British high society and culture magazine Tatler has undergone some dramatic changes over the past year, driven by changes in the leadership team. With the wealthiest readership of all Conde Nast’s publications, the ‘toff bible’ has a unique set of challenges to maintain growth, and ensure they’re reaching the right audience online.
The changes have paid off, with an increase in the magazine’s circulation, and also online where digital revenues have almost doubled since 2017.
This week, Media Voices caught up with Tatler’s Publishing Director Kate Slesinger, who has overseen Tatler and Vanity Fair for just over two years. With over 25 years working on various Conde titles, including House & Garden and Conde Nast Traveller, she has seen her role evolve from obsessing daily about print to dealing with all forms of revenue coming in on the magazine.
Celebrating circulation growth
Over the past year, Tatler has had a circulation boost, with total print and digital circulation up 1.3% year on year to over 79,000. Slesinger credits much of this to Richard Dennen, who came in as editor in 2018 and almost instantly made changes to the contributors, the site and the magazine itself.
What really stood out with the new Tatler was the change in covers. “The covers are bold, they’re celebrities, they’re recognisable, they’re really beautiful covers that are resting on newsstands,” Slesinger explained. “That is the first thing that Richard when he came on board wanted to see changes in that area, and he succeeded.”
Read the rest of this article by Esther Kezia Thorpe on What’s New in Publishing…
