Consumer magazines spent most of the past two decades managing decline. The more confident publishers have stopped doing that. Newsstand sales and print advertising are still shrinking, but well-made titles with loyal readers are raising cover prices and growing.
Scale matters less than it did. Bauer has made Grazia a more premium product and charged more for it, while independents such as Anthem have put print back at the centre of the business and grown their export sales. Stylist has changed format several times without losing its readers. Others have gone the other way, and Gay Times dropped print entirely to build a global audience online.
For most consumer publishers, print is our USP. It’s the anchor that makes advertisers trust us and the very thing that readers want from us.
Jon Bickley Our print strategy: Anthem
Behind the confidence sits some hard arithmetic. Newstrade is now a small share of revenue and events and ecommerce are growing from a low base. Trust has become a selling point as AI fills the web with content of uncertain origin, but the paid-for consumer model that works at scale is still being worked out.
Below you'll find some of our best feature articles on consumer magazines, from premium print and cover pricing to brand extensions, membership and the future of specialist titles, alongside our latest news and industry commentary.
For a while now, magazine publishers have been on the defensive, unsure about the viability of their traditional business model in a fast-changing world. Katie Vanneck-Smith wants to change all that.
We asked Tamar Riley, portfolio managing director at Immediate, what does best practice publishing look like in consumer media? This is what she said…
For premium titles like Grazia, Mojo and Empire, growth is increasingly coming not from extending reach but from deepening engagement with existing passionate audiences, as Lauren Holleyoake tells Ciar Byrne.
The printed magazine will be a cherished part of people’s lives for years to come, says Jon Bickley, co-founder and CEO. That is why it’s the key component in Anthem’s publishing strategy.
With the arrival of AI and the widespread availability of unattributable content, specialist publishers need to ensure that their titles are the trusted go-to brands in their sectors, Our Media’s Andy Marshall tells Ciar Byrne.
Stylist’s mission has been clear from day one: to engage with its female audience in an intelligent, positive and non-exploitative way. 16 years on, and current PPA Media Brand of the Year, they are staying true to those values, says Lisa Smosarski.
Gay Times was stuck in a rut, tied to its traditional publishing model and reaching only a small part of the LGBTQ+ community. Under the editorship of Lewis Corner, that began to change, as he explains to Ciar Byrne.
Whatever the rest of 2024 holds, two things are certain. Firstly, the bumpy economic ride will continue. Secondly, the need for media companies to have a broad base of revenue streams has never been more important or more challenging to achieve.
How do you create a specialist consumer media business that is fit for the future? What steps do you need to take to be resilient and flexible as audiences and technology evolve? Carolyn Morgan researched 20 innovators from across Europe to find out.
For many publishers, circulation is all about chasing volume, but they would be much better off chasing profitability, says Natalie Smith, client relationship manager at Warners.
Readly has entered into an agreement to acquire 97.3% of the issued shares in Toutabo SA, a leading subscription provider in France and owner of the digital subscription provider ePresse.
Future plc has published an update on its full-year performance and announced that Rachel Addison is to stand down as CFO.
Hearst UK has announced the appointment of Joanne O’Hara as Head of Homes in the commercial Client team.
Trust is a huge issue in digital advertising. Are the ads being seen by real people or bots? Justin Wenczka, CRO at Verasity, says that using blockchain technology is the way to deliver trustworthy figures.
Is it possible to give readers too much choice? Do they always know exactly what content would interest them?
The New Statesman recently undertook a root and branch redesign of its print and digital outputs. Tom Young, head of digital, tells Meg Carter about the title’s ambitions.
As things slowly get back to normal, publishers are expecting strong performances from their media sales teams. Martin Maynard has some advice for salespeople returning to the fray…
Digital ad spend saw huge year-on-year growth in the first half of 2021, according to IAB UK’s H1 Adspend update, released this week.
IP protection company White Bullet and ad tech platform Smart AdServer have announced a global partnership designed to help eradicate the scourge of piracy from the global media landscape.
'Imagine a World Without Trusted Media', a short film from the World Media Group, launches this week to promote the essential roles filled by trusted media brands during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Inskin Media, which specialises in multi-screen, high impact digital brand advertising, has made a number of key appointments across its client success and publisher services teams.
Condé Nast has named Vanessa Kingori MBE as the Chief Business Officer, Condé Nast Britain and Vogue European Business Advisor.
London-based based fashion and culture magazine Replica Man, part of the Re-Edition magazine team, has launched on the Exact Editions platform with Issue 9 Summer/Autumn 2021.
On Saturday, the Guardian unveiled the first issue of its new, super-sized magazine, Saturday.
Steve Hadfield joins the marketing agency from MediaCom, bringing additional traditional media experience to leverage and optimise tmwi’s datatech solutions.
