Mobile navigation

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

impact.com names Kim Walsh as Chief Growth Officer
News

impact.com names Kim Walsh as Chief Growth Officer

impact.com, a partnership management platform, has announced that HubSpot veteran Kim Walsh has joined the company as Chief Growth Officer.

09/11/2021

Dailymotion and Quintype partner to empower Publishers
News

Dailymotion and Quintype partner to empower Publishers

This partnership will help publishers search and embed video assets from Dailymotion’s catalogue of more than 2,000 content partners through Quintype’s Bold CMS.

08/11/2021

Amazon wants us to cut down on talking to Alexa
News

Amazon wants us to cut down on talking to Alexa

Alexa SVP Tom Taylor told a conference Amazon wants users to spend less time talking to the voice assistant, saying that the future of consumer technology is ambient intelligence.

05/11/2021

YouTube hires first podcast executive
News

YouTube hires first podcast executive

YouTube has hired its first podcast executive, long-time YouTube staffer Kai Chuk, after a month-long search.

02/11/2021

UK ad spend to exceed £29bn this year
News

UK ad spend to exceed £29bn this year

The latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report forecasts UK ad spend will grow by 24.8% this year to reach a total of £29.3bn.

28/10/2021

Adnami strengthend its London team
News

Adnami strengthend its London team

Tech company Adnami has announced two new hires to join its London team: Alex Barstow as Publisher Sales Director, UK, and Tom Carr as Agency Sales Director.

21/10/2021

Azerion acquires Inskin Media
News

Azerion acquires Inskin Media

Azerion, a digital entertainment and media platform, has announced the acquisition of multi-screen, high-impact digital advertising company, Inskin Media.

21/10/2021

If only we’d spoken to you earlier…
SUPPLIER PROFILE – THE APP LAB

If only we’d spoken to you earlier…

This is the pained reaction Craig Llewelyn-Williams, founder and principal consultant at The App Lab, often gets from publishers after they’ve called in his team to help steer their new product through to launch.

By James Evelegh  |  20/10/2021

Beyond redemption?
COLUMN

Beyond redemption?

With the Online Safety Bill currently winding its way through parliament, the big question is, can the platforms police themselves effectively, or is legislation needed? Dickon Ross assesses the social media landscape.

By Dickon Ross  |  20/10/2021

How publishers can build a digital membership proposition
FEATURE

How publishers can build a digital membership proposition

More and more publishers are going down the membership route, because it offers recurring revenues, brings them closer to their readers & helps future-proof their businesses. Carolyn Morgan has advice for publishers thinking of going down this path.

By Carolyn Morgan  |  20/10/2021

Micropress Launches Online Customer DashBoard for All Customers
News

Micropress Launches Online Customer DashBoard for All Customers

Micropress rolled out a new customer dashboard to all customers last month after the self-developed system had been in beta with a handful of customers for several months.

13/10/2021

Brand Metrics hires Taylor Sturtevant as it focuses on growth in the US
News

Brand Metrics hires Taylor Sturtevant as it focuses on growth in the US

Brand Metrics, a company specialising in the measurement of digital advertising, has appointed Taylor Sturtevant to head up its US Customer Success team.

12/10/2021

Micropress upgrades saddle stitcher
News

Micropress upgrades saddle stitcher

Micropress has upgraded its in-house saddle stitching capabilities with a high-spec Primera MC line from Muller Martini.

11/10/2021

First-party data: 5 minutes with… Philip McMullan
Q&A

First-party data: 5 minutes with… Philip McMullan

First-party data will be one of the main talking points at next week’s AOP Publishing Tech Talk event. Ahead of that, Philip McMullan, Head of Insight and Data at The Evening Standard, answers our questions about the cookieless future…

By Philip McMullan  |  07/10/2021

Why blockchain is the future of ad tech
FEATURE

Why blockchain is the future of ad tech

Trust is a huge issue in digital advertising. Are the ads being seen by real people or bots? Justin Wenczka, CRO at Verasity, says that using blockchain technology is the way to deliver trustworthy figures.

By Justin Wenczka  |  30/09/2021

814 articles