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There is a new breed entering publishing that is prevalent

elsewhere but until now has been rather thin on the ground in the glossy

magazine world.

This evolving species is the marketing director or, more specifically,

the group marketing director. These are the people who sit at the top of

a publishing company and are supposed to pull together a coherent

marketing strategy across all the magazine properties (and online

activities) and make sure the marketing pounds are spent wisely and

effectively.

The timing of IPC Magazines’ decision to appoint a group marketing

director is no coincidence, of course. Although the publishing giant may

still be conducting backroom merger talks, it continues to proceed along

the flotation path and is aware that the more it markets itself and its

magazines, the more value it is likely to attract from the City.

Looking at the other magazine houses, this seems to be a first - not

something you would have expected from the IPC of the last century,

which liked to do things the old-fashioned way. But in a cut-throat

market it is perhaps wise to think about making yourself heard above the

din (let me add that I know there are marketing directors across

multimedia portfolios, but one specifically for magazines doesn’t

immediately spring to mind).

The existence of five autonomous magazine companies within IPC could

also throw up the need for greater marketing cohesion among the

groups.

In the past I suspect that such a role would have been cut down very

quickly by publishers. After all, the presence of a marketing director

would diminish their role in steering the commercial course of a

magazine and cause one too many ruffled feathers.

Philippa Brown - who has been appointed to take on the group role at IPC

- and her plan to appoint marketing directors for three of the company’s

core businesses shows a serious intention to slap marketing at the top

of IPC’s agenda. Whether this new raft of marketing personnel is

overcooking the idea remains to be seen.

So will this create a new breed in magazines? Emap has had marketing

directors for some of its businesses and has produced centralised roles

in a number of its disciplines but marketing is still very much a

function within the separate businesses. Conde Nast, The National

Magazine Company and BBC Magazines, to name a few, do not think it

necessary to provide such a role.

The jury, it seems, is out on this one and just as the role of marketing

director seems to have had its day in media agencies, one can’t help

wondering whether this will be a fleeting fad. But if Brown can save IPC

valuable marketing pennies while making the discipline a respected and

important part of the company’s armoury, then good luck to her.

anna.griffiths@haynet.com