Men's Health - Industries case study

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?

Hearst, is an American mass media and business information conglomerate based in New York City.

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

Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, television channels, and television stations, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Houston Chronicle, Cosmopolitan and Esquire. It owns 50% of the A&E Networks cable network group and 20% of the sports cable network group ESPN, both in partnership with The Walt Disney Company.

3) What was the global revenue for Hearst Communications (in dollars) for the most recent year on record?

The global revenue for Hearst Communications was $10.8 billion (2016).

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?

Bicycling
Car and Driver
Cosmopolitan
Country Living
Dr. Oz THE GOOD LIFE
ELLE (US and UK)
Elle Decor
Esquire
Food Network Magazine
Good Housekeeping
Harper's Bazaar
HGTV Magazine
House Beautiful
Marie Claire
Men's Health
Nat Mags
O, The Oprah Magazine
Popular Mechanics
Prevention
Red
Redbook
Road & Track
Rodale's Organic Life
Runner's World
Seventeen
Town & Country
Veranda
Woman's Day
Women's Health

Hearst Books (in partnership with Sterling Publishing)


Read this Campaign interview with Hearst UK CEO James Wildman.

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

His aim is to grow share in print to stem decline, accelerate growth in digital, diversify revenues through events and partnerships, and look at acquisitions. That will be tough when consumer magazines are facing ad declines of more than 10% this year, money is flowing to Google and Facebook, and online influencers are chipping away at print brands.

6) What percentage ad decline are consumer magazines facing?

Over 10% decline.
7) What Wildman think about premium content and paywalls?

He thinks premium content should be commercialised. 

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

Hearst used diversification to grow the company by running more events each year and moving to larger activities involving the Esquire Town house and dealing merchandising with other magazines such as dealings with Olay and approval of beauty businesses to expand to wider audiences.

Read this Hearst UK press release for their late 2018 ABC figures.

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

Increasing circulation.

10) What does the press release say about recent successes associated with Men's Health?

The  MendTheGap campaign helps remove the tabou between mental health and physical health, along with Argos ' home exercise gear becoming one of their best-selling ranges of tools.


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?

Due to everything discovered online with ease, information and content are no longer exclusive, making it difficult for print magazines to make a profit.

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

Global news and political journals are growing revenues in different places owing to the evolving political climate, creating a market for outlets that teach readers around the world about present circumstances, and they appear to be more reliable than online media.

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

Tabloid and gossip magazines

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?

From 2010 to 2017, sales of the top 100 regularly purchased print magazines fell by 42 percent, and since the increase in digital media, it has been suggested that this decrease is around 55 percent from the original 30,8 million from 2000 to 2010.

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

65%

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

By creating a big internet presence and providing exclusive internet content, such as the numerous magazine stories on snapchat, they use multiple advertising possibilities as well as adjusting to the increase of social media.

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

Magazines still make some gain, through print magazines and a widespread online readership as well as a broad reach on social media, demonstrating that magazine content is still being consumed, now through a fresh platform. Magazines still make some profit, through print magazines and a widespread online readership as well as a broad reach on social media, showing that magazine content is still being consumed, now through a new platform.

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?

The examples given include brand agreements and content-related activities, as well as re-branding Men's Health as fitness / lifestyle and using it to promote and sell their branded fitness equipment.

9) What signs for optimism might there be for traditional magazine brands?

It is possible to adapt to internet services and social media, such as engaging with viewers through Twitter or Youtube that can generally have read through traditional copies.

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?

Men's Health has a big internet and print readership with printing online now ; it has succeeded as a long-established magazine by appearing as a staple in a evolving culture, still providing the same traditional opinions and articles.


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?

In order to make it recognizable, each profile utilizes the same profile images and descriptions as well as providing the same information across each page.

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

The Men's Health Daily Newsletter is an email newsletter that offers weight loss and health advice and news and workouts to its subscribers, as well as occasional promotions, helping Hearst UK create cash as it enables them to advertise their products and deals to their target audience, enabling them to create profit.

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?

The menu bar involves mental power, style, nutrition, fitness and workouts that suggest a more progressive masculinity path than years before

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?

The section ' Style ' involves present trends in fashion, grooming tips and suggestions for tools, and a variety of treatments depending on appearance.
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?

I think that the Men's Health website is attempting to create a digital crowd by enhancing the use of social media and online magazine ads ; this may disadvantage them as it may result in a absence of print promotion and cause physical sales to decline or become outdated, but the benefits include the fact that most individuals are now using their online media, so ' digital '

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.

Men's health utilizes enticing headlines of article and characteristics of celebrity / influencer to encourage individuals to click through, whether to read the article in full or for a particular piece of material displayed as clickbait.

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

In order to inspire click-throughs, the Twitter page utilizes celebrity pictures or videos, as well as sexually suggestive pictures or fitness pictures that demonstrate aspiration to many of the supporters.

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?

Much more appearance and physical fitness are focused on the Instagram page, targeting a more fitness-oriented audience, rather than the print version including elements of lifestyle.

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

I think it is essential to try to create a digital crowd, as it obviously appears to be the future for mass media, as print as a whole appears to be dying out, and fresh digital media such as blogs and youtube videos providing comparable content to print magazines, but interactive and free print magazines make printing magazines fundamentally pointless, while internet audiences are more likely to engage with the mens health online page.

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?

I believe that Men's Health has, for the most part, been effective in communicating with its target audience, as it has continued to promote and publish fitness and appearance articles for a wide variety of men, while also creating topical material for its target audience.