Heather Roy’s Education Freedom of Association amendment act brought an end to compulsory membership to student’s associations at a tertiary level. And while it would be easy to write off the effects of the legislation as minor, the loss of the small payment included with the usual student fees has led to some big changes to Massey’s student publications.
The latest magazine circulation and readership figures came out last week, replete with a few significant changes to the research methodology and mostly downward-trending numbers. But, as ex Saatchi & Saatchi big wig and current Assignment Group don Peter Cullinane discussed at the Nielsen Innovation Seminar this week, magazines still have a very good story to tell because they have higher levels of engagement than other mediums, something a few publishers are trying to tap into with recent changes to their products.
The November/December round of voting for The Glossies has come to an end and the creative campaign concocted by ecostore, Special Group, Naked and Salt Interactive that ran in ACP’s Little Treasures and allowed parents to turn their children into cover stars has claimed first place with 22 percent of the 574 votes received, beating out Alt Group’s Fisher & Paykel ad in Cuisine (18 percent) and Tourism Queensland’s multi-page execution (EBOOK_LTQG_2011_LR) in Let’s Travel Golf edition (15 percent).
As we wrote last week, publishers—and other media owners—are being forced to come up with creative solutions to get brands to sign on the dotted line. This means advertorial and brand-funded content is becoming an increasingly important element of the magazine sector’s revenue and the half magazine, half cookbook called Everyday Dish that’s just been released by Tangible in association with LG is a very good example of that evolution.
The times they are a-changin’ in print media land. Display ads are harder to come by and publishers are being forced to come up with creative solutions to help brands spread their gospel. And, to reference the increasing amount of revenue such creative executions contribute to the magazine industry’s coffers, the MPA has agreed to a new protocol that it hopes will capture more of the spend occurring in magazines for Nielsen’s Advertising Information Services.
There is nothing quite like a magazine subscription for a gift idea and at Tangible Media, we have a magazine for everyone on your shopping list. Plus Tangible Media is offering you, the people, a deal. Not only will you be remembered all year for your thoughtfulness and generosity, you’ll also get 40 percent off the retail cover price when you subscribe to one (or perhaps a few) of the many Tangible titles before Monday 9 January.
Voting is now open for the inaugural Glossies. See this month’s entries below and cast your vote for your favourite magazine ad (see multi-page entries in the gallery here). And remember, there’s just one vote per computer.
As a grand finale to its 75th anniversary year, the Home New Zealand editorial team and Inhouse design have given the mag a spruce up for the Dec/Jan Summer issue. And, to showcase both the new design and the collaborative process required to create it, they’ve produced a cool little ‘home movie’.
Just as sales of tennis racquets always go up in the UK after Wimbledon when mere mortals are inspired to play, thousands of rugby balls were being kicked around the day after the All Blacks’ victory as kids all over New Zealand dreamed of becoming the next Beaver. And, in an effort to tap into the increased interest in the sport at all levels and, at the same time, prepare future stars for life in the professional era, NZ Rugby World and the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRAP) are set to release a special annual publication dedicated to First XV rugby.
It’s taken a helluva long time, but the big news from Nielsen’s latest magazine readership data is that ACP’s Woman’s Day has finally taken over from New Zealand Woman’s Weekly (NZWW) as “the number one magazine in every way”, with higher readership and circulation figures than its long-standing arch-rival.
Image Centre Group has this week started a review of its publishing business and, as a result of a more streamlined management structure, Martin Bell, Tangible Media’s chief executive, co-founder of HB Media and deputy chair of the MPA board, has resigned.
It’s that time again, a time when publishers weep, gloat or possibly just say ‘meh’ and get on with it as the ABC circulation and Nielsen’s Magazine Comparatives Q2 2010 – Q2 2011 readership results are released. And while the market appears to have stabilised after a fairly rough period, there are some interesting, some might say counter-intuitive trends on display in the yearly comparisons, with some significant disparities between circulation and readership for some titles and publishers.
The chance to bathe in the Maggies limelight of award-wining cover design is quickly passing with entries closing this Friday 5 August. And, as long as you are in possession of a snazzy cover and can operate a mouse, entering is easy, “just choose a cover, tell us why, and press go”.
The cover. Proudly sitting there on the newsstand in amongst all the other covers vying for the attention of passersby with enticing images and catchy lines. It’s the art—some might say science—of the tease. And The Maggies, which has once again opened the gates for entries for its second year, aims to celebrate the best examples of this in New Zealand.
When Nielsen launched its pimped out Consumer & Media Insights (CMI) research tool back in April, publishers’ mouths started watering at the prospect of being able to prove New Zealanders who read magazines and newspapers actually spent more, thereby showing print was a good place for brands to be seen. And while the first instalment of the new readership offering had a few teething problems, its new fused data approach has revealed there is “a strong connection between high household expenditure and print media readership”.
