Learn From the Masters of Engagement
A user base is transformed into a thriving community.
A nearly century-old brand deepens its relationship with its audience through a deal with Wal-Mart and an eco-friendly tour.
A mutually beneficial engagement based on an open-door policy toward editorial input.
A magazine’s own staff ensures that a brand is both of and about its core audience.
A chic and legendary brand that is fully accessible to women everywhere.
A panel of subscribers offers perpetual feedback about the media it loves and the coverage it wants.
A brand wraps multiple screens around its audience.
A co-branded show on CNN and music events build on long-standing bonds.
Farmers swap tales of planting and market success in online discussions.
A business brand gets extended into all aspects of its readers’ lives.
A brand built by a media icon provides comfort points in print, Web, television and retail outlets.
Spinning out enjoyable ways for men to become part of a health-conscious community.
Engagement as a quantifiable metric that reflects a brand’s own success.
Building supportive communities with online fitness challenges. |
It is spring, and romance fills the air. What better time to celebrate the magazine brands that have made the trendy term “engagement” a reality in their own day-to day relationships with readers and other strangers? In an age of fragmented media, where user “relationships” amount to bookmarks in a Web browser or drive-by clicks on a remote control, magazine brands continue to assert themselves with special meaning and permanence in their readers’ lives. Magazines have personality, voice and values. Brands are passed among friends and even down through generations, because loyal readers immerse themselves in the fully realized worlds these titles make for them.
The brands we recognize in min’s Most Engaged Media Brands Awards have successfully moved beyond that page, talked with their audiences and wrapped them in the values and voices their magazines once represented only in print. Brands like Martha Stewart Living and Better Homes and Gardens reach into women’s real lives with retail lines that express their style and live events that touch readers directly. Entertainment Weekly and ELLE are exceptional examples of media brands that also serve as critical counselors on matters of entertainment and fashion. Their products extend to the very places readers need to make critical decisions about what to watch and what to wear. Business information providers like BusinessWeek and Farm Journal are models of user interaction, vanguards for giving the reader more control over what gets said and done by the publication itself. And brands like SELF, Men’s Health and CURE distinguish themselves by moving beyond simple information. They involve themselves in people’s lives and their journeys to live better and longer, with real-world contact.
All of our winners have demonstrated the ability to grow in their relationships with users. These magazines have succeeded in following their partner/readers onto a range of new media paths, always faithful, always attentive, always engaged.
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Where family is the deepest relationship: After 84 years reporting on its industry, Automotive News has succeeded in transforming its user base into a thriving community. |
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Engaging homebodies: An 86-year-old brand touches its audience in unprecedented ways, deepening and renewing relationships with generations of readers.
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Putting readers first: As executive editor (and min Digital Hall of Famer) John Byrne is fond of saying, BW is changing journalism from a product into a process.
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The healing power of engagement: The magazine’s own staff, led by cancer survivors, ensures that this brand is both of and about its core audience.
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The voice of style that carries everywhere: The legendary brand is fully accessible to women everywhere: in print, online, on mobile, on-air and in stores.
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Delivering entertainment in 4D: EW listens to readers but never wavers from its own mission to provide thoughtful guidance to the constant flow of popular culture.
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Always in the game: ESPN weaves itself into the daily lives of sports fans, and even wraps multiple screens around them—and makes sure advertisers are part of the fabric.
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Essence-tial reading: More than another style and fashion book, ESSENCE is truly married to the image and purpose of African-American women.
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The neighborly adviser: In Farm Journal’s online discussions, farmers swap tales of planting and market success in much the same way they have for centuries at community meetings.
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Engage everywhere: In a volatile economic environment, relationships are built on the kind of trust and reliability Forbes has developed with its audience of 40 million people.
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Martha is there for you—always: How can a Martha Stewart loyalist manage not to be engaged with a brand that is on-air, on newsstands, online and even in stores?
min's 'Match Made in Heaven'
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Engage this, not that!: Like the workout buddy who won’t stop pestering you (but in a good way), Men’s Health is your go-to brand for helping you pound out that extra mile.
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Engaging the toughest audience: When your audience consists of marketers and customer relationship specialists, you’d better be ready to lead by example.
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A long and lingering relationship with readers: SELF excels at surrounding its audience with the brand by being the giver in the relationship, always ready to serve.
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