Alix Kelly conducted market research to determine the ideal local newspaper. A survey of 12 participants found that most readers were female aged 16-21. While the majority read newspapers weekly or less, they expressed interest in celebrity gossip, crime, politics and local stories. Most preferred a tabloid format in black, white and red using photos. Kelly will use this information to design a weekly local tabloid newspaper for students and young adults featuring diverse content to attract both genders and a variety of ages and interests.

1. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis
I have conducted some primary market research to collect information on what kind of newspaper
the majority of people like to read. In order to complete my survey, 12 participants were sent an
email to complete the questions, and the results were collected online. The website that was used is
called Survey Monkey. As it is easier to fill out my questionnaire online, I now have all the data
returned and can now analyse make a valid judgement on which would be the best source of
newspaper to create for my coursework. The questions were based on the participants preferred
choice for an ideal newspaper to suit them. The questions focused on colour scheme, genre and also
images, as well as some personal questions about the participants.
For my first question, I asked the participants whether they were male or female. This was to get a
balanced judgement of who liked to read newspapers more. Looking at the results, I can see that the
majority of the readers are female, with a 72.73% response and only 27.27% for male. For my
newspaper, I will aim to focus the newspaper for both genders. However, as more females have said
responded, I will include a separate part of my newspaper that will attract the female readers, for
example, a celebrity gossip section. This section could focus on soaps or other well known TV
programmes that most people in the area would watch. However, as I want to try and attract the
most possible readers, I will focus on a broader subject such as TV shows like the X factor or even
The Voice. This will attract both genders of the audience and will also give my newspaper a variety of
articles to appeal to the readers.

2. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis
For my second question, I asked the participants what age they were. This was to get an idea of what
age group I should aim my newspaper for. Looking at the results from this question, I can see that
the majority were aimed between 16-21 years. 66.67% were aged 16-21 which is what I will aim my
newspaper to attract; however, 25% were also aged over 40 years old. I will bare this in mind as they
will be a target audience for my newspaper as well. There is a mixture of genders and ages that I
need to bare in mind when making my newspaper. It will need to appeal to all ages, but in particular
ages 16-21. Most of the participants were younger, but I will take into account the older participants
as they tend to read more newspaper. The articles they will read will be more serious as the younger
participants may want to read about celebrity gossip or even local stories and job that might be
going in their local area.

3. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis
For question 3, I asked the 12 participants whether they were employed and if so what their job was.
I asked this question because I wanted to know whether they would be reading the newspaper at
work, or whether they were unemployed and read the newspapers at home. Looking at the results,
66.67% of the people are employed. The jobs which they work varied from teachers, waitresses,
project manager and retail. These jobs require a lot of work, but when they are not working, they
might read newspapers. For the 33.33% that are unemployed, they still read newspapers and may
get the local newspaper delivered. For my newspaper, I am going to include articles that will meet
the interest of employed and unemployed audiences. I will also include advertisements for local jobs
that will be available at local businesses in the area.

4. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis
In terms of question number 4, I asked the audience is they were in any sort of education. The
responses came back with a high 75% saying yes, they are in education. This could include people
who are students at a college, or who are teaching at a college or university. The 25% who said they
are not in education could be people who were working as a waitress or project manager. There are
9 people who are in education; this means that they could possibly read newspapers in class or
when they have spare time to catch up on the latest news. For my newspaper, I am going to include
some advertisement which informs people who are in education of volunteering or extra-curricular
work in the local area which could help them with the exams that could take place. For the people
who are not in education, this could focus on them as well because they might have children in
education that could benefit from this. This is important because I need to attract as many readers
as a possibly can, this will mean including articles that will have an impact on both younger and older
audiences.

5. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis
To start focusing on the main product, in question 5, I asked the audience how often they read
newspapers. There can be a balanced judgement made looking at the results. 2 people read it every
day, 2 people read it every week and 6 people will either read it once a month or not very often. This
gives me a clear idea that people will only read the newspaper if it has something that could affect
them or something that has recently happened in the local area. In order to attract all the audience,
I need to make my newspaper as interesting and direct to the audience as possible. I will make my
newspaper available to the audience every week, this is because majority of people don’t read it
every day and it would a chance to collect a lot of articles in a week to then give to the audience. I
can assume the majority of people who do not read it very often are adults who are in college or
university. For my newspaper, I will make this newspaper available in colleges every week that will
include stories of the local area which the students will be aware of to try and get them to read
newspapers more often than once a month. The main focus of the newspaper will be to help the
audience get into a habit of ready newspaper more often as they are usually unaware that most
articles could affect them. In order to achieve this, I need to make sure that my articles are
interesting and also interactive with the audience.

6. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis
To decide on a genre for my local newspaper, I asked the responding participants what they would
find most interesting when reading a newspaper. The results represent the genre that has had the
majority of the responses. 6 people responded saying they would find reading about celebrity gossip
most interesting, this could be assumed that the 8 females that have taken the questionnaire would
like to see some variety in a local newspaper. The second most popular was crime/politics, with 3
people responding to each. If I am to aim my newspaper at younger people and people aged over
40, I am going to have included both so that they are interested throughout the whole newspaper
and that I can attract as many readers as possible. The political side to the newspaper would include
articles about local authorities and MPs that are in the local areas. For the younger audience, it
would include articles about well known places that they would know or that may have an effect on
them. This could include local shops, transport links that they might use or even local jobs or
businesses that might be shutting down. The aim of the newspaper will be to include as many
articles that will involve the reader and persuade them to respond to the newspaper as much as
possible.

7. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis
For question 7, I asked the participants if they would rather read a tabloid or a broadsheet. As you
can see, the majority of responses said they would rather read a tabloid. There for, my final piece
would be a tabloid and fit the category of a tabloid newspaper. This would mean keeping to the
conventional codes of a tabloid newspaper, which tend to be less political and more local to areas.
When as papers like The Times would be passed upon a more international scale and focus on more
serious cases that you would see on the television or hear on the radio. For my newspaper, I would
focus my articles on a more local basis, and I would include issues that would effect a local
community in Manchester, I would also include issues about more crime relate drama rather than
politics.

8. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis
Looking at question 8, I asked the respondents how much they would pay for their newspaper.
Looking at the results, 72% said they would pay between 10-50p. For my newspaper, I would set the
price in the frame so that is suited my audience. Anything more would be considered suitable for a
broadsheet with more international stories. If I were to set my price higher than 50p then my
audience wouldn’t be interested. Alternatively, my newspaper would be delivered to homes and
would not have to pay as most of its content would be local issues in Manchester and would have
rivalry with bigger issues like the Manchester Evening News.

9. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis
For this question, I wanted a more detailed response from the participants; I asked them what
colour they would expect in a professional newspaper. The majority of responses focus on primary
colours such as black, white and red. Some said black, white and blue, but for my newspaper I am
going to have black, white and red. These colours create an interesting contrast and will make the
newspaper look interesting and eye catching. These colours are usually used in other newspapers
that I have been analysing to get ideas and inspiration from. The majority believe that they would
like to see black, white and a primary colour. I asked them to write this response because I wanted
to see what their honest answer might be, and it gave them the chance to explain which colours
would look best. For example “black, white and a primary/secondary colour” the detailed response
gave me the opportunity to narrow it down to a few colours, and helped me to understand what the
audiences really wanted to see.

10. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis
For my final question, I asked the audience if they find photographs interesting in a newspaper. The
whole of the participants responded with yes. Therefore, in my newspaper, I am going to use
photographs for each of my article and for some of the advertisement to make the newspaper as
interesting as possible for the audience. These images might include locations, people or buildings. It
will all depend on what articles I choose to have in my newspaper. If the majority said they would
like to read about crime, then I am going to have images that would suit that audience. For example,
if the article was about a thief, then I would use an image of the thief so that the audience were
aware of who the suspect is. I will take into account the use of the Guttenberg principle and the rule
of thirds so that the images look as professional and sophisticated as possible for the audience.

11. Alix Kelly
A2 Media
Market Research Analysis