed
amongst
topics
that
most
of
are
demographics
were
not
interested
in.4
It
is
possible
that
a
concentrated
effort
to
close
the
gender
gap
in
our
readership
might
come
at
the
risk
of
alienating
other
demographics.
However,
if
we
do
want
to
include
more
male-­‐focused
topics,
there
are
ways
we
might
be
able
to
do
so
without
compromising
our
focus
on
arts
and
culture.
For
example,
we
may
not
be
able
to
report
on
sports,
but
we
could
organize
interviews
with
Spartan
athletes
on
things
like
holiday
traditions,
travel,
music,
or
movies.
We
could
do
list
articles
on
sports
or
action
films,
feature
artists
whose
fan
base
is
primarily
male,
and
so
on.
I
think
this
would
be
a
strong
method
of
appealing
to
male
readers
without
losing
the
focus
on
arts
and
culture
in
a
way
that
might
cost
us
the
interest
of
other
readers.
Arts
and
Culture
The
biggest
issue
that
came
up
throughout
this
process
was
the
ing
theme
of
arts
and
culture.
Primarily,
our
audience’s
opinions
on
what
arts
and
culture
mean,
as
well
as
how
that
clashes
with
what
they
want
to
read
about.
For
example,
musicians
identified
arts
and
culture
as
“music,
poems,
essays,
art
work,
plays,
opera…”
but
wanted
to
read
about
student
life,
healthy
recipes,
and
individual
student
stories.5
Similarly,
PW
and
XA
majors
identified
arts
and
culture
as
music,
literature,
and
art,
while
expressing
interest
in
articles
on
fashion,
job
searches,
MSU
culture,
and
human
interest.6
Clearly,
there
is
a
disconnect
between
what
our
readers
expect
us
to
write
about
and
what
they
want
us
to
write
about,
which
could
be
hurting
the
magazine’s
popularity.
If
they
think
we
are
writing
based
on
their
definition
of
arts
and
culture,
then
they
would
not
be
interested
in
our
magazine.
Again,
I
feel
that
the
first
step
in
this
solution
is
a
discussion
of
who
we
are
as
a
magazine.
We’ve
had
this
a
few
times
in
class,
but
it
might
be
time
to
hammer
out
a
concrete
definition.
It
might
even
be
something
M3
needs
a
say
in,
but
it
needs
to
be
decided:
what
does
ing
Magazine
define
arts
and
culture
as?
If
we
define
it
like
our
readers
do,
focused
on
high
arts,
literature,
and
theater,
then
we
are
not
writing
according
to
that
definition.
We
would
need
to
narrow
our
audience
focus
significantly
to
people
interested
in
those
specific
types
of
arts
and
culture.
However,
if
we
define
arts
and
culture
as
we
have
been
in
class,
as
human
interest,
student
life,
travel,
music,
etc.
then
I
think
that
we
are
already
on
the
right
track
for
writing
things
our
audience
would
be
interested
in.
We
still
need
to
hone
our
skills
4.
Riley
Cortright,
“Off
Campus
Students’
Data”
(survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014).
5.
Rachael
LeFevre,
“Audience
Analysis,
Part
1:
Musicians”
(survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014).
6.
Evan
Sherbert,
“PW/XA
Majors”
(survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014).

4. 4
at
writing
for
our
audience,
as
many
of
us
mentioned
in
our
landscape
analyses,
but
the
base
work
is
there.
The
problem
here
is
a
lack
of
understanding
in
our
readers.
The
brand
of
arts
and
culture
is
causing
them
to
have
false
expectations
of
what
we
write
about,
perhaps
resulting
in
a
lack
of
interest.
Solving
this
problem
may
take
a
bit
of
rebranding.
If
our
audience
does
not
understand
what
we
mean
when
we
call
ourselves
and
arts
and
culture
magazine,
that
it
might
be
doing
more
harm
than
good
to
label
ourselves
that
way.
We
might
want
to
consider
rebranding
the
magazine
as
a
student
life
publication,
or
something
similar
to
communicate
our
primary
focus
is
MSU
students.
If
that
is
not
an
option,
then
I
would
again
suggest
ing
hosted
events
to
raise
awareness
about
the
magazine
and
what
we
write
about,
preferably
with
food
or
giveaways
to
get
students
to
come.
Final
Thoughts
and
Recommendations
My
overall
conclusion
is
that
before
any
steps
are
taken,
ing
needs
to
be
defined
by
its
staff.
A
concrete,
written
decision
should
be
made
about
the
specific
audiences
we
are
targeting,
and
the
type
of
content
we
are
producing.
Once
those
decisions
are
made,
then
further
steps
can
be
taken
to
improve
the
magazine’s
readership
and
style.
Below
is
a
summary
of
the
recommendations
I
have
made
in
this
report:
• Narrow
the
targeted
audiences
• Create
an
ing
marketing
team
o Increase
social
media
presence
o Hold
campus
events
to
increase
awareness
of
ing
• Improve
the
location
and
labeling
of
stands
for
ing
magazine
• Determine
if
ing
should
work
to
close
the
gender
gap
in
readership
o Encourage
more
males
to
join
staff
o Interview
Spartan
athletes
and
feature
movies
or
musicians
with
primarily
male
fan
bases
• Identify
how
ing
defines
arts
and
culture
• Rebrand
ing
as
a
magazine
focused
on
student
life

5. 5
Bibliography
Connelly,
LeeAnn.
“East
Lansing
Resident
Data.”
Survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014.
Cortright,
Riley
.
“Off
Campus
Students’
Data.”
Survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014.
Grimes,
Katie.
“Audience
Analysis:
First-­‐and-­‐Second-­‐Year
Students.”
Survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014.
LeFevre,
Rachael.
“Audience
Analysis,
Part
1:
Musicians.”
Survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014.
Sherbert,
Evan.
“PW/XA
Majors.”
Survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014.
Wiselogle,
Jade.
“Audience
Analysis
Date:
On-­‐Campus
Residents.”
Survey
results,
East
Lansing,
2014.