Write up on focus group meeting.
Today I met with met with my focus group, 6 girls aged 14 to 18. I got some GREAT FEEDBACK and have now got more of an idea about:
• What to include in my magazine (content)
• How to layout my magazine (design)
• How to aim my magazine at the correct audience (appeal)
I asked them a range of questions and we discussed 4 music magazines: Big Cheese, Kerrang, NME and Q.
Results and comments
The girls expressed that music magazines mainly deal with one genre, rock. They all agreed that more current artists should be featured and more familiar gossip magazine elements should be included as well as the music such as probing interviews about the artist’s lives, advice, horoscopes and problem pages.
Two of the girls I spoke to agreed to reading music magazines regularly, one of them aged 14 and the other 16. The most frequent magazine they read is Kerrang; they commented that they read the magazine because it’s familiar to them and always contains the same sort of genres, themes and features from week to week.
Other comments about Kerrang from the other girls illustrated that the quality of the front cover is poor, uninviting and pale. The colours do not stand out enough and the font used inside is to small and the layout to busy.
The girls all agreed that the actual paper quality of NME and Kerrang is poor, that the font in some of the magazines is too small and that a range of colours should be used. They also said that the qualities of the pictures were sometimes poor and that a busy page is off putting.
All of the girls I spoke to expressed that they would pay up to £3 for a music magazine but would not pay anymore. This is interesting as Q and Big Cheese magazine are over this price bracket and were perceived by my focus group as more sophisticated and of a better quality.
Two of the girls I spoke to, one aged 18 and the other 17 commented that they would most like to read about current and up and coming artists in a music magazine, for example Cheryl Cole, JLS, Pixie Lott and Lady Ga Ga.
One of the girls I spoke to aged 15 expressed that the images accompanying the story grab her to read the article, she also stated that too much writing can be overwhelming and put her off reading the magazine. Another girl I spoke to aged 14 said that the names of artists on the front of the magazine would attract her.
What I learnt
From completing this exercise I am taking away that:
• A mix of colours should be used
• My publication should not be priced higher than £3
• Current artists should be featured as well as less known artists
• Advice, horoscopes and problem pages should be included
• Layout should not be busy
• Background should not be plain
• Font should not be too small
• I should Make sure my pictures are of a good quality
• Use names on the cover that will entice an audience
• Strike a good balance between images and pictures (do not display huge blocks of text)
Today I met with met with my focus group, 6 girls aged 14 to 18. I got some GREAT FEEDBACK and have now got more of an idea about:
• What to include in my magazine (content)
• How to layout my magazine (design)
• How to aim my magazine at the correct audience (appeal)
I asked them a range of questions and we discussed 4 music magazines: Big Cheese, Kerrang, NME and Q.
Results and comments
The girls expressed that music magazines mainly deal with one genre, rock. They all agreed that more current artists should be featured and more familiar gossip magazine elements should be included as well as the music such as probing interviews about the artist’s lives, advice, horoscopes and problem pages.
Two of the girls I spoke to agreed to reading music magazines regularly, one of them aged 14 and the other 16. The most frequent magazine they read is Kerrang; they commented that they read the magazine because it’s familiar to them and always contains the same sort of genres, themes and features from week to week.
Other comments about Kerrang from the other girls illustrated that the quality of the front cover is poor, uninviting and pale. The colours do not stand out enough and the font used inside is to small and the layout to busy.
The girls all agreed that the actual paper quality of NME and Kerrang is poor, that the font in some of the magazines is too small and that a range of colours should be used. They also said that the qualities of the pictures were sometimes poor and that a busy page is off putting.
All of the girls I spoke to expressed that they would pay up to £3 for a music magazine but would not pay anymore. This is interesting as Q and Big Cheese magazine are over this price bracket and were perceived by my focus group as more sophisticated and of a better quality.
Two of the girls I spoke to, one aged 18 and the other 17 commented that they would most like to read about current and up and coming artists in a music magazine, for example Cheryl Cole, JLS, Pixie Lott and Lady Ga Ga.
One of the girls I spoke to aged 15 expressed that the images accompanying the story grab her to read the article, she also stated that too much writing can be overwhelming and put her off reading the magazine. Another girl I spoke to aged 14 said that the names of artists on the front of the magazine would attract her.
What I learnt
From completing this exercise I am taking away that:
• A mix of colours should be used
• My publication should not be priced higher than £3
• Current artists should be featured as well as less known artists
• Advice, horoscopes and problem pages should be included
• Layout should not be busy
• Background should not be plain
• Font should not be too small
• I should Make sure my pictures are of a good quality
• Use names on the cover that will entice an audience
• Strike a good balance between images and pictures (do not display huge blocks of text)
This is great feedback, Lydia, and absolutely invaluable for informing the production of your text. You now have a really clear idea of what your target audience wants to see and I think you've found a real gap in the market with this. A music magazine which is aimed at teenage girls could work. I'm really looking forward to this. Just take care it doesn't look too much like a teen mag - the focus has to be music!
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