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Thesis:
Performance VW is a niche magazine targeted specifically towards Volkswagen and Audi enthusiasts. Colorful layouts called "spreads" are done of owners and their vehicles. This type of article will usually consist of several photos of the person's car and a detailed interview.
Five Facts:
1.) PVW now has accepted the ways of media convergence and expanded its reach to the iPhone, iTouch, and iPad.
2.) This magazine is owned by Unity Media plc, a publisher of premium-quality magazines in the business-to-business and specialist consumer motoring market.
3.) Performance VW has been at the forefront of modified Volkswagens for over a decade now and has been instrumental in shaping the scene into the most innovative of its kind.
4.) Currently, PVW has just issued its 169th copy of the magazine.
5.) Since its migration to the digital world, Performance VW has made of it its issues and subscriptions available on its website.
Triune Brain:
Limbic- The magazine is full of vibrant colorful pictures that display the sleek lines of vehicles and give them a slightly aggressive or passive look depending on what the photo shopped effect on the image is. This panders heavily to the limbic brain because seeing the way these cars are portrayed sort of assigns a specific "attitude" or emotional transfer that occurs in each image.
Neo-cortex- Each spread is accompanied by text, more specifically an interview, which PVW does on the owner of the car being shot. This obviously evokes the neo-cortex because the person holding the magazine will most likely read the articles accompanied by the photos.
Eight Trends:
Technological Shift- PVW has gone digital and made available every single issue of the magazine ever released available to whoever wants it on their website. Also, every picture taken for the magazine is available in an archive on the website so any picture you would want to look up from a previous issue is still accessible.
Epistemological Shift- This magazine certainly takes advantage of the old adage, "a picture is worth a thousand words" and proves that through dramatic shots, and stunning visuals an image can truly be more powerful than the written word.
Seven Principles:
Ownership- the Unity Media publishing company owns this magazine, which is a large firm that owns and controls multiple magazines targeted towards specific niche automotive groups. The company is based out of England.
Individual Meaning- This magazine is particularly important to me because it represents a personal hobby of mine that I take a lot of joy in. I have been a Volkswagen enthusiast for several years and I own a 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit. I usually attend a few car shows a year and bring my car to shows to compete. My car has placed in competition each time I have shown it, and at the end of last year I was debating being a judge for last September's H2O car show in Ocean City, Maryland.
29 Persuasive Techniques:
Plain Folks- Everyone that the magazine has done an article on has been an enthusiast picked from the Volkswagen scene for their notoriety amongst their peers. In other words, PVW scours car shows and get-togethers for unique and originals cars that they happen upon. This means, if your car is nice enough you could be in the next issue of PVW too.
Group Dynamics- PVW encourages its readers to be part of the Volkswagen "scene" and attend events like car shows, get-togethers, and meet and greets. The encouraged interaction between hobbyists proves that Performance Volkswagen uses the group dynamic persuasive technique.
