Harpers Bazaar analysis

At the top of the website there is a large, moving image banner that contains the magazine masthead. By using a colourful and moving image it engages the audience immediately and draws all of their attention to the website. The moving image itself of models wearing fashionable clothing and having fun promotes the brand and everything that they have to offer as well as portraying the brand as fun and care-free rather than serious like some other fashion magazines. The masthead itself is in a serif, white font which makes it stand out against the colourful moving image as it is much simpler.

Below the banner there is a navigation bar across the page, allowing the audience to use the page with ease and target what they are looking for on the website. It allows the brand to advertise the other aspects of their content rather than just fashion, for example. The first option on the navigation bar is for “fashion” clearly suggesting that this is the most important aspect of the brand and is what they are focused on rather than beauty or news. The following options are “beauty” and “celebrity” which are topics that women stereotypically find interesting, depicting them as a more traditionally feminine brand rather than a magazine targeting a more modern audience that rebel against traditional representations. However, beauty and celebrity are still very relevant topics for women whether that are traditional or not, suggesting they know how to target their audience effectively. The next option is a very interactive and modern option, “shopBAZAAR”. This is a page where Harpers Bazaar editors sell a variety of products such as clothing and jewellery, using their brand name. This combines newer technology through online shopping and targeting their audience correctly as more and more people are using online shopping rather than going out to real shops to buy products. The last option revolves purely around marriage and planning your wedding day. This clearly depicts how the brand think that women should prioritise their wedding day over many other things and how the brand follows stereotypical expectation for women to obsess over their wedding day.

At the end of the navigation bar there is an option for the audience to subscribe to the magazine and follow the brand on other social media websites. This displays how they are fully committed to targeting a young and modern audience who will use social media sites on a regular basis. It also encourages the audience to be interactive with the brand on more than just their website, increasing the likeliness of them contributing money/time towards the brand overall. There is also a small image of the earth, implying that they are a brand with international resonance.

Underneath the navigation bar is a selection of articles for the audience to choose from to read/look at. The first article, “#TheLIST best dressed” is clearly all about clothes and what famous people have been seen wearing/fashionable clothing overall. This again highlights that fashion is at the core of their content despite also advertising the other aspects of the brand. It also states that it from “August 17, 2018”, implying that these “lists” are posted regularly so the audience can keep up to date with fashionable clothing and changing trends. This again follows their seemingly traditional and stereotypical representation of what women are interested in.

The second article is also purely about fashion, “The best animal prints to shop for fall”, however this one is purely about fashion rather than celebrities as well. This makes it more relevant to their audience as they can relate to and copy the advice/fashion tips given, such as wear they can buy fashionable animal prints, rather than trying to copy a celebrities fashion that would not suit their lifestyle.

The third article relates to news and celebrities, “Aretha Franklins iconic life in photos”. This provides a more factual article for the audience to read however it is still based upon a celebrity, implying that is what their audience is concerned about. As Aretha Franklin was a woman of colour, however, it suggests that they are very multicultural and open to portraying women from a variety of backgrounds rather than just middle-upper class white women. This depicts that their target audience are also a very diverse range of people.

The fourth article follows the more serious and factual theme set by the previous one, with “Signs for hope”. The title itself does not give away much about the article however with the image above it containing models promoting “equality” it explicitly shows that it could relate to politics and the way different people are treated, whether that relate to gender, age, race or religion. This represents a more modern woman as more and more women are becoming socially aware and trying to make changes for equality for women. This would link to a theorist such as Bell Hooks who also promotes quality for women, especially those of colour. The last story links news and celebrities once more, “Ariana Grande pays tribute to Aretha Franklin”. This would engage the audience fully as it relates to a legendary music icon as well as a modern musician.

All of these articles have clear titles in a black sans serif font and are numbered, implying they are ordered in term of the brands priority of what they want the audience to read. However, the title is rather small for all of the articles in comparison to the images paired with them; this portrays that the brand thinks their audience will pay more attention to images than text. Having these articles at the top of the page makes it more convenient for the audience to find what they could be looking for.

Below the list of articles is a large image of heeled shoes. At first, it seems as though the topic of this article is again fashion, however the title “when feminism is white supremacy in heels” clearly shows that the article is about hard news such as white supremacy and feminism, however they have used heels to make the headline more interesting and controversial. This completely contrasts the earlier theme of stereotypical interests for women being what this brand focuses on, as this is a very political and socially aware topic to write an article about. It also represents Harpers Bazaars target audience as politically/socially involved as they “respond to the concerns of their readers”, linking it to Curran and Seatons theory. As this is also a controversial topic to address, especially on a fashion website that has a diverse audience, it also portrays the brand as daring and confident, yet willing to address what readers are really concerned about. Furthermore, as the writer of the article is a female it suggests the brand wants to empower women and allow them to convey their opinions and beliefs through the articles they write. It also suggests that they think that by having female writers work on their articles they believe it will help them to target their own audience more effectively.