2. > 1800s - 1900s
> The Field launched in 1853 and within a year became the largest newspaper in Europe, with 24 pages. It had its own correspondent
throughout the Crimean War - Back in the 1800s, newspapers would have been very formal and targeted at males, and they produced
these magazines through printing them on a mass scale. Back then only men would have been associated with war which is why males
were their main target audience.
> Eight further IPC titles that are still thriving today were launched in the late 1800s: Country Life, Horse & Hound, Shooting Times,
Yachting World, Amateur Gardening, Cycling Weekly, Amateur Photographer and The Railway Magazine*. – The specialist magazines
such as Horse & Hound, Yachting World and Shooting Times would have had a niche audience of people of the upper class due to
these kinds of hobbies would not have been accessible for just anyone and would be somewhat expensive to do continuously. Due to
this, they decided to produce magazines for the lower classes such as Amateur Gardening and Amateur photography so people in
lower classes such as middle and working could have something to relate to and so those with a little bit less of a disposable income
could purchase them. As well as this, these magazines widen their target audience to Women as well as Men showing their audience is
growing.
> Competitions played a key role in sales promotions for all early IPC titles, and none more so than the sensational prize offered by the
fledgling magazine, Answers, in 1889 - the then unheard of fortune of £1 a week for life to any reader who could guess the amount of
gold and silver in the Bank of England on a given date. – These competitions would be a very effective way of attracting people in lower
classes, this is because they often do not earn a large income and would love to earn more. Doing competitions such as the £1 a week,
will give these people a chance to obtain free money weekly just by purchasing one of their magazines and being automatically entered
in.
What types of magazine and target audiences has Times Inc (formely IPC) been associated with over the
years?
3. > 1920s
> Odhams launched the new monthly Ideal Home in opposition to Newnes' Homes & Gardens. Its first editor, Captain GC Clarke, wanted it
to strive against "the erection of hideous houses which go to mar the beauty of what would under any other circumstances be the most
ideal and beautiful environment," - Introducing an Ideal Home magazine is an obvious sign that they trying to completely widen their
target audience on a whole however creating a niche audience of just women. Back in the 1920s, it was the norm back then for women
to be house wives and were expected to clean, cook and looking after the children whilst the men worker. Therefore this gives women
an incentive to purchase a magazine to better their own home which they spend a lot of their time. However this isn’t really targeted at
all women, its mainly for women who live in a middle class family as people in the lower classes will be prioritizing food and rent over a
magazine and trying to improve their household. •
> Woman & home entered the market in 1926, and by its third birthday in 1929 had grown to a steady 144 pages, majoring on fiction.-
This shows that these kind of magazines targeted at women are effective and the appeal for them is that much that they’re even
increasing the size of their magazine as they want more to read. The fact that Women's magazines are going three years strong also
adds to the point that the demand for them is there as women are buying them consistently.
4. > The 1932 launch of Woman's Own – creating a niche audience of just women - heralded the arrival of one of IPC's
traditional 'Big Two', with the appearance of Woman following just five years later. Newnes promoted its first issue of
Woman's Own with a free cover-mounted gift - three skeins of wool with every copy! The first issue of Woman in 1937 cost
2d and was the first full-colour magazine at that price. – Creating a magazine called Womans Own know creates a
magazine with a target audience focused completely, magazines such as Ideal Home are focused mainly on women
however not as completely obvious as this. Adding the 3 skeins of wool for free when purchasing is a massive incentive
1930s
5. > •A key wartime role was played by IPC's women's weeklies, keeping up the morale of Britain's women and supplying an
essential information service on behalf of the Government. Many of the Woman covers from the wartime years are
regarded as classic works of art in their own right, while wartime Woman's Own covers played their own part in rallying
women to the wartime cause. – Back then, women were not usually associated with the war and there would not have
been many women in the army apart from medics and cooks and so the vast majority of women would have been at home
with the children. Creating a womens magazine for the war is a great idea as women can feel involved and even contribute
somehow to the war effort. This shows that they have come along way with their magazines and intended audience as
during the war in the 1890s, the newspapers were target was mainly men.
1940s
6. > The upsurge in the music scene heralded the arrival of New Musical Express in 1952. Launched amidst the heady days of
Radio Luxembourg, NME set the ball rolling with its compilation of the first official UK record chart – Expanding their
reach into the music industry is a great way of attracting new customers and widening their target audience as pretty
much everyone listens to music, no matter what age or social class.
