Target Readership Profiles- RESEARCH

Q’s Target Audience

Circulation: 88, 420

Readership: 473,000
ABC1 Profile: 68%
Median Age: 29
Male: 75%
Female: 25%
The media pack for Q describes it’s average reader as a male of 29 years of age with a particular  passion for music. These readers are in full-time employment but revelling in life without any dependents or family responsibilities. These readers are affluent with a high disposable income to spend on themselves alone; being heavy consumers of music they would buy up to 6 albums per month. Q is a ‘go to’ magazine for these individuals who are incredibly keen to discover new music which forms part of their social currencies. In terms of demographics, these individuals are in the A,B and C1 profile; meaning they’re professional individuals, with careers such as a doctor or lawyer (giving them high spending power) or perhaps a leader of a department within a company and perhaps administrative. These readers are highly savvy to digital technology, a keen social networker and uses online services to enhance their social lives. These readers love the live music experience as open-minded experience seekers, opting to go for a mixture of gigs, especially huge arena shows for the likes of Kings of Leon and Kasabian. These individuals would attend Leeds festival religiously annually. Though a hugely passionate music fan, this is not to the detriment of their other interests – film, gaming, sport, TV and comedy. These individuals would buy this specific magazine (Q) to fulfil their music knowledge needs, to ascertain album release and concert dates and to discover upcoming artists.

Notable consumer brands that have used Q in the last 12 months include:

• Renault
• BlackBerry
• Chanel
• Bacardi
• Mercedes
• Seiko
• VO5

The vast majority of these brands/companies are quite pricey which reflects the demographics of A, B and C1 of Q's target audience. The advertisements are appropriate because they appeal to individuals who are affluent and can afford to purchase the items/objects shown.

Kerrang!’s Target Audience

According to Kerrang!’s media pack the average reader is a 22 year old Caucasian male. These readers are considered the heaviest music consumers as rock music fans, with varying interest in several bands; they also go to festivals and engage in music actively. Readers are 5.5 times more likely to attend a rock concert and are eight times more likely to spend over £200 a year on albums, buying (on average) six albums per month. Bearing in mind these readers are the ‘heaviest’ music consumers they would expect to be presented with/want dates for gigs, album releases and concerts to continue their never-ending passion for music. They will also be intrigued to discover new, upcoming bands/solo artists (within their music genre) to inject into their social currencies – these readers are incredibly likely to befriend other individuals who share the same interest in music.  These readers are incredibly fashion-conscious and are influenced by music trends; individuality is important to these readers who strive to be different.

In the last twelve months four notable consumer brands have used Kerrang! To advertise their products, including:

•Fiat

•Brylgreen

•Blackberry

•Pot noodle

Each of the above brands stated are very well off and have gained success as individual companies - blackberry and pot noodle don't sell their products for ludicrous prices, they're very affordable which is why so many people purchase them - they're quite mainstream.

GQ's target audience

GQ is said to be the only magazine in Britain dedicated to bringing you the very best in glamour, investigative journalism, comment, men’s fashion, lifestyle and entertainment.
In Britain:
Percentage of male readers: 83%
Percentage of female readers: 17%
Average age: 34
AB: 41%
ABC1: 77%
Relationship status' - single readers: 46%
Married/a couple: 50%
London/SE: 42%
Full time employment: 72%.

• GQ has a target audience of 1.3 million.
• Social media followers altogether equal 208,697 combining Twitter and Facebook.

The house style of GQ's magazine is incredibly masculine due to it's colour palette - gold, red and navy blue; this links to the target audience being mostly made up of males (83%) due to the appeal of the house style. The house style also appears reasonably formal due to the layout/structure of the magazine as it follows many conventions.

Big brands such as Chanel and Mercedes Benz have been known to advertise their products in GQ- this reinforces the concept of the GQ reader being incredibly stylish and possibly affluent., people who buy GQ care about their appearance and how others may see them, as they are branded items that are relatively expensive.