Mr. Magazine

“The ideas and the photos that we publish really have an evergreen quality to them; they’re timeless. It’s not a matter of getting the news quickly or on a timely basis. It’s not a matter of instant response; it’s really designed to inspire people and get them thinking about their menus. A print magazine that you can actually hold and look at the pictures is inspiring.” Steven Mayer

An evergreen quality. That’s how Plate magazine Publisher, Steven Mayer describes this magazine. Plate is a food publication, B to B even, that takes the timeless quality of print and runs with it. The photographs are rich and the editorial is full and robust. From restaurateurs to chefs, this magazine caters to the sensual and the tangible quality that each of us experience when we taste or create that perfect dish. And it’s a trade publication; a very unique concept in this niche category, one that usually relies on ads and generalized information, which is the norm for a B to B publication.

I spoke with Steven recently and we talked about his 25+ years in this field of magazines and magazine publishing. For 20 of those he was with the highly successful Restaurants & Institutions magazine, serving as publisher for the last five or six years of his tenure. When that magazine folded, he was approached by some of his colleagues about Plate Magazine. And he was intrigued by the focus of the title, one that wasn’t on every aspect of running a restaurant, but more about the food and the menu, the creative culinary side of the business. Needless to say, he was hooked and he’s been there ever since.

The magazine has grown steadily over the past 15 years that it has been in existence, their audience doubling within that time. They have expanded to the web and have a dot com that successfully captures the beauty and passion of the B to B magazine. It’s definitely a unique and wondrous publication for the trade category, but one that has proven its commitment to its audience.

So, sit down, relax, and fill your “Plate,” you’re about to be sated to the brim with inspiration, great information and one man’s passionate dedication to his brand, the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Steven Mayer, publisher, Plate magazine.

But first the sound-bites:

On the genesis of Plate: I spent 20 years with Restaurants & Institutions, and the last five or six years I was the publisher of that magazine. I left in 2001, and in 2002, some former colleagues of mine were starting this magazine called Plate, and they contacted me around the time of the first issue which was being developed and worked on. And I joined them about the time that first issue came out. I think what they (the audience) really responded to was the fact that Plate was designed from the get-go to focus on, not every aspect of running a restaurant, like Restaurants & Institutions had and other publications, but we really focused on food and the menu, and the culinary side of the business.

On whether he feels people in the magazine industry, especially B to B, gave up on print too soon: I’m not sure people in our field have entirely given up on print, there remains, even though I mentioned that Restaurants & Institutions no longer exists, and there have been a couple of other significant closures of publications, but there are still at least 15, if not 20 or 30 print magazines that serve this industry. You mentioned Food Fanatics before, and it’s relatively a new entry to the field; it’s sponsored by one of the major broad lined distributors, US Foods. So, you have even non-traditional publishers entering the print arena in this field.

On the DNA that differentiates Plate from all of the other magazines that are in the marketplace: That theme issue approach is definitely one of the differentiation factors of Plate. I mentioned how we started out as a hybrid of custom publishing; our first issue was from the National Pork Board and was naturally all about pork. But I think at the time, even when we decided to go quarterly, and then we decided to go six times per year, which remains our basic frequency to this day, we were competing against regular monthly, at the time, even weekly publications. It was almost a tactical, instead of a strategic decision at the time; if we were going to compete with much more frequent publications, we had to make every issue a special issue, or a keeper issue, in some respect.

On his major challenge today, in 2017, and how he plans to overcome it: The challenges remain in still getting people to understand the importance of our niche, and that the whole industry really is looking more at culinary innovations than ever before. That remains one of the keys to success of a restaurant today. Any consumer of restaurants would know this, but you could walk into an Applebee’s or a Chili’s and hardly tell the difference. Those kinds of restaurants are struggling, yet in every city you can find many new restaurants that are often trendy and cool and referred to in the industry as “chef-driven” restaurants. That’s where the industry remains creative and vibrant and exciting. And so we have to convince people that we’re really at the forefront of trends and where they want to be.

On his most pleasant moment: It’s been a very pleasant, gratifying and rewarding experience, because first of all, Plate really does stand for something. It really does have a true brand identity. I can be very proud of the product that we produce; the magazine itself is beautiful, strong and growing.

