Magazine Industry Overview

The magazine industry is going through a problematic time mainly because of the current economic climate. The guardian predicts that under established, weaker titles will struggle the most due to the fact that advertising is a big problem. Maintaining or increasing revenue from advertisement will be the biggest challenge for magazies this year. Most unlikely to struggle will probably be the top-end magazines (glossies) such as Vogue, GQ and Elle although they are not in the all clearr of the recession, they are unlikely to be hit hard by a plunge in advertising revenue.  Also they predict that larger companies will become more dominant within the industry and the smaller compaines will perish.
Niche-appeal consumer titles that rely on devoted, engaged readerships are also more favourably placed than most when it comes to advertising. There is a more unique audience which means it may be easier to advertise items that you think they will be interested in.  Mainstream magazines may have a harder time when it comes to advertising as the range of readers is so large; it is hard to assume what sort of items the readers will want to see in the magazine as advertisement.

Technology is a big factor when you consider how the magazine industry is growing. Having a TV partnerships can be a huge source for advertisement as your readers will be easily accessible. Large publishers such as IPC Media, Condé Nast and Future Publishing, which have invested in extending their brands into TV, web, mobile, radio or shopping, are more likely to handle the impact than those with small products or thinner portfolios of titles. TV is such a big part of people’s lives in the modern era so making a TV partnerships/channels is a great way of expanding the name and company. The internet is also heavily relied upon in today’s world so having a website for the readers is very recommendable. People who surf the net can type in one word into a search engine, and every bit of information about the magazine can appear. This can easily help the expansion of the magazine if people like what they see or read on the website. The web is also another way in which you can advertise bringing in more income for the business. Overall, in the UK we spend about £2 billion pounds a year for magazines.