Publishing House: VIBE

Case Study: VIBE Magazine

In this assignment I will be analysing an American based Hip Hop and Rhythm and Blues [R ‘n’ B] Magazine called “VIBE” magazine, which is a publishing house. In addition discuss why it tries to target different audiences.

VIBE is a music magazine which was launched in 1993 and founded by Quincy Jones and partnership with Time Inc. The magazine focuses on two genres of music which is R ‘n’ B and Hip Hop, which contains a variety of music artists, actors, actresses and other entertainers. The reason Vibe is one of the most successful magazines is because they were able to capitalise on their strengths and resolve their weaknesses which in turn made it possible for them to out think their main competitors which are “XXL and The Source”.  By having a circulation of approximately 800,000 advertisements and also streaming its magazine into fashion houses to various cognac brands they are able to attract different audiences with every edition they release. They have also been privileged in having the ability to release countless books relating to hip hop culture and hip hop was even made, which is another idea which is not done by many other magazines that are in the same category as VIBE.

 I initially looked at their global online website and the first thing that struck me was their slogan underneath there masthead which says “Redefining Hip Hop” which says a lot about VIBE as a whole. They want to look at Hip Hop and its culture in a different way and take it to another level. They have plenty of different topics and sections on there website from news, music, movies or TV, vixen, photos and blogs. By having these different topics they are drawing attention from different target audiences which will enhance people interest in their magazine.

In addition, they have news feeds, videos, fashion and culture and with these different sections they will attract young teens who are into hip-hop and love music and when one teenager find the website helpful they will inform friends and the cycle will go on and the same goes for he fashion and even big names will look at fashion as everyone will want to keep up to date with the latest trends an so that brings in entirely another different target audience.

Towards the bottom of the screen they have different associates that mainly focus on the music, but are not as big as VIBE so those ‘small time’ companies get a good opportunity to get known and get attention from different target audiences.

VIBE publishes countless different editions of the magazine and take a variety of entertainers  not only from the music industry to attract audiences attention, they also do front cover on different topics which are big in America such as Barack Obama run as president and dedication to iconic figures, which can once again attract consumers of a different demographic and psychographic, for example people that have an interest in politics and the economy may decide to buy the magazine, when is has a picture of an influential man. This is beneficial to VIBE because once you are able to attract a new customer, the next process would be to retain them, and making sure you cater to their needs.

Finally, the reason why they try to target different types of audiences is because it will allow them to bring in more capita. Showing their versatility implies they are concerned and want to please those that do buy their magazine. Also, targeting different types of peoples means they are willing to take risks and make swift progress, unlike their competitors.

Overall, VIBE demonstrates from their reputation that they work hard to make sure they provide for their buyers needs. This assignment has analysed “VIBE” magazine and discussed why it tries to target different audiences.