The
health and fitness world is a growing and expanding industry today. According
to an article from, Immpreneur it states, ”Now a $24 billion industry, it services some 51 million Americans of all
ages and income levels and is forecast to grow 23 percent over the next ten years.” (Immpreneur) With the rise of diseases such as
obesity, and diabetes, more and more people want to live healthier lives. According
to Eric Casaburi, the CEO and founder of Retro-Fitness, he believes that the
industry will always continue to expand. He states, “One
of America’s fastest growing franchise companies, the industry has continued to
grow because it’s filling an important need.” (Eric) Social media and
technology has become so prevalent on a day-to-day basis that it has also
impacted, the way in which we take care of our bodies. Magazines, social media
platforms, and applications, all have encouraged people to live a healthy
lifestyle and have created a world in which people could motivate others,
through interaction with the media.
One
of the most popular media platforms of our day is the magazine industry. Americans
of all ages read magazines and according to Magazine Media, “91% of adults read
magazine media and that number reaches 96% for those under 25.”(Magazine Media)
This industry has become so successful because of its multiple platforms and
wide range of diverse content. It also is the top effective advertising media
platforms, “52% of magazine readers made a purchase based on a print ad in
their favorite magazine.” (Magazine Media) Magazines have built a trustworthy
relationship with all of their consumers, who are engaging in their own
specific interest.
A
popular niche in this industry and a popular trend in our society would be
Health and Fitness. Magazines such as, Men
and Women’s Health, Runner’s World, Self, and Shape are some of the better-known companies that reach a large
amount of readers. According to the graph above, print magazines are the #1
medium to super influential consumers, which shows that they trust these brands
to provide them with reliable information, such as healthy recipes or tough
workouts. They specific magazines also provide several different platforms, in
which they could access their information from. These companies have made it
easier for the reader to access their publication through digital
subscriptions. They have also linked up to our favorite social networks such as
Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram. Now, readers can get all of their health
and fitness tips, that they can rely on, with the click of a button. Do you
think this is a step towards the fall of print magazine?
Another
popular media platform that has built a network for people with specific
interests is Twitter. Twitter users have created a
community in which you could hash tag specific content to individuals and
follow inspirational people. It allows users to post 140 characters worth of
motivating quotes, tips and photos. According to How Social Media is Changing Fitness, it states, “A recent study
conducted by the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health
determined that people who turned to Twitter for their social support system
lost more weight than those who went at it alone. These individuals lost an
average of .05 percent of total body weight for every 10 tweets.” (Kristen) As
you could see, Twitter is a great way to find accountability and motivation for
whatever your fitness goals are. Magazine companies are even using Twitter to
motivate their followers, for example, “Then there is #UpnOut, a useful hashtag
pioneered by Self magazine.
#UpnOut encourages people to wake up and work out, and of course, tweet about
it.” (Kristen) This is a great example of how magazines can interact with their
readers digitally, and have them engaged in their publication.
Technology
allows us to take immediate steps to improve our fitness and health, especially
through the numerous amounts of health and fitness applications. For example,
the application, MapMyRun has made it easy to track your distance, calories,
time, and challenge your own friends in competitions. According to an article
from CNN, it stated, “On their own, these tools can be helpful for anyone
trying to get into shape. They collect all manner of data, tracking workouts so
people can set goals and self-monitor their progress along the way. That's an
important factor in changing any behavior, according to sports psychologists.”
(Heather) Applications such as these have brought sustaining your health goals
to another level, and have created a constant encouragement throughout their
daily lives. According to The Real Time
Report, it states,” Flurry
Analytics reports a 62% increase in the usage of health and fitness
apps over the past 6 months, while the overall mobile app industry has
only seen a 33% increase. Such a statistic means that growth in health and
fitness apps is 87% faster than the entire mobile app industry.” (Adam)
According to the article, these innovative apps have become so popular because
of its integration with social networks and its fitness devices compatibility.
Magazines, social media, and applications are seen to be a great
source for reaching your goal of living a healthy lifestyle, because it allows
you to bond with others who are in similar situations and work together to
achieve your goals. Which media platform do you think is the most influential
to this industry?
Moossmann, Adam. "Health And Fitness
Apps." The Realtime Report Health And Fitness Apps. N.p., n.d. Web.
19 Feb. 2015.
http://therealtimereport.com/2014/06/24/health-and-fitness-apps-see-62-increase-in-usage-in-last-six-months/
"2014
Magazine Media Facebook." MPA: The Association of Magazine
Media. 19 Feb. 2015. Web.
Kelly,
Heather. "Fitness Tools That Tap the Power of Your Friends -
CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
Mercier, Kristen. "Twitter, Social Media Can Help Lose Weight |
Boston Magazine." Boston Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
Casaburi, Eric. "Tap Into Explosive Growth In The Fitness
Industry." - Empowering Immigrant Entrepreneurs. N.p., n.d. Web. 20
Feb. 2015.
http://immpreneur.com/stories/fitness-franchise/
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ReplyDeleteAs a consumer I am actually pretty surprised with how well the magazine industry is still doing, but as a media studies student, it couldn’t be a more encouraging statistic. I think that above any other medium, magazines have the ultimate power of the niche and unlike television shows that have to fight with time slots, ratings, and digital viewing platforms, magazines are free agents whose content is anticipated, but conveniently viewed and however they choose to share their content across platforms, it is their own company that controls it. Initially, I would have thought that given the instantaneousness of the Internet along with the multitude of available information, periodicals would quickly fade out of fashion. After reading “2014 Magazine Media Factbook,” though, it isn’t hard to see where the appeal comes from:
ReplyDeleteMagazine media deliver powerful relationships that influence, inspire and endure. The magazine media brand experience is based on trusted editorial, complemented by relevant advertising. This dual immersion in edit and ads satisfies the interests and passions of millions of readers—when, where and how they choose. The reader’s commitment to this unique brand experience results in extraordinary consumer engagement with magazine media on all platforms (“2014 Magazine Media Factbook”).
