Final Major Project Proposal 1 - Tastemaker

FINAL MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL 1 MARIE-CLAIRE MILLS WORD COUNT: 1083

INTRODUCTION

THE FOLLOWING PROPOSAL WILL EXPLORE AN IDEA FOR MY FINAL MAJOR PROJECT (FMP) COMPLETED IN MY FINAL SEMESTER OF STUDYING MY UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE AT LEEDS BECKETT UNIVERSITY. THE PROPOSAL WILL START

BY REFLECTING BACK ON THE WORK I HAVE COMPLETED ACROSS MY STUDIES AT UNIVERSITY AND OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM, LOOKING AT THE WORK OF BROCKBANK ET AL., (2017) AND DUNNING ET AL., (2018). THEN THE PROPOSAL WILL OUTLINE MY IDEA ALONG WITH REFERENCES OF MY INSPIRATION FROM COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE AND DEBUT MAGAZINE AND WHY I WISH TO PURSUE THIS IDEA. NEXT, THE PROPOSAL WILL LOOK INTO THE COMPETITION, AUDIENCE AND HOW THE PROJECT WILL BE MARKETED. FINALLY, THE PROPOSAL WILL CONCLUDE WITH A MINI-TIMELINE OF THE PROJECT.

Reflecting Back on writing I have completed

DUNNING ET AL. (2018) EXPLAIN IN A STUDY INTO REFLECTIVE LEARNING THAT WE ARE TOO HARSH ON OUR OWN WORK DURING REFLECTION, SO ANOTHER PERSON’S OPINION CAN BE BENEFICIAL TO REFLECT PROPERLY ON OUR WORK. IN ADDITION, BROCKBANK ET AL. (2017) STATE THAT REFLECTIVE LEARNING CAN HELP SELF-GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. THEREFORE, I WON’T BE PASSING JUDGMENT ON MY PREVIOUS WORK IN THIS PROPOSAL, INSTEAD I WILL FOCUS ON AREAS I HAVEN’T YET EXPLORED OR BELIEVE I COULD EXPLORE FURTHER; - TREND REPORTS - CONTRACT MAGAZINES ONLINE AND IN PRINT.

Final Major project Proposal FOR MY FMP I WOULD LIKE TO CREATE A PRINT MAGAZINE WHERE BLOGGERS AND INFLUENCERS ARE SEEN AS PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS. MODERN DAY PEOPLE SPEND AN AVERAGE OF 24 HOURS ONLINE A WEEK (HYMAS, 2018), AND THE ONLINE WORLD IS SATURATED WITH BLOGGERS AND INFLUENCERS (ROCAMORA, 2018), THEREFORE, PEOPLE WILL WANT TO ENGAGE WITH THIS PUBLICATION. THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE WILL INCLUDE BLOGGING TREND REPORTS, INTERVIEWS WITH THE BLOGGING COMMUNITY, RECOMMENDATIONS INFLUENCERS IN DIFFERENT AREAS, A ‘HOW TO’ SECTION, AND WILL BE TITLED TASTEMAKER. THE PURPOSE OF THE INTERVIEW CHAPTER WILL BE SIMILAR TO THE SELF-MADE SUMMIT EVENTS OF COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE (SAVIN, 2017) AND DEBUT MAGAZINE’S COMMITMENT OF SUPPORTING WOMEN IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES (DEBUT MAGAZINE, 2019). I AM CONSIDERING MAKING TASTEMAKER MAGAZINE FOCUSED TO ONE PARTICULAR PLATFORM, FOR EXAMPLE INSTAGRAM AND THE INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER, AS THE TOPIC OF THE MAGAZINE WILL MORE PARTICULAR AND ATTRACTIVE TO A TARGET MARKETING INSTEAD OF THE WHOLE BLOGGING COMMUNITY BECAUSE OF THE SATURATION ROCAMORA (2018) TALKS ABOUT IN HER STUDY. ROCAMORA (2018) ALSO EXPLAINS HOW JOURNALISTS WRITING FOR MAGAZINES PERCEIVE BLOGGERS TO BE THE UNEDUCATED JOURNALIST AND LOOK-DOWN UPON THEM. INFLUENCERS WILL BE ABLE TO SEND TASTEMAKER THEIR CONTENT WHICH WILL BE REVIEWED, ALLOWING THE INFLUENCER TO ADD A TASTEMAKER SYMBOL TO THEIR POSTS WHICH WILL ACCREDIT THEIR WORK IN A PROFESSIONAL WAY. AS WELL AS THIS, TASTEMAKER WILL INCLUDE MULTIPLE VISUALS MAKING IT EASY TO READ AND WILL HAVE A HUMAN SIDE TO ITS

