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.
Waitrose can not boast the market share of a Tesco or an Asda, but does boast a clearly defined customer base and steady growth. If your title fits the store’s brand, then Waitrose represents an exciting channel for you. Andrea Kirkby looks at the br
Circulation is the unforgiving and relentless Catch 22 of independent publishing. But, with perseverance and a little bit of luck, reaching a credible, newsstand circulation figure is not impossible for independent magazines writes Charles Baker, pub
Asia is a fast growing market and large international publishers want a slice of the action. Paul Woodward looks at partnership, merger and acquisition strategies for business development in the region.
The rate of technological change is putting considerable pressure on publishers to have a clear vision of the future and their place within it. This is easier said than done. Ross Sturley took soundings from fellow B2B publishers to see if there was
Over the course of three years, William Reed Publishing has developed, with software consultancy Kay Media Technologies, a shiny new CRM system - CRISP. They have high hopes for the new system, expecting it to both open up new revenue opportunities a
On 26 September 2006, the PPA held its MagSell conference and awards at the Natural History Museum in London. James Evelegh went along to listen to the presentations, which included one by Pick Me Up editor June Smith-Sheppard.
On 3rd October 2006, Broadsystem hosted a seminar entitled: Turning the subscription model on its head – from revenue drain to relationship gain. James Evelegh went along to listen. Here are ten themes that stood out.
There is no rest for the wicked. Or for DM practitioners. Just when you think you’ve cracked it, fatigue kicks in, response starts to wane and you’re off looking for the next killer creative. This is particularly the case in the US, where subs is the
From a common method of sabotaging in-house writers to a powerful tool for turning features into benefits, Andy Maslen explores fifteen ideas that could put the sparkle back into your copy.
The customer rules! Now, more than ever before. What they want, how they want it, when they want it are issues every publisher is grappling with. This is putting pressure on circulation and marketing teams to manage the customer relationship more eff
Tesco is the dominant player in UK retailing. Last year, it became the first UK retailer to announce annual profits in excess of £2bn. Over the last decade it has steadily increased its market share across most categories – including magazines. Is Te
In the latest installment on the US consumer magazine saga, Karlene Lukovitz reports that it’s now clear that, once pushed into a corner, publishers are choosing to stand and fight with media buyers about the value of nonpaid circulation. The pain is
With over 16 million Brits heading to Spain each year, and lots of them looking for something to read on the beach, the country is a potentially lucrative market for UK publishers. Yet 2006 has been a difficult year. Marketforce’s Scott Goward and Cl
As long as covermounts continue to deliver sales boosts, there is little likelihood that publishers will stop using them, however much they might want to. Jim Bilton assesses the whys and wherefores of covermounting.
MediaCom’s Lucy Brunning assesses the latest ABCs and sees a buoyant magazine market. True, for many established titles, circulations have declined, but new titles continue to make waves. Furthermore, tighter, more defined readerships are, says Lucy,
