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.
GQ.co.uk has launched GQ Video while the website itself has been reimagined, developed from a mobile first strategy through to desktop, resulting in a seamless user experience across all devices, says Conde Nast.
Rhapsody has further expanded its data services capabilities with the appointment of Tony Williams, an experienced data professional, as Business Development Manager.
At the GSM Mobile World Congress today, Adobe announces the launch of Adobe Experience Manager Mobile which will simplify the process of building and managing visually appealing enterprise applications that are as easy to use as consumer apps, says t
Part of the Mirror Collection, Our Queen at 90, a 92 page birthday tribute to the Queen, goes on sale on 24 March, priced £5.99.
Condé Nast Traveller, the luxury travel publication, has partnered with global travel search engine Skyscanner to launch a new flight search tool on cntraveller.com, it was announced yesterday.
Stig Abell has been appointed as Editor/Publisher of the Times Literary Supplement, the weekly literary journal published by News UK, replacing Sir Peter Stothard who is stepping down as Editor after 14 years.
Archant Bride has announced the appointment of Sarah George as Digital Editor of the Bride portfolio.
Bauer Media has partnered with AEG Europe, owners of The O2 in London and one of the leading global sports and entertainment companies, to launch Empire Live.
Described by Hachette as “the new ultimate graphic novel collection”, part 1 of this new Marvel partwork goes on sale 17th February at a launch issue price of £1.99.
A new global partnership involving ad technology company InSkin Media and analytics firm Moat aims to address the issue of measuring viewability for non-standard ad formats such as skins and wallpapers.
The Sunday Times Magazine relaunches this weekend in its most substantial refresh in decades.
The ABC yesterday released the consumer magazine circulation results for the July - December 2015 period and publishers have responded with their interpretation of the figures.
BBC Music Magazine is the first classical music brand to become an Apple Music curator.
Vikki Theo has been appointed Associate Publisher of GQ, Condé Nast’s men’s monthly, it was announced yesterday.
This Friday, 12 February 2016, ES Magazine hits the capital, showcasing a confident new design, new contributing editors and an exclusive cover headline interview with Sir Elton John, shot by Juergen Teller.
