Good things are growing as Organic Life heads into its second year in print.
When Organic Life was launched over a year ago as the next logical evolution of Organic Gardening, then editor-in-chief James Osland had this to say about print:
“All of us consume massive amounts of information digitally on our phones, on our tablets, on our desktops, on our laptops even,” Osland explained.
“But there’s something so special – a really kind of ineffable magic if you will – about the print product. And how we as readers, as consumers of information, relate to the print product,” he continued. “For me, my idea is that’s a very, very extraordinary thing that cannot really be effectively be translated to the digital sphere.”
That critical connection of the message and the medium continues a year hence, under the watchful eye of new editor-in-chief Melanie Hansche.
Hansche spoke to Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni about the magazine as Organic Life heads into its second chapter as a true lifestyle magazine.
“We’re seeing a lot of magazines enter the market with beautiful paper stock and beautiful photography and they’re very lush, vibrant visual experiences. Print products still represent escape for people. When their subscription arrives in the mail, the reader might flip through it very quickly, maybe starting from the back, but what’s been found is they return to it on the weekend and read it cover to cover. And I’m certainly that person too,” Hansche notes.
What’s new under Hansche’s leadership is a tighter focus on their target audience.
“When the brand started it did have a legacy with Organic Gardening readers and it’s really tried to be all things to all people, which I totally understand, because on the one hand, we want to try and welcome every person into this organic lifestyle,” Hansche told Husni. “But really I think that approach wasn’t working and it wasn’t resonating and we wanted to be a lot more positive about who we’re speaking to and particularly who are the people that are embracing this kind of lifestyle or asking questions and changing their habits.”
One habit that seems to be sticking is the reader’s preference for print. It’s a natural fit and makes perfect sense that a magazine dedicated to an organic lifestyle would be most popular in a truly organic medium.