IPC Case Study

History of IPC Media

·       The international publishing corporation Ltd, was formed in 1963 after the joining of the UK’s three biggest magazine publishers. George Newnes, Odhams Press and Fleetway publications.

·       These joined with the Mirror Group to for IPC properly.

·       IPC Magazines was created in 1968.

·       The first three magazine publishers mentioned above, each have their own history having been established in 1881, 1880, 1890.

·       The titles launched in the late 19^th century are still being published today, underneath the IPC umbrella.

Magazines Today

·       At the moment, IPC mainly have sporting magazines

·       They have only one teen magazine

·       Their second most popular category is Woman’s weekly magazines

·       They have a total of 79 magazines that they publish.

o   3 Country Pursuits and Equestrian- an example of this is “Country Life”.

o   4 Fashion and beauty- an example of this is “InStyle”.

o   8 Home Interest- an example of this is “Beautiful Homes”.

o   5 Lifestyle magazines- an example of one is “Essentials”.

o   30 Sport and Leisure Magazines- One example is “Cycle Sport”.

o   1 Teen- “Teen Now”

o   5 TV Entertainment- “Soap life”

o   14 Women’s Weekly’s- “Chat”.

o   5 Young Men and Music- “NME”.

Advertising audiences

·       Mass Market Women-

·       In every home the women of the household make multiple purchase decisions every day. This makes mass-market women an ideal advertising audience for them.

·       IPC is the UKs leading consumer publisher for Mass Market women. Their weekly magazines and websites include inspiration, advice, celebrity gossip, information, and real life. This appeals to women and mums of all ages and attitudes.

·       IPC Connect represents IPC’s portfolio of Women’s weeklies and TV Magazines.

·       Upmarket men-

·       These types of people are generally adventurous, busy and energetic people. They embrace life for its highs, they follow their passions habitually and they seek out information and advice to enhance their enjoyment of it.

·       IPC Inspire is used to reach this audience.

·       Upmarket Women-

·       These women are confident and exact in what they do, they generally have a wide variety of interests, IPC Media caters for them through a portfolio of media brands, which are printed and online.

·       Young Men-

·       Men who enjoy listening to music like the Arctic Monkeys and Lucy Pinder.

What types of magazine and target audiences has IPC been associated with over the years?

·       From only the 1800’s it has been linked to –

o   Horse & Hound

o   Shooting times

o   Yachting World

o   Amateur Gardening

o   Cycling Weekly

o   Amateur photographer

o   The railway magazine

·       The target audiences from the beginning include middle-aged men, from the beginning it has been associated with targeting people with an interest in a wide variety of sports, cultural interests and photography.

·       This finally shows that it is aiming most of its magazines at middle class men. The reason for this is because fairly wealthy audiences usually watched the sports, in this time.

·       In the new century many more new titles became part of IPC media and from the 1900’s to 1960’s it collaborated with-

o   Yachting Monthly

o    Motor Boat

o   Woman’s Weekly

o    Golf Monthly Woman

o    Home Woman’s

o    Own Woman Angler’s

·        This wide variety of magazine shows that IPC has been connected with a vast range of magazines. It also presents who the IPC target audience is as well. It is clear that the IPC has continued to target audiences with an interest in sports through the use of various sports magazines such as ‘Golf Monthly and Motor Boat. IPC has also chooses to target woman which is apparent through the use of women magazines such as ‘Woman.’ Then from the 1970’s to the 2000’s IPC continued to grow collaborated with more titles such as: Sporting Gun Motor Caravan Wedding & Home Country Homes & Interiors Classic Boats Motor Boats Monthly Practical Parenting Bird Keeper

Why might IPC be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine?

·       It may be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine because it has a very long yet successful history in publishing all kinds of magazines, including music magazines. An example of a successful music magazine is NME, which has been running for almost sixty years.

What sorts of genres or music types of magazines might they be likely to publish?

·       IPC has only ever published music magazines with the genre of rock. This probably shows that they are only more likely to only publish this in the future. However, because they have only published rock, they may be willing to include other genres to attract an even wider audience that they already have.

Why might alternative publishers like Bauer be appropriate?

·       Bauer have published a lot more music magazines than IPC so might be able to appeal to a wider variety of people who listen to different to genres of music. Bauer magazines are also a lot cheaper than IPC, which means that C1, C2 and D, who are the main people who will be reading this magazines, will be able to afford them.