Case 2: A WNY media organization feels that the readership for its two flagship magazines is falling and wonders what its future holds.

Problem: A media organization headquartered in WNY in business for over 40 years with 2 leading magazines is foreseeing a decline in readership. Part of the issue is that their readers appear to be ageing out of the market and the macro statistics of readership makes them worry if they will be out of business in the next decade. This brought them to us with the question: What does our future hold? What can we do to stay in the market?

Process: Avant conducted a secondary analysis of the market and did a survey of current subscribers to see if they indeed compared to the national averages. Next, we identified the various segments in their market and compared it with the secondary data from national sources. Finally, we conducted a study of prospective audiences for each of the magazines and came up with a marketing plan to meet this new niche. Follow-ups every other year helped tweak the marketing plan and better target the niche.

Outcome: While some of the their internal information was correct, some assumptions were not, and a new segment of younger readers were indeed available but unaware of the magazine. The outcome was an increase in subscription from a relatively young group of readers. The outcome has lead to a refinement in the magazines’ position in the market, a better targeting of subscribers through a refinement of the magazines’ positions in the market as well as how outreach was conducted to increase subscription.