Ten years ago, I bought a magazine and read it and that contributed to its sales and measures used by marketers and agencies. Editorial and sales teams had one deadline to worry about before moving onto the next issue. It was clean and relatively simple. But now?
Rebecca Smeda: Business development director, John Brown SA
“I started in the media game before email. When magazine adverts and inserts were the holy grail of strategic placement, and in order to send out a proposal, it went by fax or post. The pace was moderate, readers were loyal, and when the day came to a close at 5pm, it was really over until the following day. Publishers owned the conversation with consumers putting editorial teams and magazine advertising in a very powerful position.”
Sally Emery: Editor of Good Housekeeping/Goeie Huishouding
“The change to the magazine landscape, not just in terms of circulation and advertising, but in terms of how we can interact with our audience has been dramatic. Fifteen years ago, as deputy editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, our focus was solely print. We had one opportunity to grab our reader – she needed to pick the magazine off the shelf, place it in her shopping basket, and then we had a limited window of time to engage with her – those hours when she sat with the magazine in her hand.”
Today I can connect with my favourite titles across multiple platforms from the printed version to their events, website, newsletter and social media. If I’m tight for cash my need to buy my fix becomes less urgent, as I can still get my favourite bits for free online. As a consumer, I have no idea what’s happening behind the scenes to make sure that what I’m expecting is actually fulfilled.
Sally Emery: Editor of Good Housekeeping/Goeie Huishouding
“As editor of Good Housekeeping and Goeie Huishouding – no longer simply a magazine, but a magazine media brand – I am given the opportunity to engage with my audience through a variety of platforms, 24/7, every day of the year by producing and sharing compelling content on a variety of platforms. She can wake up and like an inspiring quote on the Instagram feed. When she is having her early morning coffee she can share useful hair tips she read on our Facebook page with her friends. At lunch time, she can pop onto our website to find a great recipe to make for supper that evening. She checks in with us on Twitter, and clicks through to our website to enter an awesome competition. She signs herself and a group of friends up to a Good Housekeeping reader event. The Good Housekeeping weekly newsletter is waiting for her in her inbox every Thursday morning. In the evening, she heads to our Pinterest boards to pin inspiring ideas for her daughter’s birthday party…”
Debbie McIntyre: Caxton Head of Insights
“It is a worry that if our audience is getting the content they want for free online then why would they buy the printed version too? Our challenge is to keep putting quality but different content on the various platforms and encouraging the audience to engage with us everywhere when it suits them.”
Jason Brown: Head of digital, Rodale titles South Africa at Media24 Lifestyle
“What most publishers have realised is that the power of the brand counts to an extent, but focusing on the right platforms to deliver the most compelling content is what will define the future. In the beginning, we all tried everything but soon realised that you need to focus on a few channels and master them. We’ve seen success when we’ve invested in a regular schedule that suits our audience and consistently engages with them, challenges them and provides the information they’ve come to trust. Like most, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram form the basis of all the Rodale health brands social strategy. Video is a key focus and using the social channels to do what the magazine can’t, makes for a compelling package when a key partner wants to launch a new car or financial product or fragrance.”
Rebecca Smeda: Business development director, John Brown SA
“In order to appeal and engage with a much more sophisticated and savvy customer, brands had to adapt their tone of voice and move from a hard sell to true engagement. In other words, brands, could no longer dictate their chosen message, instead they had to craft it to suit the consumer. If engagement was to be effective, the consumer had to become the new star and brands had to move into a supporting role. The only way to do this was to provide personalised content – tell them what they want to know, in a time and on a channel, that suits them.”
Editorial teams need to be on 24/7 delivering content across numerous platforms and constantly updating that content. In South Africa, some publishers are doing this really well and others aren’t even out of the starting blocks yet.
Debbie McIntyre: Caxton’s Head of Insights
“We currently publish content for our magazine brands wherever our audience might be looking so that includes print, websites, social media, newsletters, forums and of course events/experiences have become an important way to engage with audiences. Video, too, has exploded as a style of content as well as things such as augmented reality that enables us to play in the traditionally TV arena. The use of technology like mobile vouchers enable us to specifically play in the drive-to-store function as well.”
Sally Emery: Editor of Good Housekeeping/Goeie Huishouding
“Providing your audience with content 24/7 requires a sound editorial strategy. This isn’t just about flooding your audience’s timeline with posts. Content needs to be on-brand, fresh and compelling. It must never disappoint, because the audience can discard you in an instant, simply by clicking an unfollow button. Once she has rewarded you with her attention, you need to respect that and consistently deliver on your brand promise.”
