Magazines: Men's Health Industry case study
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. Then, answer the following questions:
1) Hearst UK is part of Hearst Communications. What is Hearst Communications and where is it based?
2) What media industries and brands make up the Hearst Communications conglomerate?
Asda Magazine, best, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Men's Health, HouseBeautiful, Esquire, Red, prima, Women's Health, InsideSoap and many more.
3) What was the global revenue for Hearst Communications (in dollars) for the most recent year on record?
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?
ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Women's Health and Asda Magazine.
Now read this Campaign interview with Hearst UK CEO James Wildman and answer the following questions:
1) 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.
2) What percentage ad decline are consumer magazines facing?
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.
3) What does 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.
4) How has Hearst used diversification to grow the business?
1) Is Men's Health increasing or decreasing in circulation?
Men's Health is increasing in circulation.
2) 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. Now answer the following questions:
1) Why are traditional print magazines struggling?
Print sales have been declining for several years as readers find their content online.
2) What genre of magazines is currently bucking the trend and increasing sales? Why is this?
News and current affairs magazines are becoming more popular because they are related to real and present affairs and this drives readers to seek out factual news and understand the effects on the economy for themselves.
3) In contrast, what magazine genres are struggling? Give examples of magazines that have declined or stopped printing altogether.
Celebrity, gossip and fashion publications are still struggling such as Vogue, Vanity Fair OK!.
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?
Wildman says for magazines to survive they must build a brand beyond the core print publication.Luxury titles such as Vogue and Tatler, where the advertising is often a big reason readers buy them, are proving resilient.
7) Why does the Hearst UK CEO James Wildman suggest that the magazine industry is not dead?
Because 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?
“Endorsement, accreditation and licensing are increasingly lucrative. DFS sell House Beautiful and Country Living (named after titles) range sofas. And the bestselling premium home gym at Argos is branded after our Men’s Health magazine.”
9) What signs for optimism might there be for traditional magazine 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?
The Men's Health website and social media
Visit the Men's Health website, Twitter feed and Instagram. Answer the following questions:
1) What similarities do you notice between the website and the print edition of the magazine?
Both the website and the print edition focus on self-improvement and feature athletic broad men. They both also feature many healthy recipes for example post-workout shakes which can also be linked to the fitness aspect of the magazine.2) What is the Men's Health daily newsletter and what does it include? How does this help Hearst UK to make money?
It showcases bits of their other magazines and this helps to widen readership.
3) Look at the Men's Health website menu bar. What are the menu options? What does this suggest about the representation of men and masculinity associated with Men's Health?
Fitness, building muscle, style, nutrition, weight loss, gym wear, adventure, health and workouts. All of these things link to what an athletic healthy man is represented to be.
4) Choose one of the menu sections (e.g. Mental Strength) and write a list of the features in that area of the website. What target audience are these features aimed at?
Style, Grooming and Watches.
In style they feature the best jackets for every taste and budget.
In grooming they feature 6 products to protect your skin against pollution.
In watches they feature 5 investment watches built to last forever.
These features are aimed at 25+ aged men.
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 believe Men's Health is slowly building a digital audience as technology advances. Accessing Men's Health magazines online proves to be convenient for most so to cater towards most readers, I believe Men's Health is building a digital audience.
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.
The Men's Health Twitter feed use clickbait to try and get users to click through to the magazine's website. An example of this is the tweet that states "The only magazine that improves every single area of your life, every month." This is clearly over exaggerated as there are many magazines in the industry that are just as good or even better. Plus a magazine cannot improve every single area of your life and quite frankly it's a bit of a lie. Another example of when clickbait is used is "Build rock-hard arms and six-pack abs with the exercises that fueled Nanjiani's Eternals superhero transformation."
7) How does the Twitter feed uses images and video content alongside text and links?
The Twitter feed uses images and videos that attract readers to click and buy the products that they feature. They also use images that readers want to see for example, if it is an article related to fitness, then they may use images of ripped and highly athletic men as this can be seen as most people's goal when it comes to fitness and exercise.
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 Men's Health brand really promotes the notion of self improvement and fitness. Most of the post feature fitness transformations and muscular men for example Dwayne Johnson. This is appealing to a similar audience to the print version of the magazine as it caters towards men who are very much interested in working out however, as their instagram account is available to a younger audience, it may also entice a younger audience.
9) Is the Men's Health social media designed to sell the print magazine or build a digital audience? Why?
Yes, because they post a lot of photos of their print magazine and also because they started off by creating print magazines which has proved to be very successful.
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 believe that the brand does not successfully communicate with its target audience. This is because online, they mainly only post about fitness and really neglect their other areas such as nutrition, style and technology and also, they post content for older, more richer men which results in neglecting the younger target audience. Yes, the rate at which technology is advancing at today, digital platforms will eventually replace the print magazine completely maybe in a decade or so and that applies to all magazines in the print industry.
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. Then, answer the following questions:
1) Hearst UK is part of Hearst Communications. What is Hearst Communications and where is it based?