WRITING STYLE SO TASTEMAKER MAGAZINE WILL FEEL ACCESSIBLE TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT INTERESTS. TASTEMAKER MAGAZINE WILL ALTER THE COLOUR SCHEME WITH THE SEASONS OF THE YEARS WITH A DIFFERENT COLOUR FOR EACH ISSUE, SOMETHING BLOGGERS AND INFLUENCERS ENSURE ON THEIR BLOGS AND SOCIAL MEDIA THEMES TO AESTHETICALLY PLEASE READERS.

Competition, Audience and Marketing Concept TASTEMAKER MAGAZINE’S MAIN RIVAL WILL BE BLOGGING MAGAZINE BLOGOSPHERE AS THE TARGET MARKET OF THE BLOGGING COMMUNITY IS THE SAME AND THEREFORE THE AGE DEMOGRAPHIC WILL BE THE SAME. THE MAGAZINE SALES HOUSE (2019) CLAIM THAT BLOGOSPHERE’S CIRCULATION FIGURES ARE AT 6600 AND BLOGOSPHERE HAVE A READERSHIP OF 13200. BLOGOSPHERE HAS A GENDER RATIO OF 76 WOMEN TO 24 MEN. 83 PER CENT OF THE BLOGOSPHERE READERSHIP ARE AGED BETWEEN 18 AND 38 YEARS OLD. RICHARDSON ET AL (2015) EXPLAIN THE BEST WAY TO TACKLE COMPETITIVE RIVALRY IS TO STATE WHAT YOU ARE DOING, WHY YOU ARE DOING IT AND WHO YOU ARE DOING IT FOR. THEREFORE, TASTEMAKER IS A TASTEMAKER’S GUIDE TO INFLUENCING HELPING BLOGGERS STAND OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND A PLATFORM WHERE BLOGGING IS PERCEIVED AS A TYPE OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM. TASTEMAKER WILL STAND OUT FROM ITS COMPETITORS BECAUSE TASTEMAKER IS ABLE TO CREDIT BLOGGERS WOK IN A PROFESSIONAL WAY. TASTEMAKER WILL BE AIMED AT 18 TO 24 YEAR OLD’S WHO ARE BOTH IN AND OUT OF THE BLOGGING AND INFLUENCER COMMUNITY. THE MAGAZINE WILL HAVE A FEMALE FLAIR TO ITS PAGES, HOWEVER, TASTEMAKER IS A GENDER INCLUSIVE MAGAZINE, AIMED AT

EVERYONE, CONSEQUENTLY TASTEMAKER WILL NOT STATE THEIR GENDER DEMOGRAPHIC. TASTEMAKER WILL BE MARKETED MAINLY OVER SOCIAL MEDIA AND THROUGH THE INFLUENCERS WORKING IN COLLABORATION WITH US. THERE WILL ALSO BE A TASTEMAKER ONLINE WHERE READERS CAN SIGN UP TO A NEWSLETTER THAT WILL BE A FORM OF DIRECT MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS (FILL, 2011). AS SUGGESTED BY LEA-GREENWOOD (2013), ALL MARKETING ACTIVITIES WILL BE PERFORMED IN-HOUSE TO KEEP A CONSISTENCY WITHIN THE TASTEMAKER BRAND.

