Task 5: IPC Case Study

Task 5: IPC Case Study

Research

History

• IPC originated from 3 large companies (George Newnes, Odhams Press and Fleetway Publications) merging together in 1963, whilst the first magazine was published in 1968.
• Each of the individual companies date back to the late 19th Century.
• Later, in 1994, The Field joined IPC, which stretched the history back even further to the mid 19th Century. 

Publications

• There is a range of magazines that IPC have links with, including: Cycling Fitness, Amateur Gardening, Ideal Home, Good to Know Recipes, Living Tec, Superyacht World, World Soccer, Womens Weekly and Teen Now.
• They also reach a huge range of target audiences including middle age women, teenagers, young men and fitness orientated people.

Portfolio of Titles

• Ranges of genres including Countryside and Horses, Fashion and Beauty, Lifestyle, Sport and Leisure, Teen, TV Entertainment, Womens Weeklies, Young Men and Music.

Structure

• IPC newspapers including The Sun and The Daily Mail
• IPC Magazines including consumer magazines and comics
• IPC Trade and Technical (later changed to IPC Business Press LTD) specialist magazines
• IPC Books - book publishing
• IPC Printing - All non-newspaper printing operations
• IPC New products - launching pad for new products which use new technology

Current News

• 3rd October 2013 - Jo Smalley appointed publishing director of NME and Uncut
• 23rd September 2013 - IPC Southbank appoints group digital editor across fashion brands

Why might IPC be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine?

IPC has a lot of experience with many genres of magazine and already has a few titles in the genre.

Why might alternative publishers like Bauer be appropriate?

It is known to have a wide audience, with 300 magazines published in 15 countries online, over radio and on TV. It is also Europe's largest independent publishing group. This would make it more appropriate because of the larger audience this brand reaches.