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.
Asda Magazine, best, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Men's Health, HouseBeautiful, Esquire, Red, prima, Women's Health, InsideSoap and many more.
3) What was the global revenue for Hearst Communications (in dollars) for the most recent year on record?
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?
ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Women's Health and Asda Magazine.
Now read this Campaign interview with Hearst UK CEO James Wildman and answer the following questions:
1) 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.
2) What percentage ad decline are consumer magazines facing?
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.
3) What does 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.
4) How has Hearst used diversification to grow the business?
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.
Finally, read this Hearst UK press release for their late 2018 ABC figures and answer two simple questions:1) Is Men's Health increasing or decreasing in circulation?
Men's Health is increasing in circulation.
2) 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. Now answer the following questions:
1) Why are traditional print magazines struggling?
Print sales have been declining for several years as readers find their content online.
2) What genre of magazines is currently bucking the trend and increasing sales? Why is this?
News and current affairs magazines are becoming more popular because they are related to real and present affairs and this drives readers to seek out factual news and understand the effects on the economy for themselves.
3) In contrast, what magazine genres are struggling? Give examples of magazines that have declined or stopped printing altogether.
Celebrity, gossip and fashion publications are still struggling such as Vogue, Vanity Fair OK!.
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?
Wildman says for magazines to survive they must build a brand beyond the core print publication.Luxury titles such as Vogue and Tatler, where the advertising is often a big reason readers buy them, are proving resilient.
7) Why does the Hearst UK CEO James Wildman suggest that the magazine industry is not dead?
Because 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?
“Endorsement, accreditation and licensing are increasingly lucrative. DFS sell House Beautiful and Country Living (named after titles) range sofas. And the bestselling premium home gym at Argos is branded after our Men’s Health magazine.”
9) What signs for optimism might there be for traditional magazine brands?
Despite the gloom, 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. “With issues such as fake news, we are seeing the pendulum swing back because of two things: trust and context,” says Wildman.
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?
The Men's Health website and social media
Visit the Men's Health website, Twitter feed and Instagram. Answer the following questions:
1) What similarities do you notice between the website and the print edition of the magazine?
Both the website and the print edition focus on self-improvement and feature athletic broad men. They both also feature many healthy recipes for example post-workout shakes which can also be linked to the fitness aspect of the magazine.2) What is the Men's Health daily newsletter and what does it include? How does this help Hearst UK to make money?
It showcases bits of their other magazines and this helps to widen readership.
3) Look at the Men's Health website menu bar. What are the menu options? What does this suggest about the representation of men and masculinity associated with Men's Health?
Fitness, building muscle, style, nutrition, weight loss, gym wear, adventure, health and workouts. All of these things link to what an athletic healthy man is represented to be.
4) Choose one of the menu sections (e.g. Mental Strength) and write a list of the features in that area of the website. What target audience are these features aimed at?
Style, Grooming and Watches.
In style they feature the best jackets for every taste and budget.
In grooming they feature 6 products to protect your skin against pollution.
In watches they feature 5 investment watches built to last forever.
These features are aimed at 25+ aged men.
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 believe Men's Health is slowly building a digital audience as technology advances. Accessing Men's Health magazines online proves to be convenient for most so to cater towards most readers, I believe Men's Health is building a digital audience.
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.
The Men's Health Twitter feed use clickbait to try and get users to click through to the magazine's website. An example of this is the tweet that states "The only magazine that improves every single area of your life, every month." This is clearly over exaggerated as there are many magazines in the industry that are just as good or even better. Plus a magazine cannot improve every single area of your life and quite frankly it's a bit of a lie. Another example of when clickbait is used is "Build rock-hard arms and six-pack abs with the exercises that fueled Nanjiani's Eternals superhero transformation."
7) How does the Twitter feed uses images and video content alongside text and links?
The Twitter feed uses images and videos that attract readers to click and buy the products that they feature. They also use images that readers want to see for example, if it is an article related to fitness, then they may use images of ripped and highly athletic men as this can be seen as most people's goal when it comes to fitness and exercise.
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 Men's Health brand really promotes the notion of self improvement and fitness. Most of the post feature fitness transformations and muscular men for example Dwayne Johnson. This is appealing to a similar audience to the print version of the magazine as it caters towards men who are very much interested in working out however, as their instagram account is available to a younger audience, it may also entice a younger audience.
9) Is the Men's Health social media designed to sell the print magazine or build a digital audience? Why?
Yes, because they post a lot of photos of their print magazine and also because they started off by creating print magazines which has proved to be very successful.
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 believe that the brand does not successfully communicate with its target audience. This is because online, they mainly only post about fitness and really neglect their other areas such as nutrition, style and technology and also, they post content for older, more richer men which results in neglecting the younger target audience. Yes, the rate at which technology is advancing at today, digital platforms will eventually replace the print magazine completely maybe in a decade or so and that applies to all magazines in the print industry.
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