Analysing Magazines – Top of the PopsOctober 2007 Issue

By Lizzie Mitchell

The Masthead is pink and sparkly and in a girly font to appeal to its target audience of young girls.

The main image features well known movie stars, smiling and looking happy to create the young and positive feel of the magazine. The image observes the rule of thirds by locating them on the right hand side of the page and placing the focal points along the intersecting lines if the page was divided into nine squares. Their clothing isn’t revealing and is cute and girly, which makes it suitable for children.

The main sell line uses child-like language like ‘star’ and ‘make-over’ to attract young girls attention – they want to look like the girls on the cover so they will be lured in by the style tips this magazine offers.

The logo is in the top right hand corner and is in the same style as the masthead to create a signature style. The BBC logo in the left hand corner creates trust as it is a well known and trusted brand so parents won’t worry about the content inside.

The secondary images of couples and the sell lines relate to gossip and crushes, all of which will appeal to the target audience. The colourful banner draws attention to the sell line and contrasts the pink banner above it – so will attract the attention of young girls.

The products in the ‘A List Glam’ section are all very cheap which will again attract young girls who maybe only get a small amount of pocket money to spend each week – so they may be persuaded to buy TOTP magazine because of the cheap fashions inside. The words ‘glam’ and ‘hot’ are also targeted towards a younger audience.

Target audience of TOTP MagazineKey facts

Cover Price £2.99Frequency WeeklyCirculation 78,352Readership 331,000Boys 15%Girls 87%Age range 11-15 years

The table above shows the target audience is mainly girls aged 11-15. The magazine targets these children by using lots of pink and purple colours on the cover, and having images of mainly girls on the cover – mainly ‘pop princesses’ which these young girls will look up too and aspire to be like. The sell lines all relate to gossip and looking ‘glam’ or ‘make over tips’ which will appeal to young girls as they want to look like these girls on the cover. Lots of acronyms like ‘omg’ are used which are representative of how the target audience talk.

History of TOTP Magazine• Top of the Pops magazine is a weekly publication published by BBC Magazines. It

features chart information, star gossip, fashion and beauty advice, quizzes, song lyrics and posters.

• The magazine was launched in February 1995, and is famous for giving girl group The Spice Girls their nicknames..

• It was originally marketed as the missing link between Smash Hits and NME, but changed to have less music content and target young girls.

• It is still published today, in 2012, despite the TV show being cancelled.