Conde Nast, a major publishing organisation, is the company behind Vogue which is an American mainstream monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers many topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Vogue has been setting fashion standards for over a century and is the top-selling fashion magazine in the world with editions globally, such as Italian Vogue and British Vogue.
In terms of the target audience, American Vogue attracts a primarily female audience (approximately 80%) and covers a broad age range, though primary demographics range from 17-29-year-olds. Vogue attracts this female audience as it is one of the most influential and fundamental publications in the fashion industry, brimming with luxury, it encompasses exclusive designs and glamorous models, typically predicting trends before anyone else, giving it a sense of relevance and popularity. From Young and Rubicam's 4C's model, the main audience would fall into the aspirers category as they are materialistic and focus on appearance over personality. Furthermore, the aspirer focuses on others opinions rather than their own values. This applies to a Vogue magazine as it centred around following the latest trends and generally looking your best in terms of style and appearance, which would fill the needs and desires of the aspirer.
TEXT 1 - MAGAZINE COVER
Analysis of magazine cover
The masthead VOGUE is simple, yet recognisable to an audience and the pink-red colour juxtaposes the blue colour of the entire magazine, making it stand out. This combined with the simplicity of the design of the masthead creates a feeling of importance, no extras are needed. Furthermore, this statement of importance is reinforced through the lack of surname when referencing Cara Delavigne, the main focus of the magazine. It suggests that she is known and relevant and therefore arguably presents women in general as worthy, important, relevant and overall notable. Additionally, this attracts a target audience of women who keep up to date with popularity and relevance in modern media, as they are expected to recognise who Cara is without the mention of her surname.
A convention of Vogue magazines is that they often appear organised, simplistic and not in anyway overcrowded. Everything has its own space and can be read without struggle. Furthermore, this is is combined with the way that the colours of the sub-headings and the models clothes match up with the colour of the masthead, ensuring that it all links and looks strategically designed, making it satisfying/appealing to the eye. This highlights the audience of young women instead of teens as the layout and design has a more classy, modern and mature look. To support this point, the various sub-headings indicate a stylish, modern and mature audience who keeps up to date with the latest trends and fashions. The sub-heading 'Springs new take on pastels' implies that the audience is someone who would have prior knowledge on 'pastels' and therefore is aware of the relevant fashion trends of the time. Also the sub-heading 'Pregnancy chic how to hold onto your style' drastically highlights the audience of mature women. Furthermore, this gives a feeling of inclusivity and implies that no one is exempt from having the best style and look, which indicates the ideologies of Vogue.
Women in this magazine are represented as independent, taking control of their own look and style. This is demonstrated on this front cover as the words used throughout connote independence and improving yourself such as 'lose', 'desire', 'require'. Additionally, Cara Delavigne, a famous model, almost acts like an inspiration or a role model for young women reading this as it states 'The model who was liked into superstardom'. This makes it sound as though becoming a 'superstar' was not overly difficult for her and encourages the audience to believe that anything is possible. To add to this, the use of just her first name with 'Cara' makes her sound less like a celebrity and more like a friend who is here to offer advice to the audience.
TEXT 2 - BRITISH VOGUE WEBSITE
Analysis of website
The British Vogue website is crisp, clear and easy to follow with a simple organised layout and neutral colours. This ensures that the audience is not overwhelmed with information and can clearly see what is available to them, avoiding any risk of confusion. This is the same in the layout of the actual magazine, as discussed earlier. A benefit of this simplistic approach is that it does not limit the audience to a certain intelligence and it means that even people who may not be as familiar with online media are able to navigate it as it is easy to understand. The website includes Vogues recognisable logo that shows the audience immediately the brand that they are visiting. Furthermore, the Vogue being in black contrasts to the white background of the rest of the site and indicates a sense of clarity and importance.
The website has a sub-heading labelled 'Top Stories' and this creates a sense of intrigue for the audience and they are more inclined to want to engage with the website and read what it has offer if they are reminded that these are currently the most popular stories. Keeping in theme with the brand, the majority of the stories are about fashion and style such as 'Vogue's Best-Dressed Celebrities Of the Summer'. This highlights Vogues focus on both celebrity culture and fashion, indicating that the brand remains the same regardless of the platform, creating a sense of trust and reliability for the audience. The articles featured include the date that they were published and they appear all to be extremely recent and up to date and the result of this is that Vogue is representing themselves as an immediate source of information and verdicts upon the most recent occurrences in the fashion industry, again reinforcing the websites relevant and popular approach, appealing to aspirers.
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