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Customer & Contract Publishing

Customer publishing is the part of the industry most readers never think of as publishing. Membership magazines, airline and supermarket titles and the content agencies behind them reach millions of people, often with circulations that consumer titles would envy.

The purpose is different too. A membership magazine is usually there to keep members renewing, and a brand title has to show a return for the client paying for it. That creates a running question about independence, and the strongest titles tend to have an editorial identity of their own rather than sounding like the organisation behind them.

If there’s something customers don’t need more of today, it’s content.

Jackie Scully Customer media

The agencies have changed shape around this. They produce fewer print editions and more digital content, and put far more effort into distribution and income generation, while publishers' own branded content studios compete for the same budgets. Print still matters, though. Members continue to rank the magazine among the benefits they value most.

Below you'll find some of our best feature articles on customer and contract publishing, from membership magazines and in-flight titles to content agencies and branded content studios, alongside our latest news and industry commentary.


Essential Resources

Customer media
Best Practice in Publishing

Customer media

We asked Jackie Scully, managing director at Think, what does best practice publishing look like in customer media? This is what she said…

People, passions and places
INTERVIEW

People, passions and places

The National Trust is a treasure trove of historic and beautiful places, and, unsurprisingly, it has a huge membership. One of the benefits of membership is its highly regarded magazine…

The River Group
PUBLISHER PROFILE

The River Group

Content marketing is all the rage, and companies like River, that have been doing it for over twenty years, are highly expert at it. River CEO Nicola Murphy tells Jo Bowman that while quality content is the bedrock of the company, it’s the marketing

Membership publishers wrestle with content conundrum
RESEARCH

Membership publishers wrestle with content conundrum

Content has become mission-critical for many membership organisations. But, Mike Sewell asks, should this valuable asset be regarded as an exclusive member benefit, or used as a marketing tool?

Join the club
FEATURE

Join the club

Lots of publishers are now offering club style membership schemes, looking to generate extra revenue and deeper engagement. Dickon Ross looks at the membership model.

Customer media
The Digital Transformation Journey

Customer media

Ann Hartland, group business and strategy director, Cedar Communications, tells Ciar Byrne about how the customer media sector is managing the digital transformation journey.

Opportunities & Threats: Customer Media
FEATURE

Opportunities & Threats: Customer Media

What does the future hold for customer media? CPL One’s Sarah Simpson, looks ahead.

AOP CRUNCH: Driving growth through branded content
REVIEW

AOP CRUNCH: Driving growth through branded content

Spring hasn’t sprung until CRUNCH takes place, writes Richard Reeves, MD of the Association of Online Publishers, which recently held its first CRUNCH event of the year. The mood was suitably optimistic for a change of season.


All Articles

Readly launches in France
News

Readly launches in France

Readly, a digital magazine and newspaper subscription app, debuts its offering in France this week.

23/11/2022

Havas implements attention data into planning tools on a global scale
News

Havas implements attention data into planning tools on a global scale

Havas has announced the expansion of Converged, with two bespoke tools that harness the power of attention to deliver meaningful media experiences.

18/11/2022

NMA welcomes chancellor’s DMU announcement
News

NMA welcomes chancellor’s DMU announcement

The News Media Association has welcomed the chancellor’s commitment to bring forward DMU legislation.

18/11/2022

PPA condemns Royal Mail plans
News

PPA condemns Royal Mail plans

The Professional Publishers Association is calling on government to refuse Royal Mail’s plans to stop Saturday letter deliveries.

18/11/2022

Lumen Research and Avocet combine forces
News

Lumen Research and Avocet combine forces

Lumen Research has announced that it is to merge with Avocet, the two combining to become Lumen, with FirstPartyCapital leading a £3M funding round to drive expansion.

16/11/2022

Contextual advertising: 5 minutes with… Pavlos Linos
Q&A

Contextual advertising: 5 minutes with… Pavlos Linos

As the digital advertising business scrambles to create new solutions that are a match for their outgoing cookie-driven equivalents, Exit Bee CEO Pavlos Linos talks contextual, mobile and finding the right micro-moment to start a conversation.

By Pavlos Linos  |  14/11/2022

GumGum to integrate advanced attention measurement across all contextual campaigns
News

GumGum to integrate advanced attention measurement across all contextual campaigns

GumGum has announced that advanced attention measurement and optimisation will be incorporated into all display creative campaigns running on the GumGum platform in 2023.

09/11/2022

IAB UK releases half yearly Digital Adspend update
News

IAB UK releases half yearly Digital Adspend update

The latest data shows that the digital ad market grew 15% in H1 2022 as rate of growth returns to pre-pandemic levels.

26/10/2022

IPA releases latest Bellwether Report
News

IPA releases latest Bellwether Report

The Q3 2022 IPA Bellwether Report reveals how cost-of-living crisis dents UK economy.

20/10/2022

The Queen’s death: report or ignore?
COLUMN

The Queen’s death: report or ignore?

The news media knew exactly what to do when the Queen died. They’d been planning for it for years. But what about specialist media, asks Dickon Ross. What position should they have taken?

By Dickon Ross  |  20/10/2022

PPA Independent Publisher Awards – shortlist announced
News

PPA Independent Publisher Awards – shortlist announced

The PPA has announced the shortlist for the 2022 Independent Publisher Awards, taking place on 25 November.

12/10/2022

Data clean rooms: 5 minutes with… Vlad Stesin
Q&A

Data clean rooms: 5 minutes with… Vlad Stesin

In a world of increasing privacy legislation and decreasing reliance on third-party cookies, DCRs are one way publishers can monetise their audience data. We grab five mins with Optable’s Vlad Stesin to ask him what advice he would give publishers.

By Vlad Stesin  |  10/10/2022

Air Business retains ISO 27001 certification
News

Air Business retains ISO 27001 certification

Air Business has announced that it has retained its ISO 27001 certification for information security management, which is accredited by BSI, the UK national standards agency.

04/10/2022

Micropress announces plans to extend its factory
News

Micropress announces plans to extend its factory

Micropress has announced plans to invest more than £1m extending its factory to ramp up its short-run digital offering.

04/10/2022

Metrics: 5 minutes with… Jo Holdaway
Q&A

Metrics: 5 minutes with… Jo Holdaway

What we measure and how we communicate the results to agencies and clients is critical to publishers’ commercial success. Jo Holdaway is chairing the ‘Metrics Tech Talk’, part of the upcoming AOP Publishing Tech Talk event. We grab 5 mins with her.

By Jo Holdaway  |  29/09/2022

814 articles