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Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 5 months ago

MC549

Assessment One

Hannah Chamberlain

A report on the Home & Garden Magazine Sector

How are they experimenting with new media forms of distribution?

Review of Website features in Home & Garden sector publications

Firstly, i would like to point out that this magazine sector attracts an adult audience hence why many of the website features involve spending money, as you need to be over 18 to purchase online by credit card.

Each magazines website features that indicate new forms of media are highlighted in bold, and have links in brackets next to them to show the form in use online.

(www.allthingshome.co.uk) Website Features:

Advertising

Useful Links

Address Book

Free Store Listing

Business Options

Magazine Subscription

UK Area Search Option (http://www.allthingshome.co.uk/default.asp)

Stores to Look Out For

Product Search Engine (http://www.allthingshome.co.uk/search.asp)

Newsletter (http://www.allthingshome.co.uk/newsletter.asp)

Website Search Engine

Browse Product Categories (http://www.allthingshome.co.uk/default.asp)

Bargain Product Category Search (http://www.allthingshome.co.uk/bargains.asp)

(www.gardenersillustrated.com) Website Features:

Diary

Index

Podcast (http://www.gardensillustrated.com/podcast.asp)

Competitions

Polls (http://www.gardensillustrated.com/polls.asp)

ECards (http://www.gardensillustrated.com/ecards.asp)

Book Shop

Web Links

Shopping

Directory

Our Events

Newsletter (http://www.womanandhome.com/newsletter/)

Magazine

Shop

Special Offers

Advertising

Editors Blog (http://www.womanandhome.com/blog/)

Magazine Comparisons

The conventional features that each websites have in common are:

Advertisements
Links to other affiliated sites
Search Engine
Forums
Log In/Register
Magazine Subscription
Blogs
Email Newsletter

Most popular website features:

· Blogs

· Voting

· Forums

· Email Newsletters

· Search Engine

· Contact Us

· Gallery

Least Popular Website Features:

· Podcasts

· RSS Feeds

· Quizzes

· Polls

· Weather Forecast

· Product Search Engine

· ECards

· Videos

· Product Finder

· Paint Calculator

Common Colours Used:

Pink

Green

Purple

Blue

Black

Price:

Each magazine appears to cost similar prices between £3 and £3.50.

Website Layout

· Magazine Logo Top Left of page

· Advertising Top and full right hand side length of the page

· Magazine Topics run across the width of the page underneath the logo

· Website Contents run down the left hand side of the page

· Home Page contains pictures and videos

· Bottom of page contains Terms & Conditions, links to other affiliated wesbites, Privacy Policy's, Contact Us and a sitemap.

How do magazines generate income?

Magazines rely heavily on advertising to generate income. The greater the magazine circulation, the more advertisers will benefit from advertising. However, due to popular selling magazine demand, magazines will be able to charge advertisers more money for advertising space.

If a magazine is heavily dependent on income from advertisers, you would expect the magazine to be targeted at appealing to an advertisers taste, more than your reader's interests. In this case, I noticed a whole section at the back of the magazines i purchased with a directory specifically for advertisers to advertise in. The magazine would argue this section is for its readers to look at what is on offer, but as many people are more interested in the magazine content than the advertisements, they could argue that a 14 page directory specifically about advertisements is only to an advertisers interest.

This same theory applies to online advertising. The greater the number of website ‘hits’, the greater the demand for advertisers to buy space will become. On the websites i researched these advertisements came in the form of banners, sponsored links and flash advertisements.

Questions to Editors, Publishers and Writers

I contacted some of the magazines i researched and asked them the following questions:

On your website, you use new media forms such as Forums, Voting, Blogs and Newsletter Emails to promote your website and keep your audience interested. What other forms of new media do you use to attract new customers and keep current ones engrossed?
In what ways has using new forms of media to advertise your website and magazine impacted on your sales and viewing rates?
Before using new forms of media and online advertising, what was your circulation rate?
In what ways has writing articles for your magazine website changed due to new forms of media?
Are there any other new forms of media you are planning on using in the future to increase your circulation?
What are the most popular forms of media on your website, and the least popular?

The replies that i received did not tell me much that i did not already know from my research. Most of the feedback i got was telling me that:

Their magazine subcriptions option online has boosted their sales as it saves readers the hassle and cost of subscribing via the post.
Having a website impacts writing magazine articles as they can now write "for more information on this article, visit www.homesandgardens.com" which inevitibly increases their website ratings.
All interactivity options on their websites attracts new customers as well as keep current ones interested as interactivity is in itself a feature that keeps people interested.
The most popular new form of media they have on their website are their forums as it gives readers the ability to express their own opinions.
Their circulation rate has increased by a large percentage since the creation of their website
Some of the companies intend on sending text messages to website members and magazine subscribers as a new form of advertising their magazine.

In Conclusion

It is clear that the internet now plays an important role in magazine interests and distribution. It allows companies to expand on income using different methods of advertising, publishing and writing. Although the use of websites has impacted negatively on printed media, i think it is obvious from the popularity of interactivity online that magazines and their websites are going to succeed more in the long term with sales. Although websites offer interactivity features, they are not a thing to be enjoyed in the same way reading magazines are for many people. Many people purchase magazines because they enjoy sitting and reading them in their spare time, which is why i believe that although the internet is a popular feature, magazines also have their own purpose. Afterall, you can't hold the internet in your hands.

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