LO2: Identifying client questions and amending pitch

One important aspect of my magazine I must consider is what potential questions the client will have so that I can cover them in advance in the pitch. Successfully doing this will leave a much better taste in their mouth after the pitch so that they respond more positively to my ideas. 

What questions the client could ask about your pitch:

- Clarify the intent of budget. As this is a very important factor that plays into the reception of the pitch, this is something I have already worked into the slideshow. 

- Frequency of publishing. Frequency of publishing is important for understanding how exactly SUIT magazine will operate in the real world. However this information isn't large enough to warrant a whole slide dedicated to the info, as it may cause my audience to start to get bored if I drag out the pitch focusing on smaller insignificant details over important need-to-know information which comes later in the pitch (such as costs). As a result, this information is already organically worked into the target audience slide so that the audience pick up on it, but aren't getting their attention taken away from the rest of the pitch.

- What is the niche of my magazine that functions as a unique selling point? This is a very important aspect of my magazine that I covered in my proposal but not really at all in the pitch. Its important as, although the business genre isn't as overly saturated as other genres, there are still plenty of magazines that are much higher regarded by the public so, for the magazine to be picked up, it would need an effective unique selling point that allows me to fulfil a niche in the genre so that the magazine is worth being read by my TA. As a result I created the additional slide below to focus on my unique selling point that's very important in making the pitch a success.

- Content Strategy. Another important area my audience may ask about is the content strategy. The content strategy is important as it details what I will be doing to have the magazine be seen and read. Creating the powerpoint about the niche I am fulfilling allowed me to easily lead the PowerPoint into a content strategy slide as my niche plays an important role in how I will be distributing my magazine; through placing them in areas of commute where my audience are often found. 

LO2: Created pitch powerpoint slideshow

 

The presentation of my pitch is almost just as important as the information i am delivering itself. This is because I need to make a strong impression on my audience so that they are much more receptive to my ideas. As a result I created a slideshow with a sleek, formal design to connote the power and authority of my genre.

The first slide I created is a general overview of my ideas. That way I can go more in-depth in my ideas and so the slideshow builds upon itself. This is satisfying for my audience as more and more questions about my pitch get answered as it is presented to them.

Next I made sure to go over one of the key areas my client brief that's crucial to understanding all media, the target audience. This is important as it helps my audience understand not only the purpose of the magazine but who will buy it and how effective it will be. By explaining who will buy it, it helps my audience to picture how the magazine will function within society. 

Next I further went over the basic presentation of the magazine and why the masthead will be effective in drawing in the previously mentioned TA, making sure to mention the codes and conventions of the genre and why they are important, as well as what I'm doing to follow them. 

Towards the end of the pitch, I delved deeper into the most important aspect of the magazine; the feature. I explained how the feature is the most important aspect for the presentation and how it is what draws in most of my desired audience. I then explained how my feature of the Sheffield Chamber Of Commerce is the most useful choice for issue 1 of SUIT magazine as its useful for my ideal target audience.

After fully explaining what the magazine is and the contents of it, I covered how the magazine will be a reality and what the cost would be for production. That way my audience would ideally already be sold on my product and then see how feasible the creation of it is, fully selling them on the idea of a pitch. 

LO2: Proposal to support pitch

PURPOSE: 

The purpose of my business magazine is to inform readers about The Sheffield Chamber Of Commerce and business in Sheffield and to promote The Chamber.  

 

FORM AND GENRE 

Form: My magazine will be citywide and aimed at business owners within Sheffield, this is due to the Chamber promoting only operating within Sheffield, as well as the brief requirements asking for a magazine aimed at a Sheffield audience. This means that some of my articles will need to entice the people of Sheffield with important or interesting information they might need to know. I could do this by including images of recognizable landmarks within Sheffield.  

Genre: The genre of my magazine will be business in order to meet my genre I will need to create a magazine that is formal and professional so that it is taken seriously by clients and makes the magazine more reliable. If the magazine is presented as more informal, this could lead to business owners not trusting my source and taking the large step that would be joining the Chamber. 

