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.
With a rising tide of online disinformation, trivia and trolling, the dedicated email newsletter is being seen in a new light. The key to formulating the right newsletter strategy is to focus on quality and relevance (and not forgetting, metrics).
Regional magazines celebrating people and places around the UK are big business for publishers large and small. Alan Geere tours the newsstands for local flavour.
Managing a subscription file effectively and profitably demands great data insights. Abi Spooner tells us which data she finds most helpful and how she goes about harnessing it.
October saw the launch of Buro 24/7, a newcomer to the UK market with big aspirations. They are offering something different to the established players, CEO Nick Smith tells Ciar Byrne when they met up before the launch.
With digital upheaval, the publishing industry is smaller than it once was, but is still “massive”. Furthermore, writes Jim Bilton, there are pockets of growth.
Cafeyn recently announced the addition of two new publishers to its platform, Anthem Publishing and Select Publishing.
Two thirds of people in the UK believe their trust is being compromised with fake news and that it is here to stay, with exposure to ‘fake news’ set to increase over the next year, according to new research from Readly.
The Week Junior is inviting children to design the front cover for its festive issue, which will be delivered to over 70,000 subscribers.
Digital publishing revenues declined to £113.1m in Q2 2019, a 3.7% fall in comparison to Q2 2018, according to the latest Digital Publishers Revenue Index (DPRI).
Condé Nast is announcing its global pledge to act and inspire climate action.
The winners of the 2019 BSME Awards were announced this week, at The Sheraton Grand London Park Lane Hotel.
Anthem Publishing released a new magazine special this week, focusing on the work, music, and personality of pop star Harry Styles.
At our recent webinar on editorial productivity, NFU’s Paul Bradley explained how changes they had made to their work processes had had a transformative effect on the team.
In a world where people are drowning in content, much of it of dubious quality, digital editions from credible publishers can cut-through the noise. We grab five minutes with BlueToad’s Paul DeHart to talk about the latest trends in digital editions.
IAB Europe this week announced the public launch of its Consent Management Platform (CMP) Validator Tool and the results of its first round of tests for registered CMPs on its Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF).
