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.
For the second time in four weeks, Newsquest Specialist Media has launched a new magazine. The first issue of Fighting Fit, a bi-monthly consumer title, launches on Friday, 17th April.
The number of TMT (Technology, Media & Telecoms) businesses who feel they have access to funding for their business to operate effectively has more than halved year-on-year, according to new research from accountants and business advisers BDO Stoy Ha
Triangle Management Services, the organisers of the World Mail Awards have announced the shortlisted entries for the 10th World Mail Awards.
Following trials in 2008, IKEA have decided to move the IKEA Family Live magazine distribution to 100% direct mail. The magazine, published by August Media, will change distribution as of the Autumn 2009 issue.
New media partnership will help kids explore the natural world near them Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) has joined forces with National Geographic Kids magazine to help children understand more about their local environments.
In partnership with the international cross-industry PrintCity Alliance, the UK Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) has produced an interactive and visually enhanced printed programme for the 37th FIPP World Magazine Congress.
Gill Hudson has been announced as the new editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest magazine in the UK.
Livingetc, the modern homes magazine, is launching Livingetc Paint for Modern Living – a stylish new range of paints created by the team behind the magazine and developed with leading paint retailer B&Q and specialist manufacturer Craig & Rose.
Edda Media, part of Norway’s Mecom Group, has decided to replace its existing web content management solution with Polopoly, to manage their existing web presence which consists of more than 40 sites, over 70 million page views per month.
IPC Southbank has appointed Lewis Tucker as the new advertising director of fashion and style title InStyle.
The new look Full House relaunches on 23 April.
One of the country’s top selling women’s monthly magazines is celebrating the success of its business model after reaching a significant milestone in its donations to charity.
Look – the fashion weekly – this week unveils a major new national TV advertising £2.5 million campaign with five different creative executions all under the strap line ‘That’s My Look’.
There is a customer service time-bomb ticking away under the magazine industry. These are some of the key conclusions from a major magazine customer care survey.
The highly anticipated launch of WIRED magazine is supported by the marketing industry’s new kid on the block, CURB.
