IPC case study

We then researched into a company called IPC.

Pinpointing exactly how far IPC's roots stretch back into the midst of  publishing history is a complicated business. The International Publishing Corporation Ltd was formed in 1963 following the merger of the UK's three leading magazine publishers – George Newnes, Odhams Press and Fleetway Publications – who came together with the Mirror Group to form the International Publishing Corporation (IPC). And IPC Magazines was created five years later, in 1968. But those three original magazine businesses each had their own illustrious history, having been established in 1881, 1890 and 1880 respectively, with a number of the titles they launched in the late 19th Century still being published today under the IPC umbrella. And when The Field, launched in 1853, joined the IPC stable in 1994 following the acquisition of Harmsworth Magazines, it saw our family tree reach back even further.

IPC Media produces over 85 iconic media brands, with their print brands alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 44% of UK men – almost 27 million UK adults – while their online brands collectively reach 20 million users every month.

Their print brands include: NME, Look, Women and Home, Country Life, TVTimes, Marie Claire and Nuts.

Over the years IPC has also gained titles from rivalin publishing groups such as: Ideal Homes and Women’s Own.

Their current portfolio of titles are : 

25 Beautiful Homes, Amateur Gardening, Amateur Photographer, Angler's Mail, Beautiful Kitchens, Caravan, Chat, Chat - It's Fate, Chat Passion, Classic Boat, Country Homes & Interiors, Country Life, Cycle Sport, Cycling Active, Cycling Weekly, Decanter, essentials, European Boatbuilder, Eventing, Golf Monthly, goodtoknow, goodtoknow Recipes, Hair, Hi-Fi News, Homes & Gardens, Horse, Horse & Hound, Housetohome, IBI, Ideal Home, InStyle, Livingetc, Loaded, Look, Marie Claire, Motor Boat & Yachting, Motor, Boats Monthly, Motor Caravan, Mountain Bike Rider (MBR), Mousebreaker, NME, Now, Nuts, Pick Me Up, Practical Boat Owner, Prediction, Racecar Engineering, Rugby World, Shooting Times & Country Magazine, Shootinguk, Soaplife, Sporting Gun, SuperBike Magazine, Superyacht Business, SuperYacht World, The Field, The Railway Magazine, The Shooting Gazette, TrustedReviews, TV & Satellite Week, TV easy, TVTimes, Uncut, VolksWorld, Wallpaper*, Wedding, Wedding Flowers, What Digital Camera, What's on TV, Woman, woman&home, Woman’s Own, Woman’s Weekly, World Soccer, Yachting Monthly, Yachting World and YBW.com

IPC has been associated with various target audiences and types of magazine over the years. They have been associated to magazine types such as Men’s lifestyle, sport, teenage and women’s weeklies. And by having their name associated with various different types of magazines they have also been associated with various different audiences.

  

IPC would be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine because they only have 2 magazines already associated to them, NME and uncut, therefore would be open to publishing another.

These magazines are of the ‘indie’ genre however they are both targeting different audiences. Therefore they may be open to publishing a music magazine with a different music genre (eg Metal, Dance, R’n’B). They also might be open to publishing a magazine targeting a wider audence.

Bauer Publishing may also be appropriate for publishing a new music magazine because they also have a very specific magazine demographic when it comes to music magazines, as they are labelled ‘Men’s Entertainment’. So they may be interested in publishing a magazine targeted at women.

We did this to broaden our understanding of publishing companies.