Mr. Magazine

“In the case of Kalmbach, we’ve spent time over the last few years consolidating our brand portfolio. And now we feel we have a strong core business in trains and science. And across our brands in those categories, many of our customers still want the experience of a print magazine. And we’re going to continue to provide high-quality print experiences for those customers.” Dan Hickey…

Print and digital at their best, working together to serve the audience across all platforms. That’s the plan at Kalmbach Media. Kalmbach was founded in 1934 and continues today to delight and inform enthusiasts across many interests, from trains to science to beads and buttons. Through a diverse portfolio of brands that encompasses magazines, digital content, books and related products, Kalmbach has brought its legacy brands into the 21^st century with a robustness that is far from shy.

Dan Hickey is CEO of the company and believes in the Kalmbach mission of always putting the customer front and center wholeheartedly. I spoke with Dan recently and we talked about these brands that are very near and dear to many readers’ hearts, and to Dan’s too. Model Railroader, Classic Trains, Garden Railways, just to name a few. And about the new Trains.com website that was launched recently. For train and railroad lovers, it’s a portal to heaven with more than 20,000 pieces of content from all of their train enthusiast brands all in one spot, a massive endeavor that offers an unlimited access membership that Dan feels will excite his audience as much as it does him. With premium content created solely for the website and live video, plus access to 85 years of archives, it’s sure to cause train enthusiasts nationwide to sign up.

In fact, they launched recently and signed up thousands of memberships. Dan said that their expectations for Trains.com is that it will become the number one trains website in the world. “And it’s going to be a recurring revenue model for Kalmbach, it’s a subscription model, it’s premium content, and we expect and plan on it to be very successful.”

Indeed. It’s print and digital at their best. A successful partnership between the ink on paper and the pixels on the screen. And now the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Dan Hickey, CEO, Kalmbach Media.

But first the sound-bites:

On how things have been operating during the pandemic: It has certainly been a challenging time for everyone, but our business is doing very well. We’re having a very good year. Most areas of our business are actually doing better than last year. There has been a bit of a lift, I would say, since the onset of COVID. Some of our customers are people who have return to the hobbies, whether it’s the train category or astronomy or science. Business has done very well.

On whether he subscribes to the theory that the pandemic has been a sort of blessing to the magazine media and publishing industry: I’ve spoken to many CEOs in our peer set and all of them have told me that their businesses have actually improved during COVID, and that has been true of our business as well. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a blessing, just because of the context of it all, but our businesses have improved.

On the membership business model he is starting for Trains: A lot of publishers are turning to what I would call a new business model for digital, for websites, and for Internet businesses. At Kalmbach, our revenue is probably 90 percent from the customer today and has been for a long time. So the shift for us is just making sure that we are building digital membership products as part of our future strategy. And that’s what Trains.com really is, it reflects in our business the multiyear strategy to serve our audiences through compelling digital subscription products. So, it’s not so much of a new business model, it’s the same business model, but it’s just happening in the digital arena.

On the role of print in this digital migration: In the case of Kalmbach, we’ve spent time over the last few years consolidating our brand portfolio. And now we feel we have a strong core business in trains and science. And across our brands in those categories, many of our customers still want the experience of a print magazine. And we’re going to continue to provide high-quality print experiences for those customers.

On the plans for Trains moving forward: We’ve owned the Trains.com domain for a long time without putting it to good use, so to speak. We wanted to unlock the value of the domain because it’s powerful, for sure. And we knew by looking at our data that there was crossover between brands and we came to the conclusion that optimal value would be building one big site with multiple brands, versus five separate, distinct websites. And that’s what we did.

On what someone can get from Trains.com that they can’t get from the ink on paper publications: They’re going to find exclusive, premium content from all of our Trains brands. That’s Model Railroader, Classic Toy Trains, Garden Railways, then Trains and Classic Trains which serve the enthusiast audience that are interested in big trains. This is exclusive content, created just for them. They’re going to get expert Q&A’s, track databases. The one unique thing that they’ll be able to get is 85 years of archives of all five of our brands. And we know from our experience in data that the archives are very much valued by our customers.

On what he hopes to accomplish with Trains.com within a year: I think a year from now we’re going to tell a very compelling story, in terms of our success building a new digital subscription product and really paving the way for train enthusiasts to interact with digital content in the future.

