PRODUCTION Story board

Initial ideas

RESEARCH Bauer Media

BAUER MEDIA

What is Bauer media?

Bauer Media UK is an entertainment network of iconic, multi-platform brands.

The business became part of the Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately-owned media group, in 2008. Founded in Hamburg in 1875 and now in its fifth generation of family ownership, the Bauer Media Group operates in 20 countries including the UK, Germany, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and the USA and has 11,000 employees worldwide.

When was Bauer Media established?

1875

Who is the owner of Bauer Media?https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/a-closer-look-at-the-bauer-media-family-8207941.html

• Heinz Bauer, 72, is the chairman of the German media giant, which dates back to 1875. Forbes estimates his wealth at $1.8bn (£1.1bn). But the father of four is taking an increasingly backseat role, letting his daughter Yvonne, aged around 36, take over as chief executive. She is said to have majority control.
• The Bauers are keen on keeping their lives private, in contrast with some of their magazines, which love tittle-tattle. (The French edition of Closer, which published those topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge, is published separately by Italy's Mondadori under licence from Bauer.)

"They're passionate about print and radio. Their primary focus is how good is the product. They are regularly in the UK. We visited every single one of our 20-plus radio station in the UK with Heinz and Saskia in the last year."

• A flurry of recent activity suggests that Yvonne Bauer has ambitions to expand this global empire, which already extends to 15 countries.
• Here in Britain, Bauer tried to buy GMG Radio, the owner of Smooth and Real Radio, but lost out to rival Global Radio, which paid £70m in July. If Bauer had succeeded, it would control close to a third of commercial radio in Britain.
• While radio is doing well, some analysts wonder about Bauer's strategy for its magazines, which have seen revenues come under pressure.
  What are some of the brands they own?
  https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands
  In the UK we reach 25 million consumers. Our portfolio includes heat, KISS, Grazia, Empire, Motor Cycle News, Parkers, TV Choice, Take a Break, Bella, Magic and Absolute Radio. Our scale, coupled with the breadth of our portfolio, gives us an advantage over pure play magazine or radio competitors.

 

How did they respond to a decline in magazine sales?

Print magazines were the worst hit, with bookings falling 42.5%. Magazines’ digital properties also suffered a 40.5% decline, compared to January 2017. Newspapers didn’t fare much better, falling 36.4% in print and 27.6% in digital.

Bauer Media too recognised it needed to improve its relationship with agencies.

Paul Gardiner, Bauer Media sales director, said:” We don’t believe that these figures represent an accurate overall snapshot of our business. Our direct revenues continue to grow and magazine readership is actually increasing over the summer period.

“We recognised there is a problem with agency revenue and have been working closely with our partners to turn this around. We have updated our agency structure in December to ensure that service levels remain high, and we have also recently launched our Story54 brand entertainment division to deliver better customer solutions.

“Bauer Media has strong forward bookings and a robust growth strategy for 2018 and beyond.  Our clients will be seeing a very different proposition for our magazine brands over the coming months “

The closure of the Australian Cosmopolitan

The company has issued a statement from Bauer Media ANZ CEO Paul Dykzeul: "Today, Bauer Media announced the closure of the Cosmopolitan brand in Australia, with the December issue being the last. It has not been an easy decision to make, however, the commercial viability of the magazine in Australia is no longer sustainable."

The closure follows the merging of the print and digital teams at Elle and Harper's Bazaar in September, along with 13 roles that were axed as part of the restructure.

Bauer has also made several major changes in a bid to position itself as the leading Australian publisher of homes and lifestyle content, making several major moves within the past year, including its acquisition of Inside Out, Country Style and HomeLife.com.au. From News Corp.

“Magazine closures are never easy, desirable or done without careful consideration for all of those involved" adds Dykzeul. "We have to ensure that we are continually reshaping and defining the business so that our readers of today, and those of tomorrow, remain engaged with the content we publish and the platforms upon which we deliver.

http://www.adnews.com.au/news/end-of-an-era-bauer-shuts-cosmo-australia#IEE9BBFUwFE6DFC8.99

https://mumbrella.com.au/magazines-suffer-42-5-decline-in-ad-bookings-with-newspapers-not-far-behind-499507

Case studies

The challenge currys PC world

Our goal was to stimulate growth of Currys PC World’s core range of laptops, specifically the HP Pavilion and software bundles.

We needed to offer flexibility in messaging as there are two distinct demographics (45+ and 16-34s), and also demonstrate that Currys PC World’s can facilitate passions and ambitions ‘we help you get it right’.

The insight

There are more similarities between a 25 year old and a 45 year old than you first might think.

The millennial audience want it all and are not afraid to put themselves out there, they know what they want to be and by when. The mid-life crisis is real with many adults changing jobs, learning new skills or passions at this key time.

Both demographics want to live life to the full so this campaign idea would need to inspire them to do so.

The idea

A content-led idea that uses talent from each Bauer brand to ’Ignite Your Passion’ on a new adventure – focusing on individual passions and ambitions of the talent and the audience that will place the HP Pavillion 14 and software bundles at the heart.

The execution

Results

48% of the audience took some kind of action

16% of the exposed audience purchased something in store or online

The challenge- River Island

River Island were looking for a partnership for AW17 that would help improve their credibility as a fashion authority while empowering an 18-30 audience to express their own style.  They wanted to encourage conversation and expression of identity in the context of not just fashion, but in areas such as confidence and opinion.

The Insight

What a woman looks like says a lot of about who she is and what she stands for.  Her identity is not just about the jeans she wears or indeed how she wears them but about inner confidence, empowerment, knowing who she is and what she thinks. This millennial female insight led to the campaign idea.

The Idea

A six-part, cross-platform artist and fashion franchise, the series I AM shone a spotlight on six of the UK’s hottest emerging artists including Anne-Marie, Ella Eyre & Tom Grennan; exploring the relationship between their music and notions of identity and style. We then took those styles and revealed to audiences how to get that look and trend, influenced by the artists and dressed by River Island.

The series ran across three Bauer brands and leveraged Bauer talent from across the business.

Execution

 Results

Won silver at the Branded Film Festival 2018

1.12M TV Reach

6.5M Social Media Reach