Niche Target Magazines - Report Example

Niche target magazines Men’s Health This is a large niche market magazine with over 40 editions around the world. It covers topics such as fitness, health, lifestyle, fashion and nutrition. The magazine has an online platform www.menshealth.com which is a primary source of grooming tips for middle class to upper class males scattered across the world. It had its first release in 1987. In the niche target marketing, Men’s Health magazine is selected due to its wide appeal in the masculine male segment. Calvin Klein is a key advertiser with Men’s Health as its main market is composed of middle age urban male as well as the youth. This is the class that purchases this magazine as they look for grooming tips. In Men’s Health issue dated the 8th of January 2010, the front page covers are partially devoted to advertising these designer jeans. Actually it is 60% of the ads in the first 5 pages with trifold advertisements. The rest of the slots are for sports and health-related products. Among the Calvin Klein jeans adverts in this magazine, five of the eight advertisements have male models while the remaining three are standalone product illustration with no models adorning them. Out of the twelve male models featured in these ads, 7 are white men while the rest are of African American descent. The male models in the advertisements are comparably young and with a smaller body compared to those in the cover page (Berry, P126). In the eight advertisements, masculinity is tied to fitness, running and car racing. The last of the eight adverts is of a male model posing at a beautiful nature walk; this, on the other hand, ties masculinity to class and culture. The general trend in this magazine is that advertising for the masculine segment is generally directed to both the upper-middle and upper class segment. Fast company Since it began its circulation in November 1995, Fast Company, founded by Alan Webber and Mortimer Zuckerman, has grown over the years to become a full colour business magazine. Their main focus market is those in the corporate sector, technology and design. The magazine is also involved in creation of business linkages and networks that help in empowering their market. A case in point is their 1997 development of an online social networking tool called “Company of Friends” that ensured members met in person to exchange ideas and businesses. Currently, the magazine owns franchises and online marketplaces like Co.Design and Co.Create. These websites build innovation and productivity in business among the members by encouraging use of efficient management tools and practices. There is a Samsung Galaxy advert appearing on 10th February edition; this is targeted to the smart, middle-class, technology-savvy consumer segment. This product falls within the technological products category and has a smartly dressed male model as the face of the product. The ad is placed on the fifth page for the audience’s interest to be captured as concentration is always high at the initial pages. The Samsung Galaxy advert has a smiling white male model in smart-working class attire used to depict the product as equipment for the business class as well as that for fun loving members of the society. These are the vibrant youth who have exhibited likeness for such devices. General market magazines Forbes This is a general market magazine with a slant for business topics, the magazines covers topics on finance, investment, marketing, science and law. This broad way of covering issues of importance to the populace makes it a wide read; it also releases the annual indications of the wealthiest people across many economic blocs scattered across the world. Among its innovative programs is the Ad Voice which is an online tool allowing advertisers to provide their links to Forbes’ website. Despite the fact that many advertisement drives have gone online, Forbes still uses its hard copy magazine as a tool for obtaining ad revenues. In its edition dated 30th March 2010, the magazine carries an ad for the Hilton Group of Hotels which is for the middle class to high-end market segment. The advert carries a front view wide-shot of the hotel’s New York branch and is situated at the last pages just after the classifieds. The main addition is this advert is incorporation of Quick Response (QR) codes to the printed advertisement which basically allows those who view the page to scan the image and their devices direct them to Hilton’s site directly without necessarily manually typing the URL (Shimp, P214). The ad is directed to a diverse market and is very colourful to attract the reader. Business Week This is another weekly produced magazine in the general market segment that began its operations in 1929. The topics covered by the magazine include finance, labour issues, management and marketing. The magazine is meant for the general public consumption but trends have shown that those who frequent the site are majorly business minded middle-aged members of the society. Its 1st September 2008 issue carried a Chevrolet car advert; in this ad, a car is shown as more than just a mere provider of transportation. It has an image of someone driving a 1972 Chevrolet Impala model through a dessert. This depicts the car as a means of connecting to nature as well as eliciting the feeling of liberty, escape and fun. In the ad, the car is positioned at such a distance that the driver cannot be seen; this is necessary for creating an impression that the car is not meant for any specific sex. Similarities and differences Similarities According to Hovland (P74), the main similarity between the advertisements in niche targeted magazines and a general market magazine is that they both have a longer shelf life compared to that of daily newspapers. This is because these magazines are stored to be referenced for a longer time compared to daily newspapers containing hard news which expires at the end of the day. For instance, in the case of magazines covering technology products like computers, the shift from one technology to another takes a long time before the device is considered obsolete. There is always a section of the audience who sticks with a product for a longer time and hence the ad information can still be relevant for a longer time. Differences The differences between the two are that in niche market advertising, the audience is well defined and all elements in the ad are to appeal to the target audience. A case in point is the Calvin Klein advert in Men’s Health magazine which is meant only for the urban hip male. General market magazine for instance Business Week carries general audience adverts which is meant for the unspecified segment that might be interested in such publications. Adverts for the niche market segment are dense in quality and design; they have better colour combinations ideal for a targeted market that requires the right content for the relevant audience (Klever, P81). Another difference is that ads in niche market magazines are positioned at strategic places in order to get reader’s attention compared to general market magazines whose adverts are concentrated in the mid pages and classified sections. In Men’s Health, various advertisers for instance, Breitling, Calvin Klein and Armani incur the highest costs while jostling for space in the inside front cover which is considered a prime area. The reason why this may not necessarily be the case for general market magazines is because they focus more on their prime content and news stories which appeals to a diversified audience. Works cited Shimp, Terence A. Advertising, Promotion, and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Klever, Alice. Behavioural Targeting: An Online Analysis for Efficient Media Planning?Hamburg: Diplomica-Verl, 2009. Print. Berry, Bonnie. The Power of Looks: Social Stratification of Physical Appearance. Aldershot [u.a.: Ashgate, 2008. Print. Hovland, Roxanne. Advertising, Society, and Consumer Culture. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2010. Print. Read More