Final Evaluation Question 3

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

Director's Commentary Script: "The media institution most likely to publish and distribute 'Untouched' magazine would be Bauer Media Group. Bauer Media Group has managed more than 600 magazines across the globe and has published popular and critically acclaimed music magazines such as 'Q' and 'Kerrang!'. This media institution specialises in print shops, postal, distribution and marketing services. Having already established a reputation as Europe's largest individual publishing group, Bauer Media Group would be a good publisher and distributer for 'Untouched' magazine as it will be able to publish the magazine globally which would increase sales and the scale of readers. 

Publishing and distribution companies have the role of making the product available to the general public. This involves manufacturing the physical copies of the magazine and then sending them off to stores and the various other locations the magazine is to be sold at. With the increasing popularity of online magazines, publishers will now even publish electronic versions of media products onto websites as well. Because Bauer Media Group both publishes and distributes media products in their services, they shall also distribute 'Untouched' magazine as well as publish it. 'Untouched' magazine will be distributed to companies who sell a wide range of popular magazines as this is where the magazine is most likely to attract a large audience. Companies such as this would be supermarkets and news agents. Subscriptions of the magazine will also be available so people can have the magazine delivered to their homes on a weekly basis.

The name 'Bauer' comes from the name of the family who have managed the institution for more than five generations. Since Bauer Media Group was once a tiny publishing house in Germany, this shows how far the company has come in five generations which raises the possibility of 'Untouched' magazine gaining a large audience. The words 'Media Group' rather than 'Publishing House' or 'Distribution Company' show the wide range of services Bauer Media Group offers to a variety of Media and that it does not just focus on magazines.

The money for 'Untouched' magazine would come from Bauer Media Group agreeing that the magazine is an investment that will be worth their money. This would include convincing Bauer Media Group with a range of persuasive communication such as a business plan and marketing ideas. 'Untouched' magazine is to be sold at a price of £2.50 per issue which is a cost suitable for my target audience and is also enough to gain a net profit from the magazine against the publication and distribution costs. Bauer Media Group would invest in the magazine using profit gathered from their previously successfully sold magazines such as 'Q' and 'kerrang!' and would then decide whether to fund 'Untouched' or not. Because Bauer Media Group is a publishing company, they would evaluate over 'Untouched' magazine and decide whether the magazine would be able to expand the Media Group further with sales. Bauer Media Group would also have contact with various financer that would be able to offer a loan for this investment. And if 'Untouched' sells well then Bauer Media Group would be able to pay off the loan with the interest. An investment such as this is a risk but with enough marketing, 'Untouched' magazine would have a chance against competitors. A trial run would most likely come in handy, with the magazine first being published for only a handful of issues to test whether sales predictions are likely to be met. Once this is successful, promotion would then be an ideal solution for increasing sales. Promotion would come from television and radio advertisements, and also adding advertisements into Bauer Media Group's already published magazines.

Magazines similar to 'Untouched' would be 'The Fly', 'Q', 'Indie' and 'Magnet'. This is because these magazines publish music similar to 'Untouched' and all have a target market of young adults. 'Q' magazine is published by Bauer Media Group which means 'Untouched' could be published in a similar way to 'Q' in order to gain more sales."