Industry update

Talking trends - Bright outlook for global magazine marketplace

As the age of digital media makes its dramatic impact on both consumer and business-to-business communications, magazine publishers have been experiencing great anxiety over the future of the industry. However, experts are now forecasting a new era of prosperity, as this former trepidation is making way for bold moves, steady growth in advertising and a new found confidence in the market place.

Recent reports published by the International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP) reveal that new title launches have reached an all time high across Europe and North America, with a remarkable 75 new publications hitting shelves each month in North America alone.

The sustained success of a number of these new titles is testimony to the buoyancy of today's magazine industry. Great profitability can be generated if an opening in the market is identified at the right time, as North American retail magazine Lucky demonstrates. Initially launched in 2001 as a biennial, 'realistic and pragmatic' guide to women's shopping, the title is now circulated monthly with an annual turnover of US $100 million.

Womens' titles remain a hugely lucrative market for magazine publishers, but even this sector is not impervious to the challenges of instant digital media and the changing face of printed news.

The key to surviving in this competitive market, where tabloid newspapers expose celebrity scandals daily, and information can be sourced across the worldwide web, has been to increase the frequency of titles whilst reducing production costs. The weekly low-cost women's magazine market has been flourishing, with recent ABC figures in the UK reflecting a healthy growth of 3.1 percent year-on year.

Globalisation has also impacted upon the magazine industry, with partnerships being cemented between established local publishing houses to bring about a new trend for 'international licensing'.

UK publishing house EMAP's recent licensing contract with Italian publisher, Mondadori, confirms this approach for cross-border publications, which build upon existing international successes and tailors them to a country-specific audience.

EMAP has seized the opportunity to radically transform the market for women's glossies in the UK based on the existing success of the Italian title, Grazia, established in 1938. The Italian flagship title has already been acclaimed as one of Europe's leading fashion weeklies. EMAP has now successfully penetrated the UK market with this groundbreaking combination of high-quality glossy appeal, for women who want the latest news without a monthly wait. It also provides advertisers in the UK with an entirely new opportunity for high quality, high frequency placements with a strong outreach.

The pressure to deliver a greater number of issues to the reader, faster, explains the growing popularity of editorial and workflow management technologies currently being installed by publishers to reduce costs and save time across publishing workflows. With the rapid automation of the print process, it is clear that publishers all over the world are investing in the future of an industry that is moving forward, with a feeling of renewed confidence.

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