Bauer’s social activism has given the publisher a boost in advertising sales during a difficult time in the magazine market.
The company first kicked off its activism agenda in 2018 with the No Gender Select Tax, which helped drive legislative change to remove the so-called “tampon tax”.
Since then it has partnered with the Australian Banking Association to help end financial abuse among the elderly, and in June last year kicked off Financially Fit Females. The initiative, which aims to improve financial literacy among women, had CommBank onboard as a sponsor, marking the first time the bank has advertised with Bauer.
Karen Holmes, Bauer’s NSW sales director, says leaning into social causes gives brands the opportunity to educate and reach a new audience.
“Financially Fit Females has helped us unlock a category that we never really successful in,” Holmes says.
“We obviously reach women through our various titles, and so we have a good platform and a voice to reach women and give the message we want to tell.
“Commonwealth Bank, in particular, wanted to talk to that audience.”
Bauer used its portfolio of magazines, such as Woman’s Day, Elle and The Australian Women’s Weekly, to push the agenda through podcasts, events and content. The campaign helped Bauer’s NSW office meet its budget for the first time in 11 years, finishing the year on 106%.
Although this meant Bauer’s sales were still flat nationally, Holmes is happy with the result during a year when consumer magazine media bookings were down 17.5%, according to SMI figures.
“Given the market is in decline, that's a remarkable position for us to be in,” she says.
“And we're definitely punching above our weight in terms of securing revenue and also our share of the magazine money.”
Holmes, like many others across media companies, doesn’t expect the market to pick up for the year ahead. “It’s a tough quarter,” she says.
“We will get there, but we won't have the over-delivery that we had last year. We were hoping to be up around 2 or 3%, but we’ll be flat year-on-year.”
Following its initial success, Financially Fit Females is back this year with new sponsor GreenStone onboard, and new campaign is in the works.
Holmes is hoping Bauer’s pending takeover of Pacific will strengthen the business, however merger plans have been put on hold following preliminary concerns raised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over reduced competition.
“There's over 44 brands that will come together as part of the merger and that will mean a one-stop-shop for advertisers,” Holmes says.
“Advertisers will be able to deal with one person. There will be efficiencies across production and creative and things like that. And there will definitely be group deals that can be done with Bauer across a number of different titles.”
“Pacific is particularly strong in their digital and social offerings. The merger will sustain the category, it will help to make sure that magazines, print, and the two businesses exist long into the future.”
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