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 180,000 now. However, it dropped to 160,000 in 2016 so has successfully reversed the decline in recent years.

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?

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

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?

Read this Campaign interview with Hearst UK CEO James Wildman.

5) What is James Wildman's plan for Hearst UK?

6) What percentage ad decline are consumer magazines facing?

7) What Wildman think about premium content and paywalls?

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

Read this Hearst UK press release for their late 2017 ABC figures.

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

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


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?

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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?

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. 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?

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

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?

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?

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?

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.

7) How does the Twitter feed uses images and video content alongside text and links?

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?

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

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?

There is a lot of work here but you'll have plenty of time to do it (including the whole of half-term). 

Homework due date: Friday 8 June.