 

CONTENT - M GRADE 

My magazine will be themed around business in Sheffield. It will include information on The Sheffield Chamber of Commerce as my primary aspect to draw in readers.

TARGET AUDIENCE: 

SUIT is directed at primarily male 25-40-year-olds (average age of reader is 35) who are looking for a magazine that updates them monthly on everything Business in Sheffield. They have an average-moderately high spending power and are in the B social grade as the magazine directly targets people with a secure and professional job. To target this audience SUIT will use a primarily blue colour scheme as it fulfills genre expectations and connotes calmness, security and trust. This is helpful for my business magazine as SUIT targets a variety of people involved in business, whether they are just starting in the world of business or are a veteran, the magazine offers something for anyone interested in business in Sheffield.  

 

 

RESOURCES AND PERSONNEL 

For my magazine I will be the editor, graphic designer and photographer. For creating this magazine, I will need hardware such as: a computer, monitor, mouse and keyboard. This computer setup will be important as the computer will be where I do all my written work and most of my preproduction and planning. This is a must have for creating and completing the documents, without it I cannot produce barely any of the magazine. As well as this, I will be using a laptop to complete any of the same work outside of lesson. I will also use a pencil, ruler, paper and pen to create other preproduction documents such as visualisation diagrams for each page of the magazine. Software I will use includes: ‘Photoshop’ for creating and editing the pages themselves, ‘Blogger’ to store and organise all my work in one place, ‘Edexcel’ to create gantt charts and production schedules, and Word/PowerPoint to create and edit written work before uploading it to blogger. 

 

DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING METHODS – M 

Due to my magazine being about Business, I have a niche audience that I need to market to in order to sell the magazine. To reach this audience, I have to use below the line advertising techniques as they are cheaper than above the line advertising and are effective at targeting my audience. A radio advert on Sheffield live will be a great form of advertising as Sheffield Live are known for advertising small brands on their station for a reasonable price. This is important as I do not have a large budget for marketing the magazine as this is the first issue of SUIT magazine and isn't an established brand yet. Radio adverts target my audience as people involved in business travel a lot, so a radio advert will be able to reach my audience who travel by car. Another below the line marketing method I could use is using my client's socials to advertise the magazine. Due to my magazine being the first issue, I don’t have an established brand to reliably advertise my magazine online. So, using the clients social media page will allow me to advertise in the online space effectively where there's already a market and audience. The radio ad and social media posts (on both the SUIT official social media and The Chamber social media) will use similar talking points/pull quotes, creating synergy in my advertising across the multiple media. 

The circulation of my magazine will be 100, whilst readership will be around 400. These will be distributed at train stations, town halls and in offices/waiting areas. This is because my audience travels a lot between offices, home and events, meaning they are likely to pick up the magazine in high traffic areas of travel and waiting areas in office buildings. Readership is higher than circulation as copies of the magazine get passed around amongst friends/family, meaning more people will read the magazine than copies bought. Circulation and readership are not as high as that of a professional, well-established magazine as I do not have the large target audience, developed over time like other magazines of the genre have, so I will have less overall printed copies to save money as I do not have the audience for a large amount of copies, especially for a magazine that is for the local Sheffield area, compared to worldwide brands of the same genre. 

 

 

The size of the magazine is a very important aspect that has been well thought out so that it is beneficial for my audience and targets them effectively. Firstly, the size is that of a typical magazine within the business genre, making it recognisable to my target audience when they are looking for a magazine to read. As well as this the larger size provides enough space for the information/contents of the page. Due to business being a very detail heavy genre, the large amount of space ensures that the information required can fit on the page/and content doesn’t have to be cut from each feature, but not too large to inconvenience the reader whilst fulfilling genre expectations. Finally, the size is beneficial during marketing as it helps it stand out on shelves/amongst other smaller magazines, as a small size draws less attention to passersby/people looking to browse a magazine whilst in a seated area/waiting area. All these factors benefit the magazine and helps it become more appealing to read to potential audiences.