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.
Having published The Co-operative Magazine for The Southern Co-operative for the past two years, and more recently, internal magazine Scoop, River have now been contracted to publish the business’ 2011 annual review.
Yo! Sushi has been named the UK's best high-street restaurant according to influential food magazine, olive.
Print & Procurement, the print sector training and consultancy company, has announced the launch of a new blog and newsletter, aimed at the print buying community.
For the 7th year running, Gold Key Media has distributed select publications to delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
NME celebrates this year’s NME Godlike Genius award winner, Dave Grohl, with a special one-shot magazine dedicated to the former Nirvana drummer and current frontman of the multi-platinum-selling rock band, Foo Fighters.
Sports and technology came together in Paris last week as leading publishers and sports editors gathered to discuss how their long-time expertise in providing independent and compelling sports news can be leveraged in the digital age.
Action Force, a new magazine for boys from LCD Publishing, goes on sale on 18th February, cover priced £3.50.
The British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) has announced that it is to launch the Excellence Awards in 2011, encompassing a range of 14 best performance in Industry Awards.
Informa Business Information’s (IBI) Senior Management Team are attempting to raise £250,000 for a variety of UK and International charities by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro next month.
Bauer Media has announced the appointment of Lucy Banks to the new role of Executive Creative Director.
When is a client day not a client day? When you hold it in the posh surrounding of the IoD and invite a top notch line up of speakers. James Evelegh went along on the 27th January to listen.
Trevor Fenwick, Managing Director of Euromonitor International, has been named as the 2011 recipient of the George Henderson Award, the most prestigious accolade in the UK data publishing sector.
An award-winning Anglia Ruskin University graduate is putting her Masters degree into practise by launching a new Cambridge publication, The International Student Times.
Archant Specialist has announced the purchase of Today’s Pilot from Key Publishing Ltd, which it plans to combine with its general aviation magazine Pilot.
Bauer Media has appointed Kirsten Price to the role of Publisher for Top Santé, Yours, Mother & Baby, Pregnancy & birth and askamum.