Rebecca Smeda: Business development director, John Brown SA
“So, what is the root of it all? The age-old impact of storytelling. Stories have a unique power, and at John Brown Media South Africa we’re pretty good at telling them. Shared in the right way, to the right people, stories can change attitudes and loyalties…powerful stuff when communicating brand ideals. It is not about whether it’s print or digital. That argument is tired and out of date. You need to look to the platform that most resonates with your audience and your client’s business imperatives, and then tell the brand’s story in the best way possible for that platform.”
Sales teams are now able to sell across all the touchpoints; however some still focus only on the printed edition as their revenue stream. Online and content collaborations are treated – or expect to be treated – as added value. In today’s media world, the publisher’s audiences and their content are their largest assets.
Debbie McIntyre: Caxton’s Head of Insights
“We believe that our trading currency has changed from selling ‘space’ to include brand association possibilities, content partnerships, audience insights, data, and events.”
Jason Brown: Head of digital, Rodale titles South Africa at Media24 Lifestyle
“The key is that concepts are editorially driven, resonate with the audience and work across multiple channels; each doing its job to drive the project forward, find the audience, deliver the message and ensure engagement. Smart publishers are realising that an integrated approach that drives real engagement is gold.”
Some marketers have realised the benefits of truly engaging with publisher’s audiences across platforms as well as the direct measures of success or failures that they can track.
Jason Brown: Head of Digital, Rodale titles South Africa at Media24 Lifestyle
“Men’s Health developed an idea called BeastMode that sought out amazing feats of fitness on Instagram and then got readers to vote on the most impressive moves. The magazine then got in touch with the winner and got inside advice on how to do it. We partnered with a tech brand to integrate their new technology, from phones to fitness watches to video cameras. Each platform, or channel, is playing its part to work to communicate a message and engage with readers in a way that both fulfils the brands goals and the advertiser’s objectives.”
Publishers are having to focus heavily on managing expenses – with total print revenue having declined year on year by 2% – newspapers have managed to hold their own whereas magazine revenue has declined by 12% – and digital and content revenue not nearly coming close to filling the gap yet. Monetising content and digital properties is exceptionally challenging – with publishers hard fought to convince the advertising industry that their digital audiences carry the same weight as the published print reader and that these audiences are significantly more engaged.
Sally Emery: Editor of Good Housekeeping/Goeie Huishouding
“What this means, in industry terms, is that despite declining magazine circulations, the audience that magazine brands now reach – if they do it right, as in the case of Good Housekeeping – has exploded way beyond the limited readership one can gain from a printed product. This, however, is not reflected in the revenue spent on brands digital platforms. Magazine media brands have the power to reach an engaged target audience, yet many advertisers still seem to feel reluctant to spend digitally. It seems many believe that because they have their own digital platforms there is no need to spend on another brands’ platform, but what they are missing is reaching a new audience that is highly engaged, and who is seeking out information in a trustworthy environment.”
Debbie McIntyre: Caxton Head of Insights
“The most frustrating comment for publishers at the moment is when agencies and clients say that ‘we are not spending in magazines as we have a directive to spend money digitally’. Our frustration is that we are playing in that space too and our titles’ online content still carries the weight that should be applied to be associated with a credible, trusted brand that has built its reputation on quality content and storytelling.”
Jason Brown: Head of Digital, Rodale titles South Africa at Media24 Lifestyle
“We are increasingly focusing on ways to monetise digital content beyond the obvious example of the paywall. We have launched a number of mobile content properties targeted at audiences looking for an accessible weight loss plan on the go. The plans include a complete 12-week workout and meal plan behind a pay wall. These digital-only properties allow us to find a new revenue model for content. The first plan, Men’s Health BELLY OFF, continues to sell well and inspired similar plans Lean Body Blitz from Women’s Health and Run It Off from Runner’s World which were launched at the start of summer 2016.”
Managing overheads in terms of print quantities and quality staff who need a diverse skill set as well as managing resources becomes significantly more onerous.
Jason Brown: Head of Digital, Rodale titles South Africa at Media24 Lifestyle
“We started with specialists but soon realised everyone needs to do everything. Of course, we have print editors and a digital team, but if we’re investing in a big summer fitness section, for example, it’s become an automatic response to ensure we have all bases covered and the entire team works to create and produce a cross-platform solution.”