On what someone would find him doing if they showed up unexpectedly one evening at his home: Before I read a magazine, which might come later at night, I’m probably watching the news, having a drink with my wife, and getting dinner ready. I have a wonderful wife of 35 years who is a great cook and we’ve given our kids a love of food too, so Plate plays a big part in even our home life. We always enjoyed meals together as a family, and we still have meals together whenever we’re both home. When I get home, there are usually wonderful smells coming from the kitchen, and we enjoy a drink or a bottle of wine together with our meal.

On what keeps him up at night: Just keeping the magazine successful in the marketplace and to keep it growing stronger every day.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Steven Mayer, publisher, Plate magazine.

Samir Husni: You have quite an extensive history in B to B publishing. You mentioned that after 25+ years, you added Plate 15 years ago. Tell me about the genesis of Plate.

Steven Mayer: Most of those 25 years I spent with a single publication that was in its time clearly the leader in its field, the restaurant industry, and that was Restaurants & Institutions. It existed throughout the 1980s and much of the 1990s and probably in its heyday was one of the biggest B to B magazines in the country, generating north of $25 million per year in revenue.

Restaurants & Institutions actually has folded now; the company that published it, Reed Business Information, basically pulled up stakes here in the United States. They publish newspapers and other endeavors around the U.K. and elsewhere in the former British Commonwealth.

I spent 20 years with Restaurants & Institutions, and the last five or six years I was the publisher of that magazine. I left in 2001, and in 2002, some former colleagues of mine were starting this magazine called Plate, and they contacted me around the time of the first issue which was being developed and worked on. And I joined them about the time that first issue came out.

The first issue of Plate was half and half custom publishing, as well as a new magazine launch; it was kind of a hybrid between the two. They did publish it with a sponsorship of a single company, which was the National Pork Board, but really didn’t have a plan going forward, other than let’s try this with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association as well. When that didn’t pan out for a variety of reasons, we really had to look at coming up with what might be a sustainable business model.

The first issue that we put out was all about pork incidentally, and was put out for the National Pork Board. The kind of reaction that it generated in the marketplace was remarkable. The response was amazing. We got emails and phone calls from people saying they had never seen a magazine like Plate before and where had we been all of their lives. (Laughs) I think what they really responded to was the fact that Plate was designed from the get-go to focus on, not every aspect of running a restaurant, like Restaurants & Institutions had and other publications, but we really focused on food and the menu, and the culinary side of the business.

And from the very beginning that’s what has set it apart and continues to set it apart, and really is a niche for this magazine that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the restaurant or food service industry.

Samir Husni: You mentioned also that although you started out as print only, you’ve expanded to online and digital, yet last year 80 percent of your revenue was still coming from print.

Steven Mayer: Yes.

Samir Husni: Do you think that people in the print industry, especially B to B, gave up on print too soon?

Steven Mayer: I’m not sure people in our field have entirely given up on print, there remains, even though I mentioned that Restaurants & Institutions no longer exists, and there have been a couple of other significant closures of publications, but there are still at least 15, if not 20 or 30 print magazines that serve this industry. You mentioned Food Fanatics before, and it’s relatively a new entry to the field; it’s sponsored by one of the major broad lined distributors, US Foods. So, you have even non-traditional publishers entering the print arena in this field.

We might be unusual, in that respect, but our audience consists of restauranteurs, and chefs in our case, who are very, call it sensual for lack of another term, they’re very oriented towards eating and tasting, as well as reading. And all of the magazines in the field, even going back to the ‘80s and ‘90s, one of the things that distinguished Restaurants & Institutions was its gorgeous food photography and its graphic quality.

I think that we do have publications in our field, media brands in our field that have moved more toward digital than we have. For example, there is one, call it the newspaper of the industry, Nation’s Restaurant News, it’s like The Wall Street Journal or the Ad Age of the field, and it was naturally more vulnerable, I think, to the Internet, or more suitable to the Internet, than a publication like ours was. The ideas and the photos that we publish really have an evergreen quality to them; they’re timeless. It’s not a matter of getting the news quickly or on a timely basis. It’s not a matter of instant response; it’s really designed to inspire people and get them thinking about their menus. A print magazine that you can actually hold and look at the pictures is inspiring.

We’ve frankly struggled to come up with a website, and only recently have we redesigned our website so that it would capture the same ethos and aesthetic of the magazine. It’s hard to do in a digital format.

Samir Husni: I’ve noticed that with the magazine you’ve held to that original concept, the first issue being dedicated to pork; you still have every issue with one theme, such as casual eats, Vegan, chefs to watch, the French issue. Can you define that DNA that differentiates Plate from the host of other magazines that are in the marketplace?

