Every year, StopPress catches up with a group of talented professionals from across the local industry to talk about the year that was. From their biggest challenges to their biggest inspiration, their favourite campaigns and favourite snacks, they give us a little insight into 2024 as well as what is to come in 2025.
Stuart Dick is General Manager at Are Media.
If Are Media was a drink, what would it be?
Champagne – high quality content, enjoyed by most.
How did the shifting media landscape impact Are Media’s work in 2024?
Our strategy over the past 4 years has been to develop multiple and diversified revenue streams, so the shifting landscape hasn’t been as impactful as it might be for media organisations over-exposed to one area. We’ve had a strong year for our core business; circulation, subscriptions, and advertising revenue, as well as achieving significant growth on our new revenue streams which we call Content Commerce – shoppable content via both e-commerce and affiliate networks.
Did you notice any key differences in how Kiwis interacted with media – digital, advertising and print – this year?
A notable shift this year was the decline in trust audiences have in media in general. We have countered this trend by emphasising the quality and curation of our content by subject-matter experts. Whether it is The Listener for in-depth, award-winning current affairs, Your Home & Garden for the latest home category trends, or our Woman’s titles for lifestyle content our audience can really trust. This quality and curation is a big reason our audience has remained engaged and invested in our products – willing to pay for the enjoyment of reading their favourite magazine either in print or online.
Did you use AI this year? If so, what and how did you use it and how did it impact your work?
Our AI strategy is to 1: employ it to amplify the creativity and skills of our human team, and 2: replace time-consuming manual tasks where possible. Examples of this strategy are 1: We have experimented with AI image generation, which still requires the right creative prompts from our design teams. And 2: We are employing AI for assistance with automating templated layouts for both our print and digital content.
What office item/tool could you not work without?
Human minds.
What was your favourite social, marketing or advertising trend this year?
That the best marketers are rediscovering that quality is key. That it is not good enough to just get someone’s attention by shoving an ad in front of them in any format as they pass by, or interrupting them – to be successful you must achieve quality attention. A fully immersed audience, engaged mindset, in a trusted environment. Very few media channels can deliver all those things at once.
What helped you stay motivated?
An optimistic mindset, and belief in our strategy.
What does 2025 hold for media?
I think there will be a two-speed local media industry. Those that are more advanced in their revenue diversification strategies will benefit from increased consumer confidence and improved economic conditions. But unfortunately, there is probably still some difficult times ahead for those organisations that are still in the earlier stages of their transformations or yet to confront the realities of the challenges faced.
What was your most exciting moment of 2024?
For us this year, we were most excited about our overall business performance. I am very proud of our team for exceeding our targets, and ensuring we achieved a strong profit result for the business in very challenging market conditions for the media industry in NZ. We punched well above our weight and it is a credit to the quality of our small but mighty team here at Are Media.
Quick fire questions
- Most memorable local campaign?
Tina from Turners – gold. - A news story that got too much attention in 2024?
The media reporting on the media industry. - Biggest flop of 2024?
Charity drives from media organisations. - The best movie you saw at the cinema?
I only saw one, Blink Twice. Wasn’t expecting much when I saw Channing Tatum was in it, but it was actually quite good. - The best thing about your industry?
The people. - How do you relax?
Golf. - Three things you’d take to a desert island?
My wife, our kids, golf clubs. - Your favourite snack?
Coffee.