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.
If ALL your correspondence is electronic, then this article is not for you. But if, like many publishers, you still print and mail a proportion of your correspondence direct from the office, then read this very carefully – considerable savings could
Over the last eighteen months, writes Mark Edwards, two black-and-white creatures have emerged from Mountainview, California like a pair of movie monsters – and the effect on many websites was similar to that of Godzilla and King Kong rampaging throu
A busy year at Bloomberg Markets magazine is about to climax with the release of their first ‘Billionaires’ issue. James Evelegh met with publisher Michael Dukmejian and Director EMEA, Laurie Benson to find out more.
What are the best DM copywriting techniques, and how do they translate to the digital domain? asks copywriter, Andy Maslen. The answers may surprise you.
Ad ops are the unsung heroes of successful online ad campaigns. Yet, if online publishers are to grow ad revenue and market share, writes Tim Faircliff, then they are going to have to completely reassess their approach to ad ops and the people who wo
In these recessionary times, starting a new business takes nerve, focus and passion. And personal savings, for when the bank says ‘no’. Mark Hayes and Gillian Loughran ticked all these boxes and duly launched Autism Eye last year. Meg Carter talks to
Despite our truly abysmal summer, Gardeners’ World, which relaunched its magazine in March 2011, has continued to build momentum this year. Publishing director Dominic Murray tells us why the brand is thriving.
Following Britain’s brilliant hosting of the Summer Olympics, writes Karlene Lukovitz, what better topic to continue this survey of magazine brand extensions than games?
With a few notable exceptions, the recent ABC results made pretty gloomy reading. Yet, writes Jamie Higginson, there are reasons to be cheerful.
What will the consumer publishing company look like in ten years’ time? Will it be digital only? Will there be any place for print? Nial Ferguson dusts off his crystal ball.
Over the past fifteen years, the internet has turned the media world on its head and, with few exceptions, traditional media companies have been slow to adapt. Tim Brooks looks at why the industry has struggled to come to terms with digital technolog
David Hepworth's regular column, in the September / October 2012 issue of InPublishing magazine.
The challenge of getting web users to pay for content has kept many a publisher awake at night these past few years. Just what will people pay for online? Ryan O'Meara, watching a TV movie one night, has stumbled across the answer…
Digital media, cloud crunching, analytics and the ability to marry up different data sources are revolutionising how media owners can measure who is reading what content, when, where and how often. Carolyn Morgan looks at the growing importance of da
Rufus Olins, CEO of Newsworks, warmly welcomes next week’s launch of NRS PADD, which he describes as a giant leap for newsbrands. Combined readership figures have landed.
