There’s Strong Value for Print if You Do it in the Right Way
Sixty-five experts from the printing and publishing industries arrived in Brussels on 1st February to attend Intergraf and Smithers Pira’s Magazine Seminar 2018.
By bringing together a diverse group of high-level speakers and industry experts from across Europe and the print value chain, Magazine Seminar 2018 helped to shape the future of the magazine market. Intergraf and Smithers Pira’s event was supported by the European Magazine Media Association (EMMA), the European Rotogravure Association (ERA) and the Nordic Offset Printing Association (NOPA). It was sponsored by manroland web systems.
As well as the seminar, participants attended a welcome cocktail, conference dinner and visit to the European Commission. The Commission also welcomed delegates to Brussels, with a commencement speech given by Anna Herold, Head of Unit at DG CONNECT (Audiovisual & Media Services Policy) and former Cabinet Member of Günther Oettinger when he was European Commissioner responsible for Digital Economy and Society.
Participants in Magazine Seminar 2018 took away an exclusive copy of Smithers Pira’s European Magazine Market Report, which presented key industry statistics. Among other data, the report highlighted what is already known to those working in this industry: that the magazine market as a whole is in decline. However, “just a bit of the print market is gone; the niche stuff is still there”, explained James Hewes, President and CEO of FIPP, the network for global media. The market was still €8.3 billion in 2017 and continues to offer exciting opportunities for companies that are able to evolve and improve their offer during this period of flux.
The Economist Magazine, one of the industry’s foremost success stories, was presented as a case study by Nicolas Sennegon, Executive Vice-President and Chief Revenue Officer at The Economist Group. He highlighted the importance of strong content and brand – be that in print or on other platforms – suggesting that “we now need to put print as a part of the portfolio, not at the core”. Collin Müller, Head of Strategic Development at Hubert Burda Media, Germany’s largest magazine publisher, elaborated that “magazines are not the product – the content is”.
