Magazines: Industries & Men's Health

Monday, June 10, 2019

Magazines: Industries & Men's Health

To explore the Industries context for Men's Health we need to study Hearst publishing and look at the impact of digital media on the print magazine industry.

This means interrogating why the internet has had such a devastating effect on certain print brands and why some other magazines are continuing to thrive in the digital age. We also need to spend some time on the Men's Health website and consider the similarities and differences to what we've found in the print version of the magazine.

Notes from the lessons

Men's Health UK is published by Hearst Publishing UK, a subsidiary of Hearst Communications.

Hearst Communications is an American media conglomerate based in New York that is over 130 years old and is still owned by the Hearst family.

It owns a range of media and business information brands including American newspapers, magazines (e.g. Cosmopolitan), half of the A&E Network TV channel and 20% of US sports broadcaster ESPN.

It employs 20,000 people and its 2016 revenue was $10.8 billion.

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).

 

The impact of digital media on the magazine industry

Some key questions:

• Why has digital media (the internet) had such a devasting effect on the magazines industry?
• When did YOU last buy a magazine?
• Who IS buying magazines?

Suggestions for SWOT analysis of the impact of digital media on magazines:

• Strengths: Magazine brands are well established to diversify online, audiences already know and like them.
• Weaknesses: Print publishers do not have the expertise or knowledge of digital – it is a very different medium.
• Opportunities: Magazines can find new audiences online.
• Threats: Audiences will stop buying paper products and expect everything online for free.

Digital media has had a devastating effect on the print magazines industry. 

• Print sales fell by 42% from 23.8m to 13.9m between 2010 and 2017. 
• Back in 2000, sales were over 30m – signalling a 55% decline in just 17 years.
• Advertising in consumer magazines has fallen from £512m in 2010 to £250m in 2017. 
• Google and Facebook now dominate online advertising (they account for 65% of the UK digital ad market).

As a result of these changes, many magazines have closed.

Digital media: Hearst and Men’s Health

Hearst UK has posted losses in recent years due to the decline in the magazines market.

Men’s Health has also declined in recent years from a circulation high of 228,000 in 2008 to 146,000 now. However, it has moved up and down in recent years (dropping to 160,000 in 2016 before going up to 180,000 in 2018) which shows decline is not necessarily inevitable.


Men's Health - Industries case study blog tasks

This is a comprehensive case study covering a range of Industry contexts. It is divided into three sections: Hearst publishing, the impact of digital media and Men's Health online platforms. You will need to allow for at least two hours to work through the following tasks.

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?

Hearst Communications, often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American mass media and business information conglomerate based in New York City.

2) What media industries and brands make up the Hearst Communications conglomerate?
Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, television channels, and television stations. It owns 50% of the A&E Networks cable network group and 20% of the sports cable network group ESPN, both in partnership with The Walt Disney Company.

3) What was the global revenue for Hearst Communications (in dollars) for the most recent year on record?

The global revenue for Hearst Communication in 2016 was $10.8 billion.

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 Magazines UK comprises 19 magazines and 26 websites including media super brands, Cosmopolitan, Digital Spy, ELLE, Esquire, Good Housekeeping and Harper's Bazaar.

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. 

6) What percentage ad decline are consumer magazines facing?
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.


7) What Wildman think about premium content and paywalls?
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.


Read this Hearst UK press release for their late 2018 ABC figures.

9) Is Men's Health increasing or decreasing in circulation?
Cosmopolitan continues to be the highest circulating monthly young women’s glossy. Its combined ABC shows a -20.55% pop decrease, predominantly due to a price increase from £1 to £2.


10) What does the press release say about recent successes associated with Men's Health?
Men’s Health is up 0.51% pop with a combined ABC of 146,785. Men’s Health’s #MendTheGap campaign continues to help redress the disparity between attitudes toward mental and physical health, whilst its range of home gym equipment is the best-selling premium gym range in Argos
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?
Magazine sales have generally been falling since the day the inventor of the internet said: "Hey, why don't I invent the internet?", due to the rise of digital media, traditional print magazines have been struggling.

