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 Guards Magazine, the official journal of the Household Division, has digitised its complete 150-year history with the help of the British Library and in collaboration with Exact Editions.
Tom Bureau, CEO of Immediate Media Co, has been confirmed as the new Chairman of the Professional Publishers Association (PPA).
Dennis Publishing’s MoneyWeek has relaunched its website on a new platform, with a mobile first design.
Dennis Publishing has launched Nowse, which it describes as a “next level Demand Generation service”.
In early January, the shortlist was announced for the inaugural Publisher Podcast Awards.
At November’s PPA Independent Publisher Conference, Laura Jenner, product director at Immediate Media, advocated a product management approach to publishing.
How are other media businesses innovating successfully, and what can you learn from their experiences? Carolyn Morgan, conference chair of the upcoming Making Publishing Pay conference, has nine inspirational stories to tell.
On Monday, Hearst UK brought its inaugural Positivity Pop Up to several media agencies, including OMD, MediaCom and Dentsu Aegis, to help combat the ‘January blues’.
Condé Nast this week announced the appointment of Sanjay Bhakta as chief product and technology officer (CPTO).
i-D and Rihanna this week announced the launch of a special limited edition magazine - a co-collaboration titled, ‘Rihannazine’.
Dennis Publishing has announced that it will be launching The Week Junior, its weekly news magazine for children, in America.
Mash Media has announced the speaker line-up for Making Publishing Pay, a 2-day conference for independent and specialist media businesses, taking place 25/26 February in London.
Condé Nast has announced the launch of Vogue Singapore, the 27th edition of the global media brand.
At the Campaign Publishing Summit, we heard that nine million people in the UK listen to podcasts and that the ad market is an estimated £30m. Now is a good moment for publishers to up their game…
Time Out Group has announced that Sumindi Peiris has joined the company as Chief Marketing Officer.
