2009 and 2010 were not easy years for Hispanic magazines to say the least. Some major names disappeared, e.g. Selecciones Readers Digest (in 2009) and more recently Disney en Familia, Mira! and Cafe Magazine. While magazine as print vehicles do face an uncertain future, they have better prospects as brands. Spanish-language magazines increased their ad revenues in revenues during the first nine months of 2010, according to TNS. Automotive Advertising recovered significantly, thanks mostly to GM (which jumped from $900,000 to $6.5 million in 2010), increased from $4.5 million in 2009 to $10.1 million in 2010, according to Media Economics Group.
What is going as analyzed by Portada’s Editorial Team:
Trend Nr. 1: Betting on Brands
A clear trend of most repositioning that recently has taken place is to emphasize not just online brand extensions, but also mobile, events and (Web) TV in some cases. E.g. look at Vista’s recent brand repositioning and Monday’s announcement by Maya Publishing Group.
Trend Nr. 2: Less Frequency, More Circulation
As the box below shows, there is a trend towards less frequency and higher circulation. Sometimes publishers have merged two magazines into one (e.g. Televisa did so by combining Hispanic Magazine and Poder into Poder Hispanic.)
Publisher | Magazine | 2010 circ. | 2011 estimated circ. | 2011 Base Rate (full page 4c) | CPM 2011 | Note |
Maya Publishing Group | TVnotas | 150,000 | 200,000 | $8,200 | 41 | Changes frequency from Weekly to biweekly (twice a month) |
Récord, Fútbol al Máximo | 50,000 | 75,000 | $6,200 | 82,6 | (former Record Semanario de Futbol) Frequency from twice/month to monthly | |
H para Hombres | 75,000 | 75,000 | $6,900 | 92 | Monthly. Also publishes H Extremo (monthly, 75,000) | |
Meredith Hispanic Ventures | Ser Padres | 700,000 | 700,000 | $80,170 | 114,5 |
|
Siempre Mujer | 500,000 | 500,000 | $57,490 | 114,9 | Monthly | |
Televisa Publishing and Digital | Vanidades | 300,000 | 400,000 | $29,500 | 73.75 | Monthly. |
| TV y Novelas | 200,000 | 270,000 | $29,800 | 110,3 | Monthly (was twice a month in 2010) |
| Cosmopolitan en Español | 100,000 | 100,000 | $11,000 | 110 | Monthly |
| Poder | 300,000 | 400,000 | $29,500 | 73,75 | Bi-monthly (6 times a year) |
Time Inc. | People en Espanol | 540,000 | 540,000 | $70,350 | 130,2 | Monthly. Spanish. |
Disney/ GW Publishing | ESPN Deportes | 65,000 | 65,000 | $10,920 | 168 | Monthly. Spanish. |
Eclipse Marketing | Nexos | 900,000 (depends on issue) | 900,000 | Quarterly. Circ. can vary. | ||
Impremedia | Vista | 900,000 | 900,000 | $39,740 | 44,1 | Brand Repositioning 6 times/year. |
AARP | Viva su Segunda Juventud | 500,000 | 150,000, | $15,000 | 100 | Quarterly. Spanish. Direct mailed and Newspaper insert. |
Hispanic Business Media | Hispanic Business | 240,000 | 240,000 | $11,394 | 47,4 | Monthly |
Abasto | Abasto Magazine | 30,000 | 30,000 | $7,400 | 246 | Bi-monthly |
Kraft | Kraft Foods’ Comida y Familia | 585,000 | 585,000 |
|
| Quarterly (4 times a year) |
HMR (Rep) | Cocina al Máximo | 150,000 | 150,000 |
|
| Quarterly (4 times a year) |
Trend Nr. 3: Changing Distribution: Back to the old Days?
Remember the heyday of magazines that were inserted in Hispanic newspapers? Kena, Sobre Ruedas, Fox Sports en Espanol, Hogar Latino, etc…. The circulation for each of these magazines was close to a million. Those were the boom times of Hispanic print. The printer bills and the carrier fees newspapers charge to carry these newspapers “killed” these mags. Some magazines (e.g. Vista, Nexos and Futbol Mundial) still use newspaper carriers. However, there appears to be a trend back to old fashioned circulation building through newsstand/subscriptions and controlled circ. (e.g. direct mailed to a specific audience or conference distribution). Interestingly, general market insert magazines such as USA Weekend (Gannett) are increasingly being inserted into Hispanic newspapers. (so-called carrier newspapers)?
Trend 4: Increasing Importance of Custom Publishing- Content Marketing
Publishers are also helping corporations to expand their brands and connect with Hispanic consumers through custom publishing/content marketing projects. Examples here are Que Rica Vida (General Mills) and DirecTV Mas (which has a circulation of 1 million). Other custom pubs include Royal Prestige’s Cocina al Maximo and Kraft’s Comida y Familia.
Trend 5: Focus on the Latina Woman
Connecting with the Latina woman is very high on the “to do list” of most CMO’s in Corporate America. Magazines and their brand extensions are making efforts to provide advertisers efficient vehicles. Maya Publishing Group’s new Nueva Latina site and Impremedia’s Vista recent repurposing are examples of these trends.
