March 24, 2010

Homework:
I told students they could find a media kit for their magazine.  The media kit is what magazines create for potential advertisers to describe their audience.  Advertisers would learn about the interests and spending habits of the magazine's audience and decide if they want to spend their advertising dollars on that magazine.

I gave the example of a tire manufacturer.  I pretended I wanted to buy ad space, so I looked at Girls Life.  They have a rate base of 440,000 readers and charge $19,000 for a full page color ad.  However, their media kit tells me the audience of 14 year old girls is not a good fit.  Sports Illustrated had a rate base of 3.1 million readers, but they charge $350,000 for a full page ad.  While lots of men would see the ad, the price is high, and not all of the readers are into cars.  They are into sports.  The best value was Hot Rod, which had a rate base of 660,000 readers and charged $92,000 for a full page ad.  The audience was very specific, and I was sure that audience would be into tires.

The students need to figure out the audience of their magazine.  They can do this with a media kit or by being a detective.  I showed them how the readers of magazines see who they are or who they want to be in ads; they are shown what they would look like using the product as they really look, or they see what they dream of looking like using the product.  By examining the magazine, you can determine who is reading the magazine, how much they spend, and what their interests are.