On Kalmbach’s selling content to the audience mentality instead of selling the audience to advertisers and whether that still fits no matter the platform: Yes it does. We do advertising, but it’s a minor part of our business. It’s not a huge part, but we do it because it’s a service really to our customers, because they’re looking for products and they’re buying products on a continual basis, so they need to be connected to manufacturers and retailers, that’s just a fact of the business.

On whether the membership for Trains.com is digital only or print plus digital: The membership is an unlimited membership for digital, but we have some other products. We know the archives are valuable, so if somebody just wants access to the archives, they can purchase that for $2.99. So we’re allowing subsets of content and we’ll experiment too.

On how important the legacy brand was to this digital membership model: If you’re asking how important are our brands in establishing Trains.com, if you visit the site you’ll see that we took a lot of care, this was a massive effort as you might imagine, bringing more than 20,000 pieces of content from different websites all onto one.

On the role of the print product at Kalmbach: Again, we have a customer base that very much wants a print product. I can tell you that it’s not declining fast by any means, but it’s not growing necessarily either. For us it’s harder to find a print subscriber than it is to find a digital subscriber. The digital universe, as you know, is quite large and provides opportunities for publishers like Kalmbach to find new customers more efficiently than we can through traditional means for print products.  

On anything he’d like to add: It was a massive project for our cross functional teams; we had editorial involved; we had our marketing team; our technology team; our design team; third party vendor, and our digital team. It was a year-long project or more and we’re very excited and proud about the product and the results so far. We’re proud of the team that really came together and put Trains.com on the map for us. We’re just very excited at this point.

On being a CEO and handling the social changes that are taking place in the workplace and in the country today:As a CEO, I didn’t shy away from engaging employees in issues of race and social injustice; we had discussions. I actually got involved with employees in focus groups and I didn’t shy away from vulnerable questions about working from home; how is it working with their families, to really try and understand and have empathy for these employees who are facing very challenging times, especially if you’re a parent, with the schools shutting down and opening up.

On what makes him tick and click: Every day I have new questions and I’m a curious person. I always try to explore what might provide answers to those questions.

On how he unwinds in the evenings: I live in Wisconsin on a lake and I like to get a fishing rod in hand and get out on the dock. It’s something that relaxes me the most.

On what keeps him up at night: Thinking about our future, and not just as an industry, but as a company. And about how we’re going to be successful. We’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about acquisitions and what types of companies would make sense for Kalmbach to acquire. It’s a process that requires patience and a great deal of thought.

And now the lightly edited Mr. Magazine™ interview with Dan Hickey, CEO, Kalmback Media. 

Samir Husni: How have things been operating during the pandemic?

Dan Hickey: It has certainly been a challenging time for everyone, but our business is doing very well. We’re having a very good year. Most areas of our business are actually doing better than last year. There has been a bit of a lift, I would say, since the onset of COVID. Some of our customers are people who have return to the hobbies, whether it’s the train category or astronomy or science. Business has done very well.

Our employees have moved from pretty much 100 percent in the office to about 90 percent remote work. Our collaboration and communication has been excellent. And surprisingly, our productivity has actually increased, so we’re feeling pretty good about things right now. 

Samir Husni: So when people say that the pandemic was a, and I hate to use the word blessing, to the publishing and magazine media industry, do you subscribe to that theory?

Dan Hickey: I’ve spoken to many CEOs in our peer set and all of them have told me that their businesses have actually improved during COVID, and that has been true of our business as well. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a blessing, just because of the context of it all, but our businesses have improved. 

Samir Husni: Can you tell me  a little bit more about the membership business model that you’re starting for Trains?

Dan Hickey: A lot of publishers are turning to what I would call a new business model for digital, for websites, and for Internet businesses. At Kalmbach, our revenue is probably 90 percent from the customer today and has been for a long time. So the shift for us is just making sure that we are building digital membership products as part of our future strategy. And that’s what Trains.com really is, it reflects in our business the multiyear strategy to serve our audiences through compelling digital subscription products. So, it’s not so much of a new business model, it’s the same business model, but it’s just happening in the digital arena. 

Trains.com is the answer to the question of how Kalmbach is going to serve our customers in the future. In that respect, it really represents our future path. This has been our model, but what I think is new for us is really migrating that business model to digital.

Samir Husni: What is the role of print in this migration? Will we continue to see Trains in print; continue to see the Kalmbach magazines in print as you migrate the business model to digital?

Dan Hickey: I think that will vary publisher by publisher. Larger publishers are going to have an easier time staffing both print products and digital products. Smaller media companies, smaller publishers are going to have to really balance between print and digital. 

