Publishers told to engage young readers
Mad.co.uk, 06.03.2008
Magazine publishers must engage with younger audiences early on if they are to survive in the highly competitive magazine market place was among the messages emanated from today's (6 March) MediaTel seminar.
However, a panel of four discussed that magazine publishers face increasing difficulty in engaging future audiences as the teen market suffers a steady decline and new launches become few and far between.
Opening the Future of Consumer Magazines seminar, MediaTel managing director Derek Jones said the success of the market lies in innovation in the market and new launches.
There were 18 new launches in 2007 according to PPA figures, including ShortList and IPC's Look magazine, down from 1998's figure of 88.
David Evans, business director at MediaTel, said that despite the market seeing 97 closures last year, the magazine market is bigger than it ever has been, rising from 2,749 titles in 1998 to 3,445 in 2007.
Evans said that the sheer volume of the market means that publishers need to do more to get their brands noticed by not just retaining loyal readers but recruiting a new generation of readers.
The problems identified with this, according to ShortList chief executive Mike Soutar, is that the younger generation at the moment like to consume media for free and they have come to expect free content through online extensions.
Digital magazines can offer bespoke content from the best of print magazine to online and broadcast. Also, many magazine titles such as Nuts, Glamour and FHM now offer mobile content, which is vital in order to keep up with the growing trend of consumers and they consume media.
However, Duncan Edwards, chief executive of National Magazine Company, said that despite a slight down-turn in actively purchased magazines by 1.1 per cent, the print magazine industry still generate huge profits.
Edwards said: "Publishers will always be looking at revenue growth and we're confident about the magazine business delivering. Yesterday’s buyout of ACP-NatMags is a sign of that confidence we have in the industry to develop huge profits."
Caroline McDevitt, managing director of IPC Advertising, said: "We're a profitable industry and the future of consumer magazines is evolution, rather than revolution. Our assets lie in the content we provide and following the consumer and what the consumer wants."
