AS MEDIA STUDIES

INSTITUTIONS AND AUDIENCES

CASE STUDY: HEARST MEDIA (MAGAZINE INDUSTRY)

TEXTUAL EXAMPLES: COSMOPOLITIAN AND MENS HEALTH

REVISION BOOK
(Blog http://cbscmedia2012.blogspot.co.uk)

AS Audiences and Institutions

You will have two hours to answer two questions: Q1. TV Drama and Representation (unseen drama clip) Q2. Institutions and Audiences (you will focus on answering the question based on the magazine industry) Remember: It is essential that you write a brief essay plan first

Past Questions
Media production is dominated by global institutions, which sell their products and services to national audiences. To what extent do you agree with this statement? How important is technological convergence for institutions and audiences within a media area which you have studied? Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences, within a media area which you have studied.

Areas to cover
The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice; The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing; The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange; The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences; The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences; The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions; The ways in which the candidates own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.

Key Terminology to include in your essay

Horizontal Integration Oligopoly Conglomerate Synergy Convergence Technological convergence Hub Web 2.0 Proliferation of hardware and software Brand synergy Changing Media Landscape

Examiners Feedback
The best answers were able to create a debate around the relative strengths of production and marketing/distribution practices by institutions in engaging appropriate audiences. Frequently strong candidates were also able to draw contrasts between mainstream and independent producers, and/or mass audience/niche audience targeting. Candidates were able to build their own experiences as consumers into their responses and were able to contextualise these through wider understanding of the relationships between producers and audiences. More candidates are able to show awareness of the trends and strategies that categorise the contemporary media landscape. Strong responses from candidates were those who had a wide range of relevant and contemporary examples of marketing and distribution strategies in their chosen area and could discuss them with confidence. Most candidates had a good understanding in the shift from print based to digital formats and explored the impact of the online editions and the general shift from purely print based editions. Most candidates gave a useful contextualising overview of the industry and then focussed on a large institution like Bauer or IPC and looked at how they had changed their production/marketing/distribution patterns. Candidates could offer evaluation of detailed case studies of mass market female readership texts like Vogue, Marie-Claire, Elle, Kerrang and niche publications and online magazines such as Monkey. Most were backed up with reference to the frequently updated content and use of online multimedia as well as lots of facts and figures and quotes from press packs to give a convincing argument.

General Points
Structure- Make a point- provide evidence- stat/quote/example link it to the title question
Technological convergence means magazines are available in Print, App and Online format-think of benefits of these different formats for the consumer and the institutions (ease of access, convenience, discrete, cost, speed, interactivity, multimedia platforms etc) Social Media has changed the face of mass media, explore how institutions have adapted to this, and how Facebook/Twitter offer a new way of marketing products Circulation figures for print has decreased year on year, since its launch Newsstand has reported an increase in profits for magazine companies through online subscriptions, explore how the way magazines are distributed has changed over the past three years Synergy between brands and cross promotion through horizontal integration is a key form of marketing for Hearst Media, explore how magazines reach their audiences through this method, link in to the system of oligopoly which operates within the UK and US Audience theory- link in Maslow and Dyer and their theory which explores how the Media provide audiences with a sense of belonging through accessing a community of likeminded people. Explore how the magazines, through hitting each of the uses and gratifications strands, offer their audiences various gratifications and keep them hooked to ensure they buy each issue Expansion of brands through on-line content (which is free to access) e.g. Hearsts Cosmo and MH website teamed up with their Dating Lounge, Cosmo shop working in synergy with Ann Summers with their Cosmosutra range, Elle having links to on-line retailers which sell the products in their magazine

Case Study: Hearst Media

Hearst Magazines UK, Hearst Corporations principal business in the UK, is one of the UKs leading media companies with 20 magazine brands and 20 digital assets.

