Creating a lifestyle company, the Rodale way

Being a company that was formed on the idea that people could improve their health and happiness by doing things and taking action, in a time where such an idea was controversial, Rodale continues to push forward with innovative ideas on how people can change their lives for the better.

Schulman explained that all of Rodale’s publications are completely multi-platform, they have printed magazines and digital magazines, but they also have a large variety of books and DVDs and a significant amount of live events and special interest publications along with many more.

Rodale is also a strong contender internationally explained Schulman, with publication in most of North and South America, Australia and a large portion of Europe. To help develop their international presence, Rodale has started to add brands to existing markets to turn these existing markets into diversified platforms.

Schulman said that this is an exciting time for the health and wellness industry because there has been explosive growth in the healthy life market. Annually, customers spend US$2tn on health related equipment or courses and classes.

Rodale publications offer health information to consumers who range from heavily mindful of health to those who are not very mindful of health and exercise. Schulman said the reason for this is because they hope to motivate people and show them that even small changes to diet or exercise can have large positive consequences on overall health. In publishing content that appeals to less active consumers this expands the market by appealing to people from all walks of life.

Schulman spoke about the different ways in which they present their information to consumers.

“We still believe in print,” said Schulman. “We are still big print company. We think print still works very well for consumers and advertisers.”

However Schulman said that they consider themselves a mobility-oriented company.

“We’re helping people move and take action. So people are not sitting at their desk studying health and wellness they’re out doing things.”

Schulman explained their Rodale U website which has paid courses people can buy, these course cover all areas of health and wellness.

“We feel it’s a way to prove and show that consumers will pay for great content,” said Schulman. “If it meets their needs and helps them accomplish their goals”

Schulman also spoke about their video platform, which he described as “YouTube for health videos”. This video site would allow consumers to watch videos based on their chosen topics such as food or exercise and allow them to easily navigate through videos that they’re interested in.

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