In the case of Kalmbach, we’ve spent time over the last few years consolidating our brand portfolio. And now we feel we have a strong core business in trains and science. And across our brands in those categories, many of our customers still want the experience of a print magazine. And we’re going to continue to provide high-quality print experiences for those customers.

However, access to new premium digital products will not necessarily be included in those subscriptions. I do see publishers, the small and medium-sized publishers, looking at frequencies. Even the bigger publishers over the last five years have consolidated their portfolios, maybe have sunset some brands. But there are other levers that publishers can use to fund the investment in new digital subscription products, such as circulation and the size of the magazine, how much paper they’re using. Those are the things that Kalmbach looks at as well.

Samir Husni: What are the plans for Trains as you move forward?

Dan Hickey: We’ve owned the Trains.com domain for a long time without putting it to good use, so to speak. We wanted to unlock the value of the domain because it’s powerful, for sure. And we knew by looking at our data that there was crossover between brands and we came to the conclusion that optimal value would be building one big site with multiple brands, versus five separate, distinct websites. And that’s what we did. 

Over 86 years, we’ve developed leading brands and we’ve been serving our customers predominantly in print. Our expectations for Trains.com is that it will become the number one trains website in the world. And it’s going to be a recurring revenue model for Kalmbach, it’s a subscription model, it’s premium content, and we expect and plan on it to be very successful. 

Samir Husni: What can someone get from Trains.com that they can’t get from the ink on paper publications?

Dan Hickey: They’re going to find exclusive, premium content from all of our Trains brands. That’s Model Railroader, Classic Toy Trains, Garden Railways, then Trains and Classic Trains which serve the enthusiast audience that are interested in big trains. This is exclusive content, created just for them. They’re going to get expert Q&A’s, track databases. The one unique thing that they’ll be able to get is 85 years of archives of all five of our brands. And we know from our experience in data that the archives are very much valued by our customers. 

They’ll also get livestreaming video as well. And again, we’re going to be creating premium, new content daily that can only be found on Trains.com. Trains.com was our first digital subscription product that was all video and we had great success with that, in terms of Model Railroader fans. About 20 percent of our audience also chose to purchase the video product, so Trains.com is a continuation of that strategy, but it’s just bigger and better than what we did for Model Railroader Video Plus. 

Samir Husni: What would you hope to tell me you had accomplished a year from now with Trains.com?

Dan Hickey: We have a large ingrowing audience on a subscriber base on Trains.com, membership base. We’re creating a lot of video content and we’re reaching new customers through digital channels that we weren’t necessarily invested in previously. And that the Trains.com domain is absolutely powerful. 

Just to give you a sense of how powerful, with the launch a few weeks ago, we signed up thousands of members. It was pretty much a rolling launch, with Model Railroader Video Plus being the last to shift and redirect its customers. Our conversion from a 30-day trial membership to a full unlimited membership is around 80 percent. We consider that a very healthy conversion rate. 

So, I think a year from now we’re going to tell a very compelling story, in terms of our success building a new digital subscription product and really paving the way for train enthusiasts to interact with digital content in the future. 

Samir Husni: You have rarely been in the business of selling the audience to the advertiser, but rather selling content to the audience. As you move more into digital, are you finding that “audience first” mentality still fits, no matter the platform?

Dan Hickey: Yes it does. We do advertising, but it’s a minor part of our business. It’s not a huge part, but we do it because it’s a service really to our customers, because they’re looking for products and they’re buying products on a continual basis, so they need to be connected to manufacturers and retailers, that’s just a fact of the business. 

But in terms of Kalmbach, we’re always going to put the customer at the center. It’s been our history to provide expert premium content to those customers, they’re willing to pay a premium per subscription in many cases. The difference for us is great content allows us to charge a premium for that content and we feel that’s going to migrate over easily, based on the conversion rate that I just shared with you, so we feel that will be true for Trains.com as well.  And will we provide advertising on Trains.com? Yes, we think we can provide advertising that’s suitable and effective in the digital realm. 

Samir Husni: Did I understand you correctly when you said the membership is for digital only? No print plus digital? 

Dan Hickey: The membership is an unlimited membership for digital, but we have some other products. We know the archives are valuable, so if somebody just wants access to the archives, they can purchase that for $2.99. So we’re allowing subsets of content and we’ll experiment too. 

We’ll experiment with areas where there might be a subset of products that aren’t as expensive as the unlimited membership, but the plan for right now is that a subscriber to the magazine will get all that content, but all the new content that is created on Trains.com, they will have to buy the unlimited  membership unless they want just the archives. 