New cover, courtesy of DDB
Idealog was first launched six years ago and it has won best business magazine at the Magazine Awards every year since. Even so, when you’re putting out a mag focused on innovation, there’s always room for improvement, so co-founder and publisher Vincent Heeringa, ex-editor and digital boffin Matt Cooney (the NBR’s Hazel Phillips takes over in mid July), the Image Centre team and DDB, which was responsible for the cover concept and the small ad campaign, gave the old girl a good going over. The latest issue features new sections, a new lay-out, new writers and a soon-to-be-relaunched daily business news service and tablet offering, all filtered through the sieve of innovation and ideas. And to celebrate the transformation, Idealog invited Sam Morgan to speak about some of his business ventures and the importance of media that inspires New Zealanders to try turning their ideas into income.
It’s been a fairly interesting period for the ladies mags recently. The old battle between ACP’s Woman’s Day and NZ Magazine’s Woman’s Weekly was spiced up considerably after a few big editorial switcheroos and a hearty debate about the pros and cons of brands signing exclusive deals with publishers. Now there’s even more excitement, with Woman’s Weekly undergoing its biggest change in more than a decade.
The soon to be relaunched Idealog magazine has ended its galactic search for a new editor, fixing on a local human whose name many of our dear StopPress readers will already know: NBR’s Hazel Phillips.
Most airlines produce complimentary inflight magazines. It’s a captive audience of bored, high-value readers and this perfect publishing storm means Air New Zealand’s Kia Ora is one of the country’s most expensive magazines to advertise in. Now the same idea is being employed on the ground, with premium cab company Corporate Cabs releasing its own glossy ‘in-car’ magazine called ME, ‘your guide to a luxury lifestyle’.
The stock imagery on the release might show people laughing with magazines, but there probably aren’t too many smiles in the print industry after several unexpected fieldwork issues affected the quality of readership data for Nielsen’s newly pimped out Consumer and Media Insights readership survey.
It’s been an unusually exciting few months in the world of magazine distribution, and the 2011 tit-for-tat has continued apace, after Netlink re-signed its agreement with Tangible Media, New Zealand’s largest independent magazine publisher.
Clients signing exclusive deals with media owners is an issue we’ve been hearing about a lot recently. And it seems to have come to a head, with ACP fronting up to the Commerce Commission to defend the practice and rumours abounding of editors not attending product launches and threatening to pull editorial endorsements for companies that have signed exclusive deals with competing publishers.
Two weeks out from the final entry deadline for the Magazine Awards, the Magazine Publishers Association has announced the pool of judges for this year’s edition. And my what an impressive line up of boffins, gurus and media trail-blazers it is.
The launch of the iPad and the expected ‘tablet revolution’ has put some wind in the sails of publishers who have been beaten down by the internet. But as everyone goes gaga over the new technology, it’s easy to forget that good old-fashioned paper-based magazines are still putting up a very good fight, with the most obvious trend from Nielsen’s latest readership figures and Audit Bureau of Circulation numbers being that Kiwi consumers are still willing to pay for good-quality specialist magazines.
It’s been four years in the making and now that the winds of economic change seem to be blowing softly, Ian Wishart’s publishing company Howling at the Moon is set to launch ‘Project X’, a “double header” monthly magazine called His/Hers that aims to cater to both sexes.
ACP Media has announced a restructuring plan to split the company’s operations into three publishing divisions, with Paul Dykzeul and newly appointed publishers Fiona Lyon and Lisa Ralph taking the reins.
There’s no denying that in this digital age, where, as the famous geek saying goes, ‘information wants to be free’, the print media industry has suffered. Many publications have died and some are only just holding on, but others have stuck to their guns, adapted where necessary and managed to maintain their audience—and their advertisers. And North & South, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in March, is one of those publications.
It calls itself “the world’s largest online newsstand” and “the world’s premier magazine reader for iPad” and now Zinio New Zealand is offering digital versions of some of the country’s top selling magazines for just 99c during December. And, to sweeten this Christmas deal, you can get up to 25 percent off annual subscriptions from selected titles and the first 500 users to register and purchase a selected subscription in December will also go into the draw to win an iPad. Even if you aren’t trendy enough to have an iPad, the mags on offer can still be read on boring old PCs and Macs. Check out the magazines on offer here.
Tangible Media announced that it would be making some changes to Good magazine back in October. Well, the makeover is now complete, with a fresh editorial direction from new editor Sarah Heeringa and a snazzy redesign by art director Sally Fullam. And, freegans rejoice, for the reluanch edition of the mag that goes on sale on Monday 6 December also comes with a free copy of very handy Good Shopping Handbook.