This quote suggests that maybe on some possibly subconscious level consumers do want to be sold on different brands and magazines are a trusted way to make yourself the target of products that you actually want to be sold on. I think people are also loyal to certain magazines because it is their purpose to keep up with trends. It’s harder to look something up online if you don’t see it coming and magazines are a timely summary of the way things are heading.
Another great thing about magazines is that there is something out there for everyone and their content can be as narrow as their consumers want. Where TV needs to appeal to a large enough audience to make it worth their while, magazines just need to appeal to the loyal few and they have gotten really good at maintaining that trust with their customers. A good example of the differences between television and magazines is Oprah’s struggle with her TV network, “When she and Zaslav first sat down in April 2007, she was struck by the idea of launching a network of higher consciousness. But Winfrey, who watches little TV (exceptions include ABC's Scandal), misjudged the audience. The series of disappointments came fast” (Rose). I would argue that had Oprah tried to implement the same idea into a periodical she would have faired better.
One argument that I will make against magazines, however, is when it comes to health and fitness because it is such a huge trend in the US right now. When it comes to health and fitness it can be very hard for people to stay motivated and easy for them to get bored with routine. For this reason I believe that most people would turn to the Internet looking for answers. With this trend being so prevalent it isn’t hard to find blogs, motivation, videos and any other media that you might need to stay motivated and with such an array of people’s perceptions of what needs work it is easier for people to target their own fitness problems by searching for them instead of hoping that they will turn up in a magazine. In this way, I hypothesize that magazines will endure until their content gets too trendy and the needs too diverse, in which case this medium will suffer the same as the rest; with people turning to the Internet.
Works Cited
"2014 Magazine Media Factbook." MPA: The Association of Magazine Media. 31 Jan. 2015. Web.
Rose, Lacey. "Oprah Winfrey on Forgoing Motherhood, Being 'Counted Out' and the Meeting That Turned OWN Around." The Hollywood Reporter.11 Dec. 2013. Web.
Up to a certain genetic extent, you are completely in control of your fitness. It’s up to you to lace up your shoes, put on a t-shirt, get to the gym and jump on that treadmill. It’s up to you to choose that salad over a double cheeseburger. However, even though nothing can physically make us workout and eat healthier, media can certainly inspire us and make us feel guilty when we don’t.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that in today’s world, almost every media outlet (and Michelle Obama) have all colluded to make propagandistic media content promoting health and wellness. There has been a huge push towards the niche market of healthy living and fit lifestyles from multiple industries. Even fast food is trying to become healthier. Although I credit the magazine industry for the start of this trend, I blame social media for its sudden explosion.
Magazines have been around for over a century. According to the Association of Magazine Media, magazines are the most trusted, inspiring, and influential type of media (Factbook). They have been featuring the ideal image of health and beauty within their ads and articles for decades. They also have been specifically addressing the niche market for health and fitness through publications such as Men’s Health, Runners World, and Fitness. In fact, super influential consumers for healthcare magazines are known to be heavy users of magazines (Factbook). Physical fitness magazines and healthy lifestyle magazines both received 151 gross rating points while TV programs on the same topic only received an average of 56 (Factbook). This is where the fitness craze started. And slowly but surely, it shifted over to the digital world.
With the shift in consumer behavior to online subscriptions and social media, the trend of being healthy became even more prevalent. Smartphones quickly became the next frontier for delivering magazine media content. (Kevorkian) This allowed readers to take their magazines any and everywhere with them, and also gave them access to links and more information about what they read in the articles. Most importantly, it allowed them to connect their health and fitness interest to social media.
Social media transformed the niche health and fitness market into a worldwide trend because it allowed active magazine readers and health enthusiasts to get involved and share their own stories and content. Now, what people read online could be posted and shared on Facebook. According to the MPA’s key research findings, the majority of avid magazine readers follow a magazine on Twitter or like a magazine on Facebook. (MPA) There are numerous Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, and Twitter accounts dedicated solely to health and fitness. Readers and users have been reposting these pictures and articles, as well as their own fitness content, bringing fitness and health to the forefront. Because these are the types of posts and articles being shared, more ads and professional content are featuring health and fitness aspects to capture the growing audience. Facebook CFO David Ebersman revealed that Instagram has recently doubled its user base. (D'Onfro) It seems that more people are going online and getting involved.
So basically, if the Magazine industry started this big push towards health and fitness, than it was us – the social media users and sharers that took it to the next level. But just how long will this trend stay trendy? Or is it more than a trend?
"2014 Magazine Media Factbook." MPA: The Association of Magazine Media. 31 Jan. 2015. Web.
D'Onfro, Jillian. "This Chart Shows How Instagram Reached 150 Million Users In Half The Time Of Twitter." Business Insider. 18 Feb. 2014. Web.
Kevorkian, C. (n.d.). Magazine Media Readers and Smartphones. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
"MPA Releases Benchmark Social Media Study." MPA Releases Benchmark Social Media Study. Association of Magazine Media, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.