From magazines to brands
Egmont Magazines is traditionally known as a publisher of magazines and weeklies. However, in future, the division intends to be recognized primarily as the publisher of a range of brands.
Very few people can name a magazine title that has enjoyed growth in recent years. When asked for an example, the man who heads up Egmont’s Nordic weeklies and magazines points out that the question needs to be reworded. Because in future the magazine business is to be seen as a brand enterprise exploiting its brands across multiple channels, countries and topics.
‘The trend definitely shows that readership for some of our publications is gradually diminishing – on the other hand, because we are attracting target groups via several new channels, our position on balance is just as strong as it used to be. We no longer see Egmont Magazines exclusively as a publisher of magazines and weeklies, although this business will continue to be the absolute bedrock of our division,’ explains Torsten Bjerre Rasmussen, who joined Egmont as Executive Vice President of Egmont Magazines in July this year.
He refers to the fact that the magazines and weeklies have a customer following that adores the particular brand, identifies strongly with it and is prepared to spend time and money on it and its related services and products.
‘We want every new magazine or weekly that we put onto the market to add value for customers. Not only should they want to read our magazines, they should love them too! And fortunately that is also the case. We find that our customers miss our products and look forward to the next issue. This type of customer relationship is worth its weight in gold – and a significant element of our strategy is identifying methods to develop these relations.’
Every year Egmont’s Danish women’s weekly ALT for damerne invites readers to join its women’s run, and you could say it has a hidden agenda. Giving readers an extra experience is not the only aim; the event could also become a good business proposition if we continue our professional cooperation with advertisers, sponsors and other relevant partners.
Target group specialists
‘I’m impressed by our insight into the target groups. Our editors are walking encyclopaedias in niche marketing! They can tell us very accurately what readers think, where they travel, what they eat and whether they drink wine or not. As an outsider, I find it impressive to see how we measure our own successes every week and adapt the products accordingly,’ says Torsten.
‘I’m impressed by our insight into the target groups. Our editors are walking encyclopaedias in niche marketing! They can tell us very accurately what readers think, where they travel, what they eat and whether they drink wine or not. As an outsider, I find it impressive to see how we measure our own successes every week and adapt the products accordingly,’ says Torsten.
This expertise is invaluable in a world where everyone is competing for customers’ time. One of Egmont Magazines’ goals is thus to make better use of its treasure trove of knowledge about target groups. Packaging products in different ways and working more closely across the organization internally are just a couple of ways of doing this. A good interior design story might find its way to a digital service or publication in a peer magazine in one of the other countries.
‘For example, one of our Norwegian companies recently published a house and home magazine where some of the content was based on material produced in Denmark. This is one way that we can collaborate far more closely throughout the division.’
Faling readership
A quick glance at magazine circulation figures shows that most titles are losing ground. And Egmont’s head of magazines admits that this trend will be difficult to reverse. However, the market still offers potential for making good money.
A quick glance at magazine circulation figures shows that most titles are losing ground. And Egmont’s head of magazines admits that this trend will be difficult to reverse. However, the market still offers potential for making good money.
‘We want to further improve our optimisation efforts – and I also aim to produce more magazine titles,’ Torsten Bjerre Rasmussen asserts. He points out that all print media are facing structural challenges, and highlighting the threats is easier than identifying the fast track to solid digital income.
‘New possibilities are constantly emerging, and we must get better at seizing opportunities as they arise. In 10 years we will still excel in the areas where we already do well. But readers will discover that our products arrive in guises other than magazines and weeklies on store shelves.’
How important will digital publicat ion be for magazines in future?
‘Naturally, the digital development trend underlies our development initiatives – and as for developing purely digital magazines, magazine publishers the world over are currently searching high and low for a viable earnings model for such publications. We have now launched our first magazine editions for iPad, and from this point forward we are going to spend time testing how we can make money on this type of magazine. At the moment no one can say whether this publication form will generate profits through subscriptions, advertising, shopping links or other models. The parameters we are currently monitoring include not only how many paying customers we can drum up, but also how we can give them a superlative magazine experience on digital reading platforms,’ explains Torsten Bjerre Rasmussen, who points out that the publishing sector has yet to produce a digital magazine that generates income anywhere close to the strong print magazines.
‘Naturally, the digital development trend underlies our development initiatives – and as for developing purely digital magazines, magazine publishers the world over are currently searching high and low for a viable earnings model for such publications. We have now launched our first magazine editions for iPad, and from this point forward we are going to spend time testing how we can make money on this type of magazine. At the moment no one can say whether this publication form will generate profits through subscriptions, advertising, shopping links or other models. The parameters we are currently monitoring include not only how many paying customers we can drum up, but also how we can give them a superlative magazine experience on digital reading platforms,’ explains Torsten Bjerre Rasmussen, who points out that the publishing sector has yet to produce a digital magazine that generates income anywhere close to the strong print magazines.
Egmont Magazines is looking at three specific areas that can underpin the key role that its magazines and weeklies play in the daily lives of readers:
Verticals, where we position ourselves firmly in a particular subject area. This means Egmont Magazines must excel at finding the right cooperation partners in other media where it currently has a competency gap.
Use the spectrum of brands to generate opportunities for offering additional services over and above the magazine or weekly itself.
Last, digital subscription and single-copy sales methods must be investigated, with iPad being a possible solution.
Verticals, where we position ourselves firmly in a particular subject area. This means Egmont Magazines must excel at finding the right cooperation partners in other media where it currently has a competency gap.
Use the spectrum of brands to generate opportunities for offering additional services over and above the magazine or weekly itself.
Last, digital subscription and single-copy sales methods must be investigated, with iPad being a possible solution.
Egmont runs magazine publishing activities in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Egmont Magazines employs over 1,000 people and generates revenue of DKK 2 billion. Egmont Magazines ranks among Scandinavia’s leading magazine publishers, producing more than 100 titles in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. ALT for damerne, Hjemmet, Norsk UkeBlad, Kamille, Her og Nå, Vi Menn, King and Classic Motor are just a few of the myriad titles published by the division.
Egmont Magazines wants to create a range of super brands that can run on all platforms.One model is the English TopGear, which is known in Denmark as a popular TV programme but has also gained success as a magazine on several platforms. It is Britain’s largest motor magazine and is now available in over 20 countries.
In an attempt to develop the digital magazine market, Aller, Bonnier and Egmont have joined forces in the Nordic Digital Magazine Initiative, which has four main goals:
1. Create a reading experience on digital platforms that can maintain and strengthen the distinctive characteristics of the individual magazines and weeklies.
2. Set a standard for digital magazine publishing that underpins a range of platforms and e-readers in order to give readers the best experience.
3. Embark on a dialogue with the advertising market about standards, monitoring methods and innovative advertising solutions.
4. Examine the possibilities for establishing a joint store solution for digital magazines.
After years of decline, the broad, mainstream weeklies are in recession everywhere. Readers still buy magazines but spread their purchases over several different titles, which causes the earnings of old-fashioned broad, mass-selling titles to drop. Since it costs the same to write and layout a magazine – regardless of whether it sells 100,000 copies or 1,000 – this trend can be measured directly on the bottom line. In 1960, 8,400 magazine titles were published in the USA, a figure that has since doubled.
