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.
The pandemic has forced many publishers, large and small, to re-evaluate their business models and find new ways of making money. Carolyn Morgan looks at what we can learn from the activities of six publishers.
We’ve all spent plenty of time inside our houses over the past year, so perhaps it’s time to look again at the ‘interiors’. There’s plenty of help on the newsstand, as Alan Geere finds out.
Newsstand, an online magazine retailer, has rolled out a turn-key solution to dissipate publisher’s VAT headaches and ensure compliance.
Hearst has unveiled research that measured individual interactions with its content (across digital, social and print) and how it affected respondent’s positivity levels.
Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design has announced the launch of its Advisory Council, consisting of renowned industry leaders.
With the end of pandemic restrictions in sight, if slightly delayed, what’s the outlook for our printed magazines? We grab (slightly over) five minutes with Matt Carry, sales director at Acorn Web Offset, to find out.
The ‘Instant Genius’ podcast will feature experts in bite-sized masterclasses on a new subject each week.
The Ozone Project has announced HELLO! as the latest publisher to join its alliance, bolstering the platform’s coverage of celebrity, culture and lifestyle content.
WoodWing, a global provider of content management solutions and services, has reached an agreement with Expansion for it to join the WoodWing Group.
Forbes has introduced Forbes Demand Engine, its first lead-generation subscription service that utilizes Forbes content to deliver what it describes as “guaranteed marketing leads” to its partners.
Condé Nast has announced Vanity Fair's first ever European collaboration involving Italy, France and Spain.
Individual and institutional digital subscriptions to the complete archive of The Jewish Quarterly are now available following the publication’s relaunch in 2021.
New Scientist has launched a new photography competition – the New Scientist Photography Awards 2021.
A debate on childcare funding and affordability is to go ahead in Parliament after 100,000 people sign Grazia, The Juggle and Pregnant Then Screwed petition.
The Association of Online Publishers has announced the shortlist for the 2021 Digital Publishing Awards – a celebration of best practice in innovative, creative, and profitable digital publishing.