> Following the arrival of ITV in 1955, TV Times, operating out of a tiny office in High Holborn, published its first issue - in
black & white - covering the new commercial stations. The cover stars were Lucille Ball and Patricia Dainton, star of the
15-minute daily soap opera, Sixpenny Corner - TV listing magazines would have been targeted at males and female in
classes above the working as a whole however putting starts like Lucille Ball and Patricia Dainton would have attracted a
male audience due to them being attractive women and would make men more likely to purchase a magazine if their is a
good looking celebrity on the front.
1950
7. > 1969 saw the birth of a new football weekly - Shoot!* - launched to capitalise on the upsurge of interest in the game
generated by England's World Cup victory three years earlier. – Another specialist magazine created by the IPC all about
football, this would have been massively targeted at males as women never really played the sport at a professional level
so their audience would be mainly dominated by males. This is a smart marketing idea as the magazine also uses the
world cup to their advantage as the England win created a massive interest in the sport, and making it far more likely for
people to purchase the magazine.
> Other IPC titles making their debut in the Swinging Sixties included Rugby World, World Soccer, Angler's Mail and Family
Circle – The fact that they’re bringing out more sports magazines shows that the demand for them is growing and that it’s
not just football that people are showing an interest in. The magazines such as Rugby World and World Soccer would be
largely targeted at men as it was mostly men that participated in these sports. As well as this, the fact that they’re making
a magazine about soccer and not football shows they’re branching out internationally into America and American sports.
1960
8. > IPC welcomed the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh to its King's Reach Tower HQ. HRH drops in on Horse & Hound, Country
Life, Woman and Woman's Own, while Prince Philip makes a solo visit to Angler's Mail and Yachting Monthly. – This
shows how far and popular their magazines have now become that they have reached the likes of Royalty. It also shows
that their magazines are being purchased by their intended target audience as magazines such as the Horse & Hound and
Yachting Monthly would be focused on middle and upper class families with the type of disposable income to be able to
take part in these types of expensive hobbies.
> Successful launches included Aeroplane Monthly*, Sporting Gun and SuperBike*. – This again is another example of
Times Inc expanding their outreach that little bit more and covering more hobbies and activities of interest to the British
public. However, like many previous magazines these 3 will be mainly targeted at the middle and upper classes due to the
expenses of owning an aeroplane and superbike and a very large majority of the UK would not be able to afford these
kinds of pastimes.
1970s
9. > IPC announces the formation of European Magazines Ltd., a joint venture company with Groupe Marie Claire to launch the UK edition
of the international title Marie Claire in 1988. – Forming the European Magazines Ltd. Is a massive step forward for IPC as this widens
their reach across the global market which in turn will attract many different ethnicities from all over the world. Marie Claire originally
started in France which shows their relations with other countries is growing and they’re just creating more and more opportunities for
themselves. The Marie Claire magazine will be targeted at Women due to it being a women’s fashion magazine, however it would have
been for women of all classes and not just the higher classes.
> The launch issue of Essentials is a sell-out, and after just six issues launches in France as Avantages, in conjunction with Groupe Marie
Claire. Other new IPC titles on the newstand include 4x4*, Eventing, Chat, Mizz*, Motor Caravan Magazine*, Wedding & Home*, Country
Homes & Interiors, Classic Boat*, Model Collector*, Motor Boats Monthly, Practical Parenting*, VolksWorld and Bird Keeper*. –
Magazines such as “Motor Caravan Magazine” and “Classic boat” would once again be targeted at white, middle and upper classes in
their 40-60s as these are more like retirement pastimes that would cost a large amount to keep up. IPC over the years has targeted all
kinds of different audiences however they seem to focus mainly on the wealthier classes as they seem to be who purchase them more.
1980s
10. > With the deregulation of the TV listings market, What's on TV makes its triumphant entrance onto the scene in 1991. In the
face of fierce competition, it goes on to become the UK's best-selling magazine, a position it still enjoys today. – This
completely opens their intended audience completely as during this time most families would have access to a TV, so
Males and Females would be both be watching the telly as well as people of any age. Therefore, their target audience
pretty much reaches people of any age or background. The fact that it’s become the UK’s best-selling magazine may link
to the fact that their tv listings will be for everyone and not just one specific and niche audience.
> In one of the most dramatic arrivals in publishing history, revolutionary lads title Loaded* hits the newsstands in 1994.
Hailed as the outstanding launch of recent years, it spawns countless clones and opens up the whole young men's
market. – Never before have IPC really targeted the younger audience as usually they will be aiming for people ages
between 25-50 as these people will be working and have the disposable income to purchase these magazines. This was
really the start of magazines targeted at a young mans market but this shows that the demand was there and that it was a
good investment.
