Decanter, the market-leading wine media brand, today announces a fresh new look for its magazine and strong growth across print, digital and events.
In the last, unprecedented year, Decanter has taken full advantage of the flexibility in its 360-degree model to evolve and innovate its way to fresh growth, with totally rethought physical events and new virtual ones, a highly successful push for member subscriptions, and at the centre of the brand a still-growing print audience.
With a revamped Decanter magazine going on sale today(Wednesday 2 June)readers will enjoy a cleaner, more visually-led design with increased production values, a larger tasting section, faster-paced features and more luxurious layouts.
The new-look Decanter arrives at a time when the brand is enjoying a period of sustained audience growth after being acquired by Future in April 2020, cementing its position as the leading wine media brand in the process.
Magazine subscriptions to Decanter have grown 15% y-o-y, while digital subscriptions to the Decanter Premium membership product have increased by 37% y-o-y, hitting 9,000 for the first time in May. Online subscriptions growth has been assisted by a 32% y-o-y increase in visits to Decanter.com, which now reaches an audience of over 600,000 users, across the world each month.
In addition to this ongoing audience expansion, Decanter’s awards and events are also enjoying a successful year. The 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards has consolidated its position as the world’s largest wine competition, with over 18,000 wines entered this year by over 4,340 wine producers from 56 countries. Decanter also took its high-end Fine Wine Encounter and masterclass events online this year, launching a string of sell-out ‘Virtual Masterclasses’ in late 2020 in partnership with some of the world’s leading wine producers.
Chris Maillard, Editor-in-Chief of Decanter: “While the world of wine is full of great traditions and hard-won wisdom handed down through generations, it is also a fast-paced global luxury sector, and nobody can afford to stand still, least of all the market-leading publication. We felt the time was right to refresh our brand, giving it a more premium feel and making it even more covetable and collectible without losing its authority or uniqueness. While we’ve also seen fantastic results in our digital channels and both virtual and in-person events, this proves that there is still strong demand for a well-crafted, expertly-written print magazine that understands its readership and gives them exactly what they want, perfectly packaged.”
Referencing the updated logo, Maillard added, “There’s a new line under our logo: ‘passionate about wine since 1975’. It’s there to emphasise our heritage and depth, including our expert columnists, our vast array of Master of Wine and Master Sommelier contributors, and our 46-year archive of superb material from such legendary figures as Hugh Johnson and the much-missed Steven Spurrier.”
Paul Newman, Managing Director of Decanter: “It’s especially satisfying to share such a tale of growth and innovation after a uniquely challenging year for the media and wine industries. The growth Decanter is experiencing across all channels really underlines the strength of the brand’s 360-degree publishing model and demonstrates how Decanter is going from strength to strength under Future’s ownership. Print will remain a critical part of the Decanter proposition and this exciting new-look for the magazine enables us to reinforce its importance with our readers and commercial partners alike.”
