Universal Media Co’s 2020 Kitchen Yearbook has doubled its normal sales results for this time of year.
Universal Media Co (Umco) said that the annual publication has achieved a record-breaking result for the number of copies sold over the May to September 2020 period.
The annual Kitchen Yearbook is the 24th edition as a companion to Umco’s Kitchens & Bathrooms Quarterly magazine.
The brand’s sister annual, Grand Designs Kitchens & Bathrooms (currently in its third edition), has also performed well with the second of three distributions selling out in more than 500 outlets.
Umco said that the results are equal across state boundaries and different types of retailer.
“In publishing we are known to celebrate anything over a 5 per cent increase, but this is actually phenomenal,” said Publisher Janice Williams.
“Our first distribution of Kitchen Yearbook has actually almost doubled its normal sales at this time of year. This is as clear an indicator as we can get of pent-up demand. People were at home during COVID-19, preparing their renovation plans.”
Umco was quick to provide its advertisers with reassurance about the stability of the home market when the COVID-19 pandemic first impacted Australia earlier this year.
It surveyed 1,321 people with home projects to provide insights to help its clients make informed business decisions within the changing economic landscape. Insights included consumer budgets, changing consumer demographics, and new budget drivers.
In May, Williams foreshadowed the success of Umco’s home titles in an interview with the Targeted Media Services Network:
“Now nobody is commuting, there are a billion extra hours of time available in the market. In the home market we constantly hear from consumers who “have the money but never had the time” and these consumers seem to be getting on with things oblivious to the unemployment figures around them.
“If we are out there, then we can acquire this audience,” she said.
Founded in 1985, Universal Media Co is one of Australia’s largest magazine publishers, producing over 50 B2C titles in addition to B2B magazine brands (via its Westwick Farrow Media publishing arm).
