The Magazine Industry

The British magazine industry is worth over £7 billion. The British magazine industry is divided into three subsections, including;

• the trade press,
• magazines with specific target audiences, produced by businesses,
• And the huge range of titles aimed at the general public.

More than 2 billion pounds is spent on magazine placement each year, and media analysts have generally concluded that the magazine sector is robust in comparison to all other media industries, despite the perceived threat of new digital technologies.

Magazines are aimed at all different types of people and maintain different functions for their specific target audience; some are related to specific business areas, trades or work practices, while others are related to hobbies or interests. Some are, consumer-focused and some are entertainment-based.

Not only do magazines target age and gender groups, or occupation / interests, they also target SOCIO-ECONOMIC groups, which are labeled A, B, C1, C2, D and E. They refer to people's occupations, economic status, education and background. Magazine publishers and editors, and the advertisers also rely on segmentation to cluster us into one of seven groups: succeeder's, aspirer's, careers, achievers, radicals, traditionalists and underachievers.

Market Research agencies often divide the population into different groupings, for the purpose of drawing comparisons across a wide range of people. They include:

ü A - Higher managerial, administrative, professional e.g. Chief executive, senior civil servant, surgeon

ü B - Intermediate managerial, administrative, professional e.g. bank manager, teacher

ü C1- Supervisory, clerical, junior managerial e.g. shop floor supervisor, bank clerk, sales person

ü C2 - Skilled manual workers e.g. electrician, carpenter

ü D- Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers e.g. assembly line worker, refuse collector, messenger

ü E - Casual labourers, pensioners, unemployed e.g. pensioners without private pensions and anyone living on basic benefits

Funding

• Originally, the cover price of a magazine would be enough to create revenue profit; however, as magazines became more popular, and competition increased, there were fewer sales for individual titles. Cover prices were also lowered when advertising tax was removed in the 1850's, but, unfortunately, this resulted in the revenue from sales being able to cover the cost of production.
• Advertisers use figures from the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) and the NRS (National Readership Survey) to choose which magazines to use. The socio economic group of the magazine could also help identify, the correct magazine to advertise in.