SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS​

 

Organization: DIG Magazine is a monthly publication for California State University, Long Beach. It is a not-for-profit organization run entirely by students under the guidance of three advisors under the Journalism Department. DIG Magazine is dedicated to the creation and showcase of original student works and serve as a source of information for anything and everything related to CSULB and the city of Long Beach. By encouraging contributions from fellow students, DIG Magazine provides an inside look into the community’s culture, art, food, and music.

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Audience: DIG’s primary audience consists of CSULB students, professors and faculty. Over the course of the past decade, the staff has extended its reach by writing stories pertaining to people and events outside of the CSULB campus. In doing so, the staff hoped to extend its readership outside the parameters of the campus. At the start of the Revamped campaign DIG Magazine only had a small distribution outside of campus. Unfortunately, it was not large enough to expand efforts to reach out to the Long Beach City community for readership.

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Competition: There were two other student publications on the CSULB campus - The Daily 49er, the official daily CSULB newspaper and The Union, a weekly satirical tabloid. In addition, there were also several radio and television networks on campus that compete with DIG Magazine’s multimedia platforms. These include, but are not limited to, KBeach Radio, The Daily 49er Show and College Beat. At the beginning of the campaign, DIG Magazine received the smallest campus funding and struggled to compete in the publication market in the three years prior to Revamped.

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Obstacles: DIG Magazine required an entirely new approach in terms of internal structure and external marketing. In the past, the magazine had been considered more along the lines of a course-related project versus a real campus publication. In addition, positions were inherited rather than advertised and applied. The internal problems of the magazine negatively affected its presence to its audience, both in print and digital. The obstacles, therefore, had be tackled from the inside out. A well-structured organization and improvements on its informational platforms would ensure the success of the magazine. Unfortunately, DIG Magazine had no budget for a campaign and relied solely on volunteered time and works.

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S.W.O.T.

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Strengths

• DIG Magazine had experienced advisors from the journalism and publications industry.

• The staff and advisors were aware that the magazine was in need of a public relations and branding campaign.

• The magazine is run under the Journalism and Mass Communications Department and continues to be supported by its students and staff.

• The budget provided by IRA ensured the publication of all eight issues and website hosting throughout the season.

 

Weaknesses

• DIG Magazine had a low monthly circulation of 4,000.

• There was low interest and involvement from students and professors.

• The IRA was the only source of funding for the magazine.

• Social media content was lacking and its presence was near nonexistent.

• The website was sporadically updated and was visually unappealing.

• The magazine’s platforms were not unified and operated under different names.

• The magazine had no budget for a much needed public relations and branding campaign.

• Any efforts were limited by strict rules and regulations from the College of Liberal Arts and the state of California.

• DIG Magazine provided little to no incentives for its staff to work.

 

Opportunities

• The transitional redesign (March, April and May/Summer Issues) gained attention – a good sign that a public relations plan such as Revamped presented a great possibility for success.

• There was potential for many donors and sponsors.

• Advisor Robin Jones began holding a DIG Magazine boot camp for new staff members to learn about their positions and duties in order to be prepared for upcoming publication seasons.

 

Threats

• Competing print and multimedia publications were further burying DIG Magazine’s presence.

• Staff members were typically inexperienced upon receiving a position at the magazine.

• Little to lack of compensation for staff members threatened the stability of the magazine as staff members often left their positions for better paying opportunities.

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SECONDARY FINDINGS

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Staffing and resources

• In January 2015, there were 12 students under the DIG staff list, of which only five positions received pay or stipend. All other positions consisted of contributors who are not required or expected to contribute regularly to the magazine.

• DIG Magazine had two advisors from the Journalism and Mass Communications Department - Professors Robin Jones and Gary Metzker. Both Jones and Metzker were experienced journalists who have worked with publications such as the Los Angeles times, Sunset magazine, Westways and Orange Coast magazine.

• The business and advertising side was run by Beverly Munson and the Journalism and Mass Communications Advertising Office.

• DIG Magazine received funding from IRA. DIG's budget was cut by approximately $2,000 for the 2015-2016 academic year, leaving a budget of $15,500. This budget had to cover the print issues and website hosting.

