hearst uk

Hearst Publishing UK

Hearst UK publishes over 20 magazine titles including Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Inside Soap and more.

Hearst UK brands reach 30% of UK women and 25% of UK men. They sell over 4m magazines a month and have 17m UK digital unique users.

Hearst UK has also diversified into events and 

other licensed brand extensions

 (e.g. Esquire Townhouse pop up members club, 

Country Living sofas and Men’s Health home

 gym equipment).

Hearst publishing
Research Hearst publishing by looking at the Hearst UK website and the Wikipedia entry for parent company and conglomerate Hearst Communications.

1) Hearst UK is part of Hearst Communications. What is Hearst Communications and where is it based?

Heart Communications is an American mass media and business information conglomerate based in New York City, NY.

2) What media industries and brands make up the Hearst Communications conglomerate?

Hearst owns a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, television channels and television stations. Hearst UK publishes 21 brands including ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping.
3) What was the global revenue for Hearst Communications (in dollars) for the most recent year on record?
US$10.8 billion (2016)

4) Focusing on Hearst UK, what other magazine brands are part of Hearst UK publishing? How many UK people do they reach in print and online?

Hearst UK publishes 21 brands including ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping. Our brands reach over one in three UK women and one in four UK men every month, enabling consumers to get more out of life and our trusted content engages them wherever they are.

Read this Campaign interview with Hearst UK CEO James Wildman.
5) What is James Wildman's plan for Hearst UK?

"His aim is to grow share in print to stem decline, accelerate growth in digital, diversify revenues through events and partnerships, and look at acquisitions. That will be tough when consumer magazines are facing ad declines of more than 10% this year, money is flowing to Google and Facebook, and online influencers are chipping away at print brands."

6) What percentage ad decline are consumer magazines facing?

Consumer magazines are facing ad declines of more than 10% this year(2017).

7) What Wildman think about premium content and paywalls?

"In Wildman’s revised set-up, there are two content divisions – the "luxury, young women and health and wellbeing titles" and the "lifestyle & homes brands" – and an agency team with four "hubs" to serve the main media agency groups. Wildman reorganised ad sales in a similar fashion at Trinity Mirror. Clustering the titles will help collaboration editorially and commercially, he says, reeling off examples such as a Good Housekeeping recipe for gin and tonic cake that was repurposed as an online story for Cosmopolitan."
"Wildman admits "the headwinds are tough" for online advertising. "I think we should charge for our premium content," he says, citing "the most extraordinary recipe archive" at Good Housekeeping as an example. But he says no paywalls are planned yet."

8) How has Hearst used diversification to grow the business?

"Diversification looks the best way to grow. Hearst runs about 100 events a year and he plans to focus on fewer, bigger events such as Esquire Town House. Merchandising deals such as a Country Living range of sofas with DFS have been a money-spinner. Hearst also wants to make more of Good Housekeeping’s respected accreditation team, which tests products. Its endorsements can drive sales for products such as Procter & Gamble’s Olay, which subsequently led to the magazine taking part in a TV ad."

9) Is Men's Health increasing or decreasing in circulation?

Continuing to increase - Men’s Health is up 1% pop with a combined ABC of 175,683 to retain its position as the number one monthly Men’s Lifestyle magazine.

10) What explanation is provided by Hearst for the success of their magazines in a tough print market?

James Wildman, CEO of Hearst UK, says: “Our trusted print magazines can engage and inspire readers in a way that other media struggles to do. We proudly circulate over four million magazines a month, and I’m thrilled to see such a robust set of numbers. We have invested heavily in print and to be rewarded with market leaders in each of our monthly competitive sectors, alongside six period-on-period increases is a fantastic achievement."

The impact of digital media on the print magazines industry

Read this BBC website feature on the print magazine industry and then this Guardian feature on the demise of NME magazine and print magazines in general.
1) Why are traditional print magazines struggling?

Traditional print magazines are struggling due to the increase in popularity and relevance of digital media - "the shift to digital media is threatening to kill the British love affair with print magazines" due to "issues facing the wider consumer magazine market".

2) What genre of magazines is currently bucking the trend and increasing sales? Why is this?

"The latest ABC figures, released this week, show that sales of certain titles are actually going up. News and current affairs magazines are becoming more popular - but celebrity, gossip and fashion publications are still struggling." because "With the likes of Brexit and Trump's election, the unsettled nature of society drives readers to seek out factual news and understand the effects on the economy for themselves from reputable titles that have an authoritative voice."

3) In contrast, what magazine genres are struggling? Give examples of magazines that have declined or stopped printing altogether.

• Look - weekly sales down 35% year on year to 59,390
• Now - down 20.8% to 86,838
• Closer - down 19.8% to 196,126
• Heat - down 16.6% to 120,175
• Grazia - down 13.4% to 110,031

4) Look at the Guardian article in detail. What statistics are provided to demonstrate the decline in the print magazines industry between 2010 and 2017? What about the percentage decline from 2000?

"Sales of the top 100 actively purchased print titles in the UK – those that readers buy or subscribe to – fell by 42% from 23.8m to 13.9m between 2010 and 2017. Since the start of the internet era in 2000, the decline is 55% from 30.8m, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations."

5) What percentage of ad revenue is taken by Google and Facebook?

