magazine ownership - does it matter with notes

8/2/2019 Magazine Ownership - Does It Matter With Notes

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Therearearound160differentmagazinepublishersintheUK.Theseare thedominant

players.

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Thesefourareallforeignowned. HearstandCondNastarefullyAmericancompanieswithUKdivisions,andthetwoareclosecompetitors.CondNastsGlamouroutsellsCosmopolitan

in

the

UK

fashion

and

lifestyle

market;

Vogueand

Elle(which

Hearst

acquiredlastyear)alsogoheadtohead.

IPCwasaBritishcompany,nowownedbyAmericans,andretainsrathermoreofitsdistinctlyBritishidentity.

BauerandHBauer(partsofthesamecorporation)owetheirsuccessinBritishpublishlargelytotheirpurchaseofEMAPconsumermagazinesin2008.

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ThesefivecompaniesareBritish.

ImmediateMediawasbornonlylastyear,throughthemergingofBBCMagazines withOrigin

Publishing

and

Magicalia.Futureisresponsibleforanumberofrelativelyspecialistbutmainstreampublications.AsisHaymarket.

Dennispublishesaselectionofsmallerandnichemarkettitles,includingViz.NorthernandShellonlypublishesahandfuloftitles theirmainbusinessisinnewspapersandbroadcasting(ChannelFive).However,thetitlestheydoownarehugely

successful likeNew!andOK!

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Thisbarchartshowsthenumberoftitlesproducedbythebigeightpublishers.Thetop

twoarebothforeignowned,butImmediateand Futurearentfarbehind.

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Takenas apiechartofthewholemarket,wecanseethataboutonequarterofalltitles

arepublishedbyforeigncompanies.Thetwobiggest BauerandIPC arereallyrunand

operated

wholly

from

the

UK,

and

just

have

foreign

owners.AnotherquarterareownedbyBritishbusinesses,andhalfofallthetitlesproducedin

theUKareownedbysmall,independentpublishers.

However

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ifwelookinsteadatthesizeoftheiraudiences,thepicturechanges.Intermsof

magazinecirculation,IPCandBauertitlesbothreachmorethansixmillionreaders,getting close

to

double

the

reach

of

ImmediateMedias

titles.

Hearstowns

half

the

numberoftitlesthatImmediateowns,butisreachingmoreUKcitizens.

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Putthatanotherway,andsuddenlyforeign ownershipcanbeseentobedominatingthe

market.WhilethebigfiveUKPublishersarekeepingtheirquartershareofthe

circulation,

the

foreign

owned

companies

have

one

quarter

of

the

titles

but

nearly

two

thirdsoftheaudience.

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SoletstakeacloserlookatHearst MagazinesUK thecompanyformerlyknownasthe

NationalMagazineCompany(orNatMags)andawhollyownedsubsidiaryofHearst

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Likemostoftheotherforeignpublishers,Hearsthasgrown inpartbybuyingupsmallerpublishers.In2009ittriedtobuyEMAP,andin2010issuccessfullyboughtHachetteFilippachi,

a

French

company.Thiskind ofhorizontalintegrationbringsabouteconomiesofscale,butsometimesata

costtotheconsumer.Inthiscase,HearstdecidedtocloseSheandCosmopolitanBridetoconcentrateonsomeoftheirnewertitles,includingRedwhichwasadirectcompetitortoShe.ThisobviouslyrobbedShereadersinparticularoftheirfavouritemagazine HearstofferedShesubscriberscopiesofRedinsteadinabidtokeepthesereadersonboard.

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Asweveseenbefore,publishersmightcompeteovertitlesandaudience,buttheyalso

functionasoligopolies.Several havecollaboratedtobuyorestablishmajordistributors,

like

COMAG.

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NotonlydoesthissaveHearstandConde Nastfrompayinganothercompanyto

distributetheirtitlestoUKvendors(newsagentsetc.),theycanalsoprofitfrom

distributing

titles

from

other,

smaller

publishers.

This

is

an

example

of

vertical

integration.

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Many oftheworldsbiggestmagazinetitlesarepublishedinlocaleditionsalloverthe

world.MarieClaireisanunusualexampleofthis.TheFrenchoriginalispublishedbyacompany

that

only

publishes

this

one

magazine

(and

related

spin

offs).

Rather

than

sell

therightstotheMarieClairebrandtoonecompanyforinternationaldistribution,itsbeensoldtodifferentpublishersindifferentmarkets,asyoucanseehere.Thissuggests

thattheownersofthebrandwantthedifferentcountriestitlestohaveamorelocal

flavour,whilestillretainingthevaluesandidentityofthebrand.