Steven Mayer: That theme issue approach is definitely one of the differentiation factors of Plate. I mentioned how we started out as a hybrid of custom publishing; our first issue was from the National Pork Board and was naturally all about pork. But I think at the time, even when we decided to go quarterly, and then we decided to go six times per year, which remains our basic frequency to this day, we were competing against regular monthly, at the time, even weekly publications. It was almost a tactical, instead of a strategic decision at the time; if we were going to compete with much more frequent publications, we had to make every issue a special issue, or a keeper issue, in some respect.

So, from a tactical point, we wanted to give each issue the keeper value, the timelessness of the shelf life, if you will, and show that it was not just a regular issue of a magazine. There were a lot of implications of that, which were frankly costly and difficult to overcome. And imagine if you will a regular monthly magazine if advertising falls short and they have to cut some articles from the January issue or they could run them in the February issue.

In our case, if the January issue was about French and the next issue was about Vegan, you can’t necessarily hold it over until the next issue. We were kind of obligated to maintain a certain level of coverage from the very beginning, with at least 50 or 60 pages of editorial per issue to cover a subject completely, from appetizers to desserts. And that meant that there was little regard for ad/edit ratio; we’ve kind of grown into our shoes, but originally we were publishing 60 or 70 pages of editorial, when we might only have 20 pages of advertisement. And we’ve never exceeded a 50/50 ratio, which for trade publications is very generous and rich with editorial content.

The other implication of what we do is that with doing these theme issues literally there were advertisers who would look at our issues and ask, for example, if it’s all about pork, why should I be there if I sell fish or potatoes or cheese? And it’s taken a long time; it’s still an issue in some respects that we have to address today, to get people to not just buy into the editorial hook, if you will, of a particular issue, but to really understand the concept of whatever the subject matter is, it’s really designed to engage the reader and to get them to think about their menu beyond the obvious limitations of pork or fish or French or Italian.

And some of those issues, obviously, have to be French and still have pork and fish and cheese and everything in it. But there are people out there who still to this day resist the concept or they ask when are you going to do a soup issue because I sell soup, even though soups might be part of every issue.

So, we’ve kind of created a little bit of a monster; we’re a very unique publication. These theme issues; when you look back in time, we’ve certainly managed to diversify far beyond the product focus. For example, to do issues on burnt foods or fermentations; at the time we did those issues people really thought we were a little bit crazy, a whole issue about burning foods? And then last week in The New York Times in the food section identified that as a hot new trend.

In many respects, we’ve been ahead of the curve, in terms of identifying subjects that are kind of at the cusp of becoming trends. Our editors have been tremendous at doing that, and I think that their anticipation of market trends is borne out. For example, the National Restaurant Association identified the Top 20 Trends and probably 15 of those have been not only identified and named, but actually covered in depth by Plate magazine in the past five or six years, so we’re ahead of the curve. I think from a chef’s or restaurateur’s point of view we’re much more meaningful and in depth because we don’t just say French is coming back, we actually identify 50 or 60 chefs in restaurants around the country that are best-practice examples of chefs really doing whatever we’ve reported, and doing new and interesting things with French cooking to appeal to today’s consumers. And that’s something of real usefulness and value, and even an inspiration to chefs.

Samir Husni: What do you consider today, in 2017, your major challenge and how do you plan to overcome it?

Steven Mayer: That’s a very good question. We’re still a niche publication, and that means we’re not all things to all people in our industry. I’m not sure that any of the publications really, given some of the business challenges, can afford to be all things to all people. Restaurants & Institutions, for example, once claimed to be. And it used to be true that you could read Time magazine and consider yourself an informed citizen, but that’s not true today either.

So, we’re still a niche publication and we compete sometimes for business with publications that have much larger circulations than ours, or have a broader range of content. Yet we still want to grow. We’ve grown steadily over the last 15 years, and we want to continue to grow. In fact, our audience has doubled over the past 15 years.

The challenges remain in still getting people to understand the importance of our niche, and that the whole industry really is looking more at culinary innovations than ever before. That remains one of the keys to success of a restaurant today. Any consumer of restaurants would know this, but you could walk into an Applebee’s or a Chili’s and hardly tell the difference. Those kinds of restaurants are struggling, yet in every city you can find many new restaurants that are often trendy and cool and referred to in the industry as “chef-driven” restaurants. That’s where the industry remains creative and vibrant and exciting. And so we have to convince people that we’re really at the forefront of trends and where they want to be.

