“National news is the voice of the nation; new age publications represent people; local press stands up for community. This is invaluable content.”
This statement opens an article in Campaign focused on understanding why magazines matter. The brand recently launched its Campaign for Real Media, “celebrating the power of premium media to unite and inspire.”
Where does this power come from? Campaign asked publishing thought leaders to help define it.
“The passion and identity economy is booming and magazine brands sit at the heart of what matters most to people,” said Sue Todd, CEO of Magnetic. “They have always spoken to people’s passions and been about offering the most relevant, trusted and quality content for distinct and highly committed audiences and segments.”
Whether it’s sport or fashion, politics or economics, “the best magazine brands have always super-served these deep interests and offered the consumer and advertisers highly immersive and undistracted attention moments,” Todd continued.
“Culturally-relevant media is the heartland of great magazine brands, and the internet is helping turn interest into action,” the article continues. “Publishers who use the trust created from quality content can extend their brands into events, ecommerce and exciting digital spaces … reaching new, bigger audiences with online and offline content that really delivers for these deep interest groups and communities.”
“Culture is created, curated and nurtured,” said Justin Taylor, managing director for Teads UK. “It does not happen in isolation. Since the invention of the printing press in the 1400s we have been mass producing information that people can read quickly to a depth daily newspapers can’t replicate. Magazines have had a pivotal status in defining society. How many of us reading this have that ‘one’ magazine that defined us? (Mine was Mixmag in the early 90s.) That one magazine we turn to when we want validation, want to escape or to change.”
Successful magazine brands have figured out a way to take those primary assets of magazines and translate them across channels, opening up new revenue streams in the process.
“For us, to invoke those same connections consumers have reading and engaging with magazine content, we must create advertising experiences that match and exceed their expectations,” the article continues. “Advertising that was developed to respect the user, publisher and advertiser symbiosis.”
Magazines do matter to your audience, whether you’re a brand looking to engage more deeply, or an advertiser looking for a trusted platform. In the age of the multi-channel consumer experience, the power of a good magazine is becoming even more obvious.