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Mostother internationaltitles,however,tendtobenefitfromeconomiesofscaleand

theirhorizontalintegration.

For

example,

take

Hearsts

Cosmopolitan,which

is

claimed

to

be

the

biggest

selling

fashionandlifestyletitleintheworld.ThisisanextractfromtheUKsJuly2011edition.

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Asyoucansee fromthis,theJuneUSAedition,theUKhaspickedupandreproduced

thesamecontent.

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SohastheSouthAfrican edition.Asyoucansee,boththecopy(thearticle)andthe

photographyhasbeenreusedbyallthreeeditions.

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However,boththeUKandtheSAeditionsseemtobefollowingtheUSAslead.Theyre

benefittingfromthe economiesofscalecreatedbyhorizontalintegration thephotographer

has

only

had

to

be

paid

once,

and

the

article

only

written

once,

so

the

costsofdoingthisareeasilysharedacrossthedifferenttitles.

Itcould bearguedthattheseeconomiesaretotheadvantageofthelocalreaders they

cangetamoreexpensivequalityproductbecausethecostsareshared,andDiazis

interestingtoallthreeaudiencesforexactlythesamereasons,sowhyreinventthe

coverage?

Conversely,wecouldask:areCosmoreadersreallygettingan experiencedtailoredto

theirlocalneeds?OraretheyjustgettingtheUSAsleftovers andanovertly

Americanisedculturalexperienceasaresult?

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Interestingly,theSAeditionsharessomedesignideaswiththeUKone,suchasthe

layoutoftheQuizsection,whichisdifferentintheUS.

It

should

also

be

noted

that

the

SA

edition

is

published

under

licence

by

Associated

Magazines,whichlaunchedthisversionofCosmoin1983,ratherthandirectlyby

Hearst.

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Ofcourse,sometimestheculturalexchange workstheotherway.Forexample,heres

UKpopphenomenonAdeleonthecoveroftheDecemberissueofCosmointheUSA.

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Andheresheisonmany,manymorecovers. TheexceptionistheUKedition,which

carriedJessieJinstead.PerhapstheUKreadershiphashadenoughofAdelebynow!

Since

Jessie

J

is

not

yet

a

worldwide

cover

star,

this

cover

demonstrates

that

UK

readers

ofCosmoCANgetanexperiencethatistailoredtotheirneeds.Italsodemonstratesthe

magazinespowertospreadculturalinfluencearoundtheworld:Adeleappearedonthe

covereverywherefromtheCzechRepublictoIndonesia,andfromLithuaniatoThailand,

betweenDecember2011andApril 2012.

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Allthisis, ofcourse,anexampleofSynergy.HearstMagazinessavesmoneyinthe

productionofmorethantwentydifferenteditionsbysharingthesamephotographsand

content.

The

same

principles

can

apply

just

as

much

to

advertising

and

product

placement:advertisersmaybenefitfromspecialratesinreturnforappearinginmultiple

regionaleditions,butthissecuresplentyoffundingupfrontforrunningcosts.

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Hearst hasalsouseditsestablishedCosmo/Cosmopolitanbrandnamestospreadout

intoothertitlesinavarietyofterritories.CosmoonCampusisafreemagazinefor

university

students,

and

there

are

several

different

Cosmopolitan

Shopping

titles

around

theworld.TheoneshownhereisfromRussia.CosmopolitanBrideis,infact,adefunct

title

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itceased publicationwhenHearstacquiredHachetteFilippachi.

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TheUKApril2012editionfeatured acovermount.Eachcopywassoldinsideaplastic

envelopethatalsocontainedoneoffourdifferentsamplesofCliniquecosmetics.This

free

give

away

works

synergetically for

both

Clinique

and

Cosmopolitan:

Clinique

gets

to

persuade375,00020somethingCosmoreaderstotrytheirproducts,andCosmocan

persuadethesamereadersthattheyregettingextravalueforthesamecoverprice.As

youcanseehere,Cosmosupportsthiswithpromotionalmaterialinsidethemagazine.

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Heresanotherexampleofan advertorial therearelots!Thefocus,asever,tendstobe

onfashionandcosmetics.

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Aregular featureinCosmopolitanistheHitList.Thisrunsoversixpagesandfeatures

dozensofdifferent,interchangeableproducts inthisinstance,handbags.Thedesigners

and

manufacturers

all

provide

samples

to

Cosmo,

and

in

return

they

get

their

product

pluggedinthemagazine.Cosmopolitanbenefitsfromappearingtoberightatthe

cuttingedgeoffashionandfillssixpageswithadvertisingmasqueradingaseditorial.

