Yesterday Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) announced that Allrecipes magazine has undergone a revamp, which will debut with the April/May 2016 issue on newsstands now. Meredith said the revamped look includes a new logo, innovative layouts and enhanced editorial content and photography.
Launched in 2013, Allrecipes magazine is published six times a year. According to Meredith, Allrecipes started with an audience of 1.3 million that has now grown to 7.6 million, and Allrecipes is the world’s largest digital food brand, generating more than 1.3 billion annual visits from home cooks.
“The remarkable growth of Allrecipes across both print and digital has allowed us to reach even more home cooks with a deeper, richer brand experience,” said editor-in-chief Cheryl Brown in Meredith’s announcement. “And with our digitally savvy design and expanded content areas, we have plenty more to showcase in the months ahead.”
“The magazine’s redesign is already generating excitement in the advertising community. Allrecipes understands its readers’ needs and expectations, and allows them to enjoy the very best from cooks around the world. Our engaging editorial product directly benefits our marketing partners by placing their advertising message in a very responsive environment,” said publisher Steven Grune.
In addition to the new look, the refreshed magazine will include:
- Favorites, with a redesigned look for the magazine’s most popular column showcasing photos of popular recipes that home cooks can save
- Get-Togethers, a new lifestyle section focusing on casual entertaining with recipes, drinks, music playlists, table décor and more
- Cook 2 Follow, a department highlighting Allrecipes community members to see what other home cooks are doing in the kitchen
- “You Said,” a format change that will include profile photos along with reviews
The magazine’s redesign follows last fall’s makeover of its popular website Allrecipes.com. The website’s new look was designed to be more responsive and to create a more social and personalized experience for Allrecipes.com’s digital visitors.
Insider Take:
News of the magazine’s revamp comes just four weeks after Meredith pulled the plug on More magazine, which had a similar audience. Meredith shut More down because it wasn’t profitable enough which may have had something to do with its lack of attention to the digital side of the house.
Allrecipes, on the other hand, began as a website which later added a magazine, so the focus was primarily on the digital property from day 1. Perhaps that’s why the revamp began with the relaunch of the Allrecipes website, followed by the magazine refresh six months later.
Clearly, Allrecipes is a winner for Meredith, and we applaud them for doing a revamp just three years into the magazine’s lifecycle. Considering the popularity of the brand, they may have gone longer without a redesign, but they know their readers and what they want, so perhaps the time was right.
Nevertheless, in this case, Meredith has shown itself to be nimble, and we’re eager to get our hands on a copy of the “new” magazine. Other publishers can learn from their example – never get too comfortable with your design or content online or in print. Evolve early and often to stay ahead of the competition and to meet the needs of your readers and your advertisers.
~ Dana E. Neuts, Subscription Insider