Conclusion TO CONCLUDE, MY FINAL MAJOR PROJECT WILL BE A QUARTERLY, PRINTED MAGAZINE NAMED TASTEMAKER, FOR INFLUENCERS, BLOGGERS AND ANYONE INVOLVED IN THE INFLUENCER COMMUNITY TO GAIN CREDIBILITY AND PROFESSIONALISM FOR THEIR WORK. TASTEMAKER MAGAZINE IS INCLUSIVE OF EVERYONE AND WILL HELP BRANDS GROW AND DEVELOP IN A SATURATED MARKET. ALL MARKETING COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES WILL BE CARRIED OUT

BY THE IN-HOUSE MARKETING TEAM ENABLING SYNERGY AND THEREFORE CONSISTENCY ACROSS THE TASTEMAKER BRAND (LEAGREENWOOD, 2013). ON THE NEXT PAGE IS A SHORT TIMELINE OF AN ACTION PLAN WITH SMART GOALS – GOALS THAT ARE SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, RELEVANT AND TIMEBOUND – TAKING INSPIRATION FROM THE JOBS.AC.UK ACTION PLAN (JOBS.AC.UK, 2019).

Timeline of FMP

Bibliography BROCKBANK, A., MCGILL, I. AND BEECH, N. (2017) REFLECTIVE LEARNING IN PRACTICE [ONLINE].

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DUNNING, D., HEATH, C. AND SULS, J. (2018) REFLECTION ON SELF-REFLECTION: CONTEMPLATING FLAWED SELF-JUDGEMENTS IN THE CLINIC, CLASSROOM, AND OFFICE CUBICLE. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE [ONLINE], 13 (2) MARCH, PP.185-189. AVAILABLE FROM: <HTTP:// JOURNALS.SAGEPUB.COM.EZPROXY.LEEDSBECKETT.AC.UK/DOI/PDF/10.1177/1745691616688975> [ACCESSED 6 JANUARY 2019].

HYMAS, C. (2018) A DECADE OF SMARTPHONES: WE NOW SPEND AN ENTIRE DAY EVERY WEEK ON OUR PHONES. THE TELEGRAPH [ONLINE], 2 AUGUST. AVAILABLE FROM: < HTTPS://WWW. TELEGRAPH.CO.UK/NEWS/2018/08/01/DECADE-SMARTPHONES-NOW-SPEND-ENTIRE-DAY-EVERYWEEK-ONLINE/> [ACCESSED 4 JANUARY 2019].

JOBS.AC.UK (2019) BEING SMART WHEN CREATING YOUR CAREER PLAN. JOBS.AC.UK [ONLINE].

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LEA-GREENWOOD, G. (2013) FASHION MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS. WEST SUSSEX: WILEY. RICHARDSON, N., JAMES, J. AND KELLEY, N. (2015) CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING: SUPPORTING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE. LONDON: KOGAN PAGE. ROCAMORA, A. (2012) HYPERTEXTUALITY AND REMEDIATION OF THE FASHION MEDIA. JOURNALISM PRACTICE [ONLINE], 6 (1), PP.92-106. AVAILABLE FROM: <HTTPS://WWW. TANDFONLINE.COM/DOI/ABS/10.1080/17512786.2011.622914> [ACCESSED 20 NOVEMBER 2018].

SAVIN, J. (2017) HEREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S WHAT WENT DOWN AT OUR FIRST EVER #COSMOSELFMADE SUMMIT. COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE [ONLINE], 27 APRIL. AVAILABLE FROM: < HTTPS://WWW. COSMOPOLITAN.COM/UK/WORKLIFE/A9557493/HERES-WHAT-WENT-DOWN-AT-OUR-FIRST-EVERCOSMOSELFMADE-SUMMIT/> [ACCESSED 4 JANUARY 2019].

THE MAGAZINE SALES HOUSE (2019) BLOGOSPHERE STATISTICS. THE MAGAZINE SALES HOUSE [ONLINE]. AVAILABLE FROM: < HTTPS://WWW.THEMAGAZINESALESHOUSE.CO.UK/ MAGAZINE/BLOGOSPHERE/> [ACCESSED 6 JANUARY 2018].