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.
IPSO has announced the appointments of Charlotte Dewar as Chief Executive and Lara Fielden, Eddie Gray, Brendan McGinty, Charles Garside as members of its lay-majority Board.
Cafeyn, a European information streaming service, has acquired Blendle, a leading Dutch news platform.
New analysis released this week by the World Media Group confirms that advertising campaigns viewed within a trusted editorial environment yield significantly better results.
Expert Reviews has launched the Remote Working Awards, which aim to help people find the best home-working setup.
Digital Spy, Hearst’s TV and movies website has announced the launch of its first digital magazine, which will be exclusively available to Apple News+ subscribers.
Style magazine has launched an essay competition with The Black Writers’ Guild for aspiring Black fashion and beauty journalists.
Intermedia Brand Marketing, a supplier of circulation marketing and distribution services, has announced a new group structure.
No-one really knows how the business landscape will look in the coming months and years, but, writes Paul Driscoll, publishing director at Media Systems, it’s safe to say it won’t be the same as before the pandemic.
This summer, 110% Gaming magazine is teaming up with a number of industry leaders to run a summer campaign to empower young gamers.
Following on from helping ‘Stylist’ react to the Coronavirus pandemic, Canvasflow has recently turned its attention to ‘Balance’ the monthly wellness publication.
Dreams, a specialist bed retailer and House Beautiful, Hearst’s home interiors magazine, have launched an exclusive new collection of bedroom furniture in a new brand licensing partnership deal.
Aceville has launched ‘Create Cook Do’, an online platform designed to deliver free at-home entertainment at the touch of a button.
Following on from the success of its first partnership, Grazia has teamed up with monthly beauty box subscription brand Glossybox again to launch the ‘Best of Beauty Box’.
The Week Junior Science+Nature is encouraging children to discover the world around them in their Summer Scavenger Hunt.
ELLE UK has launched a joint initiative with The Social Mobility Commission to find the next generation of creative talent with its first ever mentoring scheme.
