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.
The rapidly changing needs of the scientific community has led publishers, like IOPP, to rethink their product offering, with a greater emphasis on electronic access and the slicing and dicing of content. When IOPP found that their existing print ori
With more and more of us doing our grocery shopping in supermarkets, the chances are that you will be familiar with the free magazine racks. But what opportunities do these racks offer to publishers? James Evelegh looks at some of the marketing strat
They make retailers’ shelves creak under the strain. They clog up the supply chain. They fragment the market for publishers. They often confuse the consumer. Yet, says Jim Bilton, it is launches which drive the whole magazine market and which provide
Most UK publishers are aware, if only vaguely, of the opportunities for licensing their titles and content overseas. However, because our magazines are just so much better than everyone else’s, we have never stopped to consider the possible benefits
‘Let’s do some groups’ can be an understandable reaction when facing unknowns. But how do you ensure that they deliver the best possible return on your investment? Anthony Ray offers a few thoughts on constructing a checklist for future use.
Usually, the real story of the ABCs is not who has gone up and who has gone down, who has come in and who has bombed out – titillating though that may be. No, the really interesting stuff is to be found in the underlying trends thrown up by an intell
Gaining that all-important listing needs proper planning, close cooperation between publisher and their chosen distributor and an understanding of the retailer’s business objectives. And, says Borders’ senior magazine buyer, Maxine Lister, staying li
We love a crisis! Some in our industry seem to put more energy into moaning about the latest (or imminent) crisis than they do into solving it. At the start of a new year, Karlene Lukovitz breaks free from the prevailing negativism to sound a more up
The need to build distribution networks and work within local regulations can make export a hazardous business for publishers. The evolution of digital technologies (in the form of websites and digital editions) has provided publishers with new, less
Telling your potential customers who, what and where you are is as crucial for magazine publishers as it is for other FMCG manufacturers. That means advertising! MediaCom’s Nicola Morgan looks at above-the-line strategies for consumer magazine publis
Subscriptions and direct sales are becoming increasingly important to magazine publishers, so the way you manage your customer base is fast becoming a strategic choice rather than simply an administrative process. Gill Lambert examines the options.
The newsstand can be an unforgiving environment and is best approached with caution and only after careful planning. Leading gay magazine, Bent, got its fingers burned in 2005 when it tried to add a newsstand element to its established free distribut
It is often remarked that, for such a creative industry, it is surprising how badly publishers let themselves down at point of sale. Yet, says Colin Massie, taking steps to ensure your title is noticed at retail can make all the difference to the bot
Many publishers are engaged in ‘partnership marketing’ although most would not know it. Few companies, though, are pushing hard at the boundaries of partnership marketing, exploring all its possibilities. One that is is Dennis Publishing. According t
The retail landscape is changing for both multiples and indies. Publishers need to develop more sophisticated, segmented strategies based on an awareness of the needs of the individual retailer, the individual shopper and the magazine category as a w
