Why Hoffman Media Is Doubling Down on Print

Print is anything but dead at Hoffman Media.

The Birmingham, Alabama-based publisher of 11 Southern-focused special interest magazines—several of which boast nationwide print audiences numbering in the hundreds of thousands—has distinguished itself as something of an anomaly in the current landscape by continuing to stake its bets on reader-driven print revenue.

The company says it hit a record high in newsstand sales last year (as of the most recent MagNet report, from Q1 of 2017, Hoffman was the only top-15 publisher to see a year-over-year increase in either retail units sold or newsstand revenue). It says its magazine business grown steadily since its founding in 1983, and it’s difficult to argue the point; in the last three years alone, Hoffman has bolstered its portfolio by launching four additional regular frequency titles, with a fifth planned for 2018.

Moreover, the company is kicking off the year by investing further in two of its flagship titles: Southern Lady, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and Taste of the South—increasing both magazines’ trim sizes to 9 inches-wide and adding 16 pages to Taste of the South (Southern Lady saw its page count increased a year ago).

For Brian Hart Hoffman, president and chief creative officer and son of company founder Phyllis Hoffman DePiano, it’s about offering a quality product to readers, first and foremost.

“We really value the relationship we have with our readers, and they demand and command the quality that we put into each of our publications, whether it be through our photography, the quality of our recipes, the extent of our travel coverage,” Hoffman tells Folio:. “They told us they wanted more. It’s a wonderful problem to have readers that love what you’re doing so much that they want to see more of it.”
much more at:  http://www.foliomag.com/hoffman-media-doubling-print/