A new golden age of print? Lessons from the independent magazine scene.
All the talk in the boardrooms of our leading magazine publishing houses recently has been about digital media. Print revenues are flat at best and the industry’s obsessively focused on the challenge of turning digital pennies into pounds. But elsewhere, the independent magazine scene is in robust health. There is talk of a new “Golden Age” of print led by titles like Little White Lies, Anorak, Fire and Knives and newcomers Offscreen and Hot Rum Cow.
These are interesting publications in their own right, but the story of growth in the independent magazine scene has lessons to teach more commercially driven publishers. This webinar will explore the techniques that the independents are exploiting to reinvent the print magazine as an “Object of Desire”, paid-for products built on passion with high production values using social media and ecommerce to build magazine brands that punch way above their weight.
This webinar will explore the independent magazine scene’s focus on:
- Value versus volume
- Charging £5, £10 and more for single copies
- Using digital platforms to drive print sales
- Extending brands beyond the printed page
- Exploiting content-led strategies to win sponsorship
This webinar was broadcast on 2.30 - 3.15pm (GMT), Tuesday 5 March 2013
Presenter: Peter Houston
Peter has worked in magazine publishing for over 25 years, first crossing the print-digital divide in 1993. Formerly Group Content Director at Advanstar Communications, he now works as an independent consultant and trainer helping publishers identify and dismantle the barriers between print and digital content. Peter writes the Flipping Pages blog, is a lead judge for the Digital Magazine Awards and speaks regularly at media and publishing conferences.
Moderator: James Evelegh
James has worked in magazine publishing since 1989, and has been the editor and publisher of InPublishing since it launched in 2003. He began his career with Trinity Publishing (now DMG) and was then group circulation manager at Centaur Communications from 1994 to 1996. From 1996 to 2003, he worked as a circulation consultant to a wide range of companies including Guardian Media Group, FT Business, Euromoney, WH Smith News and Wilmington.