Samir Husni: But for the price you can get it all, the print and the digital?

Dan Hickey: Yes, but it’s not a combined membership at this time. You’re just going to buy a subscription for the magazine and then you go online to buy the digital product. So you would buy both products. In the future we’ll look at creating a combined membership, but today with this new product it’s separate. There is a subscription or a digital membership or you can buy both. 

Samir Husni: How important is the legacy brand to the success of this membership model?

Dan Hickey: If you’re asking how important are our brands in establishing Trains.com, if you visit the site you’ll see that we took a lot of care, this was a massive effort as you might imagine, bringing more than 20,000 pieces of content from different websites all onto one. 

One of our principles was that we wanted to still create and allow for experiences that are brand experiences within Trains.com. So we have technology, but we kept the brands alive on Trains.com. If you go to Trains.com you’ll see a section that’s Model Railroader, one that’s Classic Toy Trains, and so forth with all of our brands. 

And as you experience Trains.com, if you were only interested in Model Railroader or Live Trains, Big Trains, we have the technology really to deliver that type of brand experience. That was very important to us in building Trains.com, to make sure we didn’t diminish the brands at all. So if you want to experience three or four different brands, we have the technology and will allow for that as well. And we’ll learn how the audience is interacting with the content.

Samir Husni: And the role for the print product at Kalmbach?

Dan Hickey: Again, we have a customer base that very much wants a print product. I can tell you that it’s not declining fast by any means, but it’s not growing necessarily either. For us it’s harder to find a print subscriber than it is to find a digital subscriber. The digital universe, as you know, is quite large and provides opportunities for publishers like Kalmbach to find new customers more efficiently than we can through traditional means for print products. 

We’re going to continue to serve our customers who want print experiences for as long as they want those products and it’s economically feasible for us to do so. And because we are niche publications in these enthusiast categories, we have options that other publishers may not have. People are very accustomed to paying premium prices for our products. 

Samir Husni: Is there anything you’d like to add? 

Dan Hickey: It was a massive project for our cross functional teams; we had editorial involved; we had our marketing team; our technology team; our design team; third party vendor, and our digital team. It was a year-long project or more and we’re very excited and proud about the product and the results so far. We’re proud of the team that really came together and put Trains.com on the map for us. We’re just very excited at this point.

Samir Husni: As a CEO, what initiatives have you taken or how have you handled all of the social changes that are taking place today in the workplace and in the country?

Dan Hickey: As a CEO, I didn’t shy away from engaging employees in issues of race and social injustice; we had discussions. I actually got involved with employees in focus groups and I didn’t shy away from vulnerable questions about working from home; how is it working with their families, to really try and understand and have empathy for these employees who are facing very challenging times, especially if you’re a parent, with the schools shutting down and opening up. 

As a senior leadership team member, I really encouraged patience and empathy and really tried to listen more to our employees. And that has worked for us. We over-communicated and we were constantly surveying our employees, in terms of how things were going and did they have the tools and the resources to do their jobs. What were their views on returning to the office? What were their views on vaccinations? This was all done as a way of listening to what was happening. And we feel pretty proud of the way that we’ve engaged with our employees and that we’ve supported them and it seems to have influenced the results for the company.

Samir Husni: What makes you tick and click and motivates you to get out of bed in the mornings?

Dan Hickey: Every day I have new questions and I’m a curious person. I always try to explore what might provide answers to those questions.

Samir Husni: How do you unwind in the evenings?

Dan Hickey: I live in Wisconsin on a lake and I like to get a fishing rod in hand and get out on the dock. It’s something that relaxes me the most. 

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Dan Hickey: Thinking about our future, and not just as an industry, but as a company. And about how we’re going to be successful. We’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about acquisitions and what types of companies would make sense for Kalmbach to acquire. It’s a process that requires patience and a great deal of thought. During the pandemic, it’s been even more challenging to evaluate businesses — it is a time of uncertainty and there are question about what the future, or new normal, will look like post-pandemic. It’s challenging, but we’ll continue looking.

Samir Husni: Thank you. 

