By Grahame on January 12th, 2012
As ever, trying to review and make sense of the previous year seems a monumental task. It’s not assisted by the sheer speed and intensity of work, and my predilection for red wine. So what were the highlights? The year seemed to be dominated by the three magazines we produced for Tesco. Setting up and launching two monthlies, ‘Food Magazine’ and ‘Home Magazine’ in the Autumn of 09’ was tough, but adding a weekly, ‘Your TV Week’, this January seemed to take the whole project onto a different sphere. I’m really proud of the work we did for Tesco; to launch three magazines in three months, and never miss a deadline or budget was some achievement. It wasn’t without pain, as the late night pizza bills highlighted! I guess the conclusion you can draw from this is a core team of publishing professionals, with a sprinkling of expert writers is capable of producing a magazine for any market.
Tesco wasn’t the only success. We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to broaden our offering to UK businessmen, through our magazine ‘Springboard’ produced for UK Trade & Investment. We have expanded the communications offering from the magazine, to include web content, iPad, Twitter and facebook; making this a real multi-medium communication project. Uncle Clint and the digital team created a wonderful website for Battens Disease Foundation, building on our expertise in the charity and medical sector.
We also seem to have carved a niche for ourselves in the event publishing sphere. After producing the Royal Society Centenary and Lord Mayor’s Show Guide, we have been commissioned to produce the Scott Centenary programme, commemorating Scott’s 1912 expedition. Maybe the call from Buck Palace for 2012 is overdue?
I could also mention how we have worked with Kia Motors (UK) Ltd. to market its range to the business buyer via ‘Fleet eureka’ magazine, or the new projects we have created for British Heart Foundation, but that would be bragging.
You cannot ignore the tough economic conditions we have to work in, but what has struck me about 2011 is the desire of our marketing partners and clients to broaden and deepen their relationships with current and future customers. There are still some great marketing ideas and initiatives going round.
What has also struck me is the constancy of customer magazines to deliver brand messages, and how magazines are still welcomed in customers’ homes and lives. Other media still struggle to deliver this level of trust and intimacy.