By: Dara Collins
The 2019 School of Communication International Media class visited Hearst UK in London for one of six media visits planned over the course of two weeks.
The visit to Hearst UK definitely sent the class on to the next destination thinking some students may return to work in England’s capital someday.
Hearst UK is a premium media owner publishing 24 well-known brands, including ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping. It states that it is print-proud with a circulation of more than 4 million magazines a month, which are read by 7 million UK adults. It has more than 17 million UK digital unique users, reaching 22 million fans and followers through its social media platforms including Snapchat Discover.
After an early arrival and caffeine and snacks Hearst provided to start the day, the class ventured up to Hearst UK’s office: a new color theme welcomed employees and guests on every floor, stacks of magazines were spread across tables and stacked on shelves, and additional seating areas lined the perimeter of each floor to allow employees to step away from their desk for slightly more privacy. An employee, Lizzie, greeted the class to introduce herself and break up the class into three groups for a short tour of the office space.
The groups were briefed on the history of the company and how it recently relocated from SoHo, and the new building is just down the street from the Good Housekeeping Institute, which the class was to tour later in the day.
A number of things in Heart UK’s office struck students.
For instance, in a board room, there were cameras on the far wall, and the individual in the room speaking would attract the camera. It would move vertically and horizontally and rotate to find the voice, and it was so intriguing to watch. It seemed like such a futuristic concept to most of the group who had never seen anything like that before.
The groups were taken to the library, which was a room where all of Hearst UK’s archives are preserved and stored in a temperature controlled room. The room was the size of a standard living room roughly, and an employee, Katy Conover, explained there are three offsite facilities that house the other archives that are, unfortunately, not a controlled environment.
Another part of the tour included a peek inside the video room with the video lead at Cosmopolitan, Alex Herring. The walk-in closet sized room was packed with camera equipment, lights, props, electrical cords, backdrops and so much more.
“You have to be creative about space,” Alex said.
Making the most of her space, Alex, as well as the students who have watched Cosmo’s videos agreed you would never realize those videos came from such a small studio with inexpensive props.
Moving past the physical elements that impressed the class, a panel discussion with Hearst UK employees in leadership roles followed the tour and enlightened students on the importance of knowing your audience and engaging content.
The panelists included Matt Hill, editor-in-chief of Digital Spy; Amy Lane, digital editor of Women’s Health; Kenya Hunt, deputy editor and fashion features director of Elle; and Jess Edwards, editor of Cosmo.com/UK; and the panel was moderated by Lena De Casparis, associate editor/culture editor for Elle.
Each panelist gave advice on how he or she has created more engaging and relevant content for readers and talked of experiences with content that has been published in Hearst UK’s publications.
Kenya discussed a feminism campaign in Elle concerning the lack of women in power.
“You saw basically settings … and removed the men to show women in positions of power,” Kenya said.
Jess advised students to know the audience and stay true to the brand being represented, and Amy made it a point to mention, “What you define as engagement can change from week to week.”
Trends can change, the type of engagement can change, the audience can change, and many more factors were discussed by the panel. The time content is posted on social media also determines engagement depending on the audience using the platforms at said time.
The panelists explained that influencers are useful when promoting, and being up front with the audience and using polls to find out what they want is simple, direct and beneficial to get an accurate answer from the source.
The four panelists left the class with four important bits of advice before conclusion: know your audience, ask your audience what they want, don’t be afraid to target a smaller audience and don’t be afraid to get things wrong.
The talk of engagement continued with Julian Linley of Hearst UK Business Development. His discussion was all about new ways to engage with consumers, and he discussed The Nest.
The Nest is based on a master’s course at City University he teaches, and the idea is it is a talent incubator program to feed and support creative minds. The Nest is a program as well as a physical space in the Hearst UK office, and there are two programs per year that run six to eight weeks per brief with the talent to create these ideas.
Anyone with a passion for media can apply to become a part of The Nest program. Julian said he strives for a diverse group of talent in all aspects, including gender, education, race, and more.
“One of the things I’m very passionate about is the divide between the young and the old,” Julian said.
Julian touched on other topics pertaining to audience reach, including print publications that reach an audience of past generations
“The reality is it still produces a lot of money,” Julian said, referring to those who believe print will die entirely in the digital age. “Why on Earth would we ignore [our older audience?}”
Julian also mentioned a problem that many publications have, and that is holding on to old brands after they have lost interest and moved on.
“There should always be fresh ideas,” Julian said. Similarly, he stated there has been no innovation in print which is hurting the industry.
Following Julian’s discussion, Felicity Kay, fashion editor for Elle, and Sophie Leen, booking director for Cosmopolitan, came in to discuss fashion shoots in regards to how to pick and work with a set, choosing models and a wardrobe and the style of the shoot, photography, and more.
The top off the visit, the class was given a tour of the Good Housekeeping Institute, where students were shown the kitchen space and the various testing rooms of any product imaginable (i.e. washers, dryers, vacuums, face products, cookware, and much more.). Approved products receive the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. That is a long-standing and important status for brands and their products in the UK and elsewhere.
Since 1924, GHI has been testing products for readers and consumers. From its website: “Our GHI Approved initiative is an unbiased, independent endorsement only for products that pass our consumer Quality Assessment tests. The GHI Approved logo provides strong brand acclamation, backed by rigorous expert testing and can be used by manufacturers and retailers to provide a clear ‘permission to purchase’ message to consumers.”
Hearst UK allowed the students and staff of the International Media class to see much more than just a dip below the surface of their work. The staff at Hearst UK enlightened and engaged the class, and in the end, that’s what they said Hearst UK is all about.