1990s
11. > Ignite! launches Nuts*, the world's first men's weekly magazine, in January 2004. Backed by an £8 million marketing investment, it's
the biggest launch in IPC's history. – This magazine would be targeted completely at males but more focused on the slightly younger
generation of men aged between 20-30. Having such a large investment backing shows that this specialist magazine is in high demand
and that people share a large interest in them.
> IPC Connect unveils the new generation Real Life weekly for women - Pick Me Up in January 2005. The launch is backed by a £6million
marketing investment and with the largest sampling exercise in UK magazine history. -With the new name, IPC are really trying to
modernise the business and expand even further. By pumping £6 million into the investment and which a massive sample size they will
know the most effective way of getting their new and updated women’s magazines to their intended audience as efficiently as
possible.
> In Feb 2007 IPC Connect launches Look - the UK's first glossy high street fashion and celebrity style weekly magazine. In a joint
venture with Groupe Marie Claire, and backed by an £18m investment, LOOK is IPC's biggest ever launch. – This is going to be targeted
mainly at a younger female audience of women aged between 18-30 but still aimed towards the slightly higher classes due to high
street prices can be a fair bit and not everyone will be able to afford to shop on the high street. However, including celebrity features
would really appeal to the slightly lower classes as they may inspire to be like some of these famous faces which gives them a reason
to purchase a magazine to find out what’s happening in their life.
> IPC Media develops great new digital media brands such as housetohome, goodtoknow and shootinguk. – These kind of magazines
that are targeted at middle to upper class families have been going for a while which shows there has always been a constant demand
for them.IPC Ignite acquires Mousebreaker in June 2008 - an essential free-to-play gaming site. Featuring over 200 online flash-based
games, Mousebreaker leads the free casual games sector in the UK. – This shows that IPC are targeting the slightly younger male
generation aged between 13-18 as its mostly young children who enjoy spending their free time playing video games on the computer.
Doing this widens their outreach into the online market, as well as this, these videos can be accessed from all over the world meaning
they will have people from across the world using the site.
2000s
12. > In January 2010, IPC Media restructured around three key audience groups: men, mass-market women and up-market women. – Doing
this helps narrow their target audience down into 3 specific groups. This is a massive change since the business started as originally
focusing on males and over the years they have progressed and expanded their target audience they have realised that women play a
massive part in the sales of these magazines and so the main focus is now on women.
> IPC launches two new monthly magazines - Style at Home and goodtoknow Recipes – Back a 100 years ago, these types of magazines
would have been completely targeted at the Female demographic however in 2010 its far more common for men to live at home and
maintain the household so this would no longer be completely focused on females.
> In June 2011, IPC Connect launches a major new brand - Feelgood games - targeting mass market mums with the very best games and
rewarding them with real gifts. – These types of games would be simple games that create mental tasks for you to complete but are
fun and pass the time. These would be targeted at mass market mums as they would be expected to be at home looking after the
children but they can sit and play these games to take a break and relax. This also shows that their investment into mousebreak was
successful as they have again decided to do it.
2010s
13. > IPC started out by producing their content on newspapers about the war that were targeted at men such as The Field, this
a massive contrast to now and is why IPC would be such a good company for someone to go to have their magazine
published as they cater for such a massive target audience so would know how to publish your magazine as efficiently as
possible. They went from focusing on males mainly, then started progressing into targeting women and men and then into
completely women only magazines such as the 1932 launch of ‘Womans Own’. As well as targeting at different genders,
they have also published magazines that are aimed at different social classes; these include titles such as “Horse &
Hound” and “Yachting World” for the more middle and upper class people as only people in these class would have the
kind of disposable income to purchase magazines on these fairly expensive hobbies and then magazines like “Answers”
which were focused on the lower classes as they were doing competitions as an incentive to get people to purchase the
magazines. Times Inc also have the ability to publish their magazines worldwide, an obvious example of this would be the
launch of Essentials which reached France after just 6 issue, this shows the power and reach they have to be able to
publish their work in other countries. On their website they have left a quote that says “Our 100 iconic brands span
passions, platforms and places.” This quote represents Times Inc perfectly as their business has progressed over the
years to be able to provide content to all kinds of people who enjoy all kinds of different hobbies and interests
2. Why might Times Inc be an appropriate publisher for a new music
magazine?
14. The Times Inc would have to consider the right types of genres when producing a magazine, they would
be likely to publish quite popular genres such as Pop, Rap and Rock that already have large fan followings
and can be targeted at a mass market. Genres like indie are far less known and would not be likely that
Times Inc would publish these kind of magazines as they would not bring in as much money as genres
such as Pop. As well as this, the more popular genres like Pop and Rap are a lot easier to recreate the
mise en scene as its easier to stereotype genres that already have world wide popularity.
3. What sorts of genres of music/types of magazines might they be likely to
publish?
