Bauer Media Increasing Frequency on Four Titles…and Ads are Sold Out

Let’s coin a new phrase. We got really tired of hearing “print is dead” a few years ago. And I think it’s almost time to move past the “print is alive” mantra that is all over the airways lately.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m ecstatic about the resurgence of print as a vital marketing channel, and love that so many brands – large and small – are rediscovering its value. I just think print deserves something more than a simple “it’s alive.”

Let’s go with #PrintRocks. Always has. Always will. And for some incredibly important reasons that digital is not able to disrupt.

The proof is everywhere, including in the rapidly evolving magazine industry. As Emma Silva writing in Folio: notes, one big name publisher is increasing their frequencies for four of the popular titles.

“In 2018, [Bauer Media Group] is not only continuing its print editions, but also increasing frequencies for four of its titles, with Life & Style slated to rise from 51 to 53 issues, and Closer, In Touch and Woman’s World from 52 to 53 issues,” Silva writes.

It’s simple business math, according to Bauer Media CEO Steven Kotok.

“Bauer earns a positive margin on every issue from single-copy sales,”  Kotok told Folio:. “So the more issues we publish, the more money we earn, unlike an ad-dependent model in which fewer ads each year are spread over the same number of issues.”

He credits the brand’s “absolute focus on the reader” as their competitive edge in the newsstand. They have a carefully protected ratio of ad pages to editorial and have no problem selling them out, thanks to the highly-engaged readers who purchase the magazines.

So they are adding new issues, and also offering two additional pages of ads in their holiday issues.

“Woman’s World zealously guards our reader-favorable ad/edit ratio by strictly limiting ad pages of every issue at just seven,” Kotok explains. “We sell out all seven of those ad pages every single week, all year long. So with the extra edit pages providing additional reader value, it was a no-brainer to offer more opportunities for advertisers to reach our audience when we could do so without diluting the ad/edit ratio that is key to the reader experience and drives industry-leading engagement with both the edit and the ads.”

For publishers like Bauer that truly embrace the audience-first approach to publishing, print is making good sense and good revenue.  And it makes a good hashtag, too. #PrintRocks