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.
As part of the marketing campaign promoting the new Marie Claire, the glossy magazine has linked up with Pearl & Dean and Vue Cinemas to launch a series of monthly film preview screenings for its readers.
UPM and SGS have finalised a global landmark agreement in which the origin of all UPM pulp and paper products will be ensured with a single, global system.
On 11th September, a new alternate-monthly title, Princess and the Dolphin, from Prestige Publishing, hits the newstand.
On 9th September, a new weekly partwork hits the newsstand, entitled How Your Body Works.
PPA claims to have exceeded its recycling target rate set by Defra four years early, achieving a recycling rate of 72%.
A Malaysian media company has signed a multiplatform licence with Haymarket Media Group to publish football magazine FourFourTwo in Malaysia and Singapore, and to launch a magazine-format TV show based on the brand.
CDS Global has released the following analysis of the recent ABC results.
The Reader's Digest Association, Inc (RDA), the US-based corporate entity of the global multi-brand media and marketing company, has announced it has reached an agreement in principle with a majority of its senior lenders on the terms of a restructur
For the first time, data highlighting the value and trends of UK exported magazines has been released by PPA.
The awards celebrate the success of those retailers who have demonstrated excellence in developing the magazine category and driving sales over the past 12 months.
Charlotte Stockting, Publishing Director of HELLO! Magazine, has been elected as a Trustee by the PCC.
A four man team consisting of Matt Thomas, Kenny Wingrave, Matt Annetts and Malcolm Carter all ex-Wellprint staff have joined F1 Colour.
Ashford-based printer Headley Brothers has invested in a third Heidelberg Speedmaster SM102-10-P; what it claims is the number one 700 x 1,000mm perfecting press on the market.
Following the recent release of ABC figures for consumer magazines, the PPA has released the following analysis of the results.
The PPA Carbon Calculator won the Environmental Initiative Award at the recent Trade Association Forum’s awards ceremony.
