The M Word

What does the future of magazines look like?

It’s a loaded question and one I’m often asked. The answers vary. “Print is dead,” is the notion we’ve all heard, though there seem to be fewer supporting this claim today. The other end of the spectrum brings to mind the golden era of magazine glamour, with limitless expense accounts, martini lunches and celebrity editors with extravagant tastes. The politician’s answer would be to say that the future lies somewhere in the middle... But I believe the answer can be pinned down. An interesting place to start is by looking at the past.

The history of the M word

Like many other media platforms, magazines have flexed and changed through time - and continue to do. Originally, the word “magazine” referred to a storehouse where grain and other goods were kept. That soon narrowed to refer to a place where ammunition was held. In terms of media, it was first used to describe books – a storehouse of knowledge. It was only in the 19th century, when along came the spanking new idea of publishing content on a regular and repeated pulse, that it took on its more modern definition: “a printed periodical publication containing varied articles and illustrations, often on a specific subject or aimed at a specific readership”. Many of the elements of that definition still hold true: a pulse rate, variety and range, dynamism, targeting and what we now call “curation” to create a rich storehouse of content, crafted to be relevant to a defined audience.

The appropriation of the magazine format

Other media so liked this idea that they pinched it. Starting in the 1960s, newspapers launched supplements and their own magazines. At the same time, the “magazine format” exploded in TV and Radio. What was meant by this was a show that dug behind the straight reporting of news to provide analysis, comment and entertainment in a variety of formats, pacing and tones-of-voice, but all built around a core theme or interest.

Now all of this sounds a bit cold and academic. What is missing from any simple definition of a magazine so far is its energising, emotional magic: the passion of the content creators which makes them want to share that passion with a tribe of equally passionate readers. 

What’s driving the magazine industry?

An analysis of magazine launches, made by Wessenden Marketing, shows that 113 new magazines hit the UK newsstands during 2020. Admittedly, that number is well down on 2019 by almost 60%, but is still remarkable, given the extraordinarily difficult conditions. The magazine business is under pressure, but it is still active, creative and incredibly resilient. 

The 113 new launches range from Vape Retailer and Outrageous Bride, to the launch with the biggest story behind it, Cocoa Girl. This magazine written by children, for children, was drawn up on the kitchen table during home-schooling. Four months later it became a national magazine and is currently on sale in High Street retailers. It is all a fine example of passion publishing. And of the magazine storehouse filled with variety, responsible curation, quality and trust.

A key conclusion of the analysis is that magazine launches continue to get smaller as the publishing business model shifts from ownership models to access models. As Robbie Kellman Baxter puts it, this is a trend that has been set by the tech giants.

Defining the magazine magic

As magazine brands spread across more platforms, from video and audio channels through to social media and in-app experiences, they become more difficult to describe in terms of the old definitions. Add in the fact that the smarter magazines are turning into purchasing machines through ecommerce, and the question of how to define what a magazine actually is becomes more complex…..but perhaps irrelevant.

The fact is that we all instinctively know what the characteristics and qualities of a “magazine” are. A raft of research from Magnetic shows that the core “magazine experience” still exists, whatever the platform. That experience involves…..

• High levels of attention and engagement. Magazine readers do not multi-task when they are immersed in their reading. Time and time again, they speak of “quality time”, “me time”, “time well spent”, “losing yourself” in an act of focused, exclusive attention.
• An emotional relationship rather than a cold activity or process.
• All this translates into a simple, but deep trust in the content

 Spreading the magazine magic

Magazines also have a powerful halo effect: what is often called the “magazine multiplier”.

• Brands see a sales boost in the ads contained within magazines, especially those positioned close to relevant editorial.
• Retailers see bigger basket sizes among shoppers who are buying magazines at the same time in-store.
• Partners see increased engagement and customer retention where magazines are part of their loyalty scheme.

The magic of magazines is powerful and translates into hard cash.

Delivering the magazine magic

Yet all this puts tremendous pressure on publishers themselves to think and act more radically. That means a number of things. It means that they need to build new skills and processes into the organisation. It means shaping a business that can operate at much higher speeds: testing, learning, tweaking, failing, bouncing back, improving. And at such a velocity that the old silos and hierarchies are simply blown away.

Yet is also means a major change in the publisher mindset. “Owning the consumer” is becoming an outmoded term. The modern consumer refuses to be owned by anyone and wants to be more in control of their time and money than ever before. Also, no single company, not even Amazon, can completely dominate a consumer - there are simply too many options and choices and competition for complete ownership. Instead, collaboration between brands – and sometimes between natural competitors – is increasing in order to hold bundles of services together that mould around what a consumer actually wants at different stages of their lives.   

So, what does the magazine future look like?

Magazines are here to stay. Storytelling and a thirst for knowledge are fundamental parts of human nature. Magazines are – and will always be – the ultimate storehouse of knowledge, insight, relaxation, companionship and inspiration. They are expanding beyond their traditional “print periodical” confines into something bigger and more powerful and more digital. Readers want to read, watch and listen to content in a range of formats, dependent upon the time, place and mood – and publishers are catering to this. Even so, I’m certain that the print product will persist because people have a much deeper connection with something that is tangible. 

Yet the growing challenge is surfacing magazines in an increasingly competitive media marketplace. This becoming more difficult, especially as the traditional “discovery channel” of impulse purchasing – the retail newsstand – is becoming smaller, narrower and more expensive.

Discovery is what the digital newsstand – and Readly in particular - is all about: committed to bringing the magic of magazines into the future in our own magazine storehouse.