Aside from that, there are the challenges of developing other sources of revenue above and beyond the magazine. Digital is one; the events we do are another. We do a big event during the National Restaurant Association show that we call “Plate Night.” We continue to look at new opportunities to extend or expand the brand, and still remain true to our essence, if you will, and what you said before, our DNA. Our motto is “We Take Food Further” and if it doesn’t take food further, it’s probably not right for Plate magazine. It might be right for somebody else, but we have to stay true to our brand essence as well. And yet continue to grow.

Samir Husni: What has been the most pleasant moment throughout your 15 years with Plate?

Steven Mayer: It’s been a very pleasant, gratifying and rewarding experience, because first of all, Plate really does stand for something. It really does have a true brand identity. I can be very proud of the product that we produce; the magazine itself is beautiful, strong and growing.

It’s kind of remarkable too that the team that we’ve assembled over the years, and it’s a small team of us really, there are literally little more than half a dozen who work full-time on the magazine. We’re part of a small publishing company or media company called MTG Media Group and we have three different brands here, but all total the company has barely 30 people and yet Plate, has had the same core group together for 15 years.

Our editor wrote in the very first issue of the magazine; our editorial director was my partner and brought me to the company 15 years ago. Another one of my colleagues from another magazine, I’ve known him three-plus years in the field and he’s been with me now seven or eight years on the magazine. The team we’ve assembled is very rewarding and the success we’ve enjoyed; we really do have a true mission and a purpose. We’re not just another magazine that has a little more circulation or a little more rate; we really do have an identity and that’s something I take great pride in.

It’s really taught me; even after all of the years that I’ve spent in publishing, a new language or a new vocabulary, talking about what makes a magazine successful with its audience; its readers, and then trying to convince advertisers that that’s important to them as well, the readers are important to them. And that level of engagement with readers is important to them too. The uniqueness of the platform that they can share with Plate magazine and our readers is also important to them; it’s truly given me a new language and vocabulary when talking about a media brand.

Samir Husni: If I showed up unexpectedly to your home one evening, what would I find you doing; reading a magazine; having a glass of wine; watching TV; cooking; or something else?

Steven Mayer: (Laughs) Probably a combination of all of the above. Before I read a magazine, which might come later at night, I’m probably watching the news, having a drink with my wife, and getting dinner ready. I have a wonderful wife of 35 years who is a great cook and we’ve given our kids a love of food too, so Plate plays a big part in even our home life. We always enjoyed meals together as a family, and we still have meals together whenever we’re both home. When I get home, there are usually wonderful smells coming from the kitchen, and we enjoy a drink or a bottle of wine together with our meal.

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

Steven Mayer: Just keeping the magazine successful in the marketplace and to keep it growing stronger every day.

Samir Husni: Thank you.

“I believe that magazines have devalued themselves tremendously. I think that they’ve been in panic mode for years. I’m a big print person; my dad was in the magazine business; I had a sister in the magazine business and I love magazines. I still read books; I don’t have a Kindle. I love print. And I think that it’s sad that the industry has moved toward devaluing publications by offering them for $2 and $3 in some cases, I can’t believe the offers that have come my way over the last several years.” Shelagh Daly Miller

AARP The Magazine is a mass-circulated publication that makes no apologies for its print prowess and passionate nature regarding ink on paper. The magazine is the largest-circulation publication in the United States with over 37 million readers and its AARP Bulletin reigns supreme with 29.7 in readership. Combine the two together and the numbers are a staggering testament to the power of print and its relevant audience, while never ignoring the reach and information the brand’s digital extensions offer.

So why not start the new year right from the top? Shelagh Daly Miller is Vice President, Group Publisher, AARP Media Sales and has been with the brand for 16 years. Coming from a background rich in advertising and publishing, she is a woman very much at home in the world of magazines and magazine media.

I spoke with Shelagh right before the Christmas holidays and we talked about the world of magazines and the extremely bright path that AARP The Magazine was on and has been on for several years, as the brand has seen exponential growth under her leadership. As Shelagh stated, while AARP The Magazine is a mass-circulated magazine, it’s also a niche title that dominates relevance when it comes to its audience.

With storytelling and vibrant, buoyant features about people and things that interest its very active and affluent audience, AARP proves that the 50-plus readers should not, will not and will never be, defined by a mere number. With consumers over 50 in the prime position of not only being able to afford their lifestyles, they can actually revel in them; the magazine is geared toward a group of people who today dominate our country’s wealth, and that is a very good group to gear to. Relevant audience, relevant content; it never fails and it never will.

