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 Out Philadelphia yesterday announced the launch of its first magazine. The quarterly free print magazine, out from August 23, will lead with a fun and visual by-locals for-locals guide to all the quirky things that make Philadelphia unique.
Shortlist Media yesterday announced the appointment of Georgina Holt to the newly created role of group publishing director across all brands, including ShortList, Stylist, Emerald Street and Mr Hyde.
Immediate Media Co has announced the launch of PJ Masks Magazine, following the adventures of Connor, Amaya and Greg and their alter egos, Catboy, Owlette and Gekko – a crime-fighting trio who “sometimes make mistakes, but always try to do what’s rig
Susan Duffin, managing director of subscriptions bureau ESco, answers our questions about her life in publishing.
Stylist, the weekly magazine for young women, on Friday announced two new appointments to the Stylist brand.
Perception SaS, a Sussex based company providing software and services covering content, audience and advertising to publishers, is now working with Automotive Media & Events.
woman&home, the lifestyle brand for 40-plus women, has announced Kath Brown as the new editor of the brand. Kath was previously the lifestyle director of Woman.
The ABC yesterday released the consumer magazine circulation results for the January – June 2017 period and publishers have responded with their interpretation of the figures.
Dennis, publisher of The Week, Auto Express, Viz and Cyclist has appointed James Elliott as the new editor of Octane.
Google and Facebook recently announced quarterly income totalling £27 billion and their dominance is highlighted by the fact they account for one in every three and a half minutes of the time Britons' spend online.
Global media enterprise MONOCLE embarks on its “latest adventure in ink and paper” today with the launch of a new printed newspaper. Published every Thursday throughout August, Monocle – The Summer Weekly will be on sale in holiday resorts, airports
Bringing digital and print together, Time Out London readers will have a chance to stream behind the scenes footage of the cast of new Netflix show 'Glow' straight from the magazine's cover.
As The Atlantic continues to expand internationally, Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg has announced the addition of three journalists to its global reporting team.
Following the successful launch of Hasbro’s story-driven lifestyle brand Hanazuki, Full of Treasures, comes the news of the world’s first magazine, to be published in the UK by specialist children’s publisher, Signature Publishing.
Condé Nast International Digital is rolling out further Vogue editions on Snapchat Discover, with British Vogue launching today following the debut of Vogue Paris last month.