“For our readers, the print magazine is going to continue to be relevant and important. It’s a totally different experience than how they get the brand on digital. I think for print it’s all about that serendipitous sit-back, relax and enjoy having content brought to you that you might not have expected. Our readers open the magazine and they know they’re going to get recipes, but it’s all that stuff around the recipes that surprises and delights them.” Jessie Price…

“Most of our successful integrations are rooted with the print content, where we can bring it to life across EatingWell.com and our social channels, which are performing tremendously right now. Advertisers are looking for those connections across all of our channels and so far they have been proven successful.” Tiffany Ehasz…

Launched in 1990, EatingWell is a brand that is stretching its food wings into far more than just delicious recipes. Although, there are plenty of those as well. With an avid focus on health and wellness, covering everything from food to kitchens to appliances, EatingWell has proven what its capable of, even during a pandemic.

I spoke with Jessie Price, editor in chief and Tiffany Ehasz, publisher, and we talked about the brand’s track record during 2020. Jessie said that the brand’s digital audience has grown year over year, 49 percent in January and in February, 48 percent, year over year, with direct-to-publisher subscriptions up 15 percent from 2019 to 2020. And with this happening during a pandemic, Jessie said it’s a testament to how relevant the brand’s content is across all its platforms.

Tiffany agreed whole-heartedly and said that while there were some challenges, especially in the beginning of the pandemic, they overcame those by digging deep into other categories and utilizing what Jessie had created for them in the book, which was more categories to go outside their food advertisers.

It was an informative and delightful interview with two women who are passionate about what they do and have the same end goal, to win against any challenges and make sure that their readers and advertisers are winning as well. So please enjoy the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Jessie Price, editor in chief and Tiffany Ehasz, publisher, EatingWell.

But first the sound-bites:

On how they adjusted to operating during a pandemic (Tiffany Ehasz): Prior to the pandemic, it was a lot of client-facing meetings, a lot of dining out as you probably know. But right now it’s really about lots of Zoom calls with partners trying to use their time wisely with impactful, smart and meaningful conversations and ideas as we know their time is limited. So making that impact has been a bit of a difference-maker for us, but we have been successful in doing that and in bringing EatingWell to the forefront.

On how the brand EatingWell can help advertisers and readers navigate out of the pandemic (Jessie Price): From the editorial side, I would say we’re at that perfect intersection between health and wellness and sustainability. We were relevant before the pandemic; we’ve become even more relevant and we plan to stay focused on that same area. We’re all about helping people and we’re going to remain focused on that.

On the role the printed magazine plays in the cross-channel communication with the readers and the advertisers (Jessie Price): For our readers, the print magazine is going to continue to be relevant and important. It’s a totally different experience than how they get the brand on digital. I think for print it’s all about that serendipitous sit-back, relax and enjoy having content brought to you that you might not have expected. Our readers open the magazine and they know they’re going to get recipes, but it’s all that stuff around the recipes that surprises and delights them. 

On the sales pitch for the printed product to advertisers (Tiffany Ehasz): Honestly, my sales pitch is the fact that not only has our content grown tremendously beyond food, but our readers are very much engrossed in that content from cover to cover. And when we’re thinking about these amazing ideas, we know that it’s working because the numbers are up and all of our advertiser executions are performing very well from a research perspective.

On whether there have been any challenges during the pandemic (Jessie Price): For our business, on the consumer side, it’s been amazing. Our digital audience has grown year over year, 49 percent in January, year over year. In February, 48 percent, year over year. It is enormous. Our direct-to-publisher subscriptions from 2019 to 2020 are up 15 percent. And they are staying at that increased 15 percent up level and we think that’s just the new normal. So, it’s been great.

On any challenges on the business/publisher side (Tiffany Ehasz): There were some challenges, especially in the beginning of the pandemic. A lot of our food advertisers had their own challenges, supply issues or holding back some money just in case. We didn’t know what the future would hold. How we overcame that was by digging deep into other categories and utilizing what Jessie has created for us in the book, which is really more categories to go outside those food advertisers.

On how they see the magazine among the competitive set that’s out there, as an epicurean magazine or as a lifestyle magazine (Tiffany Ehasz): We are absolutely rooted in food, but we do have a focus on wellness and sustainability. And they’ve always been key to this brand and it truly sets us apart. The brand is currently so relevant and the continued evolution and expansion of the content to address our audience’s complete lifestyle, which is really at the intersection of health, well-being and food, is a really sweet spot to be in and we are completely capitalizing on it. 

On the power and education of the EatingWell brand when it comes to health and wellness (Jessie Price): The brand EatingWell, in terms of education about health and wellness has always been about having a balanced and sensible approach that’s based in science. We have never been about crazy diets. We have never been about restriction or deprivation. It’s really about eating balanced in a way that you can sustain for your whole life.

