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.
Time Inc UK announced today a raft of new initiatives from its music brand NME, as it focuses investment on further expanding NME’s digital audience. As part of this new strategy, this week’s edition of the print magazine will be the last.
Rhapsody, the media production agency, has announced the appointment of Lloyd Hayzer who has joined the company from Williams Lea Tag in the role of Account Director EMEA.
YouTube has achieved certification for brand safety by JICWEBS - the independent UK body that sets best practice and standards for trusted online ad trading.
Hearst UK yesterday announced a new partnership and distribution deal with Liz Earle Wellbeing, the quarterly wellness magazine founded by Liz Earle MBE.
Big & Little Crochet, a new partwork from Hachette goes on sale Wednesday 7 March. The target market is women, 35+.
The Times this week announced that Kate Reardon, former editor of Tatler, has been appointed editor-in-chief of LUXX, The Times’s glossy magazine.
Publisher Yvonne Bauer is completing the restructuring process of the Executive Board of the Bauer Media Group by taking on Veit Dengler.
Selligent Marketing Cloud, a B2C marketing automation platform, has announced Auto Trader as a client.
The Midland News Association is launching a new weekly digest magazine for Shropshire called Shropshire Weekly.
Shortlist Media yesterday announced the appointment of Sam Bird to the newly created role of executive director, Family - its creative studio.
The new-look Glamour site relaunched yesterday, aiming to be, say the publishers, the ultimate online beauty destination for UK consumers and advertisers.
Paul Deighton will become the next chairman of The Economist Group. He will take up the position in July 2018, succeeding Rupert Pennant-Rea who is standing down after nine years in the role.
Vogue will be launched in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, it was announced yesterday by Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman and Chief Executive of Condé Nast International.
James Evelegh's editorial from this week's edition of InPubWeekly.
PCS, the publishing software developer, has announced a number of changes to its board of directors.
