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.
How can publishers think more strategically about how and where they collaborate with other publishers – even their competitors? This was the top-line question for the final AOP CRUNCH event of the year, writes AOP MD Richard Reeves.
GumGum says its Mindset Index allows brands to identify the contextual categories securing the highest levels of attention to drive outcomes and stay in sync with customers’ mindsets.
Jo Wallace has joined Jellyfish as global executive creative director.
When selling through the newsstand, publishers must consider the needs and priorities of two distinct groups – the consumer and the retail buyer. Marketforce’s Rachel Bohanna has some advice on how to approach both…
At the recent PPA Independent Publisher Conference, Matt Kelly interviewed Katie Vanneck-Smith. James Evelegh was in the audience and came away with a 10-point plan.
Bauer Media has announced it is now using the Love Paper logo to highlight the sustainability of its printed magazines.
On Friday 24th November, the independent publishing community gathered in London for the annual Independent Publishing Awards.
Last week, agencies, clients and publishers gathered in London for the annual Magnetic Spotlight Awards, where the industry celebrated the most effective campaigns that have run in partnership with magazine brands.
Where you print your magazine, when you print it and what you print it on, are all fundamental choices publishers face. We ask Bishops Printers’ Michelle Pearce for her advice…
The combined marketing budgets of SMEs is considerable. The challenge for publishers is how to unlock it.
Poool & Mather Economics / Sophi.io say their partnership aims to maximize audience conversion to subscription & membership.
Social publisher LADbible Group launches its sixth website, UNILADtech.com, to become the home of technology content for the social generation.
How does your publishing business measure up on the key metrics? How does what you are doing compare to the rest of the industry? Are you an outlier or part of the mainstream? Jim Bilton’s new mediafuturesPULSE aims to find out…
Euros winner, Lioness Captain and children’s author, Leah Williamson has guest edited a special edition of Beano, commemorating the 70th anniversary of Minnie the Minx.
YouGov/Picnic UX survey shows 70% of people find digital adverts annoying - and that bad user experience is doing real damage to brands.
