Publishing @ 50+
AARP turns 50 this year. With the world’s largest-circ magazine, among other growing products, it has a lot to celebrate.
June 2008 By James Sturdivant
The AARP, the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for Americans ages 50 and older, is itself turning 50 this year, and the timing could not be better. A host of anniversary events, culminating with the “Life@50+” national event in September in Washington, D.C. (where AARP is based), will bolster the organization’s already-high profile, as millions of baby boomers add to the ranks of the largest retirement-age cohort in history.
It may seem to the casual observer that the AARP—along with its flagship publication, AARP The Magazine—is the inevitable beneficiary of a demographic tide. Such an assumption ignores the fact that these same boomers, many of whom will be truckin’ to D.C. in September to see performances by Paul Simon and Chicago, are sophisticated media consumers with a multitude of choices and high standards for news and information. The AARP’s success in recent years has been built precisely on a refusal to take any of its potential audience for granted.
“Obviously, the reason this publication exists is that this association wants it to exist. But in the marketplace, we are competing with Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Glamour, National Geographic and everyone else for ad dollars,” says Jim Fishman, vice president and group publisher of AARP Publications, located in New York.
Getting and keeping readers means being mindful of these consumer-magazine rivals—and a whole lot more.
“Coke has a phrase they use called ‘share of belly,’ meaning they are competing not just with Pepsi, but with anything you put in your mouth,” Fishman says. “We are the same way. We are competing with anything you might do instead of reading these publications, so we are driven by all the same things that any for-profit magazine is driven by … . The fact that we are an association publisher does not let us off the hook in any way.”
By any measure, AARP media products have proven tremendously successful in a world where 50-somethings are now creating Facebook accounts and contemplating second careers. AARP The Magazine, a bimonthly, lifestyle publication, goes out to 23.5 million households; its total audience of 34 million (up from around 20 million five years ago), as determined by Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI), makes it the largest-circulation magazine in the world. A Spanish-language, quarterly lifestyle magazine, AARP Segunda Juventud, has a rate base of 400,000. AARP Bulletin, a monthly news publication focused on policy and advocacy concerns, and published in consort with a weekly television show and daily online edition, also reaches AARP’s 23.5 million member households.
It may seem to the casual observer that the AARP—along with its flagship publication, AARP The Magazine—is the inevitable beneficiary of a demographic tide. Such an assumption ignores the fact that these same boomers, many of whom will be truckin’ to D.C. in September to see performances by Paul Simon and Chicago, are sophisticated media consumers with a multitude of choices and high standards for news and information. The AARP’s success in recent years has been built precisely on a refusal to take any of its potential audience for granted.
“Obviously, the reason this publication exists is that this association wants it to exist. But in the marketplace, we are competing with Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Glamour, National Geographic and everyone else for ad dollars,” says Jim Fishman, vice president and group publisher of AARP Publications, located in New York.
Getting and keeping readers means being mindful of these consumer-magazine rivals—and a whole lot more.
“Coke has a phrase they use called ‘share of belly,’ meaning they are competing not just with Pepsi, but with anything you put in your mouth,” Fishman says. “We are the same way. We are competing with anything you might do instead of reading these publications, so we are driven by all the same things that any for-profit magazine is driven by … . The fact that we are an association publisher does not let us off the hook in any way.”
By any measure, AARP media products have proven tremendously successful in a world where 50-somethings are now creating Facebook accounts and contemplating second careers. AARP The Magazine, a bimonthly, lifestyle publication, goes out to 23.5 million households; its total audience of 34 million (up from around 20 million five years ago), as determined by Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI), makes it the largest-circulation magazine in the world. A Spanish-language, quarterly lifestyle magazine, AARP Segunda Juventud, has a rate base of 400,000. AARP Bulletin, a monthly news publication focused on policy and advocacy concerns, and published in consort with a weekly television show and daily online edition, also reaches AARP’s 23.5 million member households.
Insights at Glance
… from Jim Fishman, vice president and group
publisher, AARP Publications
Best Management Tactic: My management style has always been to hire smart people and let them run their own business, and to create an environment of integrity and congeniality.
Biggest Challenge as Vice President and Group Publisher: … To ensure our print, online, events and broadcast sales efforts are keeping at just the right pace with our clients’ integrated marketing needs.
Keeps You Up at Night: The responsibility of serving an audience of more than [34 million] people.
AARP Publications’ Biggest Strength: We are the only media franchise created for and about 50+ Americans. That, combined with our unparalleled reach through our publications and our other media, makes us the leading choice for companies who want to reach and impact the 50+ market.
Fastest Growing Product or Segment: Even though we just launched two syndicated television shows and relaunched our Web site, our fastest growing product is our lifestyle publication, AARP The Magazine. In the past year alone, our readership grew by 2.8 million readers—or over 7,500 new readers per day—to a total of 34+ million [according to MRI data, Spring 2008]. 50+ has also just become the new online majority [MRI data, Fall 2007], so we are making sure to connect with our audience everywhere they are.
… from Jim Fishman, vice president and group
publisher, AARP Publications
Best Management Tactic: My management style has always been to hire smart people and let them run their own business, and to create an environment of integrity and congeniality.
Biggest Challenge as Vice President and Group Publisher: … To ensure our print, online, events and broadcast sales efforts are keeping at just the right pace with our clients’ integrated marketing needs.
Keeps You Up at Night: The responsibility of serving an audience of more than [34 million] people.
AARP Publications’ Biggest Strength: We are the only media franchise created for and about 50+ Americans. That, combined with our unparalleled reach through our publications and our other media, makes us the leading choice for companies who want to reach and impact the 50+ market.
Fastest Growing Product or Segment: Even though we just launched two syndicated television shows and relaunched our Web site, our fastest growing product is our lifestyle publication, AARP The Magazine. In the past year alone, our readership grew by 2.8 million readers—or over 7,500 new readers per day—to a total of 34+ million [according to MRI data, Spring 2008]. 50+ has also just become the new online majority [MRI data, Fall 2007], so we are making sure to connect with our audience everywhere they are.
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I am a member of AARP and was very pleased to read what the strategy behind magazine and media. It's the only relevant source that speaks to my current lifestage