So, I hope that you enjoy this very inspiring and print-positive Mr. Magazine™ interview with a woman and her brand that make no apologies for their faith and commitment to print, Shelagh Daly Miller, Vice President, Group Publisher, AARP Media.

But first the sound-bites:

On some in the industry who believe that there isn’t room for a mass-circulated magazine anymore, yet AARP publishes its magazine and tabloid at 23 million plus: I would say that while our publications are obviously mass, considering the circulation, 22.5 is the rate base for 2017 for each of the publications, but we’re really serving somewhat of a niche audience at the same time. It’s specifically 50-plus, but not only that, it’s 50-plus people who have raised their hands and said that they were going to join the organization that’s advocating for them as people over 50-years-old. So, I think that gives us a bit of a niche focus.

On why it seems the magazine industry focuses more on the audience that it doesn’t fully have (the millennials) instead of the one it does have (the baby boomers): I honestly think that part of it is the people who are working in the industry are millennials themselves. And I believe there is a bit of self-reflection going on there; that’s one part of it in my opinion. As you can probably imagine, we’re often out talking to agency folks that are, I’d say, in their late 20s or early 30s, and we’re trying to communicate to them about how valuable the 50-plus market is. In particular, we may be talking about Boomers if it’s a pharma or a packaged goods company.

On the most pleasant moment she’s experienced professionally during 2016: Actually, that moment happened very recently. The fact that Ad Age finally recognized us is super exciting. In my opinion, we’ve been doing great things for many years and have been overlooked by the trades for a long time. So, there’s a big smile on my face. There have been lots of personal Facebook posts and many professional congratulations. I think that’s probably been my sweetest moment during the past year.

On the most challenging moment of 2016: The most challenging moment of the year was a bit of a theme, which is AARP takes the brand very seriously and as a result we have a fairly stringent ad policy team. All of our advertisers have to be approved by that team and I would say that advertising rejections from our ad policy team are the biggest frustrations because we literally have people who are out there with their dollars; their wallets opened, ready to spend money and we can’t take their advertising or their money. That’s the biggest frustration.

On the trend of basically giving magazine subscriptions away for nothing: On the topic in a more global sense, at least on your question, I believe that magazines have devalued themselves tremendously. I think that they’ve been in panic mode for years. I’m a big print person; my dad was in the magazine business; I had a sister in the magazine business and I love magazines. I still read books; I don’t have a Kindle. I love print. And I think that it’s sad that the move toward devaluing publications by offering them for $2 and $3 in some cases, I can’t believe the offers that have come my way over the last several years.

On what she believes that she can do to make the magazine business model work again: That’s a hard question to answer. I can tell you that I know what I can do, and what I can do is wake up every morning with a great attitude about going out into the marketplace and representing two amazing print brands that deliver on their promises to both advertisers and readers. I don’t know that every magazine can say that they do that. I don’t know that every magazine is attracting the kind of talent that is passionate about magazines the way that I know our staff is.

On breaking the stereotype that AARP The Magazine is more of a membership read than a great storytelling vehicle: I think that’s more of an editorial challenge or opportunity than it is an ad sales opportunity. Of course, the better the editorial product, the easier it is for us to attract advertisers, so obviously they all work together. And our MRI numbers are a testament to the fact that our publications are vibrant and have evolved. And hopefully we’ll continue to evolve. We got a tremendous amount of MRI growth over the last few years. I’m sure you saw the latest release where our total readership is up almost one million from spring 2016. And it’s the highest readership we’ve had in the magazine’s history, so clearly the editorial is on point.

On anything else she’d like to add: I think the only thing that I’d like to add is that I’ve been in the advertising business now for 31-plus years, with a few years on the agency side, but most of my career has been on the print side. Of course, we took on digital about seven years ago, but I grew up in this business for 31 years, and I’m happy to say that I still wake up every morning with a smile on my face knowing that I’m coming to work. Not necessarily when it’s 13 degrees and I have to get in my car in the mornings. (Laughs)

On what someone would find her doing if they showed up unexpectedly at her home one evening: You would definitely catch me cooking; cooking is a passion. You may catch me having a glass of wine while cooking. I have long work days and I travel a lot, so when I am home, I love to cook. And oftentimes you’ll find that you’re not the only guest; my husband and I entertain quite a bit. We love having people over and I love cooking for people.

