Magazines: Industries & Men's Health

Magazines: Industries & Men's Health

To explore the Industries context for Men's Health we need to study Hearst publishing and look at the impact of digital media on the print magazine industry.

This means interrogating why the internet has had such a devastating effect on certain print brands and why some other magazines are continuing to thrive in the digital age. We also need to spend some time on the Men's Health website and consider the similarities and differences to what we've found in the print version of the magazine.

Notes from the lessons

Men's Health UK is published by Hearst Publishing UK, a subsidiary of Hearst Communications.

Hearst Communications is an American media conglomerate based in New York that is over 130 years old and is still owned by the Hearst family.

It owns a range of media and business information brands including American newspapers, magazines (e.g. Cosmopolitan), half of the A&E Network TV channel and 20% of US sports broadcaster ESPN.

It employs 20,000 people and its 2016 revenue was $10.8 billion.

Hearst Publishing UK

Hearst UK publishes over 20 magazine titles including Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Inside Soap and more.

Hearst UK brands reach 30% of UK women and 25% of UK men. They sell over 4m magazines a month and have 17m UK digital unique users.

Hearst UK has also diversified into events and other licensed brand extensions (e.g. Esquire Townhouse pop up members club, Country Living sofas and Men’s Health home gym equipment).

 

The impact of digital media on the magazine industry

Some key questions:

• Why has digital media (the internet) had such a devasting effect on the magazines industry?
• When did YOU last buy a magazine?
• Who IS buying magazines?

Suggestions for SWOT analysis of the impact of digital media on magazines:

• Strengths: Magazine brands are well established to diversify online, audiences already know and like them.
• Weaknesses: Print publishers do not have the expertise or knowledge of digital – it is a very different medium.
• Opportunities: Magazines can find new audiences online.
• Threats: Audiences will stop buying paper products and expect everything online for free.

Digital media has had a devastating effect on the print magazines industry. 

• Print sales fell by 42% from 23.8m to 13.9m between 2010 and 2017. 
• Back in 2000, sales were over 30m – signalling a 55% decline in just 17 years.
• Advertising in consumer magazines has fallen from £512m in 2010 to £250m in 2017. 
• Google and Facebook now dominate online advertising (they account for 65% of the UK digital ad market).

As a result of these changes, many magazines have closed.

Digital media: Hearst and Men’s Health

Hearst UK has posted losses in recent years due to the decline in the magazines market.

Men’s Health has also declined in recent years from a circulation high of 228,000 in 2008 to 146,000 now. However, it has moved up and down in recent years (dropping to 160,000 in 2016 before going up to 180,000 in 2018) which shows decline is not necessarily inevitable.


Men's Health - Industries case study blog tasks

This is a comprehensive case study covering a range of Industry contexts. It is divided into three sections: Hearst publishing, the impact of digital media and Men's Health online platforms. You will need to allow for at least two hours to work through the following tasks.

Hearst publishing

Research Hearst publishing by looking at the Hearst UK website and the Wikipedia entry for parent company and conglomerate Hearst Communications.

1) Hearst UK is part of Hearst Communications. What is Hearst Communications and where is it based?

Hearst Communications, frequently alluded to just as Hearst, is an American broad communications and business data combination situated in New York City. Hearst claims papers, magazines, TV slots, and TV channels, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Houston Chronicle, Cosmopolitan and Esquire. It possesses half of the A&E Networks link system gathering and 20% of the games link system bunch ESPN, both in association with The Walt Disney Company 

2) What media industries and brands make up the Hearst Communications conglomerate?

Hearst Communications is comprised of enterprises, for example, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and ESPN. It likewise possesses First Databank and Homecard Homebase. 

3) What was the global revenue for Hearst Communications (in dollars) for the most recent year on record?

The worldwide income for 2016 was $10.8 billion. 

4) Focusing on Hearst UK, what other magazine brands are part of Hearst UK publishing? How many UK people do they reach in print and online?

Hearst UK are additionally in charge of the arrival of print magazines, for example, Cosmopolita, Men's Health, Esquire and Good Housekeeping. Altogether more watchers read these magazines online contrasted with print perusers, with 17m advanced clients in the UK. Hearst UK marks additionally achieve 30% of UK ladies, and 25% UK men. 

Read this Campaign interview with Hearst UK CEO James Wildman.

5) What is James Wildman's plan for Hearst UK?

To develop share in print to stem decrease, quicken development in advanced, enhance incomes through occasions and organizations, and take a gander at acquisitions 

6) What percentage ad decline are consumer magazines facing?

They will confront promotion decreases of over 10% this year, cash is streaming to Google and Facebook, and online influencers are wearing down print brands. 

7) What Wildman think about premium content and paywalls?

I figure we should charge for our superior substance," he says, refering to "the most exceptional formula chronicle" at Good Housekeeping for instance. In any case, he says no paywalls are arranged at this point. 

8) How has Hearst used diversification to grow the business?

"expansion looks the most ideal approach to grow."Hearst runs roughly 100 occasions every year, which enables them to draw in bigger crowds by giving them the chance to encounter the brands. 

Read this Hearst UK press release for their late 2018 ABC figures.

9) Is Men's Health increasing or decreasing in circulation?

