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.
Melinda Stevens, Editor in Chief of Condé Nast Traveller UK and Conde Nast Traveler US, has announced the appointment of Juliet Kinsman as Sustainability Editor, Conde Nast Traveller UK.
A new online magazine, heyday, which celebrates an “older, bolder and wiser” generation launches on June 17th.
Time Out London partners with Uber Eats as part of Time Out’s Love Local campaign.
To coincide with the nationwide reopening of garden centres, Grow Your Own, Aceville’s fruit and veg magazine, has launched a virtual gardening event.
MediaFund has announced the completion of the sale of Heavy Horse World to Oaklands Equestrian.
Culture Trip and Lonely Planet have announced Travel Reborn, a strategic partnership that will see the two travel media brands stand together to try and define the future of travel.
Collingwood Advisory has made three senior appointments, strengthening its team of entrepreneurs and strategic advisers.
MPP Global is partnering with Accedo to provide its subscriber management and billing platform to enterprise media organisations looking to take advantage of the new Accedo One platform.
Condé Nast Britain has released its first insight report from its newly revamped research department.
This week, Bloomberg Media launched Bloomberg Green magazine, a quarterly collection of premier climate journalism.
Waterways World, a canal magazine, has bolstered its digital presence with a revamped website.
Zephr and Central Media Group have announced their partnership to enable the media business to deliver personalized customer experiences and content recommendation to its customers.
The world of miniature wargaming has gone digital with a brand new archive of Miniature Wargames created in collaboration with archiving company Exact Editions.
Collingwood Advisory has completed a survey of Founders and CEOs of independent media businesses to understand their challenges and priorities through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The July issue of Vogue features a special project to raise money and support for two good causes: NHS Charities Together and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
