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Target Audience (Be specific) | |
What is your concept? (Be thorough & specific. Review the links on Blackboard) | An colorful magazine targeted to teens that covers an equal balance of entertaining and informative topics. These topics include fashion and style, arts, and entertainment on one side, and on the more informative side, how-to guides for school and early college, and practical skill tutorials. This will all be done in a style that is trendy and aesthetically pleasing while avoiding the bombastic, dramatic, and cheesy language of typical teen magazines. |
How did you conceive the idea for this concept? | I saw many teen magazines that were either too “empty” intellectually (cosmopolitan) or a bit too serious/slightly out of touch (teen vogue) and wanted to create one that was a balance of fun and helpful and teach some practical skills people might not see elsewhere. |
What do you believe is unique about your concept? | My concept covers the gaps between most teen magazines and aims to strike a balance of topics. No one else offers helps for college or skill tutorials. |
Why do you believe this product will be of interest to your audience? | Teens will want to read something that has relevance to them and isn’t completely about celebrities or useless information, especially those about to leave for college/college freshmen |
FEEDBACK RECEIVED FROM PEERS | Narrow the audience down, age range is too wide Concept seems to appeal to older girls more Choose either one topic or another: entertainment or help Present help/skill guides in a unique way
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Above is the chart I used to refine my magazine concept. After reviewing the feedback I received, I've decided to make a few changes to the original ideas I had.
I do agree with the criticism that my age range is too wide. Freshmen in high school have much different ideas and interests than freshmen in college. It would be hard to provide advice to an audience of girls entering high school and girls entering college. Narrowing my age range would make it easier to choose topics that can appeal to that group. I'd be able to give more specific advice and focus on fewer topics more in depth, which is important; engaging a specific group of girls allows me to take a more "customer centric approach" (Ovid Bell Press 2019).
Additionally, I was told that my concept might appeal to older girls. I think it would be best to narrow the range to 17-19 year old girls because it's easier for me to relate to them, being 18 myself. The advice/practical topics section of the magazine could be more focused on college-related issues, or skills needed for certain things like getting jobs, because it pertains to us. One of the most essential parts of a publication is "understanding how customers want to engage with the publication, and then making it as simple as possible to do so" (Ovid Bell Press, 2019), so focusing further on older girls will allow me to really adjust my content in a way that is understandable to them.
I was also advised to lean more towards one topic or another: entertainment or advice. It's true that more niche, single-topic magazines do well: according to CredSpark, an "audience insight specialist", "Niche publishers have not merely survived the past decade - many of them are thriving. They’ve managed this feat by staying relentlessly focused on one specific category" (Woodwing, 2019). While I do agree with this, I feel that I would still like to include the entertainment aspect of my magazine. The featured article will be a guide on practical skills or college tips, but I still want the entertainment/popular topics to be a part of my overall concept because I feel it would bring in more readers and act as another major source of engagement for my audience. Perhaps an advice column or interviews with strong women can be included in my other articles, on the table of contents. The readers I aim to appeal to might not be as interested in a guide alone, so I still feel having non-education or work/skill related reading might keep readership up. I was told to present guides and help in a unique, engaging way, but I had already planned on doing so using trendy, aesthetically pleasing visuals. I do, however, acknowledge that the guide genre of my feature article should be clear. I originally failed to make one solid idea, but now I am able to see that I might be able to do a bit of both.
I feel that my newly refined concept will engage older teenage girls and perhaps give a voice to their thoughts. I want them to read my magazine and think to themselves, "that's what I was thinking!" or "that's how I understand this, too!" By narrowing the concept to something more appealing to them, I will be able to act as a sort of example of how they think. In the article I read, "The Abundance, Joy, Beauty, Persistence, Power, and Potential of Independent Publishing: A CONVERSATION WITH SIX BLACK EDITORS", each editor highlighted the role they play in representing their audience. Editor Mensah Demary puts it best: "To me it's the role of the editor to be a connective tissue between the reader and the publisher, balancing the reality of working under the employ of a publisher by acting not as a gatekeeper, but as an advocate for a developing and evolving literature and its community" (Dungy, 2020). I also understand the importance of innovation as a writer and editor--Camille Dungy puts this as "We turn to literature in part to understand who we have been and who we can be. As editors we are charged with shepherding new ways of seeing, thinking, and being into the world."
Hopefully, by using my concept of entertainment and helpful skills, I will be able to put a voice to the thoughts and concerns of my audience, as well as offer a solution to their worries and create something beautiful out of their interests and needs. I will also work on keeping a consistent, clear theme and not go overboard on the big picture.
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