How can print B2B magazines remain relevant in the digital era? A Case Study of a UK-Based Publication
The advent of digital technologies has created both opportunities and challenges for business-to-business (B2B) print publishers. The 2010s saw printed publications taking on a reduced role in B2B media. With the start of a new decade, international facing print titles have received an additional blow due to COVID-19, which has led to a significant decline in advertising and the cancellation of events and conferences.
How can small B2B publishers adapt to and address these issues? This applied marketing project looks at the case of Casino Review, a UK-based B2B title which has found itself stuck in what Bilton describes as the bolt-on phase of its incorporation of digital media channels. Even prior to the pandemic, the publication had experienced a 22 percent fall in full-page display advertising across a two-year period in Q1, traditionally its strongest financial quarter of the year. The research component of this case study adopted a pragmatic research philosophy and used a mixed methodology with a focus on generating actionable data. A survey of 150 UK-based B2B editors found almost a fifth (19 percent) disagreed that print successfully coexists with digital media, while 85.7 percent of participants felt diversification through brand extensions is important.
Qualitative interviews with Casino Review’s founder, and the owner of competing B2B title G3 Magazine provided a base of information to develop a range of proposed changes. This paper sets out potential marketing solutions to Casino Review’s problems derived from basic concepts such as segmentation, targeting, positioning model and the marketing mix. These include an increased focus on a more lucrative market; updating and expanding the brand’s core product to make it more competitive, and both streamlining and reducing costs associated with production and distribution. Most notably, the role of the print publication has been reduced, being produced and distributed in a single market, while it will be supported by new digital channels, including a weekly newsletter and a relaunched website. Areas for further research are proposed, including follow-up and review of the effects of the actions introduced in this project and analysis of long-term changes in display advertising caused by the pandemic.
Edward R. Lowton
Master in Marketing Alumnus
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-lowton/
