1. OCR Media Studies – A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio
Mind Map and
Research
Name: Tom Owen
Candidate Number: 3103
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
Generation of Ideas for Ancillary Product 1) –
TV Magazine Front Cover
2. Source of Inspiration
History of the Product
Publisher- Hearst Magazines
Circulation Figures – 117,539
Socio-Economic Needs
Usually working class and lower class citizens due to
the class of people being represented in Soap Operas
being of these classes. Therefore, this makes the main
target audience of this type of magazine, to be the
same class of people who are represented in the
programs covered.
3. Main headline ideas
I will ensure that my main masthead is a main convention for my
magazine. Therefore, I will use a large font and a bold text to
ensure that it stands out. Furthermore, I will use a bright colour
such as Red colour against a white background as this will catch
the eyes of consumers. Lastly, this is the popular colour
conventions which are often used for popular Soap Opera
magazines such as ‘Inside Soap’. Therefore, this will show me as
‘Repeating’ (Steve Neale-1980) typical conventions of other Soap
Opera magazines.
4. Images needed
Furthermore, I will also ensure that I make use of HD
quality images with a large size. This is because this will
mean “repeating”(Steve Neale-1980) the convention of
a large image for my magazine cover. Furthermore, I
sent questionnaires to a large number of consumers
where 90% answered that ‘A large main image’ was
their favourite convention from a Soap Opera
magazine.
5. Language/price
I will use a low price of £1.99 so that it is easily affordable for my
target audience, who are working class and lower class citizens,
as the characters in Soap Operas relate more to these classes.
Furthermore, I will ensure that I use common language often
used in Soap operas as this will make my magazine even more
relatable for my target audience.
6. Puff promotion
I will ensure that I use a puff promotion which I know will be
enjoyed by my target audience. This will most likely be a voucher
or code for a 1 year free subscription to a Soap Opera view-on-
Demand service, as this is something which I know that
consumers of Soap Operas will enjoy.
7. Synergy (social media)
• I will also make sure to use a wide range of social media logos
and links to create synergy between multiple media
platforms. This will also help me to build a wider audience
behind our Soap Opera as a brand and it will also ensure that
it reaches a wider range of people, due to the internets’ 3.3
Billion daily users.
8. Price- A very low
price to ensure
that it affordable
for any economic
class of consumer.
Masthead- A large and bold masthead to ensure that it is
eye-caching for consumers. Furthermore, there is use of
bright colors to ensure that it can be seen and identified
easily.
Main Headline- This
was in bright colors
as well as a huge
font to make sure
that it is eye
catching. This also
gives consumers a
good idea of the
main storylines
which relate directly
to the Soap Opera
genre.
Images- The images are large and
prominent and have been edited
effectively to make the magazine
front cover appear as aesthetically
pleasing. Furthermore, they are
also of a high quality which entices
consumers and also relates to the
conventions of a large main
image- often used in other Soap
opera magazines.
Synergy- However, there is no
use of convergence and synergy
with social media platforms.
This is something which I will
“challenge”- (Steve Neale-
1980), when creating my own
Soap opera magazine. This is
because convergence across
multiple media platforms will
result in a larger fan base, due
to the 3.3 Billion daily internet
users having easy access to
advertisements for our Soap
Opera.
9. Mind Map - Conclusion
I will use Photoshop to create my own Soap Opera magazine as I will be able to use the
knowledge which I gathered at AS level and apply it to my work on these products. This will
include my skills at editing images and also other techniques such as using the ‘Ruler tool’ to
ensure that everything on my magazine lines up. This will assist me in ensuring that it looks
professional and engaging for consumers. I will “repeat” the use of a low price-easily
affordable for my target audience of a working class and a lower class. I will also “repeat” the
use of large HD images and bold colors and texts to ensure that my magazine is appealing for
consumers. However I will “challenge” the fact that my magazine of inspiration uses no
synergy and convergence with social media platforms. This is because I will need this synergy
to ensure that our Soap opera reaches as many people from our target audience as possible.