2) What genre of magazines is currently bucking the trend and increasing sales? Why is this?
The economist and the Spectator. The titles that seem to be benefiting from this Trump bump include The Economist and The Spectator. Between January and June this year both sold more per issue than they did in the same period in 2016.

3) In contrast, what magazine genres are struggling? Give examples of magazines that have declined or stopped printing altogether.
Also losing sales: Star (down 14.3%) Vanity Fair (10%), Marie Claire (6%), OK!(3.5%) and Vogue (3%).

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 top 100 magazines have declined by more than half in the UK and Ireland since 2000. Sales of top 100 actively purchased print titles (those that readers buy or subscribe to), millions.

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.

6) What strategies can magazine publishers use to remain in business in the digital age?
Have live magazine events or have websites advertising these magazines. This will increase readership and circulation.

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

Wildman says for magazines to survive they must build a brand beyond the core print publication.

“It is overly simplistic to say it is just digital versus print,” he says. “Magazine businesses are much more diverse.

8) What examples from the Guardian article are provided to demonstrate how magazines are finding new revenue streams? What is the Men's Health branding used for?
Nevertheless, mounting pressure on the traditional print magazine business, which still drives most revenues, is forcing consolidation as publishers seek scale to survive.

9) What signs for optimism might there be for traditional magazine brands?
 magazine publishers, like their newspaper counterparts, sense an opportunity as brand safety and measurement issues have prompted advertisers to closely scrutinise the once unquestionable value of investing in digital media such as YouTube and Facebook.

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 fits in with this image because I think that the demand for ' men's health in society ' is still at its peak, whether it's staying fit or attempting to lose weight, also the introduction to more delicate subjects has meant that men's health has remained effective in the digital era.


The Men's Health website and social media

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?
The cover star can be viewed as the masculinity epitome. The lines of the cover appear to be very essential. Due to their fame and fanbase, famous celebrities were used.

2) What is the Men's Health daily newsletter and what does it include? How does this help Hearst UK to make money?
Daily dose of health news, advice on weight loss and routine workout. To motivate individuals to subscribe to the magazine, to make Hearst subscription cash.

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?
All menu choices focus strongly on men's physical appearance, which demonstrates that Men's Health still represents masculinity in a very hegemonic manner, for example.

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?
Under the watches menu, there are two articles showing their audience budget watches along with three papers recommending long-lasting watches, which indicates that Men's Health watches may be more middle-class as these articles recommend which watches are most worth it for the cost, as well as recommending budget watches.

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?
They try to make their sophisticated group of viewers as it would allow them to concentrate on a wider audience. Either way, people probably won't read it because they like the print type because that's what they're known for.

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.
one system is to manufacture a brand past their center print distribution. 

7) How does the Twitter feed uses images and video content alongside text and links?
Men's Health uses images of men with the ideal type of body and videos along with motivational captions to get their audience to aim to be in the best possible shape.

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?
Instagram from Men's Health suggests they're inspiring others and helping them find self-confidence.

9) Is the Men's Health social media designed to sell the print magazine or build a digital audience? Why?
It is intended to create a digital crowd so that if something bad happens they can still have a backup, making them a brand that is more stable than any other.

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?
The target audience when online advertising is more of a younger audience, subverting from the initial target audience of the print magazine as it was more of an elderly target audience

There is a lot of work here but you'll have plenty of time to do it (particularly with exams on at present). 

Magazines: Magazine cover production learner response

1) Add your finished magazine cover as a JPEG image.

2) Type up your feedback from your teacher. If you've received this by email, you can copy and paste it across - WWW and EBIs.

WWW:

 This is a very good front cover that is not far off the professional standards we’re looking for. The image is effective and feels like a Men’s Health cover shot. The language of the cover lines also feels appropriate for Men’s Health too and the colour scheme is consistent across the cover which is another nice design touch. With a few additional elements, this could approach the professional standards required for A/A*. 

EBI:

 This is close to an A grade – it’s just the overall design finish that falls slightly short of professional standards. You are also missing a few conventions – date, price – and the text feels crammed in at points (e.g. ‘Nothing beats pure muscle’ in the top left). It’s good to see you’ve used a drop shadow to make the text more legible in places but I wonder if the layout of the cover lines could be a little more professional (e.g. there’s a lot of empty space across the bottom of the magazine cover whereas it feels squeezed in other places).

