Overview of Magazine industry

Magazine publishing has changed over time...

In 1890 there were only 1,383 titles, we currently have 3,200. 1890- 2000 was a golden era for the magazine industry as advertising was strong. However the number of titles has increased a significant amount since then, making the magazine industry much harder to branch into for new brands. There are more than 8000 magazines published in Britain.

The current UK magazine market:

 •Bauer Publishing 25%

 •Time Warner 20%

 •BBC 7.8%

 •Hearst 7.3%

85% of the population reads magazines. Only 3 in 10 titles survive for more than 4 years; this means that in order to survive publishers need to rise above the competition in the market. This can be done by carefully examining how they can be different to other magazines in the same field.

In order to survive…

Magazine publishers need to focus on keeping up to date with the latest trends in order to survive in the magazine industry. Internet gossip, and free online magazines act as a threat to the magazine industry. In order to survive they need add features such as free items that aren’t available online only in stores. They need to advertise in the targeted market frequently, it is important that their targeted audience is a reachable in the sense of competition with other magazine brands (This needs to be assessed in the early stages of developing a new title). Another way they can become more successful is to incorporate synergy. So they could design and produce products to do with the brand, like fashion items. This also helps to increase awareness of the brand, potentially increasing the amount of buyers. Making the magazine a collectable is a good way to maintain the current customers keeping the income figure consistent.