final fmp research

1. Research
Owen Parsons

2. Audience Research

3. Target Audience Profile
• Understanding my target audience will be crucial to the success of the
project as without a proper grasp on my target audience I will be unable to
create a product that will optimally satisfy the majority of the audience
buying the magazine. It’s difficult to know exactly who my target audience
is, so my plan is to create a survey and circulate it around both my
personal social medias, and posting it to online community sites like
Reddit. This will allow me to not just get more specific answers from those
I know personally, but ask specific communities that are already interested
in the subject of the magazine what they would be most interested to see,
as this help me narrow down exactly what forms of content potential
buyers will want to see. I have circulated the survey in several places on
Reddit, including r/ancienthistory, r/mythology and r/ancientcivilisations.

4. Audience Research
• Less than half of magazine consumers in the UK purchase digitally
frequently in every age group. 46% of 12-15 year olds, 24% of 16-24 year
olds, 32% of 25-34 year olds, 44% of 35-44 year olds, 32% of 45-54 year
olds and 30% of 55+ year olds. It would appear that the magazine industry
is still more popular with physical copies, however 63% of adults in the UK
most commonly consume magazines via smartphones. 70% of UK
customers read or downloaded digital news or magazines in 2020.
• Magazine industry in the USA had a revenue of $23.92 billion in 2020. In
contrast to newspapers and paper blogs, the magazine industry has been
becoming more popular in recent years, with US readers still above 220
million people.
• One of the most popular culture magazines in the UK is Empire Magazine,
which was almost twice as popular with men than women and almost
twice as popular with adults 35+ than 15-34 from April 2019 to March
2020.

5. Market Research
Existing Products

6. Existing Product
Website is organized neatly with
guides and hotkeys at the top, as
well as a search bar
Clear pricing and delivery
methods just below the title
Detailed descriptions of what
you’ll find inside, as well as an
option to view a few pages
without buying to ensure the
content is what the customer is
looking for

7. Existing Product
Very apparent title and themed
coloring to the subject of the
magazine, with explanatory
subtitle
Recognizable and centered art,
which even at a glance explains
what may be covered in the
magazine, makes use of bright
colors to draw in customers, is
easily identifiable as themed by
absolute newcomers, such as
the Colosseum, temples,
gladiators and an emperor,
whereas more learned
individuals in the field may
recognize the center man as
Julius Caesar, and the Great Fire
of Rome depicted behind him
Extra information about more articles within the magazine, placed just
below the artwork to naturally draw a reader’s eye next

8. Existing Product
Noticeable marble texture,
recognisable for even newcomers to
the Greek world
Main title bold and decorated,
subtitle is just below and has
inverted text an background
colours
Recognisable artwork collection
clearly showing the theme and
immediately captures customers
with varied styles and many
different pieces
Like most other covers it has
a central image surrounded
by extra images/information

9. Existing Product
Different style of title to the other
magazines, being a different size for
each word. The subtitle is also much
smaller and stands out less.
Consistent colour theme of gold in
different shades throughout the entire
design
Easy to recognise display of images
depicting Pharaohs, the Great
Pyramids and the Sphinx
Mostly historical photos of notable
discoveries or landmarks in Egypt to
make the theme more apparent and
easily understandable to cutstomers
Central image surrounded by
other images/information

10. Existing Product
Title once again has different sizes
throughout, with a consistent font and
subtitle below
Broad variety of pictures to give a
wide display of things the magazine
may cover, from war, to travel,
society and religion.
Extra information with enticing
language and sticker design to
draw reader in

11. Existing Product
The article makes use of three distinctly colored images to attract the
attention of readers, with an orange map of the ancient world and the
Parthenon in front of blue sky immediately captures a reader’s
attention with color alone. The image of the Parthenon in particular is
centered to make it the main attraction of the page.
Titles are in a separate,
brighter color with a subtitle
in bold below. Maintains a
consistent style
Images spread fairly evenly
throughout page with
largest in the centre and the
other two in inverted
position on the page

12. Existing Product
Bright image of the Giza Necropolis stands
out from the blank white background to
draw in potential readers
Titles in bold and a standout colour,
subtitles in a larger and different font.
Information spaced into columns to
make efficient use of only having one
page
Extra information to describe the
images in case the reader is confused
as to what they may be looking at

13. Research Analysis
• Almost all of the magazine covers have a central figure supported by
several other images and also have information about the contents of the
magazine on the cover. Articles tend to have one main image and 2-3
other, smaller, labelled images related to the main focus of the page. They
have multiple blocks of text about different aspects of the main topic.
• I will feature easily recognisable faces on my front cover, most likely one
central figure but I may also have two central figures with other images
faded in the background due to the wider variety content of the magazine.
I will also include the separate blocks of text seen in the articles analysed
however may make them more vertically linear from the top of the page.

14. Questionnaire Analysis

15. Audience Research Summary
• By circulating my survey across several Reddit Communities as
well as my personal social medias I was able to collect 112
responses to my survey, which gives me a large data sample to
work with when figuring out what my target audience wants
from the magazine. The first two questions were aimed at
figuring out the general demographic of the most likely
audience, whereas the later questions honed in on what the
audience would like to see most in the magazine.

16. Audience research
• The first question asked the age of the participants. I created a wide range
of different options for where I thought would likely be demographic
differences and predicted a wide range of results which appears to have
been the result. Most of my audience age between 18 and 25, with the
second largest category being 25-35. In fact, 83% of my audience are
adults, meaning they are likely well educated and most will be working in
consistent jobs or currently in university education.