On what they hope to have accomplished in one year with the brand (Tiffany Ehasz):  We have come so far and as Jessie mentioned, our growth has been astronomical this year consumer-wise. More people now know about EatingWell and we anticipate the momentum and the growth to continue. 

On anything either of them would like to add (Jessie Price): We did a story on income and equality and its connection to health outcomes. It was an 8-page feature and a heavy read, but it was basically looking at all the data that shows that there’s a real connection between the less income you make, then the less healthy you are. And I got a number of letters from readers about that story. No surprise there. One of the letters included a personal check for $50 and a note saying, Dear Jessie, thank you so much for this story. It’s so important and I’m so glad you’re covering this topic, please give this $50 check to the subject who was the lead in the story. 

On what makes them tick and click (Jessie Price): We knew this was one of your regular questions and Tiff and I were thinking about what makes us tick and click as a team together. We both love food and love to eat; we both love to laugh and have great senses of humor; and we’re both super-competitive. So I would say for both of us it’s that we love the subject and we just want to win and we want to do better all the time.

On how they unwind at the end of the day (Tiffany Ehasz): I sit back with an issue of EatingWell and I have my glass of wine.

On what keeps them up at night (Jessie Price): For me it’s always about how can I make a story better or how can something be more creative. It’s just always about making the magazine better. When I’m up at 3:00 a.m., that’s what I’m thinking about. Or if I get a new idea. 

On what keeps them up at night (Tiffany Ehasz): For me it’s really about on the business side, how can we become smarter and create these partnerships to almost establish more tent poles. I see the future with bigger partnerships as it relates to EatingWell and certain big companies out there. And my goal is to marry those partnerships to create something beyond the print publication, social and digital. To really take ourselves to the next level. And I think we’re ready to do that sooner than later.

And now the lightly edited Mr. Magazine™ interview with Jessie Price, editor in chief, and Tiffany Ehasz, publisher, EatingWell magazine.

Samir Husni: How did you adjust to operating during a pandemic?

Tiffany Ehasz: Prior to the pandemic, it was a lot of client-facing meetings, a lot of dining out as you probably know. But right now it’s really about lots of Zoom calls with partners trying to use their time wisely with impactful, smart and meaningful conversations and ideas as we know their time is limited. So making that impact has been a bit of a difference-maker for us, but we have been successful in doing that and in bringing EatingWell to the forefront. 

Jessie Price: From an editorial perspective, there were a lot of technical changes in how we produce the magazine, because making a magazine is such a collaborative process. And we’re so used to being together as a team, talking all day long. So, at the very basic level it was finding new ways of communication for the team.

The second part of it is we had to adjust our content. And for a food magazine, that was things like changing the number of servings a recipe would make for the holidays, for example. Maybe people wouldn’t be needing 12 servings of a recipe, six servings made more sense. We also took into account people’s reasonable concerns about being safe when they were eating together. So that meant things like individual portion recipes or we had page where instead of making dips that served a whole lot of people where everyone would be dipping into the bowl, each person got a little individual dip with their own dippers to go into it. 

And the other thing that was huge because of the pandemic was immunity-related content. We saw that skyrocket in popularity near the beginning of the pandemic and continues to stay important and relevant now. 

For us, we were really in the right place, in terms of being interesting and providing content for our readers for what was going on with them during this whole thing, because they were at home. They needed to cook for themselves and they were worried about their health, so we were providing both the food and the wellness content that was what they needed during this time.

Samir Husni: As we hopefully move into a post-pandemic time, how can EatingWell as a brand help both your partners, the advertisers, and your audience, the readers, navigate out of this pandemic?

Jessie Price, From the editorial side, I would say we’re at that perfect intersection between health and wellness and sustainability. We were relevant before the pandemic; we’ve become even more relevant and we plan to stay focused on that same area. We’re all about helping people and we’re going to remain focused on that.

The other thing is we have found that there is so much more than just recipes that is important to our audience. We’ve been able to expand our content beyond just food to cover all sorts of different aspects of that wellness lifestyle, such as kitchens, appliances, fitness; we’ve been interviewing celebrities because so many of them are interested in food and wellness. So it’s really broadening what we’ve been able to cover, but still have that focus of wellness and sustainability. 

Tiffany Ehasz: From a business perspective, we are just so proud of what’s been going on with our advertisers this past year. It’s super encouraging that we are close to flat versus last year. We’re holding our own with the competitive set; we did suffer some attrition, but we’ve had amazing category wins with categories such as telecom, hospitality, beauty and retail. 

