Magazine media: Burda’s 360 degree experiences

Presenting three of their brands, Frances Evans and Olaf Holtzhauser (pictured) from Hubert Burda Media gave the audience at the Worldwide Media Marketplace in London inspiring insight into special interest, 360 degree magazine media models.
 
Hubert Burda Media has subsidiaries in 17 markets, with Brazil and China to be added this year. WMM is FIPP’s marketplace where those in cross-border publishing or with an interest in cross-border expansion meet to discuss potential licensing and/or syndication deals, as well as meet with technology providers enabling multi-channel publishing.
 
Evans and Holtzhauser presented three brands: BurdaStyle, a heritage brand, LandLove and Prestige.
 
Originally launched as Burda Moden in 1950 by Aenne Burda, BrandStyle taps into the DIY fashion and sewing community. Holtzhauser explained how local success prompted the brand’s internationalisation, starting with Russia in 1987 (the first Western magazine to be published in what was then the Soviet Union).
 
Originally mass-market, the brand has been transformed to become a focused, special interest brand with multiple offerings over and above the print brand. A look at the changing revenue model tells the story. Whereas in 2010 revenue came mostly from print sales, 2012 saw an increase in “specials” (through several BurdaStyle line extensions), e-commerce and merchandise, as well as the addition of events as a revenue stream to contribute to overall growth. Holtzhauser showed projections indicating come 2015 less than half the brand’s revenue will come from print sales.
 
LandLove celebrates a love for gardening, the countryside, and fauna and flora. Evans and Holtzhauser both explained just how big a sector this has become, with bi-monthly copy sales of over 475,000. “It is difficult to describe exactly what is behind this (trend),” Holtzhauser said, “but it has certainly struck a cord with people. On the one hand LandLove is aspirational (for people who wish to return to a more natural lifestyle, while on the other it is very practical for those already in that lifestyle.” As with BrandStyle, LandLove offers readers a 360 degree opportunity to indulge in their passion and share the experience.
 
According to Evans, Prestige aims at “the affluent and influential”, the “Who’s Who of affluent society.” This reflects Burda Media’s position in Asia, where it is considered a high-end, luxury publisher. Prestige has a controlled circulation, with digital and face-to-face spin-offs to complete the Prestige model. On Prestige events, Holtzhauser explained how Prestige readers can afford “basically anything they desire, so we put together experiences they cannot easily buy elsewhere.” Burda plans to expand the Prestige brand to several markets, including outside Asia.