Magazine Advertisement

To begin my research into existing advertisements, I looked at a range of different music magazines. I found a wide range of different magazines, and identified the main target audience of each one. This allowed me to compare each magazine, and identify the main magazines that would most likely feature an advertisement for my chosen artist, Biffy Clyro.

The first magazine I looked at was Q. From looking at the front cover of the magazine, I found that Q doesn't have a specific target audience. I came to this conclusion, as there is a wide range different artists that belong to different genres on the front cover. For example, the main artist shown on this issue is Mumford & Sons, an Indie-Rock band. However, the small text shows that rap artists like Kendrick Lamar and pop artists like Sam Smith are also featured in this magazine. Because of this, I think that an advertisement for Biffy Clyro wouldn't be out of place in this magazine.

The next magazine I looked at was MixMag. Just by looking at the front cover, I can interpret that the magazine focuses on Dance Music, due to the mixing desk in the background image. Also, the magazines slogan is "The World's Biggest Dance Music and Clubbing Magazine". Therefore, I think that a Biffy Clyro advertisement would be highly unsuitable in this magazine.

The third magazine I found was Kerrang. From the image of the front cover, I can tell that the magazine is more fun and less serious than the other magazines. This is because of the image of the band messing around, with confetti around them. The main image is of the band Fall Out Boy, who are a pop-rock band. This suggests to me that their audience may be similar to Biffy Clyro's. Another artist featured on the front cover is Dave Grohl, the drummer for Nirvana and the frontman of Foo Fighters. Again, I think that these bands have a similar audience to Biffy Clyro, which is why I think this magazine is very suitable for my advertisement.








The final magazine I looked at was NME. I think that this magazine is very similar to Q. The main image is of the Libertines and other bands who performed at Glastonbury. I think that this makes this magazine suitable for a Biffy Clyro advertisement, as they are often touring and playing festivals. However, looking at the artists listed at the bottom of the front cover, I think that this magazine is more focused on upcoming bands and artists, like Wolf Alice and Catfish and the Bottlemen.










My final decision was to feature my advertisement in the magazine Kerrang. I thought that this was the best choice, as the magazine's main audience is similar to the audience of Biffy Clyro. Therefore, the advertisement will most likely be more effective and persuade more people to buy the new album.

I found the Media Pack for Kerrang Magazine. This told me that their Twitter account has over 400,000 followers, and they have 420,000 fans on Facebook. This would allow my advert to reach a wide range of audience and hopefully persuade them to purchase Biffy Clyro's new album.






The media pack also told me that the main target audience of Kerrang magazine is 15-24 year olds. I think that this is a very suitable age range for Biffy Clyro's music, and people of these ages will enjoy the music from the new album.




It also showed shops at which Kerrang is sold. There are multiple shops that are commonly found in the United Kingdom, where Biffy Clyro's are mainly based. Therefore, people who see the advert are in travelling distance to also see Biffy Clyro perform live.







I then looked at some existing Music Magazine adverts. I looked for conventions and features of the adverts that were common on each advert.

I then made notes on each convention, and tallied how many times they appeared on the adverts I looked at. Here is what I found.










I then looked at existing magazine adverts of bands related to my chosen artist, Biffy Clyro. I looked for common conventions in all of the adverts, to see what appeals to my target audience and what would be suitable to use when making my own advert. Here is what I found:

 When producing my Magazine Advert, I firstly added a background to the template. To make my productions consistent, I used the same colour as the background as my Digipack. However, I also added a gradient to my background, to make it less plain. This helped to make my digipack more 'busy'.

 I then imported the picture over my background. Again, I used the same image as on my Digipack. However, I added a shadow to my image to make it stand out more.

 I then added text to my advert. I used the same coloured text as on my digipack. I also used the same font, to keep consistency throughout my productions. I also added a shadow to the text, to make them stand out. From my magazine advert research, I found that common pieces of text showed the name of the artist and album, the release date and usually the singles included on the album.











Next, I added images of social media logo's to my advert. This was a common convention I found when researching existing magazine adverts. It makes the audience aware that the band has social media, and can go to these places to find out more information.

Finally, I added the production company's logo to my advert. This was a common convention in the digipacks I researched. I
















"Opposites" Biffy Clyro Completed Magazine Advert for Kerrang Magazine