"Google and Facebook account for 65% of the $6.5bn (£4.7bn) UK digital display ad market. They are also strangling attempts by magazine and newspaper publishers to build their digital ad revenues by taking about 90% of all new spend."

6) What strategies can magazine publishers use to remain in business in the digital age?

Not so much a strategie but more of an advantage print publishers have to digital : "With issues such as fake news, we are seeing the pendulum swing back because of two things: trust and context".
"The way some quality newspapers and magazines have been able to survive in recent years is by introducing paywalls on their online content."
"As newspapers and magazines are finding out, if you can publish writing that is consistently and significantly better than what can be found online, people will pay."

7) Why does the Hearst UK CEO James Wildman suggest that the magazine industry is not dead?

“Are magazines dead? No,” says James Wildman, the UK chief executive of Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping owner Hearst. “We sell nearly 5m a month, that’s hardly dead, and we have 20 million unique UK users online a month, and more than double that on social media. - They still make sales and have acquired a large social media platform.

9) What signs for optimism might there be for traditional magazine brands?

“With issues such as fake news, we are seeing the pendulum swing back because of two things: trust and context,” says Wildman. “They are two things that went out of fashion in recent years as media agencies pivoted to buying audiences but weren’t worried about where ads were running. Now we are seeing readers and advertisers leaning back towards trusted brands.”

10) How does Men's Health fit into this picture? Why do you think Men's Health has remained successful in the digital age? Do you think Men's Health will continue to publish for many years to come? Why?

Men's Health have loyal consumers who value the brand and their productions. The advertising and promotion in Men's Health magazine has helped them to remain successful.

Visit the Men's Health website, Twitter feed and Instagram. You may need to complete this part of the case study at home if it is blocked in school.
1) What similarities do you notice between the website and the print edition of the magazine?

Both promote the same message about health and fitness. They also both use similar models and 'masculine figures' to promote the brand - they tend to use well known celebrity figures to entice their audience. 

2) What is the Men's Health daily newsletter and what does it include? How does this help Hearst UK to make money?

The Men's Health daily newsletter is a subscription sent to consumer's email - it is a refined, update on Men's Health giving out information, it also gives out information about Hearst, discounts, promotions and special offers. The more people that sign up to the Men's Health daily newsletter, the more people are likely to invest/ find interest in the magazine behind the information they are being sent. The fact that it is daily means the consumers are constantly being reminded about Men's Health publications as well as Hearst.

3) Look at the menu bar along the top of the website. What are the menu options? What does this suggest about the representation of men and masculinity associated with Men's Health?

The menu options are: 'Home', 'Your Summer Body', 'Workouts', 'Muscle', 'Fitness', 'Nutrition', 'Weight Loss', 'Style', 'Watches'. The main focus is health and fitness based around physique and men's body which suggests hypermasculinity, bringing most attention to creating this big strong muscular build. It also includes style and watches which reinforces the idea of metrosexuality and men taking more concern and pride in their appearance. 

4) Choose one of the menu sections and write a list of the features in that area of the website. What target audience are these features aimed at?

Muscle: 'Bulk up tips', 'Six-pack tips', 'Supplements', 'Celebrity muscle' .
These features are aimed at those who may already be in shape and want to gain muscle and create a strong build. The category 'celebrity muscle' reinforces the idea that Men's Health promote a specific appearance and lifestyle and would consider their target audience to be aspirers of these things. 

5) Do you think the Men's Health website is trying to sell the print version or simply build a digital audience? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a 'digital first' strategy?

I think that the creation of the Men's Health website was with the intent to sell the print version and to build a digital audience in order to widen their consumers. A disadvantage of this digital strategy is that Men's Health may rake up more digital consumers rather than consumers of their print publications which may put their magazine at risk and revenue into decline. An advantage of Men's Health on digital media is that they will diversify their audience creating a larger range of consumer intake - this may lead to more consumers of their print publications.

6) How does the Men's Health Twitter feed use 'clickbait' to try and get users to click through to the magazine's website? Give examples of tweets that are designed to get the audience to click through.

On their twitter all of their posts contain a link to their website, taking them to the topic they were promoting on twitter but only through the Men's Health website to generate more views and consumer circulation. 

8) What does the Men's Health Instagram suggest about the Men's Health brand? Is this appealing to a similar audience to the print version of the magazine?

The Men's Health Instagram suggests that the brand promotes courage, strength, healthy lifestyle and power -it does this mainly through its use of popular and well known masculine figures in society along with motivational quotes and the promotion of healthy living such as healthy diet and healthy mind. This is appealing to a similar audience to the print version of the magazine because it promotes the same ideas and ideologies, especially highlighting the idea of health and masculinity. 

9) Is the Men's Health social media designed to sell the print magazine or build a digital audience? Why?

The Men's Health social media is mainly designed with the intention to build a digital audience as this will broaden their consumer demographics, causing an increase of views and circulation - this would bring more light to the brand as a whole and may even benefit the print publication of the brand. 

10) Evaluate the success of the Men's Health brand online. Does it successfully communicate with its target audience? Will the digital platforms eventually replace the print magazine completely?

I think that the Men's Health brand has a successful online platform, promoting the same values as they do in their print magazine. The digital platform of Men's Health is successful with its target audience as it consists of the same content that they would access through the print publication. The digital platform may eventually replace the print magazine completely due to the fact that as the digital age is becoming more recognised and popular, more people are taking interest in using it as it essentially make things easier to access and quicker to access.