Back for another year, NZ Marketing has selected the best of the bunch in the media business. While the editorial team put their heads together to figure out who and what came out on top for the judges’ choice, our avid StopPress readers with their fingers on the pulse cast 11,293 votes to decide the People’s Choice winners.
It was late last year news broke that Fairfax had sold the Cuisine magazine masthead to editor Kelli Brett and advertising manager Vanessa Stranan. Now, as the pair find their feet in the new year, we speak to Brett about the decision to buy the magazine and what the pair have planned for it. Plus, we look at how food magazines are faring in the digital world.
Last night, under a collection of aviation aircraft in the MOTAT Aviation Hall, the magazine industry gathered to celebrate the achievements of its products and people at the 2017 Magazine Media Awards. Among the winners, it was Bauer that collected the most certificates, while Tangible Media and Fairfax followed.
With media planning an increasingly overwhelming task due to there being so many sources of audiences, The Magazine Bureau is offering a solution for clients and media agencies by bringing together magazines and their audiences to create a range of reachable demographics.
Kellie Northwood, CEO, TSA Limited explores the growing strength of magazines not just for the reader but also brands who are wanting to cut-through the noisy digital world.
As the New Yorker’s editor David Remnick recently said, readers don’t want dumber, cheaper versions of legacy media. So how are magazines embracing new channels, creating new revenue streams, developing new products, working creatively with advertisers and generally showing an elasticity in their view of what media is, all while keeping their souls in tact? Jihee Junn looks at some of the best local examples.
While magazines were once just a regular dose of escapism, entertainment or inspiration in printed form, the rise of the internet and the need for new sources of revenue has meant publishers are connecting with their audiences in a range of different ways. Erin McKenzie takes a look at how some of the local players – and the Magazine Publishers Association – are embracing that shift.
Post. Click. Share. Repeat. At a time when filling the digital pipes with ‘content’ – no matter the quality – seems to be the go-to strategy for many brands and publishers, Damien Venuto looks at whether there’s a reaction against too much information from enlightened marketers and agencies and more value being placed on the skills that are required to craft high-quality media.
TV is apparently dead. And as corollary a magazine about TV should already have a strong onset of rigor mortis. However, in a great display of resilience in a fragmented media world, The TV Guide is holding strong as New Zealand’s number one selling magazine. We go back to the magazine’s beginning and talk to editor Julie Eley to see how it’s secured itself as the armchair companion to many New Zealanders.
With thousands of influencers offering millions of followers on social media, why would brands even bother working with magazines or magazine editors anymore? As Erin McKenzie discovers, magazine brands also tap into the cult of personality, but manage to do it with an air of distinction, a higher level of integrity and a greater understanding of their audience.
Daisies refracted in water droplets attached to a common wasp, an uninterested kayaker walking past a burning house, and a hose crudely fastened to a car were just some of the mesmerising images featured in last night’s edition of the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year competition.
Last night, well-dressed folk from the magazine industry made their way (in freezing cold wind) to the Auckland War Memorial Museum to attend the 2016 Magazine Media Awards, where celebrations took place over a gala dinner to honour the best storytelling and management across print, online and events, or as the Magazine Publishers Association would say, ‘beyond the page’.
Bauer’s haul of 52 finalists spots saw the publisher top the pile, followed by Tangible Media on 28, Kowhai Media on 13 and Fairfax Media on nine.
It’s no secret that media agency folks look forward to the Beacons every year. In many ways, the celebration of great work is the culmination of a year of late nights, impossible deadlines and the daily grind. The only problem is that it’s over in a flash, and the 365-day cycle starts all over again. Well, Bauer has this year developed a bespoke magazine that will let attendees hold onto the moment for a little longer.
Despite great circulation growth and increasing subscriber numbers Healthy Life Media’s Green Ideas magazine has had to cease production this year. And this isn’t the only magazine to do so in recent times. Quintessential Wellington publication FishHead also called it a day, and this news comes as Fairfax sells on another one of its own magazines. We chat to Healthy Life Media publisher Pip Mehrtens about the end of Green Ideas and what it takes to succeed in the magazine industry when audiences are becoming increasingly fragmented, and opting for digital over print.