Men's Health has encountered a 1% expansion available for use. 

10) What does the press release say about recent successes associated with Men's Health?

These solid outcomes, and the way that few of our magazines are expanding their readership, feature the phenomenal quality and proceeding with intrigue of our print items. We are exceptionally glad to expand our market initiative position, and this top tier execution is demonstration of the inattentiveness of our article groups and proceeded with interest in our print items.

The impact of digital media on the print magazines industry

Read this BBC website feature on the print magazine industry and then this Guardian feature on the demise of NME magazine and print magazines in general.

1) Why are traditional print magazines struggling?

Magazine deals have for the most part been falling since the day the designer of the web stated: "Hello, for what reason don't I imagine the web?", because of the ascent of advanced media, conventional print magazines have been battling. 

2) What genre of magazines is currently bucking the trend and increasing sales? Why is this?

News and current undertakings magazines are winding up increasingly prevalent - yet VIP, tattle and style distributions are as yet battling. 

3) In contrast, what magazine genres are struggling? Give examples of magazines that have declined or stopped printing altogether.

Excitement and tattle magazines seem, by all accounts, to be the class of magazines that are battling the most. For instance, NME have quit distributing their magazine now following 66 years of being in the print business. 

4) Look at the Guardian article in detail. What statistics are provided to demonstrate the decline in the print magazines industry between 2010 and 2017? What about the percentage decline from 2000?

Offers of the best 100 effectively obtained print titles in the UK – those that perusers purchase or buy in to – fell by 42% from 23.8m to 13.9m somewhere in the range of 2010 and 2017. Since the beginning of the web period in 2000, the decay is 55% from 30.8m, as per the Audit Bureau of Circulations. 

5) What percentage of ad revenue is taken by Google and Facebook?

Google and Facebook represent 65% of the $6.5bn (£4.7bn) UK advanced showcase advertisement advertise. They are likewise choking endeavors by magazine and paper distributers to construct their computerized promotion incomes by taking about 90% of all new spend. 

6) What strategies can magazine publishers use to remain in business in the digital age?

one system is to manufacture a brand past their center print distribution. 

7) Why does the Hearst UK CEO James Wildman suggest that the magazine industry is not dead?

Print productions that are focused towards a specialty group of spectators are in every case prone to in any case have a fanbase and faithful readership, in light of the fact that the interests reflected in these magazines wouldn't really be demonstrated anyplace else. 

8) What examples from the Guardian article are provided to demonstrate how magazines are finding new revenue streams? What is the Men's Health branding used for?

New income streams are being found through making a more extensive scope of items under the distribution's image name 

9) What signs for optimism might there be for traditional magazine brands?

how they presented progressively touchy subjects has implied that Men's Health has stayed effective in the computerized age

The Men's Health website and social media

Visit the Men's Health website, Twitter feed and Instagram. You may need to complete this part of the case study at home if it is blocked in school.

1) What similarities do you notice between the website and the print edition of the magazine?

the VIP on the spread is extremely strong and cliché. the spread lines about greater arm are comparable 

2) What is the Men's Health daily newsletter and what does it include? How does this help Hearst UK to make money?

it has the every day does of wellbeing news, weight reduction tips and exercises. by individuals buying in it enables them to get cash. 

3) Look at the menu bar along the top of the website. What are the menu options? What does this suggest about the representation of men and masculinity associated with Men's Health?

incorporates exercises, muscle, wellness and so forth this fortifies generalizations of what a perfect man should resemble. 

4) Choose one of the menu sections and write a list of the features in that area of the website. What target audience are these features aimed at?

keep a collected mind: this is focused for all the more a more youthful crowd as thy care about their appearance yet at the same time discussing facial hair o can be focused at a more seasoned group of spectators as well. 

5) Do you think the Men's Health website is trying to sell the print version or simply build a digital audience? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a 'digital first' strategy?

they are attempting to manufacture their advanced group of spectators as it would enable them to focus on a more extensive crowd. anyway individuals probably won't read it as they like having the print form as that is the thing that they are known for. 

6) How does the Men's Health Twitter feed use 'clickbait' to try and get users to click through to the magazine's website? Give examples of tweets that are designed to get the audience to click through.

they utilize celebrated applicable effects on their spread as individuals are bound to purchase and peruse a magazine that has their good example on their as they need to resemble them. 

7) How does the Twitter feed uses images and video content alongside text and links?

this is distinctive as their feed has a bigger number of recordings and pictures than content. they do this to interest their group of spectators. 

8) What does the Men's Health Instagram suggest about the Men's Health brand? Is this appealing to a similar audience to the print version of the magazine?

I think it is a more youthful age on the grounds that since they use Instagram the most. their print form is more for the more seasoned age as thy are the ones bound to go out and purchase a duplicate 

9) Is the Men's Health social media designed to sell the print magazine or build a digital audience? Why?

it is valuable for them to fabricate a computerized group of spectators as they can focus on a more extensive crowd as more individuals utilize web based life. 

10) Evaluate the success of the Men's Health brand online. Does it successfully communicate with its target audience? Will the digital platforms eventually replace the print magazine completely?

I think they have been effective as they utilize diverse stage to target various spectators which additionally challenges their really target group of spectators