A successful youth magazine - and by successful we refer to a magazine that is commercially viable - requires a clear strategy in terms of circulation and editorial.
From a circulation perspective, it is essential for publishers to deliver sustained and credible growth on an issue-by-issue basis. It is often too easy for a publisher to ramp up circulation growth through excessive print orders (not financially sustainable), or through use of cover mount gimmicks and trade exchanges (not reflective of real demand for the product).
Marketers deserve to have full information about who is buying their product and to have confidence that an average ABC figure reflects issue-by-issue sales over a period, undistorted by cover mount gifts or trade exchanges. To this end, publishers should also be clear about the frequency of their publications and should state upfront how this has impacted on sales for an ABC. How much easier is it to claim a higher ABC than competitors in a six-month period when the number of issues over this period is less than six?
Publishers may well make use of cover mounts or gifts to support their editorial and offer a special incentive to readers - however, these should be carefully considered and employed only when enhancing the brand and brand message.
Marketers should be wary of placing their spend in a title that achieves a high circulation because of the gift on its covers and should question whether the magazine and/or marketing message was at all read by the magazine purchaser.
In terms of editorial, it is essential for magazines - youth titles in particular - to act responsibly as it is essential for brands that are marketing in youth titles to ensure that they place their brands in the right media context.
Youth magazines operate in an impressionable headspace and their power as a medium should not be underestimated. It is one thing to espouse a spirit of "coolness" by evoking foul language or promoting lifestyle choices like drinking. It is quite another to serve as a source of inspiration and advice for young people without resorting to the loudest voice on the schoolyard. And really, is the loudest or most obnoxious voice in the schoolyard the one that determines the spending power of a generation?
Marketers talking to young people often assume that advertising in one magazine gives them access to the entire teen market. Our research on this issue shows that this is categorically not the case and that crossover readership amongst teen titles is surprisingly low. Successful youth magazine publishers must target a specific teen market - one which has purchasing power if their business models depend on advertising - and deliver to this market.
One final comment, which we're often asked in terms of the successful publishing and marketing to the youth market, and that applies to race: youth titles cannot consider themselves successful - nor can they be effective tools to marketers - if they fail to reflect the demographics of South Africa's young society. It's a society that views itself as multicultural and colour-blind in its diversity.
No publisher is successful if his or her view of "cool" fails to reflect the new South Africa.
Sam Sneddon is publisher of Seventeen magazine.