And clients are really asking for bigger ways and custom ideas to get in front of our readers with an increased investment. Partners like Green Giant, National Honey Board and Kraft Mac and Cheese captured our readers’ attention this year with impactful executions that we can prove worked. So we’re very proud of that.

Samir Husni: What role do you see the printed edition of EatingWell playing in the cross-channel communication with the readers and the advertisers?

Jessie Price: For our readers, the print magazine is going to continue to be relevant and important. It’s a totally different experience than how they get the brand on digital. I think for print it’s all about that serendipitous sit-back, relax and enjoy having content brought to you that you might not have expected. Our readers open the magazine and they know they’re going to get recipes, but it’s all that stuff around the recipes that surprises and delights them. 

For my team, it’s really all about remembering that we have to constantly be layering in all sorts of different content that will surprise and delight them, because that’s what the print experience is about. 

In terms of the other platforms, we’re going to continue to push out on all fronts because the brand is resonating with audiences across platforms, just in different ways. But print is not going away.  

Tiffany Ehasz: And same for me, tacking onto what Jessie just said. Most of our successful integrations are rooted with the print content, where we can bring it to life across EatingWell.com and our social channels, which are performing tremendously right now. Advertisers are looking for those connections across all of our channels and so far they have been proven successful. 

Samir Husni: What’s your sales pitch to advertisers about the necessity of the printed product? 

Tiffany Ehasz: Honestly, my sales pitch is the fact that not only has our content grown tremendously beyond food, but our readers are very much engrossed in that content from cover to cover. And when we’re thinking about these amazing ideas, we know that it’s working because the numbers are up and all of our advertiser executions are performing very well from a research perspective. 

So, my sales pitch really is print subs are up, social is up, digital traffic has skyrocketed in the past year. And together it’s very meaningful. And the numbers are there to prove if we can execute something like this for you cross-channel, rooted in some really relevant content that our readers are interested in, we do that and they get very excited. 

Samir Husni: So, have there been any challenges for you along the way or has it been a walk in a rose garden for you during the pandemic?

Jessie Price: For our business, on the consumer side, it’s been amazing. Our digital audience has grown year over year, 49 percent in January, year over year. In February, 48 percent, year over year. It is enormous. Our direct-to-publisher subscriptions from 2019 to 2020 are up 15 percent. And they are staying at that increased 15 percent up level and we think that’s just the new normal. So, it’s been great. 

Samir Husni: On the business/publisher side, what were some of the challenges that you’ve had to face?

Tiffany Ehasz: There were some challenges, especially in the beginning of the pandemic. A lot of our food advertisers had their own challenges, supply issues or holding back some money just in case. We didn’t know what the future would hold. How we overcame that was by digging deep into other categories and utilizing what Jessie has created for us in the book, which is really more categories to go outside those food advertisers. 

As I mentioned before, the investments that some of the partners we have who want to invest more, who are doing well and can keep up with the demand, has been incredibly successful for us. So essentially, digging deep into other areas and bringing smart ideas has helped us. We did suffer some attrition, but we were able to make it up and hold our own versus the competitive set. 

Samir Husni: When you’re selling the magazine to the advertiser or to the readers, how do you see yourself among the competitive set that’s out there? As an epicurean magazine or as a lifestyle magazine?

Tiffany Ehasz: We are absolutely rooted in food, but we do have a focus on wellness and sustainability. And they’ve always been key to this brand and it truly sets us apart. The brand is currently so relevant and the continued evolution and expansion of the content to address our audience’s complete lifestyle, which is really at the intersection of health, well-being and food, is a really sweet spot to be in and we are completely capitalizing on it. 

Samir Husni: And from an editorial point of view, how do you see the magazine among the competitive set that’s out there?

Jessie Price: At our core, we are absolutely a food magazine. But especially because wellness and sustainability are so integral to this brand, it has allowed us to expand our content and integrate a lot more of that lifestyle content into the pages of the magazine. And we have been delighted to see how our readers are reacting to it. They are loving the interviews with celebrities; they’ve even enjoyed our beauty pages, which was actually very surprising to me. I was happy to see it. It has been a really nice growth and evolution for the brand. 

Samir Husni: Yet, with all this evolution you have a bagel on the cover. (Laughs)

Jessie Price: What do you think? (Laughs too) It’s actually called a flagel, which is a flat bagel and a little lower calorie than a regular bagel. But it’s also packed with lots of healthy stuff. It has Omega 3; it has beets and cucumbers; it has an egg; yes, it has cream cheese also. It’s healthy and it tastes great too. That is eating well; that is that perfect marriage.