ThatssynergybetweenCosmoandthefashionandaccessoriesindustries.

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Letsnotalsoforgettheverticalintegration andsynergyHearsthasachievedbysharing

itsoligopolypowerwithitsrivalConde NasttorunComag11.

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TheCosmoshopallowsHearsttocapitaliseontheCosmopolitanname bysellinghealth

andbeautyproductscarryingtheCosmobrand.Theyalsoadvertisetheseproductsin

their

magazines,

as

shown

here.

Both

the

branded

products

AND

the

internal

advertising

areexamplesofsynergy andthefactthatthisispromotedonthewebsite

demonstratesconvergenceaswell.

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As afashionandlifestyletitle,Cosmodependsuponcloserelationshipswithdesigners

andretailers.ThisexampleofsynergyfeaturescrosspromotionwithDorothyPerkins:a

portion

of

the

Cosmo

website

has

been

devoted

to

DPs

jeans,

and

this

is

mirrored

in

the

Aprilprinteditionbya20%offofferatDP.DorothyPerkinspaysHearstforthis

opportunity,andbenefitsfrombeingpresentedtoayoungish marketwithdisposable

income(theCosmoreader.)Onceagain,thisisalsoconvergenceinaction.

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Hearstmakethemost ofhorizontalintegrationtoreapthebenefitsofSynergy.For

example,bypairingtheirCosmoreadersupwithMensHealthreaders,viatheirdating

website,

they

get

to

use

two

of

their

brands

together.

As

both

sets

of

readers

have

to

submitalltheircontactdetails,Hearstalsogetstobuildupadetailedprofileoftheir

kindsofreaders.

IwonderwhatitsaysaboutREALCosmoreaders,thattheymightbeexpectedtowant

todateMensHealthreaders?HavealookattheMensHealthwebsite:doyouthink

theirreadersaregoingtobecompatible?

Andyes,thisisanextensionoftheclassicpersonaladssectioninnewspapersand

magazines.HavingarrivedontheInternet,thisisanotherexampleofconvergence.

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Cosmohasmovedbeyondsimplewebsites ontomobiledeviceslikeAppleandAndroid

smartphones.HearsthasdevelopedaspecialShoppingGenieapp.Hereshowitworks:

When

you

see

a

red

tick

symbol

next

to

a

fashion

or

beauty

item

in

Cosmo,

find

the

shoppingbagicononthatfeatureandscanit.Inthisissuewevechosenourfavourite

itemsfromClinique,NewLook,DebenhamsandBoohoo.Plus,wanna seewhat

everyoneelseisbuying?CheckouttheCosmoLovessectiontoviewtheclobberourreadersareorderingrightthissecond withhotpicksfromourfashionteamtoboot.

Whatthisdoesntsay butdoesmean isthatHearstgetstotrackthepurchasingchoicesofthousandsofitsreaders,whichnodoubthelpsitselladvertisingspaceand

productplacementopportunitiestofashionandcosmeticscompanies.

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YoucannowalsosubscribetoCosmopolitanontheiPad, inmorethanonecountry.In

fact,HearstoffersmanyofitspublicationsfortheiPad thisadfortheCompany

subscription

ran

in

Cosmo

in

April

2012

(theres

that

Synergyagain.)

Subscriptions

provideguaranteedincometoHearst.Distributingitelectronicallyisvirtuallyfree:there

arenopublicationcosts(nothingtoprint) andnodistributioncostseither(notrucksto

load,exchangefeestopaytonewsagents,norpostagetocover).Therearealsonew

developmentsintabletpublishingthathavethepotentialtomakethisamore

interactiveexperienceforthereader.Wellseemoreofthisnextterm.

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AnotherwayHearst getstotrackitsaudiencestastesandinterestsisthroughits

discussionforums.

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SowhatdoesallthismeanforCosmopolitansrelationship withitsaudience?

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Soyoube thejudge doesCosmosinternationalreachunderHearstsownershipmean

a) ThatCosmoreadersgetagreatdeal:awidevarietyoffreecontentacrossmultiple

media

and

access

to

the

best

content

from

sibling

titles

around

the

world,

orb) ThatHearstexploitsitsinternationalreachandoligopolypowertocutcostsby

globalising(ratherthanlocalising)itscontent,andexploititsrelationshipwithits

audiencetomaximiseadvertisingrevenue.

Whatdoyouthink?

magazine ownership - does it matter with notes

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