Brands with cover-star ambition

Every so often, new magazine titles emerge that add a new dimension to the sector; but the entrants that are truly punching above their weight are increasingly being powered by brands.

The latest ABC figures show that customer magazines are booming, accounting for seven out of the top ten most distributed titles. Sky Magazine is top of the pile with just over 7 million readers.

No longer is the customer magazine sector populated by glorified catalogues – countless brands, such as NatWest, John Lewis, Asos, Waitrose, Virgin, Orange and Red Bull, are pouring resources into producing customer magazines with content and presentation to rival that of established consumer glossies. Supermarket Asda claims its magazine contributes £260m each year to its business (see case study).

Branded magazines have become the vehicle to enhance consumer loyalty. Paul Porral, head of brand creative at John Lewis, says its magazine allows the retailer to spend time with the customer and build up a relationship with them that it wouldn’t be able to do in store. “It allows us to have a different customer relationship – we see it as a 25-minute conversation with our customers. It allows us to be braver and have an opinion, which usually our brand wouldn’t have.”

Positioning brands as lifestyle commentators is more likely to engage consumers than dishing out money-off vouchers, argues Julia Hutchison, chief operating officer of the customer magazine industry body, the Association of Publishing Agencies (APA).

In an exclusive column for Marketing Week (www.marketingweek.co.uk/brandedcontent), she wrote that “instead of merely giving consumers money-off vouchers and deals, retailers [are] in a position to maintain their customers’ lifestyle. With marketers now looking for innovative ways to promote their brand, this industry has stood out from the crowd as an effective, flexible and engaging medium.”

A magazine model such as Asda’s can be cost neutral to the client, with advertising funding the production and content costs, explains Geri Richards, chief executive of Publicis Blueprint, which prints the Asda magazine.

You are telling your customers you understand them and are talking to them in the right tone

Geri Richards, Publicis Blueprint

Publishing agencies like Publicis and John Brown, which has a roster of clients that includes John Lewis and the Royal Bank of Scotland (including NatWest), maintain that brands can recover their costs through a mix of advertising within the magazines and through the increased sales and loyalty they produce.

John Brown group managing director Dean Fitzpatrick claims that a successful customer magazine production can be linked to increased purchase rates. “Brands have an opportunity to get across messages that they wouldn’t with direct marketing or other traditional advertising channels, and consumers don’t feel like they are being advertised to,” he explains.

Fitzpatrick cites user statistics from its RBS titles: 14% of people who read the magazine acquire a product and 46% say they feel more valued after receiving the magazine. John Lewis has also noted that products featured in the magazine sell much quicker.

Customer publishing is taking inspiration from paid-for titles. The NatWest Sense magazine could be mistaken for magazines such as Elle or Marie Claire – Fitzpatrick says the brand has indeed taken inspiration from these iconic titles. The summer issue featured actress Rachel Weisz on the cover, with contributions from heavyweight names such as food writer Nigel Slater and Sunday Times Travel Magazine editor Ed Grenby.

Although these big names sound pricey to commission, Fitzpatrick says spending money on writers that attract attention is a worthwhile investment. And it’s not as costly as you might think. He says: “The creation of the content is not the most expensive element of the magazine. The fact you have Toby Young or Miranda Sawyer or Mark Frith writing for you is not a huge part of the overall cost, and it brings an additional credence to the fact you are getting good content from people who know what they are talking about.”

You also need high quality staff who can ensure a balance between brand messages and relevant content, Fitzpatrick adds. “People who know what stories brands have to tell that might not be obvious even to the brand itself.”

Brands are tapping into this new demand for content, says Publicis Blueprint’s Richards. She says: “Clients are realising that you can engage with your customer to a greater extent through editorial content because you are telling them you understand them, and are talking to them in the right tone at the right time.”

Magazines can be used to encourage people to visit the brand online and take part in social media discussions, suggests Maxine Briggs, head of publishingtmw and former editor of Sainsbury’s magazine. “Because the internet is awash with content, a lot of companies are realising that to get their customers’ attention they have to do something different, that conveys value for money and is almost like a luxury product,” she says. And when consumers go online, their behaviour provides insight that can be fed back into the magazine.

One magazine Briggs works on is for Flora Pro Activ spread, and while some may struggle with the concept of talking about one product each issue, she says it is about “extrapolating” the brand’s values into consumers’ lifestyles.

She explains: “The content is about 60% product driven, where we talk about cholesterol, and recipes featuring Flora Pro Activ that are written by nutritionists. Then around 40% is lifestyle, such as gardening and ways to keep fit. So it’s not just any content we have thrown in there, it has been highly considered.”

While using online multimedia to complement magazine content remains the immediate future of customer magazines, brands shouldn’t be rushing to invest in content for technology such as the iPad just yet, Brigg advises. “The iPad will help brands reach more consumers but they shouldn’t get too carried away as not that many people have one yet. If I were a brand marketer, I would wait for a greater uptake before investing too much in this.”

But it doesn’t mean brands shouldn’t keep their eye on iPad developments and which consumers are adopting the technology as part of their daily life, she adds.

And even if the iPad reaches saturation point, printed customer magazines will still

have their place, she says, as consumers will continue to value them as “free gifts” from their favourite brands.