Samir Husni: Tell me about the power and the education of the brand EatingWell when it comes to health and wellness.

Jessie Price: The brand EatingWell, in terms of education about health and wellness has always been about having a balanced and sensible approach that’s based in science. We have never been about crazy diets. We have never been about restriction or deprivation. It’s really about eating balanced in a way that you can sustain for your whole life. 

And we know our readers love to cook and eat and so it has to be delicious. To me delicious actually comes before health within the whole equation, because if it’s not delicious it’s not going to be sustainable for someone’s entire life. And that’s the thing that a lot of people don’t think of when they think of healthy food, is being delicious. But it really is the first part of getting anyone to a healthy and sustainable life’s diet.

Samir Husni: And from a business point of view, when it comes to the power and education of the brand on health and wellness.

Tiffany Ehasz: What we love are our new partners that are coming here from this and how being rooted in food 30 years ago, we’ve just completely changed the game content-wise, which our advertisers are absolutely loving. 

They understand that and they understand how far this trend has come, that EatingWell potentially started that conversation 30 years ago and that it has completely transformed into something different and delicious and sustainable. And they want to partner with that message. They’re embracing this lifestyle personally and so are their clients and advertisers who are surrounding themselves with that messaging. 

Plus the fact that we are trending with consumers. It doesn’t matter for some of our partners, be it certain indulgent categories, they want to be part of the conversation and they know where readers are coming to get their content and information. And it’s at EatingWell. 

Samir Husni: If we’re having this conversation a year from now and the pandemic is behind us, what would you hope to tell me you had accomplished with EatingWell during that year?

Jessie Price: With our growth we’ve reached new audiences and I think that’s really exciting. Whether they wanted to or not, a lot of people have become cooks and will hopefully become lifelong EatingWell fans.

Tiffany Ehasz: I agree with, Jessie. We have come so far and as Jessie mentioned, our growth has been astronomical this year consumer-wise. More people now know about EatingWell and we anticipate the momentum and the growth to continue. 

Samir Husni: Is there anything either of you would like to add?

Jessie Price: I wanted to tell you one little anecdote, because I think you’ll like this. A lot of the feature stories that we do are about sustainability or heavier issues. We did a story on income and equality and its connection to health outcomes. It was an 8-page feature and a heavy read, but it was basically looking at all the data that shows that there’s a real connection between the less income you make, then the less healthy you are. 

And I got a number of letters from readers about that story. No surprise there. One of the letters included a personal check for $50 and a note saying, Dear Jessie, thank you so much for this story. It’s so important and I’m so glad you’re covering this topic, please give this $50 check to the subject who was the lead in the story. Please forward it to her. 

I thought that was pretty amazing. It was the first check I ever got with a letter to the editor and it really demonstrated to me the power of print, the power of magazines, and the importance of telling those kinds of stories about how food impacts the world around you. 

And I’d like to say we are very rooted in Vermont and feel extremely thankful that Meredith chose to keep us here because this is such a great place to be producing a magazine that is very interested and focused on food origins and where your food comes from and producing it responsibly. It’s a part of our DNA and I’m glad we’re here. 

Samir Husni: What makes you tick and click and motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

Jessie Price: We knew this was one of your regular questions and Tiff and I were thinking about what makes us tick and click as a team together. We both love food and love to eat; we both love to laugh and have great senses of humor; and we’re both super-competitive. So I would say for both of us it’s that we love the subject and we just want to win and we want to do better all the time.

Tiffany Ehasz: 100 percent. That’s exactly it. We both want to win and make sure that our readers and our advertisers are winning a well. 

Samir Husni: How do you unwind at the end of the day?

Tiffany Ehasz: I sit back with an issue of EatingWell and I have my glass of wine. 

Jessie Price: I cook; I love to cook and I drink wine while I cook. (Laughs)

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night these days?

Jessie Price: For me it’s always about how can I make a story better or how can something be more creative. It’s just always about making the magazine better. When I’m up at 3:00 a.m., that’s what I’m thinking about. Or if I get a new idea. 

Tiffany Ehasz: For me it’s really about on the business side, how can we become smarter and create these partnerships to almost establish more tent poles. I see the future with bigger partnerships as it relates to EatingWell and certain big companies out there. And my goal is to marry those partnerships to create something beyond the print publication, social and digital. To really take ourselves to the next level. And I think we’re ready to do that sooner than later. 

Samir Husni: Thank you both.