Publishing industry

More than just magazines

Monkey Media, the publisher behind some of Australia’s biggest trade magazines does more than just print mags. The growth from creating magazines into full service marketing for businesses within the industry was a natural one. Utility Publisher, Chris Bland, said the marketing services branch of the business grew organically as advertisers began to ask if more could be done to help their brand. “I’d always known our journalists and editors had a unique set of skills, in that they could speak the language of the industry as well as craft this into interesting articles. The businesses who were advertising with us also realised this combination of skills is rare and demand for the marketing services grew from that,” said Chris. How did a magazine publisher become a marketing agency? Initially just doing some content writing for smaller clients, the agency side of Monkey Media has [...]

Monkey Media makes AFR Fast 100 for 2018

Hybrid publisher and marketing agency Monkey Media has featured on the Australian Financial Review’s Fast 100 2018 List. Monkey Media joined a number of other digital agencies on the list, but appears to be the only company with a traditional publishing arm to feature. Based in Melbourne, Monkey Media was founded in 2012 and has successfully grown traditional b2b publishing across a number of print and online titles including Utility, Energy and Infrastructure. It has combined the publishing side of the business with running industry events, and a content marketing agency specialising in those same niche areas. Monkey Media Founder Chris Bland said, "Monkey Media has always been a hybrid, and what's pleasing about our growth is that it has come from both the traditional publishing, and the digital and content marketing sides of the business. Having capabilities in one of these areas supports the [...]

Did Facebook just kill the internet with a print magazine?

In what at first glance looks like a sign that the world has gone mad, Facebook recently released a print magazine called Grow. Facebook tells us it’s a logical step that stemmed from business executive events it has been holding in the UK. We already knew that sometimes a screen just doesn’t cut it. The Grow magazine is apparently filled with in-depth interviews and spotlights on certain businesses and leaders. Facebook will not only send a free copy to those who attended their executive conferences, but make copies available in airport lounges and train stations. Despite initially calling it a magazine, Facebook has backtracked a little to claim it’s actually a marketing programme. If it looks like a magazine and has pages like a magazine; it’s a magazine. It also says so on the cover, but Facebook tells us it’s more of a “thought leadership [...]

Flushed with excitement

The staff at Monkey Media are united by the desire to write the best articles possible, whether about the state of the pump industry or an exciting new town planning tool. At some point in time, many of our journalists have worked across all four magazines: Utility, Pump Industry, Infrastructure and Energy. With this sort of exposure, they’re bound to learn a thing or two about the industry. You don’t find many journalism offices where an employee excitedly announces that Standards Australia have approved the development of a national standard that defines the criteria for material suitable for toilet flushing. Nor is it typical for anyone under thirty to declare a LinkedIn connection with the head of an electrical company to be more exciting than the Royal Wedding. Nevertheless, this is what goes on in the Monkey Media office. Our editorial team is genuinely excited [...]

Comparing apples and oranges: readers vs subscribers explained

When comparing magazines you might get offered conflicting figures on readers and subscribers. These are two very different things, so it’s important to understand the difference and make sure you’re comparing apples with apples, and oranges with oranges. This is because readers and subscribers are two different ways of looking at a publication’s circulation. Much like apples and oranges, when you know what the differences are you’ll be able to tell them apart and make sure you’re comparing the same thing. So let’s break down the differences between the two. A publication's readership represents the likely reach of a publication. This is usually calculated by contacting a representative sample of people and asking how many people read a single copy of a publication. Subscribers on the other hand represent the sale or distribution of one copy of a publication. Each subscriber represents one actual physical [...]

Catching clients in a funnel

As a business, the world of marketing can be daunting, with numerous channels and limited time and budgets. And if you’re not a marketing expert, it’s more confusing trying to understand how to best market a company for optimum results. The other day I was searching the internet for a specific business on Google and noticed that one of their competitors came up on top in AdWords. They must have been paying to use the company I was looking for’s name as one of their keywords. But I didn’t want to hear from them at this point. By this stage in the purchasing process I already knew what I wanted and the company that I wanted to buy from. It felt a bit like someone jumping out when I was already at the cash register and trying to force an alternative product into my hand. [...]

Are you a digital dinosaur?

The other day I was in cafe reading the latest issue of my favourite print magazine when a hipster pushed past three tables and brandished his 4th-generation, colour 60G iPod in my face as he imparted a nugget of wisdom that presumably had been causing too much pain to keep to himself: “Print is dead.” “I beg your pardon,” I replied, thinking I may have misheard “Prince” and the man was informing me, belatedly, of the pop star’s demise. “Print is dead; it’s all digital now,” he repeated, with smug certainty. He looked pointedly down at my magazine, and then, perhaps with a hint of disappointment that it didn’t blink out of existence upon his proclamation, stomped off as gracelessly as he had come. A woman sitting near me looked up from her morning paper and her iPhone-tethered laptop and shook her head sympathetically, saying, [...]

How to catch a magazine lying about circulation

In a hopelessly comma-heavy, coma-inducing and tediously legalistic way, numerous Australian laws state that it is illegal for a publication (or any company) to lie about the size of its audience (or anything, really) to get advertisers (or any kind of investment). But does that stop some of these publications? Nope. Suppose my friend, Kevin, has a mannequin repair business and is contacted by a publication, Missing Limb Monthly, claiming to have a circulation of 5200. Kevin has never heard of the publication (red flag!) and when he asks about an audit he is given the runaround (abort! abort!). Kevin is not sure but eventually they call back and give him a really good deal – a discount from the asking price of $4950 for a two-page ad down to $1500 – so he ends up advertising with them. But a few months down the [...]

Publishers need to stop whingeing and start adapting

If a new competitor enters the market and succeeds where other businesses are failing, they have two options: either close up shop or compete. The Victorian Government is considering a third option for taxi drivers who have been losing money to uber, placing a $2 levy on all rides to compensate taxi drivers for the disruption to the industry. I’d suggest a levy on all digital ads to bail out newspapers, but I’m worried the Government would actually take me seriously. Businesses don’t get bailouts if there’s someone doing something better than you. There isn’t one for publishers, and frankly, there shouldn’t be. While news reports signal the fall of the publishing industry, the fact is that all business is challenging. Have publishers actually been hit harder than anyone else? If you’re selling a car ride service and someone else comes along offering customers exactly [...]

You get what you pay for with free media

When people ask me whether using PR firms and press releases is effective, I generally tell them with free media you really get what you pay for. Which is to say: nothing. Say you’re throwing a 1st birthday for your daughter, and you want as many people as possible to attend and bring gifts. Rather than printing expensive invitations, you get a friend, Kevin, to go around to tell everyone about it (he’ll do it for a six-pack). Kevin goes out a tells a few people but given that it’s a fairly uninteresting one-year-old’s birthday and he tends to ramble, people brush him off. After many failed attempts, he gets a few people to listen and agree to tell others. Unfortunately, these particular people aren’t very popular. Still, Kevin comes back and says he’s spread the word. Job well done. But when the big day [...]