Case Study Of a Publishing House

This Part of my case study will closely analyse the publishing company IPC.
IPC is a world wide, exclusive publishing company and has been in business from 1963 following the merge of the UK’s three largest magazine publishers George Newnens, Odhams Press and Fleetway publications. They eventually came together to form the International Publishing cooperation (IPC). Following the formation, IPC magazines were then formed 5 years later in 1968. IPC magazine covers many fields of interest making the company a huge success in the UK. Statistics show that “almost two in every three UK women and over 44% of UK men read an IPC magazine”. “That's over 26 million UK adults”.
IPC is currently owned by Time Inc, which is the publishing division of the Time Warner Inc. The company says: “Our business is split into five distinct publishing divisions: IPC Connect, IPC Inspire, IPC Ignite, IPC Southbank and IPC TX. Alongside these is Market force, the UK's leading magazine distribution business”
IPC employs over 2,200 people of all backgrounds. Their creativity, drive and ambition are what make the company very successful in UK consumer publishing.
The company supplies about 80 different magazines to the general public. They include: What's on TV, Pick Me Up, Woman, Now, Marie Claire, In Style, Woman & Home, Ideal Home, Nuts, Wallpaper*, Country Life, The Field, Rugby World, Practical Boat Owner and Look, as well as many other magazines throughout many years of publishing. IPC also supplies NME; the first major music magazine which has its own website.

Through many years, the company has certainly excelled. From the 1800s where they first launched ‘The Field’, the largest newspaper in Europe with 25 pages to the magazines of the modern day like Look and Pick me up. Time Inc has also provided IPC Media with £1.15 billion in October 2001, making it the biggest magazine deal ever experiences in the UK, and also the biggest transatlantic media deal of our time.

IPC magazines have a very large target audience due to the many different styles of magazines they publish. In terms of gender, the magazines appeal from young men to older men. For example IPC publishes 'Nuts', target audience being for a younger generation due to the content of the magazine; women, cars and football. For older men, there are such magazines like 'GOLF' and 'Decanter'. There are also magazines like 'Woman & Home' for older female consumers.
In terms of Age, the magazine also appeals to a wide number of people of many ages. For example the magazine 'Marie Claire', 'NME' and 'In Style' may appeal to younger consumers rather then a consumer at an age of 50 or above.
However, one type of magazine that the company doesn’t provide is religious magazines. Perhaps, because there is too much of a wide field of religious views its harder to publish one type of magazine without offending another.
The prices of these magazines also show variation. Some magazines are more expensive then other. For example, Marie Claire sells its magazines for about £3.30 whilst Nuts sells its magazines for £1.60. The prices seem to vary on how often it published; every month or every week. Monthly magazines prove to be more expensive then weekly magazines.
In terms of special interests, the magazines IPC provides cover pretty much everything some could like. From music to home life the IPC magazines show a variety of fields of interest that people may have. This is why the company is very successful and makes a large amount of money due to purposely reaching out to a wider target audience.