You can listen to this in-depth discussion, recorded on October 13th 2020, by . Over more than 40 minutes Mark reveals:
- Why the group prepared three budget plans at the start of the pandemic (鈥渢he good, the bad and the ugly鈥�)
- Why 鈥渃ash is king鈥� at the moment, the joys of a diverse portfolio
- How to successfully integrate new acquisitions
- How the publishing industry 鈥渧astly under prices magazines鈥�
- How he鈥檚 personally spent much of lockdown writing a novel, the title of which was decided by polling one hundred people
With the company's turnover increasing from 拢16m in 2013 to 拢43m in 2018, Ciar was keen to to get Mark's thoughts on what the secret to this success has been. Mark revealed the following five key factors:
- The right culture: according to Mark, there鈥檚 little red tape and no 鈥渟tultifying corporate ethos鈥� but rather an emphasis on flexibility, agility, speed and a 鈥渃an-do, participatory culture鈥�.
- An empowered workforce: their approach is particularly evident in their handling of incoming staff from acquired titles, who often arrive demotivated and feeling unloved; MAG soon gets to work, getting them writing mission statements, presenting on away-days, and formulating action plans.
- A diverse portfolio: MAG鈥檚 brands are spread across twelve different market sectors. The creation of this portfolio, primarily through acquisition, was against the prevailing orthodoxy of the time which held that publishers should focus on developing deep expertise in a limited number of markets, but it has stood them in good stead, never more so than now.
- A mixed revenue model: Mark is not an evangelist for any one revenue stream. So鈥� print is far from dead but digital鈥檚 great too; subs revenues (currently 26% of group revenues) are growing but advertising in their niche markets has a strong future too, as do events, currently virtual but soon to re-emerge as hybrid events in a post-Covid world. Money鈥檚 money.
- Employing talented people and treating them well. Mark has much praise for his 鈥渟uperb and focused team鈥� and their 鈥渋ncredible creativity and ingenuity鈥�.