The document analyzes reader profiles for three magazines: Billboard, We <3 Pop, and Top of the Pops. Billboard targets adults ages 25-54 from social class A-B. We <3 Pop targets teenage girls ages 13-15 from social class C1-E. Top of the Pops targets girls age 12 on average from social class ABC1 and AB, reflected in its cleaner layout compared to We <3 Pop.

1. Audience Research
By Matthew McMinn

2. Reader Profiles
Total
Readers
Age Range
48,000
Gender
Neutral
71% 25-54
Median age 47
135,000
Billboard
Gender
Statistics
Mostly Girls
13-15 year olds
Female 82%
Average age of
12
We <3 Pop
Top of the
Pops
357,000
Social
Grade
Publisher
Circulation
A-B
Prometheus Global
Media
16,327
(a week)
C1-E
class
Egmont UK
42,864
(a month)
ABC1’s
49%
AB’s 26%
Immediate Media
Company LTD
78,352
(in 6 months)
I gathered this information from my publisher research and will use it to go into more depth about the
readers on the next slide.

3. Billboard Reader Profiles
On initial sight you can see that a lot of these
magazine colour pallet schemes have blues, greys,
whites and blacks in them. However some colours
are more punctual on some of the magazines. For
example, the magazines with male cover stars
punctuate blue a lot more than the covers with the
female cover stars. This has been done more to
represent the cover stars more than to influence a
target audience which explains why billboard has
been designed to be gender neutral.
However, there is the odd magazine with pinks on
them, this could possibly be swaying more towards
a female audience but note hoe that it would be
for just that issue only.
Also we can see the sophistication of the design of
these magazines which supports the readership
social grade of A-B, a lot of the clothes worn by the
cover stars look to be high end clothes, we relate
this kind of thing to upper class citizens of the
world and so why they are the target audience.
Another thing is the ages 25-54 which is the age
range of this magazines readers. This makes sense
when compared with the social class as within
these ages you are in a career and if it’s a high end
one (eg orthodontist) then you maybe classed as a
B class citizen.

4. We <3 Pop Reader Profiles
The main colour pallet scheme for these
magazines are pink! Pink, pink and more pink.
This is because the majority of the target
audience for this magazine. The audience is
mainly 13-15 year old girls. They will
stereotypically like the colour pink which is
why this colour will have chosen for almost
every issue. Also young girls look up to a lot of
celebrities on these front covers and fancy a
lot of the lads too. These magazines will
appeal a lot to the magazines target audience
too. However most of these cover stars are
female and this is because they will be
idolised by a lot of young teens, some who
maybe would like to be pop stars.
Compared with billboard magazine this
magazine is a lot less sophisticated, this can
be expressed through some of the splash
images, some being slightly inappropriate (the
wanted). But this magazine does fit the social
status of C1’s to E’s

5. Top of the Pops Reader profiles
A lot of these magazines colour pallet schemes show
a lot of pink as the main base colour as it is the
colour which stands out amongst the rest. We also
have the pure white colour and a few blues here and
there. Another colour which is present is purple.
These colours reinforce their stereotypical audience
of mainly 82% of the readership being females. The
average age of this audience is 12 and the bright
colours and happy smiles also project this target.
Compared with the other teen magazine this one is
aimed at a higher social grade bracket with 49% of
the readership being ABC1’s and 26% being AB’s. This
is shown by a more linear layout and less messy
compared with “we love pop”. The average age is 12
for this magazine but that does not mean anyone
older does not buy it, also upper class AB 12 year
olds would be expected to have a similar intelligence
level to 13-15 year olds who fit in the C1-E social
grade.