Eastern star: How Aerospace Knowledge Press is appealing to younger readers with its latest launch
Launched in 2022, Aerospace Knowledge (Youth) has proven to be quite the star attraction in China. The science magazine aimed at 6 to18 year-old-readers has taken off like a rocket, the first edition selling 58,000 copies. The publication’s annual printing volume in 2022 was 696,000, bringing in revenue of over 10 million RMB per year (US $1.6 million).
“The magazine combines science with imagination to attract China’s next generation and has rapidly risen to be one of the top youth scientific publications in the country,” says Yu Min, President and Editor-and-Chief of Aerospace Knowledge Press, one of the speakers at this year’s FIPP World Media Congress.
“Aeropace Knowledge (Youth) provides original Chinese content which offers a global perspective, along with illustrations, in an easy-to-read scientific format and adopts to the reading habits of modern teenagers.”
The title’s rise is the latest big win for Aeropace Knowledge Press, the publishers behind Aerospace Knowledge, one of the most popular science magazines in China, which was first published in 1958 and has a circulation of more than 100 million.
Crucial to the success of Aeropace Knowledge (Youth) is the wealth of expert knowledge it has among those creating their magazines. “The editorial board features some of the most respected scientists in the field of aerospace,” Min points out.
“And our writing teams comprises aerospace academics, professors from prestigious universities as well as experts in aeronautics, astronautics and astronomy. High-quality images are also key, and each issue of Aeropace Knowledge (Youth) has more than 200 high-quality photos to go with the brief, engaging text, which all cultivate a passion for reading among teenagers.”
The images in the magazine include spectacular photos of helicopters, spaceships and aircraft and computer-generated 3D models of aircraft carriers.
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Making science alive
Given the younger audience, digital illustrations also play a pivotal role in Aeropace Knowledge (Youth). A story about an air traffic management system, for instance, is accompanied by an illustration of the flightpath of a plane.
“By studying the illustrated flight path of an airplane, teenagers can learn who controls the aircraft in the sky and the traffic rules they follow,” says Min.
“Illustrations make science alive and easy to understand. They reduce reading difficulty, bridge the gap between scientists and teenagers, and enable teenagers to grasp scientific concepts.”
Each issue also features hands-on projects and experiments to enhance teenagers’ practical skills, along with small assignments designed to arouse children’s curiosity and cultivate their exploration spirit.
“Children can utilise easy-to-find materials from daily life to create various small experiments,” says Min. “Each magazine also contains two expanded polystyrene boards that can be assembled into models such as an airplane, ship, rocket or satellite.”
Aeropace Knowledge (Youth) further taps into a younger audience through a character called Xiao Wen, who usually appears as an astronaut in articles, videos, on products and at various offline events.
And while Aeropace Knowledge still has their traditional postal distribution channel, the publisher is pushing the boundaries of e-commerce by adopting innovative new media promotional strategies. It has partnered with ZAZHIPU – China’s largest online magazine-selling platform – and has become one of its highly-recommended publications.
ZAZHIPU spans all of China’s main ecommerce platforms, attracting an average of 3.3 million active visitors monthly, resulting in 11.5 million clicks. The brand also cleverly uses around 2,000 influencers across social media platforms, including doing live-streamed e-commerce sessions on Tik Tok.
The building blocks Aeropace Knowledge has put in place has worked a treat. “Aeropace Knowledge (Youth) was an instant hit,” says Min. “In 2022 it caused a sensation in the Chinese publication industry, ranking ninth on the list of science magazine according to revenue in the first year and receiving several accolades.
“More importantly, Aerospace Knowledge (Youth) has been extremely popular not only among teenagers, but also their parents.”
