ABC's reveal Customer Publishing Industry remains buoyant
11 Feb 2010
Category: News
Source: APA
Customer publishing has once again shown itself to be the most robust of marketing tools and indeed magazine genre. The latest ABC results have shown customer magazines taking the top seven consecutive positions by circulation, the best result that we have ever seen, and the medium still represents a third of the magazines in the top 100.
These latest results are a true representation of the buoyancy of this medium. Brands are continuing to invest in editorialised branded content as it delivers valuable engagement which in turn bolsters loyalty and boosts sales.
The lifeblood of marketing, measurement, really comes to the fore when you look at these figures. It is vital that we continue to prove the effectiveness of the customer magazine medium as a highly targeted tool. It is the value of communicating through editorialised branded content that spurs the consistent year-on-year growth that is shown in these results and has brought about further new launches this year such as Odeon which has debuted at 80 in the top 100. It is this success, in communicating more deeply with consumers, especially in these tougher economic times, which makes editorialised content a crucial part of the advertising mix. Moreover, the fact that many customer titles are sent directly to consumers means that the medium is one of the most accountable and targeted as the demographics of individual readers are captured meaning advertisers know exactly who they are reaching.
These latest figures would also appear to put paid to the long-debated issues of the death of print and that free media is undervalued by readers. The rise of titles such as Shortlist, and the launch of sister magazine Stylist show that consumers actively engage with such titles, although the high profile closure of free media such as London Lite and theLondonpaper show that the commercial business model needs scrutiny. Customer titles on the other hand are incredibly successful because their primary objective is tied into marketing. It is clear that consumers enjoy the experience of reading a physical title and make no distinction if they paid for it or not.
The rise of digital has certainly had an impact on the acceptance of free media. Consumers have an increasing appetite for information and reward those that provide it. As a result we are increasingly seeing brands blur the lines between traditional customer publishing and new media - for example by offering a printed title alongside an e-zine, ecommerce driven branded content site, podcasts, video and social media platforms. Now, publishers in all disciplines must recognise the power of the ability to offer cross-media content and it will be interesting to see how newsstand titles will work to monetise this.
Without a doubt recent months have been tough for the media industry as a whole and whilst they will certainly continue to be so for sometime, the consistent circulations of customer publications proves that marketers are aware of the positive impact that editorialised branded content strategies have on their business. In general I believe the next six months should be a more positive time for our media and I look forward to seeing the industry continue to develop and grow in its sophistication of delivering quality cross media content.
Julia Hutchison, COO, APA
The facts:
- Percentage increase in circulation for customer magazines in top 100: 6% since 2008
- Customer magazines now account for 54% of the total circulation of the top 100 magazines by circulation
- Sense magazine has seen the biggest increase in circulation in the past year with a rise of 11.6%
- New magazine Odeon has seen a rise of 2.8% in the last six months
By sector, there are also some impressive statistics:
- Women's Interest: Cookery and Kitchen
- Dominated by customer magazines with Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrison's taking the top four spots
- Overall, customer magazines make up 50% of this category's entries
- Women's Interest: Fashion
- Asos.com comes an impressive second in this category, just behind Glamour and ahead of Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and newly launched Stylist
- Customer magazines also come top in the Holiday and Travel (BA High Life) and Business and Finance (Sense)
- Saga magazine is the highest customer magazine in the actively purchased category, coming in 5th in this ranking
