February saw ABC figures for July to December 2012 released, with results echoing a trend that has been increasingly apparent over recent years. With the development of more touch-points for readers, many are migrating from print to online, mobile and social networking sites to interact with brands – all of which might explain the consumer magazine sectors mainly negative results.
The women’s lifestyle sector recorded a loss of 3.8 per cent year on year, while the women’s weekly sector was down 13 per cent, seeing few titles with positive gains for the period or the year. Almost 50 per cent of all men’s lifestyle titles experienced a loss during the six-month period, with those suffering most being salacious titles such as Zoo and Nuts. However, we did witness unexpected declines from feel-good titles such as Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness, down 6.3 and 5.2 per cent respectively, which have previously posted positive results.
The home interest market has also posted losses, down2.2 per cent overall since the last year on year period. The biggest sales decrease hit Coast, which is down 21.4 per cent in its first full ABC period since it was bought by Kelsey Publishing Ltd back in May 2012. The TV listings sector has continued its decline, down 4.5 per cent year on year as people turn to online and digital TV listings. The only real positive sector being domestic news and affairs market which was up by 1.1 per cent, with titles like The Oldie saw growth of 7.4 year on year
Combined Circulation Charts reveal changing reader habits
Published by the PPA, the Combined Circulation Chart (CCC) is arguably the industry’s first attempt to acknowledge how digital migration is affecting circulation and readership numbers. The chart combines magazine print and digital editions with circulation figures for both counted both separately and together
The CCC is the result of changes in ABC bylaws changing the way media owners can report circulation data and helps offer a clearer picture of performance as a whole, cross platform. The results seem to suggest that while numbers are declining, this is more of a reflection on reader habits than brand performance.
MEC opinion: These latest ABCs are no surprise to the industry, as every six months we see overall reductions in circulation. However, this isn’t something we should worry about too much. Not only do consumer magazines still offer an effective route to target the right people in the right environment, but they also provide a natural stepping stone in the evolution of print media. Audiences are a long way from abandoning print media, but will most likely choose to consume via other digital means by looking at other branded touch-points.
As media planner and buyers, we need to start considering these other platforms as a channel to reach the audience we desire, while also ensuring we get value for money for our clients when negotiating prices for standard print versions. Most sectors have reported overall declines for print, but the main thing to take away from these latest numbers is how important it is to look at cross media solutions when attempting to deliver our communication objectives.