2. MEDIA INSTITUTIONS
A media institution is an established, and often profit based, organisation that deals with the production,
marketing, distribution, publishing and regulation of a media product. It helps in gathering information, and
perceptions about different groups of people or their originality.
The four main media institutions within this specific segment of the media industry are:
BBC
Emap
IPC Media
Bauer
BBC Magazine is the magazine publishing arm of the BBC worldwide. It provides a variety of magazines that
target wide range of audiences. They focus their magazines on music, gardening, children’s popular TV
programmes, cooking, cars and astrology. The music magazines that BBC have published in the past include
magazines such as ‘It’s Hot!’, ‘Top of the Pops’ and ‘Classical Music Magazine’.
Emap International Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business
magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences. This company has 20 current
magazines that they distribute. In relation to music, they have only ever published/distributed one music
magazine: Smash Hits, which was widely recognised.
Bauer Media Group is a multinational media company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany and operates in 16
countries worldwide. It was formerly called ‘Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG, abbreviated to HBV and usually
shortened to H. Bauer. Worldwide circulation of Bauer Media Group’s magazine titles amounts to 38 million
magazines a week.
3. To the left is an image taken from Bauer
Media’s brand website which shows which
magazines Bauer Media distributes and
produces. As you can see there are many
magazines, not all music, that would target
my target audience in particular and some
audiences that may be interested in my
magazine also.
4. In terms of the audience that Bauer Media distributes to, it is extremely diverse. This is a key factor in the
magazine industry as the aim of distributing the product is to get it to as many people as possible in order to
make a huge profit. My magazine is aimed at a young audience and so may not be so popular in certain places,
this means that the more diversity within my distribution, the better. Also, Bauer tends to target the young
audiences with their style of magazine so when people notice that this is out distribution company, it may draw
in more attention as this target audience is who Bauer Media is know for working well with.
Emap tend to target the more sophisticated and older audiences. This is because the companies main aim in
distributing their magazines is to connect to more professional communities and inspire them. In relation to
their magazines, there is almost no music related – with Smash Hits being the exception – and so this proves
that their mass audience would be older audiences of a higher standard.
BBC Magazine’s target audiences are very diverse as they distribute magazines that tend to switch between
age groups. This is normally a good thing as it means that the magazines reach other audiences which would
not normally read certain genres of magazines. For example, the Top of the Pops magazine is aimed at young
teenage girls, similar to my magazine. However, they also produce Classical Magazine, which is aimed at a
much older and more sophisticated audience.
5. After analysing all of the media institutions thoroughly, I decided that
both BBC Magazine and Bauer Media would be my chosen companies
when distributing my product. This is because both companies are
very well known globally which already helps to create a good
reputation for my magazine immediately with their target market. Also,
they both have a lot of experience with the process with their
dominance and popularity. I think my magazine would fit it best with
Bauer Media as they distribute a lot of similar genres, but I also think
that distribution by a well known institution that does not usually work
with this genre would be an advantage as there would be less internal
competition.
The one negative that would occur when working with Bauer Media
would be the competition because of the mass amount of brands that
the company works with – this could become a huge issue and so I
believe that working with two companies that both have a global
reputation and with one that does not withhold any competition in
order to boost my magazines profits further.
6. In relation to the distribution of my magazine, I would want my
product to become very accessible as not only does this give this
audience more of a choice of how they wish to consume it, but it
also increases the chance of a wider audience as a lot more people
are introduced to it.
This means that, because of proliferation and convergence within
society, magazines of the current society are being consumed
through portable devices as well as the traditional hard copy –
which is why I would choose to also distribute my product in the
following ways:
7. Although some people may prefer to read my magazine
online or on any apps that offer that type of service, other
people within my target audience may wish to buy a real
copy of it – for example, for the free posters. Because of this
I have also decided that distributing my magazine to popular
stores that are very easily accessible and well known
globally. In terms of choosing stores, I would likely pick
leading supermarkets as they are very well known and
extremely popular with the public – this means that when my
magazine is on display it will catch the audiences attention
and appeal to a lot more people.