Hearst Magazines UK is the trading name of National Magazine Company Ltd, established in 1910 by William Randolph Hearst and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst Corporation, one of the largest diversified media companies. Its major interests include magazine, newspaper and business publishing, cable networks, television and radio broadcasting, internet businesses, TV production and distribution, newspaper features distribution and real estate. In the UK, the business includes the core wholly-owned business plus interests in two joint ventures: NatMag Rodale, a 50:50 joint venture with Rodale Inc. of the USA which focuses on health and well-being; and COMAG, a 65:35 joint venture with Conde Nast, one of the U.K.'s largest magazine distributors. Hearst Magazines UK publishes 20 consumer titles in the UK: All About Soap, Best, Company, Cosmopolitan, Country Living, ELLE, ELLE Decoration, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harpers Bazaar, House Beautiful, Inside Soap, Prima, Red, Real People, Reveal and Zest. The group publishes three magazines, Men's Health, Runners World and Women's Health through Hearst-Rodale UK. Plus 20 digital assets: allaboutsoap.co.uk, allaboutyou.com, company.co.uk, cosmopolitan.co.uk, digitalspy.co.uk, ELLEuk.com, elledecoration.co.uk, esquire.co.uk, handbag.com, harpersbazaar.co.uk, insidesoap.co.uk, menshealth.co.uk, netdoctor.co.uk, redonline.co.uk, runnersworld.co.uk, sugarscape.co.uk, triathletesworld.co.uk, womenshealth.co.uk and zest.co.uk.

HEARST DIGITAL MEDIA

Launched in March 2006, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, is dedicated to creating and implementing the digital strategy for Hearsts magazine brands and other sites, which serve the companys consumer audience. The unit oversees more than 28 websites and 14 mobile sites for brands such as Cosmopolitan, ELLE, ELLE DECOR, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, Popular Mechanics, Road & Track and Seventeen, as well as digital-only sites such as Delish.com, a food site in partnership with MSN, and RealBeauty.com. Hearst Magazines has published more than 150 applications and digital editions for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the Android platform.
MAGAZINES: Car and Driver (www.caranddriver.com) Cosmopolitan (www.cosmopolitan.com) Country Living (www.countryliving.com) ELLE (www.elle.com) ELLE DECOR (www.elledecor.com) Esquire (www.esquire.com) Good Housekeeping (www.goodhousekeeping.com) Harper's Bazaar (www.harpersbazaar.com) House Beautiful (www.housebeautiful.com) Marie Claire (www.marieclaire.com ) Popular Mechanics (www.popularmechanics.com) REDBOOK (www.redbookmag.com) Road & Track (www.roadandtrack.com) Seventeen (www.seventeen.com) Town&Country (www.townandcountrymag.com) Veranda (www.veranda.com) Woman's Day (www.womansday.com) ONLINE-ONLY BRANDS: Answerology (www.answerology.com) Delish (www.delish.com) ELLEgirl (www.ellegirl.com) Quick & Simple (www.quickandsimple.com) Real Beauty (www.realbeauty.com) IPHONE/IPAD APPLICATIONS PRODUCED INCLUDE: Car and Driver for iPad Car and Driver Buyer's Guide CFG: Cosmo for Guys Cosmopolitan's Sex Position of the Day Cosmopolitan Showcase Edition Country Living Holiday Cookies Country Living Treemail ELLE US ELLE Astrology for iPad ELLE Shopping Guide Esquire's Hardest Puzzle Ever Esquire iPad Edition Food Network Magazine Good Housekeeping @Home Good Housekeeping's Anti-Aging Beauty Shopper Her Pet Peeves by Seventeen House Beautiful's 500+ Favorite Paint Colors
Marie Claire's Backstage Beauty Trends

Woman's Day Cooking Assistant Woman's Day Faith & Action DIGITAL MAGAZINES: Car and Driver Cosmopoliltan Country Living ELLE ELLE DECOR Esquire Good Housekeeping Food Network Magazine Harper's Bazaar House Beautiful Marie Claire O, The Oprah Magazine Popular Mechanics Redbook Road & Track Seventeen Town&Country Veranda Woman's Day MOBILE SITES: http://m.bazaar.com http://m.caranddriver.com/ http://m.cosmopolitan.com http://m.cosmogirl.com http://m.elle.com/ http://m.esquire.com http://m.goodhousekeeping.com http://m.housebeautiful.com http://m.marieclaire.com http://m.realbeauty.com http://m.redbookmag.com http://m.seventeen.com http://m.womansday.com/

Marie Claire Interactive Edition Marie Claire Fashion A-to-Z Marie Claire Shop the Shoot O, The Oprah Magazine Interactive Edition Popular Mechanics Interactive Edition RealBeauty's Instant Celebrity Makeover REDBOOK's One Stop Shop Road and Track Auto Show Seventeen Fashion Finder Shop COSMO Sketchbook O Teen Prom The Town & Country Luxury City Guide

