“During this crisis, we’ve seen how important B2B magazines really are so that organisations are able to communicate with their members during such a critical time.” Executive Media Director Mike Haratsis talks about how the publishing house is navigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
About to enter its 49th year of operation, Executive Media is a family-run niche B2B and B2C magazine publisher with offices in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, and New York.
The company produces high-quality in-house publications as well as contract and custom titles for a range of clients including government departments, associations, special interest clubs, and lobby groups.
Director Mike Haratsis has been in the publishing business for 48 years, and over that time has built a talented team of researchers, journalists, editors, and designers that can expertly identify gaps in niche media markets, and produce content for any area of interest.
TMSN Editor Lyndsie Clark caught up with Haratsis to chat about the challenges and opportunities that the impact of COVID-19 has had on Executive Media’s titles.
Lyndsie Clark: How are you making sure your content is relevant right now?
Mike Haratsis: We are lucky in that many of our titles are quarterly, so we don’t’ need to respond immediately with COVID-19 related content.
We have the luxury of time to produce content that is specific to our niche audiences, rather than repeating the same storylines that are all over the media. We aim to offer a brief respite, and a glimpse at normality for our readers.
LC: How are you working with your advertising/exhibiting clients to get through the pandemic?
MH: We have no plans to stop production on any of our titles, which means that our advertising clients will have the channel there to communicate their message directly to their target audience when they are ready.
We have actually seen many of our clients become more responsive once the initial shock of change wore off.
Sure, we’ve had to shuffle some titles around and delay production on magazines that were set to be released at events, but that’s just allowed us to develop new content that is more relevant given the current restrictions and what’s actually happening in the world.
It’s allowed us to put together informed and up-to-date content that will still be relevant when the print magazines are officially released.
In the meantime, we’ve been making all our magazines available online and sharing these digital assets with our network to keep people informed while they’re working from home and are battling isolation.
LC: What is your message to your readers and clients during these times?
MH: Stay calm and read a magazine!
LC: What are the short-term goals that you want to accomplish for your brands during the pandemic?
MH: We are primarily focused on increasing subscribers for our consumer titles, and for our B2B titles, to continue to produce the high-quality content that our clients and readers enjoy.
We’re also hoping that others are starting to realise the values of B2B magazines, and invite any association who wants a great way to keep their members informed to give us a call – we’re still open for business!
And will remain open….we commence our 49th year of trading on 4 July 2020.
LC: Where do you think the B2B magazine sector is heading beyond COVID-19?
MH: During this crisis, we’ve seen how important B2B magazines really are so that organisations are able to communicate with their members during such a critical time. We think that the B2B magazine sector has nowhere to go but up!
LC: How do you think the relationship between print and digital channels will change?
MH: Digital and print will continue to co-exist; however, we believe that clients will recognise the value in print magazines, and the quality of attention that long-form articles receive in print far outweighs the digital counterpart.
Digital is great, but nothing can compare to the experience of reading a hard-copy magazine.
More information about Executive Media can be found here.
