According to the latest ABC, the magazine’s total circulation has increased 46% year on year and 28.7% quarter on quarter, bringing the new total ABC circulation to 17,691, which is higher than Visi, Elle Decoration, Habitat, Southern Vines, Longevity, Prestige, South Africa Delux, Mango Juice, SLOW and Private Edition. Good Taste’s paid circulation above 50% has also increased quarter on quarter by 76.8+.
On top of this, print is not Good Taste’s only platform showing growth. GT recently launched their ABC audited email newsletter which goes to 47k+ email subscribers twice a month; GT’s web audience has also grown by 251% in six months (from February to July 2017).
“We have three groups of readers,” says Kari Collard, Editor of Good Taste. “Our Wine Club members (who receive the magazine as part of their Wine Club membership), our readers (who purchase the magazine off the shelf from selected retail stores), and then we have our wine farm and hotel distribution (reaching international and local guests, wine farm owners, winemakers, sommeliers and marketing managers).
When it comes to being Wine-of-the-Month Club’s custom publication, Good Taste is an integral part of the business. In each issue the magazine showcases the club’s winning wines that have been blind-tasted by the panel of wine judges. Each week Wine-of-the-Month Club invites a panel of 11 independent expert wine judges to taste and score all the wines blind in a neutral environment at their premises. Blind wine tasting ensures no judge is influenced by a label or the beauty of a wine farm or warmth of the host. Only the very best scoring wines are put in each wine pack independent of price. Good Taste includes valuable information on each of these wines along with wine news, happenings and features.
Good Taste’s bulk subscriptions have also seen a substantial increase. Liza Weschta says, “Our strategy is to target high-net-worth professional men and women all around the world, which is why the magazine can be seen in premium locations such as airport lounges, bespoke and boutique hotels and guest houses and wine farms. You can find Good Taste at places such as: The Oyster Box, 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa, The Cape Grace Hotel, The Table Bay Hotel, POD, Leeu Estates, Anthonij Rupert, Tokara, Simonsig, Steenberg, Capestone to name a few.
On the advertising side of things Good Taste is also on the incline. Good Taste has been executing tailor-made surveys to their own unique database of economically active income earners. Based on the learnings from these surveys, Good Taste can pinpoint their audience and their exact spending habits, helping advertisers looking for an ROI reach a unique South African audience with big spending power.
