The InPublishing Podcast

James Evelegh talks to Sajeeda Merali, CEO of the PPA, about: the PPA’s focus on people, product and audiencehow communication lies at the heart of all successful business transformationsthe evolution of ‘sales’ and how it has moved away from selling by platform to selling by audiencethe skill-sets successful sales teams now requirethe PPA’s role in “unpacking the complicated stuff”why there is still a long way to go on ED&I but how the publishing sector is well placed to drive changewhy, when it comes to ED&I, everyone can do something, whether you’re a multi-national or a team of threehow an executive coach helped her think differently about her careerwhat the PPA hopes to achieve with its upcoming hackathonthe state of play regarding the ‘digital markets unit’ and the ‘online safety bill’and, why despite the challenging outlook, she remains optimistic about publishing’s future: the surfeit of “misinformation and fake news highlights the value of good journalism”and much more...(This interview was recorded on 7th October.)We would like to thank our podcast sponsor, Air Business, a market-leader in distribution and subscription management services for the publishing industry. Its end-to-end service includes subscriber acquisition and marketing strategy, worldwide distribution, digital, mail and e-commerce fulfilment, and warehouse and freight logistics.

James Evelegh talks to Claire Hodgson, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan UK, about: why putting the finishing touches to their 50th birthday issue was a “pinch-me moment”how they went about growing their digital audiencewhy print remains a key pillar for the brand: “it’s a shop window and has a huge halo effect on the rest of what we do”embracing the new and being excited about changewanting Cosmo to be its audience’s “best friend”the importance of data, but why it can never replace the work of skilled editorial teamswhy she insists on their entertainment coverage being fair, considered and fact-checkedthe importance of sincerity: “our audience does not have time for performative behaviour and can smell it a mile off”why magazine brands have to be clear about what they stand for and believe in itwhy, in today’s gender-fluid, non-binary world, there is no such thing as a “typical” Cosmo readerwhy they have a responsibility to talk about the “tough stuff”, but also the latest must-have mascara for a Saturday night outhow digital and social success comes from investing in great people; there are no short cutswhy each of a publishing brand’s platforms should behave like pureplayshow the secret of e-commerce success is great content and authenticitywhy she’s excited about ‘Summerverse’, Cosmo’s first venture onto the metaverse: “a lot of fun, so much opportunity”and much more...(This interview was recorded on 25th August.)We would like to thank our podcast sponsor, Air Business, a market-leader in distribution and subscription management services for the publishing industry. Its end-to-end service includes subscriber acquisition and marketing strategy, worldwide distribution, digital, mail and e-commerce fulfilment, and warehouse and freight logistics.

James Evelegh talks to Dave Musgrove, content director, history, at Immediate Media, about: their HistoryExtra podcast hitting the twin milestones of 15 years & 150m downloadshow they're marking the milestones with a new series: '15 minutes of fame'introducing a UGC element to their podcastsdos & don'ts of creating a successful podcasthow the podcast started as a marketing channel but is now a monetisable producthow the HistoryExtra podcast team manages to deliver such prolific outputwhy the Bayeux Tapestry still resonates todaywhy they've put a paywall on the HistoryExtra websitetheir key paywall learnings to datehis thinking on incorporating a more "clubbable element" to the HistoryExtra offeringhis hopes for a possible new lease of life for the newsstand post-pandemicand much more...(This interview was recorded on 23rd June.)We would like to thank our podcast sponsor, Air Business, a market-leader in distribution and subscription management services for the publishing industry. Its end-to-end service includes subscriber acquisition and marketing strategy, worldwide distribution, digital, mail and e-commerce fulfilment, and warehouse and freight logistics.