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.
River has announced that Mary Frances, editor of Weight Watchers magazine, has been promoted to Editorial Director for the group in recognition of her work both in the success of the UK edition and the development of the 7 new international editions
Future Publishing has strengthened its Sports portfolio with the creation of a dedicated bike and product testing team, servicing Future’s Cycling and Triathlon brands with best-in-class expert technical reviews.
Top Gear has teamed up with Aurasma to create what it claims is the world’s first fully-augmented print magazine.
Following a successful trial fusion of UKOM online audience data with their own readership data, the NRS and its stakeholders (the IPA, NPA and PPA) today agreed the launch of NRS PADD (Print And Digital Data), its new database combining print and on
N-Photo, the only magazine dedicated to Nikon photography, is on sale now in both print and digital editions.
It’s time for all budding authors of Britain to put pen to paper as Good Housekeeping, in association with Orion Books, launches the magazine’s first-ever novel competition.
DC Thomson’s Animal Planet was named Magazine of the Year at the 2011 Scottish Magazine Awards.
The importance of working on your relationships was one of the main themes at last week’s PPA Customer Direct conference, held at The Brewery, in London. And, writes James Evelegh, the FT’s Mary Beth Christie had an interesting way of illustrating th
Bloomberg Businessweek has announced an outdoor brand advertising campaign to promote the distinct personality of the magazine and highlight its unique approach to global business coverage.
Award-winning content marketing agency Seven has announced the appointment of Brand Republic Group Publishing Director Rachael Stilwell to head up its B2B division.
Top CBeebies programme Octonauts launched as a magazine yesterday.
Vogue magazine will be launched in the Netherlands in 2012, it was announced yesterday by Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman of Condé Nast International.
Three years to the day since launching, and for the third year running Lonely Planet Magazine has won ‘consumer travel publication of the year’ in the Travel Press Awards.
Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman and Chief Executive of Condé Nast International, has announced that Nicholas Coleridge will become President of the company at the beginning of 2012.
The internationally-recognised award, which has so far only been achieved by about five per cent of UK businesses, follows an independent assessment of the company's quality management systems.
