Front cover plans...

http://www.nolayout.com/

Some great cover ideas on here.

The future of magazines?

We need to look at magazines presence both online and printed.

http://www.finddigitalmagazines.co.uk/
"enjoy on the move, no hassle, no fuss, no weight and delivered straight to your device"

Online presence

http://twitter.com/#!/MainstageZine
http://mainstagezine.tumblr.com/

Our Plans...

Our zine will be about festivals. We want to talk about how to have the best time possible at at festival and give personal and fun recommendations.

RESEARCH:

We need to look how larger magazines and online platforms talk successfully about festivals and music.

ZINES!

New project...

"You will be working in teams of 2 or 3 and are the Editorial and Design team for an Independent Publication. Your challenge is to devise a brand new stand-alone publication."

THE TEAM...

Me and Holly
http://babygnarl.tumblr.com/
http://letmelookbella.tumblr.com/

Our zine is about FESTIVALS.

Consumers

With consumers brands need to understand that there are different tiers of consumers. The consumers can be split into 4 tiers, each tier representing a different kind of customer that brands must identify. On the top of the tiers are the 'Sneaker heads' or 'fashionistas' of the market. These are the people that want to be the first with trends and to set them. People in this tier will spend more on getting the latest products, they will read trend blogs and perhaps have one themselves.

Tier 2 which relates to our opinion former Emily, is for consumers who are called the 'early adopters'. These consumers are early on trends but not quite as keen as the tier one consumers. They dress how they want to and often reach trends before the other tiers.

Tier 3 and 4 are the slower groups to adopt trends. They will buy trends once they reach the more accessible highstreet.

Converse

Who are they and what are they doing?
I want to talk about who New Balance's competitors are and what they are doing. Also what New Balance can learn from them.

CONVERSE

"It's not about how old you are, but how good."
Originally the Converse shoe was designed for basketball play, but it didn't take long for the iconic design to become synonymous with the Rock and Roll look. After Rock and Roll exploded onto the music scene in the 50's, this movement needed a look and the Converse shoe fitted perfectly. Since then any band worth their salt has been seen in a pair of classic Converses.

"Celebrating the spirit of rebellion and originality in basketball and Rock and Roll."

The Converse brand has an honest and humble approach to their product. They have kept moving forward by offering new colour ways and design on the shoe. Recently they have collaborated with the original shoe designer Jack Purcell. As well as this they offer a 'design your own' feature. Customers can choose exactly what design they want on their Converse, making the retail experience personal.

Converse also have very strong ties with music. They often use musicians in their ad campaigns and have pushed musical collaborations that are platformed on the Converse website. Community ties are also important to Converse, they are opening a community based recording studio which will help new talent. By doing this Converse have given themselves a positive look that consumers are drawn to. Also the link with music will keep Converse looking 'cool' and relevant. It shows that the brand 'cares' and wants to encouraging communities and new talent.

New Balance can learn from Converse that building connections with other topics such as music can help the brand reach more people and keep the brand interesting. Design collaborations is another method to attract tier one and two consumers. Converse currently hit the majority of the tiers as they have a constant shoe design but appeal to higher tiers with new collaborations and projects.