3) Consider your mark against the mark scheme above. What are the strengths of your production based on the the mark scheme? Think about magazine cover conventions and the media language techniques you have used to communicate with your audience (e.g. mise-en-scene, camera shot etc.)

My magazine communicates clear meaning due to the clear understanding of my cover lines 

4) Look at the mark scheme again. What can you do to move your mark higher and, if required, move up a level?

By making the Poster original including all the cover lines. This is because the brief highlighted that it must be completely a new idea for it to reach an A grade or A*

5) What would be one piece of advice you would give a student about to start the same magazine cover project you have just completed?

Read the brief properly and fully understand what the poster needs to consist as it may loose marks if one aspect is not involved. 

Year 12 Media PPE: Learner response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you do not need to write mark/grade if you do not wish to).
WWW:
There is a lot to build on here... you've clearly revised some of the theories (e.g gender) and many of your answers are written in impressive depth. Where you lose marks, exam technique is a factor and this is something you can work on
EBI:
Postmodernism a clear weakness: Q4 seriously holds you back. 
The essay questions are weaker: you need to plan and write clear topic sentences that use words from the question. 
Written English + handwriting

2) Read the mark scheme for this exam carefully, paying particular attention to the 'indicative content' for each question. This is some of the best learning you can do all year as it gives you an idea of what the exam board is expecting. For your LR blogpost, identify ONE point you could have added for the first three questions in Section A:

Q1 additional point/theory: 
Intertextuality: cover creates intertextual reference to King Kong stories/movies of 1950s
which engages audience using narrative.

Q2 additional point/theory/CSP reference: 
Propp’s character types reflect traditional gender roles in wider culture – active male hero,
passive female heroine (‘damsel in distress’).

Q3 additional point/theory/CSP reference: 
Jean Kilbourne’s work on the representation of women in advertising can be found in the
Score hair cream advert. This presents women as objects and reinforces many of the
negative, reductive stereotypes seen with regards to women in advertising from the 1950s

until at least the 1990s (and arguably to this day).

3) The final question in Section A was a 20-mark essay that required an extended response containing a coherent argument. Using the suggested content in the mark scheme, write an essay plan containing five paragraphs/points that answer the music video and postmodernism question.
paragraph 1:
-Billie Jean uses polaroid photos and moving billboards to create a ‘screen within a screen’

postmodern effect.
-Repeated intertextual references to old movie genres, and indeed a blurring of genres (film

noir, Hollywood musical etc.) could be seen as postmodern aspects to the music video.
Paragraph 2:
-Classic 1950s film noir detective narrative combined with light-up pavements

much more in keeping with 1980s aesthetic.
Paragraph 3
-The reflective, floating black square in Letter to the Free arguably offers an example of
hyperreality.
Paragraph 4
-Common educates audiences about slavery, mass incarceration and Amendment 13 through the song and video. But is this an accurate representation of history ?
Paragraph 5 
Common letter of the free doesn't include all aspects of postmodernism since there is no pastiche of an original movie or 

4) Section B began with two questions testing your knowledge of industry terminology. Make sure you know the answers to these (get the answers from the mark scheme if you have to):

Two benefits of vertical integration:
Increases revenue and profit 
Lower costs could lead to lower prices for consumers 

Definition of diversification:
The process of expanding business opportunities through additional market potential of an existing product.

5) Question 8 (TV industry) was arguably the hardest question on the exam. Write a new paragraph that answers the question referring to either Capital or Deutschland 83 and the global TV industry. Use the indicative content in the mark scheme to help you.
Dueschland 83 was created in germany and set in germany, however focused on drawing international audiences. Therefore, they were able to attract european audience but got recoginition from germany as they believe there was a lack of success due to it not being entirely based on the cold war. Dueschland 83 was distributed on many platforms suchas netflix and walter presents. Netflix is a good platform for dueschland 83 to be streamed on as it allows the audience to bindge watch Dueschland.