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 a continuing mission to create new digital offerings and introduce customer-focused, market-driven capabilities across its worldwide product portfolio, Atex has announced the formation of a new Global Product Management and Marketing team.
COMAG has announced that Trials and Motocross News (T+MX NEWS) and Dirt Bike Rider (DBR) will be distributed by them from this summer.
The Home Tour is back! Country Life has unveiled The Grand Tour of Britain 2009 issue, which it claims is the ultimate cultural guide to the best Britain has to offer, as selected by leading cultural figures and experts.
IPC Ignite has announced key changes to its team, intended to strengthen and realign the publishing responsibilities across the men's lifestyle and music portfolio.
Sittingbournemessenger.co.uk has been created to serve residents of Sittingbourne and surrounding areas as a complement to the local paid-for newspaper edition of the same name.
Third Sector, Haymarket’s magazine for the voluntary and not-for-profit sector has relaunched with a brighter, more readable design and a new range of content following reader feedback.
Parents and children now have the chance to further their enjoyment of Waybuloo, the new pre-school series on CBeebies, with the launch of Waybuloo Magazine, the pre-school title that aims to help develop children’s social and emotional learning.
The Yorkshire Evening Post is currently rolling out a series of hyperlocal websites around Leeds.
A new report from the World Association of Newspapers’ Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project, “Winning Mobile Strategies”, examines strategies for mobile development world-wide.
www.magazinemarketplace.com, the dedicated website for attendees of FIPP’s annual magazine licensing, joint venture and syndication event, Worldwide Magazine Marketplace (WMM), has been launched.
Future plc has published its Interim Report for the half-year ended 31st March 2009.
F1 Colour have won the pre-press contract on Slimming World magazine, and have just produced the July issue.
Naughty Brits is, according to the publisher, an exciting, colourful new adult magazine dedicated to the best of British.
The ABC has relaunched its website. All ABC members, subscribers and eAlerts users will need to re-register in order to gain full access to areas of the new site.
Wallpaper*, the international design, fashion and lifestyle magazine, is dedicating its July issue to sex and art and will mark the special edition with an exhibition.
