Research of Institutions 2: Bauer Media

Research of Institutions 2: Bauer Media 

 About Bauer Media:

 “Bauer Media UK is an entertainment network of iconic, multi-platform brands. The business became part of the Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately-owned media group, in 2008. Founded in Hamburg in 1875 and now in its fifth generation of family ownership, the Bauer Media Group operates in 19 countries including the UK, Germany, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and the USA and has 11,000 employees worldwide.”

Analysis of the homepage:

The Bauer media homepage is filled with website conventions. In the centre of the homepage there is a great example of cross media convergence through a constantly moving image.  Despite the images changing the sell line stays in the same place, constantly reminding viewers of the mass audience Bauer media has, “25 million people”, the many brands it owns, “107 brands” and the different media platforms it is associated with. This not only promotes how large Bauer Media is, but reinforces the viewers to also believe in Bauer’s success.

With the constantly moving images across the centre of the homepage, the banner in the lower right corner of the image changes too, according to the image. Each banner relates to the image, promotes the mentioned brand or media form and promotes Bauer as a whole by creating a positive image for each of their unique outlets. 

On the homepage below the moving image is the latest news. All of the news mentioned relates to Bauer media themselves or the brands that the institute owns. This shows the wide range of brands that Bauer own and how successful they are.

Further down the page there is an option to view more recent news which links to a different tab on the website that contains a wider variety of news. This allows the viewer to explore the website further, promoting everything else they offer.

Below this option are more options such as “match our audience to your brands”. The background for this is a bright, happy yellow which catches your attention. This acts as a tool that smaller businesses could use to find out what their target audience should be and which age group they should focus on. This allows the viewer to be interactive with the website and will encourage people to visit their website as they can get something out of it.

This option is in an eye catching green which contrasts the green block next to it. This option allows people who visit the page to view what roles they could fulfil if they are interested in working for Bauer media. Again this allows the viewer to be interactive but also acts as a recruitment scheme as it will entice viewers who may not have gone on the website to apply for a job to have a look and see what they offer.

This section of the website links to twitter, one of their social media outlets, encouraging the viewer to visit the social media platforms they use. It also showcases how the business is modern and uses new technology to reach a wider audience, implying they are technology savvy and know how to adapt to stay in business.

At the top of the homepage there is a variety of tabs you can click on that link to different pages that contain different information about Bauer media and the brands that they own.  This is very useful for the viewers as it allows them to easily navigate themselves around the website and find what they are looking for. It also keeps the website very organised, simple and stops the page from being overcrowded.

Analysis of Audiences:

One of the tabs named “Audiences” link to a page all about the audience their brands cater to and the different types of audiences there are. At the top of the page there is a constantly moving image as there is on the homepage which keeps the viewer interested in the page as it is moving and encourages them to read what the new picture says as it grabs your attention when it moves. One of the images that is moving is of happy, smiling young people which depicts that Bauer as a whole are a happy, positive company who want to keep their audiences happy. The bright colours within the image are very colourful, vivid and contrast one another which is eye-catching.

The banner on this image says “Meet our millennials”. The language used here can be used to understand more about the company. “our” is very dominant and controlling, implying that Bauer controls the millennial age group and that they belong to them. By taking advantage of the term “millennials” it reinforces the idea that they are a modern company and know how to adapt to changes within language and behaviour for the better. Also, by using the word “meet” it suggests that the viewers of the website do not know much about millennials and that they need to know and understand this age group. By suggesting this it could also make the viewer question why Bauer think that millennials are so important, especially as they are such a large, influential media institution.

The other moving image is of a young, modern woman who looks happy and interested in her conversation. She is smiling and wearing a colourful shirt and the picture is overall very light, reinforcing the positive atmosphere of the page and keeping viewers interested because of the colourfulness. As the image is only of one young/middle aged woman who seems to be between the age of 20 & 30 it instantly makes the viewer think that this section of the page is going to be about this woman or women who are stereotypically like her. The banner on this image says “Game changers”. Looking at the words individually, “game” has little meaning as it is assumed that the game they are talking about is referring to media and how it is created and perceived, however “changers” suggests that they are changing the way that things are done and are making a difference within the media industry. When put together with the image the viewer will automatically undertake the idea that the stereotypes of these kinds of women are changing media and influencing it in a positive way.

Below these sections is a column of different news stories related to audiences, named “Latest case studies” This suggests that Bauer are constantly studying their audiences to learn more about them and be able to adapt to their consumers’ needs and wants. This portrays them as an active business who are eager to stay on top of changing fashions and style of media that audiences are interested in.

At the bottom of the audiences’ page is a section labelled “Audience Figures”. Without reading this the viewer will be able to interpret that if Bauer are willing to post their audience figures & statistics and create smaller pages about them that they are proud of them, implying that they are in fact a very successful business.

Analysis of Brands:

Within the tab labelled “brands” is another page dedicated to the brands that they own and have created. Again, at the top of the page is a constantly moving image which keeps the viewer interested in the page whilst making the page more interactive.

The images that move across the top of the brand page are very different in genre, colours and overall atmosphere, showing that Bauer caters to a wide range of audiences. One of the images is of two young women posing for the camera, implying that Bauer is an influential company in fashion and beauty and can provide for that type of audience. Another image is very different to this as it shows a guitarist mid-way through playing his guitar on a stage, assumable at a concert of a rock/metal genre. These images depict very different genres of brands but promotes Bauer as it expresses how it is involved within many genres of people and caters to their individual expectations.


Stuart Halls theory about representation can be applied here through how Bauer media are representing themselves as a modern, happy company who work hard to please their many different types of audiences. For example, the use of bright and colourful images with smiling people represents Bauer as a positive company. The bold language used, such as "The UK's most influential media brand network" represents them as a confident and competitive company with a fierce attitude towards their work.

References: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/about/our-company