Psychologies president reveals brand’s growth success at FIPP Ibero-American Conference

Arnaud de Saint-Simon, president, Psychologies Group, France, explained how the brand has become successful by expanding across platforms, at the 4th FIPP Ibero-American Magazine Media Conference today (30 October) in San José, Costa Rica.

Saint-Simon puts the brand extension success down to many things, including the power and size of its circulation, quality of target audience and timeless content. It goes without saying that the brand’s international network is hugely successful and a big brand expander, but the innovation really lies in the other things the brand is doing, by exploiting its uniqueness and trusted content.

The extension of the print edition of Psychologies began when the brand launched a travel-sized edition, and offered editorial gifts, free supplements and cover mounts.  A one-shot edition was also created by Psychologies, which was “large, extravagant and advertising driven”, according to Saint-Simon. The goal? To attract luxury advertisers and encourage them to buy space in the monthly print edition.

Online, Psychologies is spending time engaging its community on the website, and Facebook (50,000 fans, increasing by 2,000 every week). Where apps are concerned, Saint-Simon says the tablet editon has a “small, but growing” circulation. “It’s mostly a subscription driver”, he said. The brand’s extensions also include e-learning, which is a “large and growing market” according to Saint-Simon, as well as its events.

In closing, Saint-Simon gave his advice on how to extend your brand:

• “Only extend when your brand is mature enough. The best revenue drivers still remain circulation and advertising.”
• “Set a brand platform – values and specificities of the brand, clarify the limits.”
• “Set clear priorities. What are they? Leveraging revenues? Enhancing editorial offer? Raising notoriety?”
• “Don’t be afraid of making mistakes – keep challenging your projects and revising the priorities.”
• “Set an organisation. There is a need for talent within an organisation, get close to the web and convince editors to participate.”