Best Magazine Launch or Re-Launch
Association of Anaesthetists – Anaesthesia News
Anaesthesia News has been a member benefit of the Association of Anaesthetists for over 35 years. With over 10,000 members, our mission is to safeguard patients by educating, supporting, and inspiring every anaesthetist throughout their career. The magazine serves to provide members with news and updates, whilst raising awareness of the many activities and events that the Association holds each year.
In May 2024, we relaunched the magazine with a full redesign, interactive links, structured table of contents and new articles to appeal across the membership. Before, we struggled to fill even 30 pages of content each issue, but through commissioning and awareness-raising efforts, we are now oversubscribed, at maximum 64-page capacity each issue. Within 3 weeks of launching, we achieved 57% more views online than in the previous 3 months. We are a small team of 3 people who also have other job responsibilities alongside creating the magazine each issue. We are not supported by any agencies, and all sales, design, editing and commissioning are done by the 3 of us in-house. We are independent and can represent the views of our members and I am so proud of our achievements; I hope you feel the same way too.
Association of Optometrists – Optometry Today
The FT. Women’s Health. Esquire. Cyclist.
What do these newsstand staples have in common?
In some way they all inspired the work of the OT editorial team and the Think design team when it came to crafting the new look Optometry Today.
Optometry Today is a publication that has always worked had to maintain relevance with its community.
Optometry is a people profession. It is made up of highly skilled, diligent, caring people, who provide the people of the world with the support, care, and medical advice they need to manage their eyesight issues.
In a world where AI is replacing humans at an alarming rate, OT celebrates the AOP community by filling the pages of Optometry Today with their stories, their experiences, and lots of high-quality photography.
The AOP is dedicated to giving optometrists the best possible representation. Whether it’s providing them with CPD, lobbying government, or running events to keep everybody connected, the OT editorial team wanted to celebrate their members who are making a real difference to peoples lives and experiences.
Optometry Today is that celebration.
British Mensa – IQ
In a world that often prioritizes emotional intelligence and superficiality, Mensa’s IQ magazine stands out. It celebrates the unique perspectives and accomplishments of Mensa’s members and is a vital counterpoint to a society that sometimes undervalues intellectual prowess.
IQ caters to a wide range of interests. It delves into scientific breakthroughs, dissects complex societal issues, and explores art and culture – all with the goal of stimulating intellectual curiosity and inspiration. The magazine boasts exclusive interviews with high-IQ celebrities, offering readers a glimpse into the minds of some of the world’s most brilliant individuals. Interviews with Brian Cox, Victoria Cohen Mitchell, Anil Seth, and Dave Gorman are just a few examples. This focus on intellectual firepower has resonated with members, with those rating the magazine as excellent soaring by 38%.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development – People Management
People Management, the media brand of the CIPD, undertook a radical transformation to reinvent its print product as a quarterly and dramatically extend the reach and influence of its digital channels. Working closely with their client, the Wonderly team researched the audience, their challenges and their preferences in depth, building a compelling case for change which translated into a brand new editorial model.
An overhauled website was populated with a range of topics and types of article that resonated with the audience and were designed to encourage repeat visits. The news agenda was closely aligned to broader brand values. And in print, People Management was redesigned around the concept of accessible long-form journalism, taking fundamental topics that resonated across the profession and telling them with flair and journalistic rigour – from ‘wokeness’ at work to the use of AI in recruitment.
In 2023, PM broke the 2 million-user mark for the first time ever, with average monthly user numbers up 50% year on year. And a CIPD survey in late 2023 found overall impressions of the print magazine had actually risen despite the reduction in frequency – a spectacular result that sets the brand up for the future with confidence.
Institution of Engineering and Technology – E+T magazine
Twelve months ago, Engineering & Technology magazine was produced by an Institution of Engineering and Technology in-house team. While the title was relatively well-respected among our 156,000 members, the format and design had become jaded. More importantly, the magazine was not performing as well as it could when it came to communicating the values of the Institution.
So following a tender process, we moved the title to Redactive.
Reactive’s solution was clear: ‘To create the best engineering and technology magazine in the world, closely aligned to the aims and objectives of the IET.’ This would sit within a cutting-edge multimedia strategy (including a revamped website, podcasts, newsletters and video), putting the IET’s voice at the centre of engineering and technology discussion the world over.
The new multimedia strategy was focused on optimising every channel to do what it does best – including news becoming the remit of always-on digital channels. This gave the magazine the freedom to become a flagship member benefit designed to help every member learn, grow and advance their career – through a far more deep-dive, analytical bi-monthly journal delivering the depth and detail to serve every member’s need.
Law Society of Scotland – Journal
We are the Law Society of Scotland, the independent professional body for over 13,000 solicitors.
2024 has seen a new dawn in the Society’s 75-year history. After 67 years of a printed publication, we made the bold step to transition to a weekly newsletter, supported by our website-hosted content hub.
Containing six new content pieces, along with sponsored content and banner ads, the newsletter is the primary driver of members to the Journal hub, and although the hub isn’t where we want it to be (we’re relaunching soon), the newsletter remains pivotal in our member communication.
Our statistics for our first send were really positive – 50% open rate and 16% CTOR, and over 2,000 forwards.
We have retained the black letter law updates and analysis; haven’t rivalled competitors’ daily news emails, but are exposing the challenges members face, providing the analysis behind news headlines, and garnering the opinions of influential voices.
Our database has increased since launch in January, and the newsletter is forwarded to over 1,000 additional inboxes every time. When all solicitors in Scotland are required to be a member of the Society to practise, that’s over 96% of the membership receiving the newsletter each week.
Royal Town Planning Institute – The Planner
The Royal Town Planning Institute has 27,000 members. These professionals are directly engaged with the most widely-debated social issues in the UK (and beyond) today: housing, environment, public health, transport, climate change, green space, devolution, ageing populations, inequality – the list goes on.
This is a high-profile profession that is a major instrument for the delivery of social policy, locally and nationally.
And so RTPI members require a magazine that is wide-ranging and politically astute. They also need a magazine that understands the significance of planning to society and is supportive of a profession that is often in the firing line.
The Planner has been delivering this since its launch in 2013. In late 2022, we conducted a major redesign that saw us shift from a monthly to bi-monthly printed publication while upping the digital content and improving The Planner’s social media presence.
The first edition of the ‘new’ bimonthly Planner was published in late September 2022. 18 months on we’re experiencing stirrings of success. With an election looming and the UK stricken by multiple crises, planning has become ever more prominent – and contested – in the national conversation.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals – Professional
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) is focused on enhancing the visibility of the payroll industry in the UK and internationally. Launched in October 1994, the CIPP (then IBPM) launched its membership magazine, ‘PAYadvice’, which evolved into ‘Payroll Professional’ in 2009 and ‘Professional’ in 2014. The magazine, a member-only benefit published ten times a year, offers content on legislation, HR, and payroll topics. The CIPP conducts an annual Market Insight Survey (MIS) to ensure the magazine meets members’ needs, with 97% of respondents in 2024 finding it relevant to their roles.
The magazine features contributions from industry experts and members, maintaining a consistent format with technical content and thought leadership pieces. It addresses government-induced changes in the industry, helping members stay compliant. Despite trends towards digital-only publications, CIPP continues to offer printed versions due to member preference, while also providing an online issue with exclusive content and videos. The CIPP is committed to reducing its environmental footprint and aims to achieve Net Zero by 2035. The magazine’s visibility has grown significantly, with increased engagement on social media and a rise in both online and print circulation.