Rebecca Smeda: Business Development Director, John Brown SA
“We structure our teams accordingly to client requirements, and have specialised departments to meet objectives in both print and digital. It all starts with an editor telling a brand story, and the process flows from there. Of course, within both print and digital, team members will alternately have some broad and some specialised talents, so it’s about finding the mix of team members who have deeper ‘vertical’ skills sets, underpinned by a broader ‘horizontal’ view across the work. For clients like Pick n Pay, we have specialised teams in both print and digital, but they fall under the Pick n Pay team structure – we don’t view these teams as distinct business units.”
Sally Emery: Editor Good Housekeeping/Goeie Huishouding
“To ensure quality content, every single member of the team produces daily online content. Print and digital are fully integrated within the magazine team; for me as editor, an online post needs to meet the same criteria as an article we would publish in the magazine. It needs to conform to our content pillars – and it needs to be useful to our audience, it needs to save her time, money and hassle.”
Sumien Brink: Editor-in-Chief: VISI
“We have seen success from having one team working across print, digital and social media, so that the platforms don’t become siloed or feel outsourced, which means that content delivery is cohesive. The other platforms serve to promote the print edition, and so work cohesively together to deliver VISI content where and when our audience requires it.”
The management of newsstand returns becomes a juggling act of too few copies available and ABCs are negatively affected vs too many copies available and returns sky rocket. No one will argue that there is a natural decline in circulations – it’s a worldwide phenomenon – however how much of the decline is also attributable to managing returns and printing fewer copies in order to reduce costs.
Debbie McIntyre: Caxton Head of Insights
“We just have to work harder at efficient publishing and distribution strategies. Data helps us manage this but I do agree we have to limit copies available in non-popular areas to contain costs. However, we run promotions etc. to encourage trial in relevant areas. We do want to keep our circulation numbers as high as possible. This is not a new balancing act though, it has always existed. I think the fact that we can be ‘always on’ with our audience helps us keep up to speed with their requirements and content needs and allows us to test, revise and analyse quickly.”
Rebecca Smeda: Business Development Director, John Brown SA
“Brands that have emerged parallel to their mother brands, and have shown rapid growth, and huge success – such as Fresh Living magazine for Pick n Pay, with a print run of 500 000, it is one of the most successful examples of branded journalism, taking South Africa by storm.”
Sumien Brink: Editor-in-Chief: VISI
“In an environment where print is haemorrhaging across the board, VISI has managed to grow its audiences by 243% over the last 2.5 years by diversifying its platforms. We have protected the print business by maintaining a stable circulation, which continues to yield significant ad revenues, while growing audiences and revenues through our other platforms. During this period a redesigned website (www.visi.co.za) and focused attention on social media has culminated in a 261% increase in unique browsers, and social media is now responsible for 36% of our online traffic.”
One thing is clear, South African publishers are nimble, innovative and understand the power of the content and audiences they own. The challenge is ensuring that the advertising industry is as up to speed as they are.
Rebecca Smeda: Business Development Director, John Brown SA
“There will always be a need for content. Smart content. Curated, considered content that brings together brand strategy, customer insight, engaging editorial content and platform preferences. For as long as there are conversations to be had content marketing will be around.”
Sumien Brink: Editor-in-Chief: VISI
“Our way of working now may be different to how it was before digital, but in our case it has unlocked a mass audience for a niche product.”
Sally Emery: Editor Good Housekeeping/Goeie Huishouding:
“The ability to continually interact with your audience is hugely rewarding as an editor. Thanks to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, not only do we get to talk to her – but more importantly she gets to talk back to us. The engagement level we have with our audience is remarkable – several times over the last two months our reach on our Afrikaans Facebook page alone has been over one million (off a base of 69,000 fans). That means that she loves the information we are giving her so much, that she feels compelled to share it with her friends.”
Jason Brown: Head of Digital, Rodale titles South Africa at Media24 Lifestyle
“If only I had 10 more people and 10 times the budget… magazine editors have been saying this forever. The reality is we’re having to do more, with less. Who isn’t? Thankfully we have the right structures and support and we’re trying to be as nimble as we can to adjust to the continually shifting realities of our market and our audience. I doubt anyone has it locked down. Change is the new constant and the most successful teams and brands will be those that can be proactive, creative and adaptive.”
Debbie McIntyre: Caxton Head of Insights
“We have been fast tracked into pitching mostly on campaign work across our platforms for our clients and this requires new skills from us including expertise in strategy and creative thinking as well as operationally handling trafficking, implementation, optimisation and post campaign reporting.”