Simply You Living, Bride & Groom, Habitat, NZ Life & Leisure and Wild Tomato were the major winners in the latest magazine figures, while The Red Bulletin, Trade a Boat, Cleo, Boating New Zealand and FishHead had tough years. PLUS: we look at spending trends of the top ten magazine advertisers.
StopPress’ stablemate Idealog has gone crazy! It’s slashing prices! Everything must go! To celebrate its 10th birthday, you can get a full year subscription to the magazine for only $10. That’s 365 days of food for your business brain and all for the same price as actual food like one 750g jar of Nutella, or two $5 flat whites, or four $2.50 ice creams, or $10 chips.
Fairfax is putting most of its energy into growing its online audience, and the latest numbers show that’s working. But a new TVC advertising subscriptions to its stable of magazines suggests the media company still sees some dollar signs in print.
Last night, the rain didn’t stop the New Zealand Geographic team from distributing the awards for the Photographer of the Year competition. This is, after all, an annual event celebrating a group of people who during their careers have grown accustomed to weathering the elements—and a bit of water falling from the heavens didn’t seem to bug anyone in attendance. This year there were more than 5,800 entries, which the New Zealand Geographic team eventually whittled down to 28 finalists, from which nine winners were chosen.
This month Idealog magazine published its 60th edition. A decade in publishing is an achievement worth celebrating—especially this decade—but co-founder Vincent Heeringa knows things need to keep changing if it’s to last another ten. Here’s his manifesto for the next ten years—and he believes the rules also apply to media in general.
After around five years as editor of Metro, Simon Wilson recently sent his final issue off to the printers and stepped into a new role where he aims to do more writing and less wrangling. And he signed off with an editorial that editors—and advertisers—could all learn something from.
In the first instalment of a series that showcases how some of the winners from this year’s Magazine Media Awards are adapting to the modern era and helping advertisers grow their businesses, Ben Fahy talks to Kate Coughlan, editor of the supreme magazine of the year, NZ Life & Leisure.
In an ongoing series, StopPress talks to a range of newsmakers to find out how those trying to shine lights into dark places are keeping their own lights on and whether commercial realities are leading to editorial compromise. Next up, Ben Fahy talks with Bauer Media’s chief executive Paul Dykzeul.
Last night, laptops across the magazine industry were closed a little earlier than usual as journalists, publishers, editors and sales people headed to Shed 10 to attend the 2015 Magazine Media Awards to celebrate another year of storytelling across print and online. 44 awards were handed out over the course of the event, and it was a particularly good night for NZ Life & Leisure and StopPress/NZ Marketing’s Ben Fahy.
Early this year, the MPA announced that it was making some big changes to its annual awards, with a new name, a few new categories and a new judging process. Those changes have led to an almost 40 percent increase in entry numbers and as far as the finalists go, Bauer is on top with 46, followed by Tangible Media with 25, Fairfax with 19 and Kowhai Media with 10.
It’s no secret Fairfax is reorienting its business around digital—and, specifically, mobile—with Stuff as the central pillar of that strategy. And while managing director Simon Tong recently told us in a fairly candid interview that the magazine division had largely been left to its own devices, its main magazine brands have now been swallowed by that content-hungry beast stuff.co.nz.
Magazine brands have long embraced the wagon wheel approach and interact with their audiences through a range of different mediums, whether it’s print, online or events. And while there’s no doubt print is declining in popularity in some segments, it is still working well in others and Mindfood has followed up its launch of its Style brand extension last year with a new one called Decor that’s aimed at the big, growing but quite cluttered home and living market.
Theresa Gattung was made chief executive of Telecom at the very young age of 37 and, after eight years in that stressful role, she took a well-earned break in 2007. Now she’s putting her efforts—and her capital—into a much smaller business, food delivery service My Food Bag. And with a 40 percent stake in a company that’s expecting revenues of $50 million this year, she obviously knows how to pick ‘em. Here’s how the self-proclaimed uncool entrepreneur spends her media time.
As Sky TV continues to embrace digital marketing, it has brought the curtain down on Sky Sport – The Magazine.
The magazine industry, like all other ‘traditional’ media, is adapting to a very different environment. And so are the magazine industry’s awards, with The Magazine Publishers Association adding new categories, simplifying entry, changing the judging process and renaming it the Magazine Media Awards for 2015.