How Dennis Publishing created a new tech media brand
The publisher, home to popular titles including Men’s Fitness and This Week, spent £1.5m ($2.3m) in June to launch Alphr, its first hybrid consumer tech and B2B digital publication. It is aimed at high-level business decision-makers who are interested in emerging tech, with stories ranging from how technology is being used in automative, science and sports such as “How British Olympic rowers use technology to outflank their rivals” to more business-focused ones, like “Business Hacks: How to protect your website against hackers.”
That decision seems to be paying off. Alphr attracted just under 600,000 unique visitors in the UK in November and 1.5m globally, according to Google Analytics. Alpha’s audience falls into categories like mobile enthusiasts, technophiles, movie and TV lovers, and it uses Experian Hitwise to monitor how it performs in those areas compared to rivals. Dennis claims that the latest data shows that it outstripped Wired UK, Quartz and Tech Insider in November in terms of shares in UK visits across these categories.
Alphr grew out of the recognition that the lines between business-to-business and consumer technology are merging as areas of interest. And now, Dennis is centralizing its B2B and consumer titles’ resources to reflect that.
It’s creating a central product-reviews team for its consumer tech titles Know Your Mobile and Expert Reviews and B2B brands IT Pro, Channel Pro, Cloud Pro and Alphr. Dennis is also centralizing its approach to tech reviews. It has a lab that editorial staffers use to test new products, from smartphones, laptops, wearable tech and TVs to big appliances like fridges and washing machines. It’s all done under tightly controlled lighting and room-temperature conditions, using state-of-the-art software.
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