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 typical premium longhaul passenger is highly engaged with current events and uses print media alongside other channels to stay informed at the airport and inflight. That’s the headline finding of a new study of media consumption among US travelle
Magnetic, the marketing agency for magazine media, has published a new study which was commissioned with Carat - Metrics That Matter. The research looks at the impact of the full range of magazine media assets across both print and digital, including
Hearst Magazines UK has made changes to its commercial team which are designed to drive growth in key areas of its business.
Time Inc. UK has announced plans to help grow its business in a changing market.
The Times has announced the return of LUXX, a luxury, glossy magazine with four editions a year, with Jeremy Langmead as its editor-in-chief.
Egmont Publishing, the specialist children’s publisher, announces the launch of Teletubbies magazine. The first issue is set to hit newsstands on 5th October.
The Sunday Times Style magazine will publish its biggest ever issue this Sunday, September 18th 2016, with 184 perfect-bound pages.
SEAT and Hearst Magazines International have partnered to create a special limited edition of the Mii, the carmaker’s urban utility vehicle.
YUDU has announced the launch of a new feature: PhoneView, to help publishers better engage with audiences on smartphones devices, particularly in the magazine space.
Glamour has announced the launch of ‘Glamour Presents: Hey It’s OK’, a podcast series created in collaboration with podcasting platform Acast.
Hearst Magazines UK, the publisher of Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, ELLE and Harper’s Bazaar, has appointed Clare Gorman to the new role of Chief Operations Director.
New “Quick Predict” delivers the speed innovators need, without compromising quality, says Nielsen.
Bauer Media has announced that Grazia will host an exclusive programme of events live from a pop up office in partnership with Carnaby for London Fashion Week.
The British Society of Magazine Editors has announced the shortlists for its 2016 awards.
UPM Paper ENA has announced that it is simplifying its organisational structure.