17. Audience research
• The result of the second question was an almost completely evenly split,
with very slightly more of the participants being still in formal education.
This leads me to believe that most of the people who answered that they
were 18-25 in the previous question were closer to 18, as if we combine
that number with those who responded with 15-18 and under 15, we have
roughly 50%. Since people above the age of 25 are less likely to be in
formal education, we can safely assume that the vast majority of 18-25
year olds are also in education.

18. Audience research
• The rest of the questions were based around the most popular topics for
the content of the magazine. I expected Persia to be the least voted, and
either Greece or Rome on top, but was surprised by the amount that
Classical Greece ended up leading by. This will mean that I will focus most
of the magazine’s content towards the major city states of Classical
Greece, their economy and lifestyle.

19. Audience research
• The results of the 4th question were very close to what I predicted, with
Rome and Greece again dominating the popularity. Because of the
minimal difference between these two, I will likely do a spread for each of
them, and a single page each for the Egyptians and Persians. I will be
doing parts on all of the Romans and Greeks mentioned, however which
Pharaoh and Achaemenid Emperor I do will largely depend on the results
of my interviews and who I can most easily find editable art and
information about.

20. Audience research
• The results of the 5th question were similar to my expectations, with the
Legion being the most popular choice. The Horde was relatively close
behind, with the Phalanx trailing behind. I will likely devote a single double
page spread to this entire topic, with a full page on the Legion and how
they fought and moved, with the other page being split between the
Horde and the Phalanx. I may cover these in less detail and more focused
on how they compared to the Legion in combat to further conform to the
audience’s specification.

21. Audience Research
• The result of the 6th question was also perfectly in line with my predictions, as
Greco-Roman mythology won by a landslide, with Norse having more than
twice as many votes than Egyptian. This means I will devote an entire page to
the classical Greco-Roman religion, and half a page each for the Norse and
Egyptian Ancient religions. This segment will be a change in subject for the
magazine as it will shift towards the beliefs and Gods of each civilisation, and so
the art style may also vary in colour and tone slightly.

22. Audience Research
• The results of the next three polls were to determine the most popular
deities from each Pantheon so I could know who to feature most. For the
Greco-Roman pantheon, Apollo was by far the most popular of the Gods
suggested, so he will be the main focus of his own page, perhaps featuring
small segments about Zeus/Jupiter and Ares/Mars at the bottom of the
page, since the two were fairly close in number.

23. Audience Research
• The results of this poll were almost exactly as I predicted, with Anubis
being by far the most popular with over 50% of the vote. Bastet was by far
the least popular, so I will likely avoid doing part of the page on her, and
focus only on Anubis and Isis. Anubis will be the centre focus of the page,
as well as his pet Ammit. Isis will be featured in a smaller section likely
towards the bottom of the page and below the main chunk of text on
Anubis.

24. Audience Research
• The results for the Norse Pantheon were closer than I had initially
expected, however the results were in my predicted order, with Odin
being the most popular by a fair margin. As such, most of the article will
be on him and there will be a small section for Freyja nearer the bottom of
the page. I am going to be omitting Tyr because his results were noticeably
lower than Freyja’s so the article will consist of only information on Odin
and Freyja.

25. Interviews

26. Interview 1

27. Interview 1
• Observation: Fair amount of knowledge about Caesar, little about Augustus or
Aurelius. Little knowledge about Alexander, misconception about patriarchal
Sparta. No knowledge of Persia. Little knowledge of Cleopatra. Little knowledge of
Apollo. Fair knowledge of Odin and Norse Myths in general. Very little knowledge
of Anubis. Only reads news online, but reads often.
• What this says about my audience: May be interested in knowledge of lesser
known Roman Emperors, and consolidating knowledge of Odin.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will do a full page on the lives and
accomplishments of Augustus and Marcus Aurelius (half each) and will do a
detailed analysis of Odin as well, and include more images and reference to
consolidate already existing knowledge.

28. Interview 2

29. Interview 2
• Observation: Good knowledge of Roman Emperors, would choose to learn about
Aurelius most. Wants to learn about Sparta. Already heard of Apollo but would like
more information. Unsure on Norse myth. No knowledge of Anubis. Often reads
but prefers paper copies for magazines, interested in factual knowledge.
• What this says about my audience: Already interested in purely the concept.
Confirms Greek is most known so more information may be required on Anubis
and Odin. Aurelius seems the most unknown through both interviews.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: Definite information on Marcus
Aurelius, saturate with quality images and colour schemes. Give several stories on
Apollo, Odin and fill in on the basics of Anubis. Don’t talk about rumours, give
purely factual depictions, statues, and stories.

30. Bibliography

31. Bibliography
1. BBC (2018), Global Encounters of the Ancient Greeks (published on --
/08)
2. Future Publishing Ltd (2016) Ancient Egypt, All About History (published
on 01/01)
3. Future Publishing Ltd (2020) Book of Vikings, All About History
(published on 05/11)
4. Future Publishing Ltd. (2019) Greek Mythology, All About History
(published on 31/10)
5. Interviewees, Name. (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on
30/03)
6. Magazine, Everything you need to Know. (2021) Ancient Rome
(published on 30/08)
7. Parsons, Owen. (2022) Target Audience Research Survey (conducted on
29/03)