Magazine categories have always been interesting to me, because they speak to the current Zeitgeist. Some of these categories may contribute quite small dollar numbers in the grand scheme of magazine sales, but they do tell a story of what we are currently thinking, doing, and feeling. This categorization, be it surprising or confirming of what you think, is at minimum, interesting.
Magazine Media Is Trusted
The pendulum is swinging again, with trust of content becoming more important again to readers. Did you know, The Economist is getting ready to celebrate its 175th birthday this year? Now, this is a magazine that people trust.
Reinventing Our Magazine Marketing Approach
IAG group member and President of Magazines and Books at Retail, (MBR), Jerry Lynch just published an article: First Priorities: Reinventing Our Marketing Approach. It’s a call for channel members to work together to collaborate like never before! He writes: ” It will require collaborating like never before to drive an innovative, coherent marketing initiative that aligns with, supports and leverages the “360 degree” and “consumer-first” paradigms now driving the media and retail businesses.”
It will require that publishing and distribution players cooperate and work actively with retailers to introduce fresh, effective strategies for harnessing the unique content and audience strengths of magazines and books. By that, I mean harnessing these in all of the ways and all of the channels that both retailers and publishers now use to engage with and market to consumers.
Members of Magazines & Books at Retail — active national distributor, publisher, wholesaler and retailer executives alike — have made a start. They’ve spent significant amounts of time working together to identify opportunities to test new insights, opportunities and approaches at retail. Now we need to marshal the troops and get them into the field.
These pros see the opportunities, as well as the challenges. They know that 80% of all commodities sales still occur in bricks-and-mortar stores, and that magazines and books are still read by 90% of the population.”
Jerry suggests we leverage everything. Yes, the industry has challenges, and yes, it also has opportunities. If we tap into the potential, we realize that the category can bring excitement to a retail store and the shoppers that shop them. Click here to read this engaging article.
A Story Behind the Cover
Often we see the magazine covers in stores, but we really don’t think that much about them, what goes into the making of a good cover or how a magazine decides upon a particular cover.
New York Times magazine has an interesting new project. In their new video series, “Behind the Cover”, they are documenting the creation of the cover images. For the whole story, click here and for the story behind the April 29th cover, click here.
Canada and English Language Magazines, Really Eh?
Geographically, Canada has a larger land mass than the United States, however the reverse is true in terms of population density. Canada hosts 10% of the entire North American population, with 36.4 million people country-wide, but produces 12.8% of the English language sales on the newsstand! This becomes even more impressive when you add in the fact that French is the mother-tongue of about 22.3% of the Canadian population or about 7 million Canadians. The majority of the French language population reside in the province of Quebec and of that 7 million, 4.5 million only speak French and as such are not consumers of English language magazines!
Learn About Magazine Resilience at MagNet. Canada’s Magazine Conference is Coming Up Quickly
MagNet 2018 will take place Wednesday, April 25 and Thursday, April 26th in Toronto.
Canada’s Magazine Conference, MagNet, is North America’s largest gathering of magazine media stakeholders. Of special interest this year is a session moderated by our very own, Craig Sweetman. Recent research from BrandSpark International turns the page on assumptions about magazines at retail. The BrandSpark research findings, Magazine Resilience: Who’s Buying at Retail? reveals how retailers and publishers can leverage magazines to enhance the overall shopping experience.
Other sessions of interest Wednesday, April 25
Global Intensives – The Economist: Doubling Down on Circulation to Grow Audience and Profits
How Canadian Marketers Can Leverage Data for Greater Profitability
Thursday, April 26
Global Intensives – Magazine Media: Better. Believe It.
Check out the MagNet 2018 information in greater detail by clicking here.
Magazine Advertising Effectiveness Versus Perception
Advertising in magazines has long been known to get results for advertisers. Magazine readers like seeing ads in magazines and retain that information more than with other advertising. The curated content in magazines attracts readers and the ads that accompany that content are relevant to the readers.
So then, what is going on with advertising today, in this ‘digital world’. Has it changed, or has the perception just changed?
Latest Market Share for English Language Publications by Province….Some Interesting Facts
Did you ever wonder what the market share was for English language publications was per province versus the percentage of English language as 1st language speakers there were in Canada?
Well we have the answer for you in the chart below?
The highlighted provinces/territories outperform in terms of market share of copies sold versus provincial/territorial population versus overall Canadian population.
Also very interesting is the number of copies sold per person per year on average is highest in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. We would hazard a guess that this has a lot to do with limited activities available.
Source: CTC Boxscore
3 Lessons Retail Can Learn from the Publishing Industry
When I first read this title in a recent article published by Independent Retailer, I thought, publishing has seen much turmoil in the last few years, what lessons could it be teaching retail?… Well, retail is also in turmoil. In fact many businesses, think tourist and taxi industry, are being disrupted today. Change is everywhere. Read more
Magazine Media Better. Believe It. Campaign
Have you ever clicked on ‘click-bait’? Ever read fake news, without realizing it? (Although, how would you know, really?) Ever shared fake news and then got called out on it? Embarrassing, right? Read more