• Staff pay and budgets were based on the discretion and set by the Editor-in-Chief.

• DIG Magazine sold advertisements, but had not been successful in selling ads in 2014. Sponsorship and donations were also encouraged, but the magazine was yet to successfully secure any such funding.

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Cost of production

• DIG Magazine produced eight issues per year/season and has a website that produces and posts material all year round.

• Print production is outsourced to a third-party printer in Los Angeles, California.

• The Revamped DIG Magazine standard spread of 28-pages cost $1,637 per issue.

• The 32-page December/Winter spread cost $1,751.

• The 40-page May/Summer spread cost $2,378.

• Upgrading to a gloss cover cost an additional $1,406 per issue.

• The Wordpress hosting fee for the website costs $600 per year.

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Readership

• The print issue had a monthly circulation of 4,000.

• The DIG Magazine website received low traffic with an average of 24 visits per day.

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Social media standings

• Facebook - 987 followers

• Instagram - 852 followers

• Twitter - 378 followers

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Campus demographics

• There were 36,822 students enrolled as of Fall 2014 (Campus Facts Fall 2014).

• There were 2,729 students living on campus as of Fall 2014 (Campus Facts Fall 2014).

• 92.6% of students commuted to the campus (Campus Facts Fall 2014).

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Key take-aways from secondary findings

There was minimal information available about the magazine through secondary research. However, this research presented a clear problem with consumer awareness and engagement. In order to remedy the situation, it was necessary to get a better understanding of the problems at hand. Conducting primary research provided this necessary insight.

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Source: Campus Facts Fall 2014. California State University, Long Beach. Retrieved from http://web.csulb.edu/divisions/students/presidents_scholars/campus_facts.htm

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PRIMARY FINDINGS

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Student focus group

A focus group of 20 CSULB students was conducted to gain knowledge of their perceptions of hopes for DIG Magazine as of February 2015. All 20 students were enrolled in the Spring 2015 Journalism 480 Magazine Production course and served as the focus group throughout the planning process of the Revamped campaign. Continual research with this group allowed for experimentation with various campaign themes, logos, strategies and tactics.

 

Participants

Drawing participants from the magazine production course was beneficial in several ways. First and foremost, they were the magazine’s number one target audience. Engaging in discussions with these individuals gave insight directly from DIG’s biggest and most valued consumers. In addition, these students have various levels of knowledge about journalism, publication and public relations as they are all enrolled in the Journalism and Mass Communications Department. Their background encouraged insightful discussions that produced valuable comments and suggestions.

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Perceptions

The following findings are a compilation of the thoughts and perceptions of DIG Magazine – its print issues, online presence and overall brand – as of the release of its February 2015 print issue.

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• The DIG logo was inconsistent and lacked visual appeal. It fails to represent the publication as a brand and what it stands for.

• The magazine had no mission statement. This created a lack of identity and personality as the magazine did not provide a goal that drives its editorial formula.

• Primary focus on feature stories is unappealing to most readers. It lacked a sense of continuity or regularity in the magazine that would make readers want to pick up every issue.

• Each print issue was driven by monthly themes. This method attracted segmented audiences versus the average reader, thus hurting the magazine’s readership. This method needed to include a variety of departments (food, fitness, movies, fashion, etc.) that readers can expect even when the theme is of no interest to them.

• The print issues reflected several inconsistencies in writing, editorial, art and design. This was unappealing to readers as the magazine presents itself as a poorly-run organization that lacks professionalism and experience.

• The magazine has a poor online presence.

  • The website was sporadically updated and lacked visual appeal and user-friendliness driving visitors away.

  • The social media platforms were rarely updated and reflected poor relations with the magazine’s readers.

  • Students were more likely to visit a brand’s social media pages as they provied automated updates, however, neither the website nor the social media platforms were poorly-operated, thus discouraging engagement.

• The group came to an overall consensus that the magazine needed an entirely new redesign.

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Logos

In a separate discussion on branding, the focus group emphasized the importance of and need for an official logo. In order to develop such a logo, the group was presented with all the DIG logos used in the years 2013 and 2014.