Magazines: Heat CSP

 High brow: Intellectual, cultured. Aimed at intelligent or educated people. E.g. University Challenge / The Times. 

Low brow: Lacking culture or intellectual content. Usually aimed at less educated people or seen as a 'guilty pleasure'. E.g. reality TV, celebrity magazines.

General

• From Bauer Media’s website about the brand of Heat: “Heat is the brand that sets popular culture alight and gets people talking. Now a huge multiplatform brand that's unrivalled in the entertainment market, heat is more than just a magazine- it's a radio station, a podcast, an app and has a huge online and social media presence.”
• From the Heat media pack: "In print – we bring readers a truly unique, quality experience. From clever A-list access shoots no other magazine could pull off to celeb news – heat has the celeb contacts to give readers the exclusive every time."
• The magazine also offers shopping and lifestyle tips: "Our all-inclusive approach promises style for everybody, no matter what shape or size, and our team test fashion and beauty products to make sure readers spend their hard-earned pennies wisely. And Life Hacks gives readers down-time inspo by curating the buzziest experiences in travel, food, fitness, wellbeing and homes."

Heat's target audience

• FEMALE/MALE: 90% / 10%
• AVG AGE: 37
• AGE PROFILE: 52% AGED 15/34 (14% 15-24, 37% 25-34)
• SEGMENT: 50% ABC1
• MARITAL STATUS: 57% MARRIED (or living with partner) / 43% single

Source: Heat Media Pack 

Media language

• Typography / Fonts:  Sans serif fonts to make the magazine feel modern, informal and offering the latest gossip. ‘Posh’ written in serif to make it feel ‘posh’.
• Cover lines: Indirect address favoured by celebrity gossip magazines emphasises the gossip feel. Questions to audience create inclusive, gossipy feel and words like ‘shock new pics’ and ‘Behind closed doors’.
• Name checks/star appeal: the cover is packed with celebrity gossip and the magazine sells itself on having the latest celebrity gossip. Note the stars are given first names only - Heat readers know these celebs already and want to hear the latest.
• Colour scheme: Pink, yellow and red. Bright colours to attract attention – important without a single central image. Gossip magazines tend to be busier and more packed with images to suggest issues that are bursting with different stories. 

Representations

• The people represented on the cover are mostly celebrities and well known actors, reality television stars and music artists. Why?
• Celebrities are presented as important and desirable – but some of the paparazzi photography is designed to make them look like ‘normal’ people.

Social and cultural contexts

The features in Heat focus on a few key areas:

• Relationships: normative and subversive as words are used such as ‘secretive’, ‘baby daddy’ and ‘heartache’. Focus is on relationship breakdowns. 
• Shopping: Christmas shopping suggestions on front cover. Heat magazine emphasises High Street shopping recommendations and affordable ways to get the latest looks.
• British TV and music: Most of the images and stories relate to reality TV stars and/or pop stars (or former pop stars). This is an example of intertextuality with Heat regularly references other media products (e.g. ‘I’m A Celeb Exclusive’).
  

Heat case study: blog tasks

Work through the following tasks and questions to build a detailed case study for Heat - 21-27 November 2020 - our CSP front cover. This will give you plenty of background information to use in an exam question on magazines.

Introduction - Heat Media pack

1) Look at the Heat Media Pack. Go to page 2: the Heat mission. Write three things that Heat offers its readers under 'print'. Exclusive celebrity contacts, weekly fashion edit & beauty products/ life hacks.

2) Now go to page 3 of the Media Pack - celebrity focus. What does the page say that Heat offers readers? Conversation starters about celebrities biggest secrets.

3) Now look at page 4 of the Heat Media Pack. What other content does Heat magazine offer its readers aside from celebrity news? Hottest things to watch on tv, upcoming movies, new books and edit of the week's unmissable cultural moments. 

4) Look at page 5. What is Heat magazine's audience profile? Write all the key details of their audience here. 

4 million uk page views a month, 365k twitter followers, 664k facebook followers, 124k instagram followers.

Media language

1) How are the cover lines written to make the audience want to buy the magazine?

They are written in bold sans serif using bright neon colours which catch the readers attention, they also use name checks to target audiences that follow celebrity drama.

2) What are the connotations of the Heat colour scheme on this particular front cover?

The yellow stands out and suggests the information it has is urgent whilst the pink is feminine and connotes that the magazine is aimed at a female audience.

3) How are images used to create interest in the magazine? Find three reasons for your answer. (E.g. paparazzi images or aspects of mise-en-scene such props, costume, make-up, body position, facial expression etc.) 6 paparazzi photos show celebrities unprepared with their honest expressions, which give viewers a deeper insight into their personal lives which they might find entertaining.

4) What differences can you find between the use of design and typography between Tatler and Heat? List at least three differences and explain the effect on audiences. Heat has multiple images whereas tatler only has one central image, heat uses a lot of neon colours whilst tatler uses more muted ones, Heat covers more trivial celebrity gossip whilst tattler focuses on the royal family.

Media Representations

1) What type of celebrities appear on the front cover of Heat? List them here. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan (royal family), Mariah carey (pop singer), Posh spice (ex- pop singer from spice girls), Giovanna ( Tv star from 'I'm a celebrity, get me out of here') Liam and Cheryl.

2) How are celebrities represented in Heat? (Positively? Negatively? Reinforcing or challenging stereotypes?) They are presented negatively in order to draw viewers in with exclusive gossip. Reinforcing the stereotypes that men are cheaters and that women like to shop.

3) How are women represented on the cover of Heat? Think about both images and cover lines here. Women are presented as the type to frequently shop and be interested in celebrity drama for gossip, which is reinforced by the multiple celebrity titles, the Christmas shopping advert and the pink colour scheme which is a colour women stereotypically like.

4) How do Heat and Tatler represent social class? What different social classes can you find in the features and celebrities on the cover? (E.g. middle/upper class / working class) The celebrities in heat are of varying classes, some are singers, tv stars or royal family, which means the magazine represents the middle/ lower class whilst Tatler exclusively focuses on the royal family and upper class, representing a higher society.