South Africa’s Associated Media said on Tuesday that Good Housekeeping magazine, the country’s only international title adapted for an Afrikaans audience, was showing digital growth of 109 percent year-on-year after four years on the shelf.
The company said in a statement that readership of the print magazine was currently 93,000. Including the digital audience, it said, the magazine reached around 371,000 people a month.
“Our Good Housekeeping/Goeie Huishouding brand reflects a stable, paid-for-circulation year-on-year, while many of our competitors are showing a decline in circulation,” said Associated Media’s chief executive Julia Raphaely.
Owned by America’s Hearst Corporation, the magazine was first printed in 1885.
Sally Emery, editor since the November 2011 launch of the iconic international brand in South Africa, said Good Housekeeping and Goeie Huishouding delivered “authentic content” that was genuinely useful in South African women’s lives.
“The most precious commodity today is time, and all of our content – whether it is information about health, parenting, fashion, beauty, or about running a household – strives to make her busy life easier,” Emery explained.
“We also want to deliver women the best content available at the best price, so we’ve kept the magazine on-shelf price point under R30.”
Emery added that the Afrikaans audience in particular was very engaged online. “Last week Saturday we had a combined organic Facebook reach of 1 million for the first time, and on Monday the Afrikaans page had 1 million reach on its own.”
The statement from Associated Media added that the brand gave advertisers exposure to “two markets for one price”, with the added benefit of exposure on the magazine’s digital platforms.
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