On what keeps her up at night: On a business note, I would say that what keeps me up at night is being able to keep up this momentum. We’ve had year after year after year of bucking industry trends; am I going to wake up at some point and it’s all going to come crashing down? That’s something that weighs on me, I’d say. I don’t think that’s going to happen, but it’s something that sticks in the back of my head.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Shelagh Daly Miller, Vice President, Group Publisher, AARP Media.

Samir Husni: You hear a lot in different industry circles about the changes in magazines, and how there’s no room anymore for a mass-circulated publication, yet you publish a magazine with over 37 million readers and the Bulletin at 29.7 million readers. What gives?

Shelagh Daly Miller: I would say that while our publications are obviously mass, considering the circulation, 22.5 is the rate base for 2017 for each of the publications, but we’re really serving somewhat of a niche audience at the same time. It’s specifically 50-plus, but not only that, it’s 50-plus people who have raised their hands and said that they were going to join the organization that’s advocating for them as people over 50-years-old. So, I think that gives us a bit of a niche focus.

When you look at, for example, a women’s service book that’s really trying to be everything to everyone in that women’s group, you might have an editorial piece on dealing with “terrible two’s,” and as we know the age of those publications has gone up significantly over the last 10 years, so you may also be talking to someone who is my age, 53, who’s well beyond the point where the “terrible two’s” are relevant. Therefore I think that’s a harder mass appeal to address. Whereas we’re talking to this group who are not only age-wise for the most part over 50, but again they’re sort of the cream of the crop of the 50-year-old’s. We know that they’re more educated than non-members; they’re more affluent than non-members, but most importantly, they’ve raised their hands and paid their money and have said that they want to be a part of this.

Samir Husni: You make a very good point about having a niche audience or a specialized audience, although there are plenty of them. In this country we have almost 72 million millennials and 72 million baby boomers; why do you think that the magazine industry focuses so much of its attention on the audience that it doesn’t fully have, such as the millennials, and ignores the audience that it does have?

Shelagh Daly Miller: I honestly think that part of it is the people who are working in the industry are millennials themselves. And I believe there is a bit of self-reflection going on there; that’s one part of it in my opinion. As you can probably imagine, we’re often out talking to agency folks that are, I’d say, in their late 20s or early 30s, and we’re trying to communicate to them about how valuable the 50-plus market is. In particular, we may be talking about Boomers if it’s a pharma or a packaged goods company.

And I don’t remember this myself, Samir; I don’t remember thinking 50 was old, because I’m 53 now and I’m so young, hip and cool (Laughs); it’s hard to believe that at 28, fifty years old seems so far away, but the truth is, it really does seem so far away to them. They can’t even imagine it. And they don’t necessarily think of their parents when they consider who we’re trying to reach. When we ask them how old their parents are and they might answer 55; and we ask, well, what are they doing? My parents both just retired and they took a biking trip around the world, which we can then say, this is the kind of vibrancy that we’re talking about.

So, again, I think a lot of it has to do with that it’s almost like an ethnocentric focus. You have largely brand managers and agency folks who are in their mid-twenties to late thirties, and that’s who they think about when they want to sell their brand. So, I feel that’s one of the challenges.

And then the other reason that I think the focus is younger is the fact that the target many years ago when you wanted to reach households and get consumption and volume, was moms 18 to 34 or 18 to 49 with kids. And I think that has just stuck, as opposed to moving with those 18 to 34 or 18 to 49 year olds who are now Boomers and beyond; the industry has stayed in that age group and I think it’s almost habit.

Samir Husni: As you reflect on 2016 at AARP The Magazine and the Bulletin, what has been the most pleasurable moment for you during the past year?

Shelagh Daly Miller: Actually, that moment happened very recently. The fact that Ad Age finally recognized us is super exciting. In my opinion, we’ve been doing great things for many years and have been overlooked by the trades for a long time. So, there’s a big smile on my face. There have been lots of personal Facebook posts and many professional congratulations. I think that’s probably been my sweetest moment during the past year.

Samir Husni: And what was the most challenging moment of the year?

Shelagh Daly Miller: The most challenging moment of the year was a bit of a theme, which is AARP takes the brand very seriously and as a result we have a fairly stringent ad policy team. All of our advertisers have to be approved by that team and I would say that advertising rejections from our ad policy team are the biggest frustrations because we literally have people who are out there with their dollars; their wallets opened, ready to spend money and we can’t take their advertising or their money. That’s the biggest frustration.

