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10 January 2012
Modest global ad spend growth, tough retail conditions and the shift to online media use will challenge magazine companies in 2012. But magazines are set to fare better than newspapers, according to ZenithOptimedia’s December global forecast update, due to the difficulty of replicating the magazine reading experience online. ZO reports that, although the ad share for magazines and newspapers has shown declines in the last few years, “magazines are suffering less than newspapers, because the experience of reading a magazine is less easy to replicate online, and because they do not rely so much on the timely delivery of information, where the internet has a big advantage over newspapers.”
ZenithOptimedia places Australia at number 8 in the top 10 ad markets, just behind France and ahead of Canada, with ad expenditure of nearly $US11.5b in 2011, rising to just over $US13b in 2014. They forecast magazines to have a share of global ad spend of 9.4 per cent in 2011 and 8.9 per cent in 2012.
But the report highlights the relatively strong position of some advertisers “to invest cash reserves to win market share and stimulate consumer demand”. It continues, “this follows the lessons of the last downturn ... that downturns are a great time to expand market share”.
Recent estimates of total Australian ad spend growth in 2011 by Starcom MediaVest peg it at around 2 per cent, down on earlier forecasts of 4+ per cent.
Continuing soft retail conditions in 2012 are predicted for the Australian market, posing further challenges for consumer magazine publishers, with latest data showing a rise of just 0.3 per cent in retail sales for November. (Source: The Australian)
However, at least two significant consumer magazine launches, announced by ACP Magazines late last year, are planned for 2012, ELLE (in conjunction with Hearst International) and Women’s Fitness (published in the UK by Dennis Publishing).
2012 will also see the consolidation of major changes at two of Australia’s three leading magazine companies. From 1 January, new ACP Magazines CEO, Matthew Stanton, replaces Phil Scott who left the company after 10 years. Scott will continue to consult to ACP on its launch program.
And News Magazines’ repositioning as NewsLifeMedia in November will see it focussing on six special interest categories with magazine and online offerings tailored to specific segments. “In repositioning as NewsLifeMedia, we are harnessing the authority of our print brands and the power of our digital platforms, with an unwavering focus on audience and advertiser engagement.” said Chief Executive, Sandra Hook.