What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

What is a Media Institution?

A media institution is an established, and often profit based organization that deals with the production, marketing, distribution, publishing and regulation of a media product. Some examples of media institutions are Bauer Media Group, IPC Media and InterMedia Partners which I have compared on the following slides.

Examples of Media InstitutionsBauer Media Group: Bauer Media Group is a multinational media company headquartered in Hamburg,

Germany which operates in 16 countries worldwide. It was originally a small printing house but has grown into a worldwide publishing and media company. The Bauer Media Group comprises 300 magazines worldwide in 15 countries, as well as TV and radio stations. The company was introduced to the UK with the launch of Bella magazine in 1987 becoming the UK’s third largest publishing company. The company has since gained attention with the launch of Take a Break and several TV listing magazines, such as TVQuick. The institution has also become well known for publishing the popular music magazines Q and Kerrang!

Bauer Media Group would be very successful in distributing my product as it has a lot of experience in distributing several different types of magazines already. It is also a popular, worldwide company and so would gain the readers attention and maybe make my magazine global as well. The company also has a positive reputation and so this will put my magazine in a positive light. The company is very diverse and so this will allow my magazine to be exposed to a wide audience of both males and females, from a wide range of ages allowing me to reach my target audience.

IPC Media: IPC media is a leading consumer magazine and digital publisher in the UK. The

company owns over 80 media brands selling over 350 million copies each year and reaches almost 27 million UK adults. They distribute their products using a range of platforms, such as print, online, mobile and tablet. One digital platform it owns is NME.com which is the 3rd largest commercial music website in the UK. Some of the magazines the company owns are What’s on TV, Women and Nuts. Popular music magazines published by this company are NME and Uncut.

I think that IPC media would distribute my magazine effectively as it also has a lot of experience in distributing many forms of magazines but in particular they are very successful in distributing their products in digital formats. This is useful for my magazine because its target audience is fairly young and so would stereotypically be interested in purchasing the magazine digitally. IPC also has experience publishing some of the top music magazine brands and so would be able to distribute my own quite well.

Examples of Media Institutions

InterMedia Partners: InterMedia Partners is a private equity investment firm focused in the

media sector. It is based on the 48th floor of the Chrysler building in New York. The investment fund covers all media platforms- television, radio publishing, internet and marketing. The fund is specialised in hip-hop music and is well known for publishing the magazine VIBE- a popular R&B magazine.

I think that InterMedia Partners would distribute my magazine successfully because it is already the distributer of the popular magazine VIBE and so clearly knows how to reach it’s audience well. Also the company doesn’t currently publish an Indie Rock magazine and so there is a place for my magazine in the company. The company also covers many media platforms and so would be able to promote my magazine through lots of media forms.

Examples of Media Institutions

Existing ProductsMedia Institutions for the Indie Rock genre:

Q Bauer Media Group

NMEIPC Media

MojoBauer Media Group

Media Institutions for other genres:

VibeInterMedia Partners

KerrangBauer Media Group

Top of the PopsImmediate Media Company

BillboardPrometheus Global Media

The Media Institution I would want to distribute my magazine

I think that the best Media Institution to distribute my magazine would be IPC Media which are also the publishers of NME and Uncut. This is because they are already a very successful publishing company for many different types of magazines. It also has a lot of experience in the music industry, particularly of the Indie Rock genre and so it will be successful in reaching my target audience. Also my product, although is the same genre of magazine to NME (another magazine published by this company), follows a completely different style and so the magazines will not be competing. Another advantage of using this company is that my product would also be able to be advertised in conglomerate companies making my magazine well known and established.

The main reason I have chose this company however is because of its large digital publishing format which would appeal to my young target audience due to the vast expansion of digital technology which is becoming highly popular in the younger generation. On the next slide I have looked at the ways in which I would want my product to be distributed.

I would want my product to be distributed through a variety of ways so that it is accessible to a wide audience. This means making my product available not only in print but via digital sources as well. I would therefore make my product available on digital devices such as Smartphone's and other internet accessible devices. I would have a webpage for the magazine in which you can purchase the magazine and browse it online, this is effective because it allows people from around the world to read the magazine. However I would also make it available on the app store so that it can be downloaded into the readers library allowing them to read it whenever and wherever they like. I would obviously also make my magazine available in print because this is conventional and reaches the majority of people. I would distribute my magazine to a wide range of shops, particularly supermarkets because the majority of people shop at supermarkets and so would be able to get hold of my product.

How I would want to my magazine to be distributed

This demonstrates how my magazine would be shared digitally.

An example of a magazine webpage (NME).

A number of supermarkets my magazine would be distributed to.