But on the other hand, that’s a good thing because it really does speak to the integrity of the brand and the fact that advertisers in our publication benefit from the halo effect of a brand that is so stringent. So, it’s kind of a challenge, but it’s a positive at the same time.

Samir Husni: I’ve been known to say that we don’t have a magazine problem; we have an industry problem, because we technically give our magazines away. In your case, it’s part of the membership, but in the case of the major publishers; with some you can pay $5 and get an entire year of magazines. Do you think it makes a difference if you charge me $20 or $10 per year for a membership? Will that stop me from getting the magazine and the bulletin?

Shelagh Daly Miller: If we were to increase our membership dues; I think naturally you would lose a certain number of members who just don’t want to afford an increase like that. But ultimately what you’re left with is likely the members who are most committed to AARP and all of the good work that we do.

I believe that people feel when they join AARP; one of the benefits of their membership is receiving these two publications in their homes, six times per year for the magazine and 10 times per year for the bulletin. I think that if we took that away we would have a great deal of vocal dissent from our members.

On the topic in a more global sense, at least on your question, I believe that magazines have devalued themselves tremendously. I think that they’ve been in panic mode for years. I’m a big print person; my dad was in the magazine business; I had a sister in the magazine business and I love magazines. I still read books; I don’t have a Kindle. I love print. And I think that it’s sad that the industry has moved toward devaluing publications by offering them for $2 and $3 in some cases, I can’t believe the offers that have come my way over the last several years.

In the same way, when I was a media planner at William Esty back in 1986 and magazines started to negotiate off rate card, I think it’s bad that we did that too, because a rate card means very little. And I believe that started devaluing the benefit of being an advertiser in a particular brand, and that’s sort of a B to B erosion and a B to C erosion when you chop your subscription prices. I think it’s a shame that it’s moved in that direction. I don’t know how you shift it back, but I do think that there’s a human nature aspect of, and my parents used to refer to it as something being “dear,” being expensive and important. If we could move the needle back the other way with brands like AARP that are going to stay in the print business, and make them a little bit more costly because of their value, I think that would be terrific. But it’s very hard to swing the pendulum back the other way.

Samir Husni: Recently, I did an interview with Linda Thomas Brooks from the MPA, and I told her that I was going to use a line from a button that she found in a bookstore, and incorporate it into a new mantra following along the path of our recent presidential election, “Making Magazines Great Again.”

Shelagh Daly Miller: I love that! That’s awesome.

Samir Husni: Linda doesn’t allow anyone to say either “print is dead” or “print is not dead,” she banned both statements because she believes that even if we say that print is not dead, we’re making it appear that at one time it was.

Shelagh Daly Miller: Yes, we’re acknowledging that some people think it is dead, even if we tell them it’s not.

Samir Husni: Yes, so she banned that phrase from the MPA, which as I told her, is a breath of fresh air. With everything you’re doing and everything that you see happening around the magazine industry, what can you do to, not necessarily move the needle back, but to help change our business model? From somebody who was on the ad side and who is now on the publishing side; what will it take to change things? We’ve really been our own worst enemies; we haven’t changed yet; what do you think it will take?

Shelagh Daly Miller: That’s a hard question to answer. I can tell you that I know what I can do, and what I can do is wake up every morning with a great attitude about going out into the marketplace and representing two amazing print brands that deliver on their promises to both advertisers and readers. I don’t know that every magazine can say that they do that. I don’t know that every magazine is attracting the kind of talent that is passionate about magazines the way that I know our staff is.

We may not have the 27-year-old media planner who just got into sales, because frankly, we’re not really a cool, sexy brand to those people, but if you want a great print operation to be a part of, come on over here, because we’ve got people who are passionate about print; we’ve got marketers who are passionate about print, and not to sell our digital properties short, which are also an amazing growth medium for us, but if you walk around these offices, you’ll see that most of the people here have a rich print background. And are, to this day, still excited about being out in the marketplace talking about our print properties and what we can do for their brands.

That’s my own little corner of the world and I do believe that if there were more operations embracing who they are and being true to themselves, maybe that’s part of the answer, instead of trying to become something that they’re not, or instead of walking away from their original DNA and what the brand means. Make the brand relevant again to the people who are reading it; don’t try and be relevant to a group of people who aren’t. I guess that’s my thinking.

