Time To segment

Last evening I attended an excellent presentation by Diametric about how they worked with Mirror newspapers to test and then launch a free magazine (called Time To) to a segment of their older readers. The not uncommon issue, faced by The Mirror, is having a large number of older readers but also wanting to engage with younger people and finding a way to balance the two. Diametric's solution was to create a publication, with the editorial created by Mirror journalists, that was mailed to the readership. Naturally the magazine was then used as a conduit to sell to the readership.

What was particularly interesting was the priority of the subject matter they chose to focus upon, this following research of the readers’ interests. Travel, Fashion, Home & Gardens, Health, Entertainment & Books and finally Money – in that order of importance. The other interesting thing was the decision to focus on women rather than men.

This paper ‘unlocking the value of the grey consumer’ gives a good explanation of Diametric’s overall marketing approach. I am sure if you contacted them they would also make available the Mirror case study.

On this same subject I read this article titled ‘new magazines shows one size does not fit all’. This discusses the same issue of the demand for publications that appeal to older people and the not unrelated issue of appealing to people of ‘a more rounded stature’.

I was struck, in both the ‘Time To’ magazine and the article, of a sense a growing demand for a more ’real’ and less manufactured and glitzy portrayal of issues. I wonder if we are not seeing the first ripples of a reaction against the artificial, cosmetically enhanced, world of the celebrity and if this change is not being driven by the older generation?