Three charity magazines launched in first half of 2007
Howard Lake | 27 September 2007 | News
The customer publishing industry saw over 120 new magazine launches and pitches between January and June 2007, according to information collated by the Association of Publishing Agencies (APA), the representative body for Customer Magazine publishers. Charity customer magazines accounted for 4% of the new business.
During the first half of this year the charity sector saw three new business wins and pitches, including a new magazine for The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture and a relaunched title for Age Concern.
The APA adds that many brands are increasing their expenditure on magazines, such as ‘extension titles’ like ‘Sky Movies’, ‘Sky Sport’ and ‘Sky Kids’. John Brown is also producing a new title for Waitrose, ‘Thirst’, which aims to promote the online and mail order service of Waitrose Wine Direct.
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Indeed, the APA says that customer magazines are “the second fastest growing channel behind online”.
The APA credits some of this new business activity to its own APA ASK, a free, new business consultancy that it launched earlier this year. It is offered to clients considering launching a customer magazine, such as the appointment of John Brown to publish a magazine for Royal Bank of Scotland and Natwest, which will be posted to over three million customers.
Julia Hutchison, COO, APA said: “We have witnessed a new launch, win or pitch every day for the last six months. These numbers reflect the recognition of consumer magazines as a valid and effective tool to reach customers, shareholders and members”.
Emily Travis, Head of Publishing, at Royal Mail, said: “Considering customer magazines engage readers for an average of 25 minutes it isn’t surprising to find that marketing directors are committing an ever increasing budget in this sector. They are an extremely powerful tool for companies looking to convey messages directly to their home or place of work, if posted.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.