Hearst media pack analysis

 

Context: The Brand

 

Our goal is simple: create premium, purposeful content that helps our audiences and partners strive, thrive and get more out of life. 

Our trusted brands are built on decades of editorial expertise and underpinned by the latest audience insight and data. We are uniquely placed to understand what people want and when they want it - we create content with purpose. 

We’ve entertained, informed and empowered audiences across the UK since 1922. Were deeply proud of our illustrious heritage, but we’ve got even bigger plans for the future. We’d love for you to be part of it. 

• 800+ dedicated people (2020)
• 28 million UK monthly unique visitors (2020)
• 5 million+ event attendees (2020)

Contemporary context - finance, distribute, exchange, access

 How do audiences access them? (consider recent developments in technology)

Finance:

Generally speaking, the primary source of funding for magazine publishing is not sales, but advertising.

• Print subscriptions
• Print advertising 
• Online subscriptions
• Digital advertising 
• Sponsorships / sponsored content
• Events and conferences
• Live streaming

Distribution:

Understanding the audience is a key part to effective distribution. Their interests, technological competency, regular events can bring about new opportunities for magazine companies in terms of distribution strategy. Strategies include:

• Printed publications in shops/ stalls
• Online - social media, websites, applications 
• Blog

Exchange:

How audiences access magazines:

Print editions were popular, until the arrival of the internet. While they are still around, they are in steady decline, with some magazine producers says the industry is in crisis, as print editions must compete with online only magazines.

   Blogging platforms are also competition. They provide free content, produced by writers that include experts, celebrities and general public (giving a sense of everyone having a voice).

   Most popular magazines have responded to these changes by publishing their own online editions, containing some free content and interactive features, though as magazines make their money from advertisements, there will be plenty featured on the website. 

   Examples of these interactive features include:

• Quizzes and questionnaires
• Comments sections where the reader ca interact with the content
• Videos and podcasts
• Links to buy the products featured and advertised

   Magazines are still popular as portable, read anywhere objects, however, with the popularity of smartphones and other technology rising rapidly, the popularity of the magazine as a portable object may also decline 

Contemporary context - major players

History of magazines

A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by prepaid subscription, or by a combination of the three.