This article first appeared in Campaign.
Joy isn’t just good for consumers. For brands looking to build meaningful connections, the things people love offer a valuable place to start.
You might think positivity is a rare commodity in our fractured times, but with consumers increasingly seeking experiences and platforms that lift their mood, many of us have become acutely aware of the importance of a happy place, somewhere that can bring a bit of joy. And one key place where that happens is within the world of trusted editorial brands.
These publisher titles are the original forums, meeting places for like-minded souls and platforms for passions, obsessions and communities. And not just a sense of belonging, but a sense of ownership.
Hearst UK chief executive Katie Vanneck-Smith says the idea of a community is still around and just as strong, even if the actual titles themselves are increasingly operating in different areas. “Magazine brands have always been about more than distributing content,” she says. “They have a point of view, a personality and a relationship with their audience. That relationship can be harder to build in a fragmented, algorithm-led environment.”
Hearst UK titles like Elle or Runner’s World continue to cultivate an engaged, enthusiastic audience, whether they’re reading a print issue, joining a membership programme, listening to a podcast or attending a live event. The most successful brands have a distinct tone of voice and relatable identity that can be a beacon of light at a time of such gloom and fragmentation.
“Editorial brands bring consistency, expertise and a particular kind of accountability to their audiences,” Vanneck-Smith adds. “They can create connections that last beyond a single post or moment in the feed. Our memberships show how that relationship is developing. Someone might begin as a reader and go on to join a Runner’s World run-out, become part of Made Club’s crafting network, or engage with one of our other communities in a much more active way. Each community has its own personality, but they all help people feel that they belong somewhere.”
Last year, Immediate Media (publishers of Good Food, The Radio Times and many others), teamed up with the University of Sussex to launch The Joy Test, a report that showed how deeper engagement, whether that’s through doing a spot of gardening or watching the telly, can improve our moods, and so build empathy and connection.
The research found that nearly half of respondents (47%) were more likely to spend money on passions and interests when in a joyful mindset and presented an “Emotional sales funnel” that showed that magazine brands retain a powerful pull on readers’ attention, while social media users quickly grew bored and/or stressed while scrolling through content. Over half of respondents (51%) said they felt “positive and energised” while engaging with magazine brand content, compared to 15% of social media users.
Photo Credit: Julian Benjamin
Meaningful connections
Clearly, we should never underestimate the power of being in a good mood or how much it affects our receptiveness, but how can brands tap into this positive mindset? Sarah Johnson, investment partner, publishing display and commercial, Havas Media Network UK, says that the market is in such a state of flux that clients are looking for guidance and reassurance as they look to engage with the right audience at the right time, in the right place.
“Maybe in this world optimism feels in quite short supply, so more than ever it’s important for brands to align themselves with trusted places and content,” Johnson explains. “And meaningful connections still make a difference.”
Looking beyond short-term challenges and forging longer-term relationships with audiences means establishing a presence on platforms that offer security, trust and a solid, lasting framework. For the consumer/reader, it’s all about being part of a community, having a sense of belonging among like-minded souls. For the savvier brands, it’s all about focusing on connection, rather than reach.
And, as Johnson explains, there are plenty of spaces to find some common ground with a consumer. “It’s something that magazines have always done really well and now you see this diversification far beyond the traditional print display ad,” she says. “There’s an engagement through events, podcasts, newsletters. Brands will connect where the audiences are.”
Vanneck-Smith agrees that reach has been overly focused on: “It’s often a very blunt and ill-considered metric. The better questions are: are you reaching the right people, do they trust the environment and are they likely to care about what you’re saying? Brands are increasingly thinking about the quality of the attention they’re getting, as well as the scale.”
That means being part of a dialogue, but taking care to be in the right conversations in the right place at the right time. It’s about connection, which can then lead to deeper relationships and, ultimately, more meaningful reach. Trusted editorial brands can provide a halo effect on adverts, one that allows advertisers to be a meaningful, valuable part of this world and, in turn, part of the readers’ too.
“The important thing is that the brand contributes something of value,” Vanneck-Smith says. “It shouldn’t feel as though it is borrowing an audience; it should be adding to the relationship. When that works, a partnership becomes more than advertising. It can become useful advice, entertainment, content or an experience people genuinely want to be part of.”
Published earlier this year, Omnicom’s Is Optimism Dead? study looked into how we see a notable uptick in engagement when people feel passionate about something. Unusually for a media agency, the research focused on cultural shifts and trends within the wider setting of an unpredictable economic landscape, as Omnicom’s head of insight Louise Twycross-Lewis explains: “It seemed like the one thing that was certain was uncertainty. How is that affecting our behaviours, our attitudes and what can brands do to respond to that?”
One answer is to hone in on things that you can control as an individual; the little treats in life that you can plan for and look forward to, whether that’s a holiday, going out for a meal or going shopping. Developing that into a more cultural conversation allows brands to find consumers at their most happy and so most amenable.
“Previously brands had been about scale and reaching as many people as possible, but now they’re asking questions about having meaningful contact with audiences,” Twycross-Lewis adds. “That’s why cultural relevance is being discussed way more than ever before.”
