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.
United Business Media has announced that it has acquired the Shanghai International Children-Baby-Maternity Products Expo (CBME) and related businesses on behalf of its UBM Asia division for up to $16.1m.
FHM Stand-Up Hero, a nationwide search to find Britain's best undiscovered stand-up comedian, is a joint production between Steve Coogan and Henry Normal's BabyCow and Signal TV.
D and G Media, specialists in experiential and monitored free distribution at cruise terminals, have organised a tailored campaign at Eurotunnel’s Pet Lounge.
D and G Media, specialists in experiential and monitored free distribution at cruise terminals, are rolling out a long-term campaign for Archant Life to increase awareness of their Life titles including Hampshire Life, Surrey Life and Kent Life.
Maney Publishing has announced a new publishing arrangement with the Botanical Society of the British Isles to relaunch its journal Watsonia as the New Journal of Botany in 2011.
Sunday has been selected to publish the international membership magazine for The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), following a competitive pitch process.
The Printing Charity (also known as the Printers’ Charitable Corporation) announces its 183rd annual luncheon will take place on Thursday, 4 November, in the historic Stationers’ Hall, Ave Maria Lane, London.
A special edition, celebrating 30 years of i-D magazine, the Pre-Fall issue will be a collaboration between i-D and world-renowned photographer and long-standing contributor Nick Knight.
Food and Travel magazine has appointed Alex Mead as Editor.
Marketers expect overall marketing budgets to increase in the last six months of this year, according to Royal Mail’s second marketing tracking poll in association with The Marketing Society, carried out among the UK’s top marketing directors.
Informa has published the interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2010.
FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) and Syco Entertainment, have announced the launch of the new X Factor brand magazine.
Writing in the 25th July edition of The Big Issue, John Bird set out to address concerns and counter objections relating to the soon-to-launch national vendor uniform.
Future, the special-interest media group, has announced that Giles Coren, respected writer and broadcaster, is to write a column for T3 – its lifestyle technology magazine.
It's summer holiday time for the InPublishing news desk.
