Planning Work- IPC Media

IPC Media Case Study

History of the company

IPC Media was formed in 1963, originally under the name “International Publishing Corporation”, when the three leading magazine publishers of the time (George Newnes, Odhams Press and Fleetway Publications) merged to form a mirror company which would later be known as IPC Media.

Publications

IPC Media has a currently huge selection of titles, ranging from sport and leisure to home and health. Some of the biggest selling titles include:

• NME
• Ideal Home
• Marie Claire
• Loaded
• Nuts
• TVTimes
• Golf Monthly
• World Soccer

Altogether, IPC Media has over 85 iconic brands in their repertoire, over 350 million copies each year. Their magazines reach out to two thirds of UK women and 44% of UK men, whilst online brands reach in the combined region of 20 million users every month.


Company Structure


IPC has 3 main publishing sub-divisions that each focus on a various genre/area of expertise.

·       Connect- Mass market women’s weekly publications, such as “Look” and “Now Magazine.

·       Inspire- The male focused division boasting a huge range of lifestyle, leisure and specialist magazines. Titles include “World Soccer” “Yachting World”, “Nuts” and “Country Life”.

·       SouthBank- The up-market female division, focusing on fashion, lifestyle and home.

As well these, there are two other divisions who are focused away from physical publishing.

• Advertising-  Main emphasis on online brands and publications, such as mousebreaker.com, a popular flash games site.
• Marketforce- Affiliate of IPC. Handles sales and distribution, “successfully marketing 23% of the magazine company”.

What types of magazine and target audience has IPC been associated with over the years?

There has been a huge range of titles associated with IPC, however from the very beginning IPC has always had a big hand in “women weeklies” and the female market in general. Now with two separate divisions, Connect and SouthBank, it can focus on both the mass market and up-market audience whilst still delivering excellent content thanks to their dedicated teams.  This is just a small percentage of IPC publications however. The men’s lifestyle division is huge, with massive titles such as nuts and loaded pulling a huge readership. There are also many specialist titles for the niche market, such as Yachting World, and the Shooting Gazette.

Why might IPC be an appropriate publisher for a new magazine?

IPC would be a very good choice for a number of reasons. Firstly, they already have experience in this specific area with the popular “NME” magazine. With this reputation, it would be easy to promote the new magazine through NME, knowing that fans of the genre are going to see it. Secondly the fact IPC has it’s own division for specialist magazines guarantees the content will be good and well informed.

What sorts of genres of music/types of magazines might they be likely to publish?

In terms of genre, it is typically mainstream music that is popular amongst teens and the younger generation. Indie/alternative rock is the main focus of NME, as that appeals most to its readership. 

Why might alternative publishers like Bauer be appropriate?

Bauer have a greater range of music magazines, so they would be more appropriate in the sense they have a greater experience in the music division, and a much larger team of people who could help to produce the magazine. The fact that it is a Bauer publication might also bring its own reputation, and lead to an increase in sales of the magazine because it is such a well established name with titles such as Kerrang! and Q.