Points to Include

Hearst Media- explain what they produce, their brand leaders, areas of the Media in which they operate, link to oligopoly and horizontal integration- give examples of how this is used to strengthen their business Why do people buy magazines- think about the audiences who predominantly buy themABC1 category- disposable income to afford the print copies. These people are valuable to advertisers as they can afford to buy their products. Hearst Media have magazines which appeal to all social demographic groups to ensure they have texts to appeal to all advertisers. Each magazine offers a particular use/gratification to their audience. Explain the importance of distribution- companies can have a fantastic media product but this also needs to be able to reach its audience otherwise it wont survive- examples of products which have had to adapt its distribution methods to meet the needs of its audience include Newsweek in the US and Beano in the UK (changing to on-line only due to decline in sales). Hearst has a digital branch to its company which focus on developing the digital distribution of their products, they have recently become the leading digital publisher in the UK How the decline in sales of traditional print media signifies a shift in the media landscape and how institutions have had to adapt to this and embrace the shift towards NMT by audiences (include point on how NMT fulfil audience needs (Maslow + Dyer) and offer enhanced gratifications) Explain how magazines have embraced cross media platforms and how this has helped to sustain businesses in times of the declining sales of print copies (find some figures). Give examples of different titles and what they have done in terms of technical convergence to ensure their brands survives and thrives in the modern media landscape Hearst Media Methods of Production and distribution:

Find examples of titles and what they offer their audiences Print On-line On-line only Website Apps Facebook page Twitter link Next generation magazines- social media magazines, independent companies; frequently updated content and use of online multimedia, what does the future hold for the magazine industry? Explore Flipboard as a case study

Your own usage of print media- who buys magazines these days? What do you think the future of the industry looks like

Past Exam Questions

Media production is dominated by global institutions, which sell their products and services to national audiences. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
System of oligopoly operates within the magazine industry- this is controlled by a handful of conglomerates including Hearst Media, Conde Nast, IPC and Bauer Media Hearst Media is a global conglomerate which produces market leading brands which reach a global audience Hearst Media and other conglomerates have the financial backing and expertise to produce market leaders; one example of this would be through their use of horizontal integration Horizontal Integration- means conglomerates can use their content across various magazines, they can also cross promote subscriptions/issues of other titles in their brands These conglomerates have access to producing NMT to appeal to their audiences, through the creation of Apps and on-line content (financial backing) Conglomerates work in synergy with other conglomerates e.g. Hearst Media and Apple=Newsstand, when audiences subscribe to magazines on Newsstand Apple receive a percentage of the subscription fee Ideologies of these companies are reinforces due to a lack of competition in the market

How important is technological convergence for institutions and audiences within a media area which you have studied?
Through on-line content companies can cross promote their brands through their system of horizontal integration Use of Apps- engages a modern audience who have become dependent on new media technologies, allows ease of access to the media products- they are always on hand when audiences want to engage in them Synergy- through the use of Apps, Hearst Media and Apple both benefit Change in the media landscape- Eric Schmitzs lecture about how companies have to adapt to nmt to survive and prosper Also the rise in social networking sites and peoples use of these in their everyday lives (Inside Facebook BBC documentary) has meant magazine companies have produced their own Facebook and twitter pages NMT give audiences more choice of how they interact with media products(audio, visual and touch content engage audiences further than reading print) Audience theories- Dyer, Maslow and Uses and Gratifications, all three of these are met through digital content as it allows audiences to get feedback from the magazine- becomes a two way dialogue rather than a more passive experience Websites- free content delivering audiences to advertisers- click on links to get products Synergy between brands through online services such as dating- giving audiences advice as well as finding solutions to their problems Lifestyle magazines provide solutions to both male and female problems- disguised as advice

Due to the system of oligopoly audiences only have access to the views and beliefs of a handful of companies whose main priorities are to deliver audiences to advertisers to make a profit- therefore in these magazines many of the articles revolve around how to improve yourself and your life, ultimately through buying products in the magazine

Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences, within a media area which you have studied.
Horizontal integration within conglomerates in this industry- lead to cross promotion= examples of magazines within Hearst Media Change in the Media landscape over the past five years has led to a change in the way Media products, especially magazines and their brands are consumed and accessed by their audiences Technological convergence in hardware and between companies such as Apple and Hearst have changed the media landscape (Eric Schmitdz quote or Inside Facebook documentary quote) Oligopoly- within Britain the magazine industry operate within a system of oligopoly- meaning the conglomerates have a huge amount of power and financial backing to control the market and determine the way products are produced and distributed Exploring Hearst Media- focusing on Cosmopolitan and Mens Health as case studies

Practise Questions
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Discuss how institutions utilise new media technologies to appeal to, and maintain an audience. Discuss how the ownership of an institution affects the media texts produced. How important is cross media convergence and synergy in the success of a media text? How significant is the proliferation of hardware and content for the magazine industry and its audiences? How much does the success of a media product, and the institution which produces it, rely on its use of technological convergence? How have successful institutions adapted to the changing media landscape in the past five years? Discuss the different methods in which a media institution targets a specific audience through their production, distribution and marketing of the text.

