MQT: Magazines Find Strength In Online

Specialist magazines have greater strength online than mass publications, according to Stevie Spring, chief executive of Future plc who was speaking at MediaTel Group’s annual Media Question Time last night.

“I think that strong-ish brands offline are the ones that will be really strong online,” she said. “Because in many respects the specialist magazines have a much greater strength online than any of the mass publications.

“What will carry on for as long as I’m going to worry about it is a strong presence for strong brands delivering what readers want, and if you look at what magazines are being successful in the UK, at the moment they’re the ones delivering what the consumers want, frankly on whatever platform they choose to absorb the communication.”

Fellow panelist Richard Eyre, chairman of the IAB, spoke of the challenges facing magazines as convergence takes hold and publications are forced to adapt to the changing media landscape, particularly with regard to the internet.

“The risk for the magazine business, as indeed for any traditional media business, is the risk of the disruptive new entrant,” said Eyre. “That just happens to bring together enthusiasts in any particular sector more effectively than a newsstand brand can and does better things for them and manages that community better, and helps them interact with one another better.

“I don’t say that magazines are doomed but I do think that the jury’s out on whether they migrate online, and it’s only the ones that migrate online effectively and create those communities and manage those communities well that will survive.”

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