Institutions

• What kind of media institution could distribute your media product and why?

Distribution

In Terms of distribution, Pulse magazine will be on sale in shops in Norwich from clothing stores such as Cult, Topshop and River Island to local music stores, gig venues such as NAC and the Waterfront and social spots such as the forum and Starbucks. These are all places that young people in Norwich regularly visit. This distribution method, of putting the magazine on sale near the till of these businesses, is similar to that of Norwich music magazine Outline. The idea behind Pulse is very similar to Outline as both promote gigs and events around Norwich, however Outline focuses more on events for the older generation, leaving a gap in the market for Pulse which focuses on the younger generation. Another method of distribution would be to sell Pulse on the street, similar to The Big Issue, using a street team of young people. By using these distribution methods, rather than distributing from a wholesaler such as WHSmith, Pulse can avoid competition with the high-end glossies and develop its own unique identity. Through this, Pulse takes an anti-consumerist stance and the cost of the magazine is £1, an affordable price for the target market of young people. Pulse is a monthly magazine so as a way of always keeping it fresh and up to date, the magazine will go on sale on the last week of the previous month, e.g. the February issue would go on sale in the last week of January. In addition to this, the website and social networking pages will feature up to date music news, just not as in depth as the magazine.

Brand Expansion

Pulse magazine originates in Norwich but could be expanded to produce sister magazines that focus on other cities such as Bristol, Manchester and Cambridge. The magazine could also expand across other forms of media from a TV channel and Radio station, as established music publication NME includes, to the internet, creating a Pulse website and Myspace, Facebook and Twitter pages as a way of connecting further with the target audience. The February issue of pulse mentions the website http://www.pulsenorwich.co.uk/ on the front cover, contents and double page spread as a way of informing the reader about its existence. In addition to this, the reader is also provided with incentives to visit the website with features such as free downloads, videos and the last music news. To tie in the theme of live music, Pulse could organise its own gigs featuring local bands in Norwich. A similar venture is used by NME who organise an annual “NME tour” featuring new, up and coming bands. To expand this idea further, Pulse could aspire to put on its own music festival on one of the local beaches. TV channel T4 does this with their music festival “T4 on the beach” which is always popular. NME also holds a tent or stage at most festivals in the country. In order to expand the brand, Pulse needs to be able to make a considerable profit, whilst still being cheap enough for young people to afford to buy on a regular basis. This can be achieved through advertising. Although Pulse is, at the moment, relevant to a niche market, the advertising possibilities are vast. Advertisers could include local industries specific to music and entertainment such as music shops, clubs, pubs, cinemas, television, radio- the possibilities are endless. Even establishments with little relevance to music (i.e. clothing stores such as Topshop) could have an incentive to advertise in Pulse if both brands share the same target market of young people.