Samir Husni: I’ve been following AARP The Magazine since before it was called AARP and you have a great editorial team. The magazine today is not the same magazine that if my father had been in this country he would have read. And granted, the recognition from Ad Age is a big step forward, but how can you combat that stereotype that the magazine is just a membership read and not a great editorial storytelling package?

Shelagh Daly Miller: I think that’s more of an editorial challenge or opportunity than it is an ad sales opportunity. Of course, the better the editorial product, the easier it is for us to attract advertisers, so obviously they all work together. And our MRI numbers are a testament to the fact that our publications are vibrant and have evolved. And hopefully we’ll continue to evolve. We got a tremendous amount of MRI growth over the last few years. I’m sure you saw the latest release where our total readership is up almost one million from spring 2016. And it’s the highest readership we’ve had in the magazine’s history, so clearly the editorial is on point.

I too have been following AARP in one form or another for a long time. When I was at William Esty, I worked on Vaseline dermatology formula and we advertised in Modern Maturity, and I remember it being frustrating because AARP had lowered their age from 55 to 50, so their rate base was changing every couple of months. And I remember it being a little bit frustrating to work on that publication from a planning standpoint.

But then when I joined AARP, we still had a publication called Modern Maturity and we had just launched a separate publication called My Generation. And I think this goes back to a question that you asked before about being relevant to your audience; we wanted to have My Generation focused on the Boomers, and what we realized after a year or so was that AARP members referred to their magazine as AARP Magazine, so why were we trying to create a new brand when AARP was already such a strong brand, and that was when AARP, Modern Maturity and My Generation became one age-versioned magazine, which is what we have today; AARP The Magazine.

So again, I think that was an example of understanding your audience and not trying to be something that you’re not. And from an editorial standpoint, we started to take a very different direction back then and it’s just continued, and I would say it has become even more accelerated since Myrna (Blyth – editorial director) came onboard, and Myrna brought Bob onboard; the types of people we’re getting on the covers; the types of editorial: Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen’s new book; Helen Mirren and Sally Field, somewhat iconic, but still very relevant today, even to younger folks.

Again, I think it comes down to making sure that you’re relevant and I believe our editorial product has done a great job of evolving into a more and more relevant publication. The fact that we do, for the magazine, the age-version, is another USP that enables us to be particularly relevant within the mass number, but the niche audience.

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

Shelagh Daly Miller: I think the only thing that I’d like to add is that I’ve been in the advertising business now for 31-plus years, with a few years on the agency side, but most of my career has been on the print side. Of course, we took on digital about seven years ago, but I grew up in this business for 31 years, and I’m happy to say that I still wake up every morning with a smile on my face knowing that I’m coming to work. Not necessarily when it’s 13 degrees and I have to get in my car in the mornings. (Laughs)

But I really love what I do and I love this business. And I love the evolution that I’ve had; I’ve been at AARP for 16 years, and I never expected that. Up until that point I had the pretty typical career where every three or so years I moved from title to title, but I really found a home here for a lot of reasons. It’s an amazing brand and it’s an amazing organization that does really great things. We have really terrific high engagement media properties and we have an amazing team of people, which is definitely part of the reason we finally were recognized by Ad Age. This is my family away from home and I do wake up every morning excited to go to work. I know my own peers, my friends, are often envious of me that I still love what I do. It’s just been really fun and I hope to be doing for a while longer.

Samir Husni: If I showed up at your house unexpectedly one evening, what would I find you doing; reading a magazine; reading your iPad; having a glass of wine; cooking: watching television; or something else?

Shelagh Daly Miller: You would definitely catch me cooking; cooking is a passion. You may catch me having a glass of wine while cooking. I have long work days and I travel a lot, so when I am home, I love to cook. And oftentimes you’ll find that you’re not the only guest; my husband and I entertain quite a bit. We love having people over and I love cooking for people.

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

Shelagh Daly Miller: I think this will be a little bit reflective of my personality because I like to think that I’m kind of funny, but frankly, my dog hogging the bed and my husband snoring is really what keeps me up at night. I have a 67 lb. dog and he thinks that he owns the entire bed.

On a business note, I would say that what keeps me up at night is being able to keep up this momentum. We’ve had year after year after year of bucking industry trends; am I going to wake up at some point and it’s all going to come crashing down? That’s something that weighs on me, I’d say. I don’t think that’s going to happen, but it’s something that sticks in the back of my head.

Samir Husni: Thank you.