For each question you should include the following:

An introductory paragraph for your essay title including all the key terms An explanation that your case study is Hearst Media At least five/six points which you discuss in detail Clear examples to support each of the points which you make Clear facts and figures which support your points Quotes to support your points A conclusion which sums up the key points in your discussion and a strong quote

New Technologies
Hearst Magazines use of New Media Technologies
Digital Magazines On-line Only magazine: e.g CosmoGIRL and Muscle Manual iPhone/iPad Apps: e.g CFG: Cosmo for Guys, Cosmopolitan's Sex Position of the Day, Cosmopolitan Showcase Edition Mobile sites Websites Shop Websites Magazine TV platforms on their websites Facebook and Twitter pages Dating websites How to videos (apply make-up, build up abs) On-line advice (Personal trainer on MH, relationship counselling on Cosmo) Forums/blogs- creating online communities

CFG- Cosmo For Guys

Description
Chances are, you sometimes take a peek at Cosmo in an attempt to figure out what women really want. So have millions of other men. Thats why weve created Cosmo For Guys (CFG), a fun, entertaining, and seriously useful monthly app for iPad. Designed specifically for men, CFG is packed with interactive features that reveal what a woman craves sexually and emotionallyand it doesnt matter whether you have been with her for years, have just met, or are staring at each other from across the bar. In each new issue, youll find straight-up advice and specific, detailed tips and techniques that will help you satisfy her in bed and out. And it all comes from the editors of Cosmopolitan magazine, the worlds most trusted authority on women.

Cosmopolitians Sex Position Of The Day

Description
Welcome to Cosmo's to-go version of the Kama Sutra! Whether you're looking for inspiration for a sexy rendevous later tonight or just want to brush up on how to make some classic moves even better, you'll love this collection of sex positions. If you're like most people, you have certain positions in your sexual repertoire that you return to because you enjoy them and can count on them to bring you maximum pleasure. But that can leave you in a romp rut. A truly satisfying sex life calls for some experimentation and for being adventurous within the parameters of what's comfortable for you as an individual and as a couple. Within this application, you'll discover intriguing positions like the Figure Eight and G-Spot Jiggy, which were designed for maximum female pleasure in mind. A position like Romp With a View is great for the guy because it offers him plenty of visual stimulation. By using the muscles you didn't even know you had, the Rock-a-Bye Booty will drive you both wild. As you embark on your erotic journey, you'll discover that the differences between the positions can introduce brand new sensations. FEATURES Carnal Challenge Rating: The more flames a position has, the higher the difficulty!! Erotic Instructions: Your step-by-step guide for how to execute the position Why You'll Love It: Hints to help you make the most of the position and what to look forward to Colorful Illustration: Tasteful visual that helps you understand what the position should look like

Digital Editions of Magazines

Synergy

Audience Theories
Richard Dyers Utopian Solutions Theory
Richard Dyer states that people will respond to a media text if it offers them compensation for the inadequacies in their own lives. Through the media audiences can vicariously live their lives and fulfill their wants and needs, leading them to strive to a utopian life.

This is his Utopian Solutions theory: Isolation Inadequacy Solution Community Clarity Excitement Social networking Confusion Boredom Loneliness

Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Abraham Maslow stated that we all have the same 8 basic needs. Therefore if your production targets these, you will have a greater

chance of success. The top five needs are:

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Blumier and Katz suggested in the 1970s that the media audiences make active choices about what to consume in order to meet certain needs. Their Uses and Gratifications Theory tries to show the different reasons that audiences have for consuming certain media texts.

Media Consumers choose media texts that fulfill one or more of these needs: The need to be INFORMED and EDUCATED about the world in which they live The need to IDENTIFY personally with the characters and situations in order to learn more about themselves The need to be ENTERTAINED by a range and variety of well constructed texts The need to use the media as a talking point for SOCIAL INTERACTION The need to ESCAPE from their daily grind into other worlds and situations