In an age where print and digital seemingly fight it out for consumers’ attention, Future Publishing’s Jonny Sullens tells EW's sister title EN why events and exhibitions are forever relevant.
Publishers have been putting on events on the back of their publications for as long as anyone can remember.
At the end of the last decade in particular, events have been a huge addition to the financial pot, as more publishers not only realise the benefits of live events, but also see it as one of the few ways to engage their customers.
“It’s no secret that print publishing is tough, everyone knows that,” Jonny Sullens, head of events at Future Publishing tells EN. “But, the fact that print publishers and media companies have got access to audiences and have established relationships with key suppliers and advertisers makes it a natural place for events.”
Sullens admits it’s not entirely straight forward bringing an event culture in to a traditional media company, indeed as the head of events points out, there are people who have failed to do it with any great success, but the event/magazine is an absolute natural fit.
“It’s just challenging to change the mind-set of a company to look at events as part of their traditional mix.”
Having said that, Future is one of the more successful media companies who have grasped that opportunity with both hands, for readers to meet people that can help their businesses and grow their hobbies.
When Sullens first joined the firm in October 2012, apart from the odd exhibition here and there he says, Future didn’t have such a concentrated effort or specific strategies on events as it does now; it was mostly award ceremonies. The company now attracts more than 50 million unique visitors a month online and is one of the world’s leading tablet publishers, delivering content across five core sectors: technology, entertainment & video games, sport & auto, music and creative.
THE RIGHT DEMOGRAPHIC
No matter the media, good media should reflect the industry that it serves, whether it’s a print publication, website or of course an exhibition or event.
“We are in that fortunate position to have those great relationships from a market from an editorial perspective, that we can then bring to life in a live environment,” says Sullens, reflecting on recent launches.
If you have a magazine in a particular sector that is growing and running steadily with a loyal audience and readership, it makes logical sense that you in turn then have the right demographic for an event.
You only need to look at companies like Shortlist Media launching Stylist Live to go with their free weekly publication, Stylist, if you want a prime example of a publisher producing an event for their readers’ interests. EN’s publisher Mash Media acquiring International Confex is another example.
In 2014, Future brought in a new consumer event from the photography sector to the NEC, moving into a gap created by the departure of the Focus on Imaging show at the venue.
“It’s an interesting story. There was an event that ran for 20 odd years called Focus on Imaging, which was run by a lady at the NEC – that was her sole business.
“It has been a really good show in its time, but she decided to close it, which in our industry is very unusual. You only close something if it’s broken but this wasn’t.
“A bit of a bunfight ensued as to who would be able to run that event – we were very fortunate because it came at a really good time for us. We have strong titles in the photography market so we could demonstrate that we had a route to market and a way to build the show. I had the time to put into it and to really spend a lot of time making sure our approach to the NEC was as complete as it should be.”
With roughly nine months to put the show together, the inaugural show eclipsed Future’s expectations and attracted 30,000 visitors, and continued to grow again in 2015, winning EN’s award for Best New Organiser Team.
“Visitor numbers are still growing, which is a pretty good result in a market that is usually quite challenging, because most people are using their mobile phones now, particularly the younger generation. So we’re very focused in bringing that younger audience in.
“It’s evolving so the mix of exhibitors changes but what you would have seen 10 years ago in terms of Sony, Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Olympus etc are still the same companies that support the show, which is fantastic.
“From our perspective, it was a great opportunity to launch something that had immediate scale without some of the purchase costs that you’d normally have.”
Future also launched the PC Gamer Weekender event in March this year, at the Old Truman Brewery.
“There are some brilliant events for gamers in the UK, EGX being the main one and Insomnia Festival but there wasn’t anything specifically for PC gamers,” Sullens says. “The other game events cover all genres so with PC and console, we felt there was an opportunity. PC gaming as a niche is continuing to grow and we have a strong proposition in PC Gamer.”
Comparing the two, Sullens admits that launching a show is definitely the more difficult one, “without a shadow of a doubt”.
Sullens concedes that integrating businesses that have been independent for a number of years is not without challenges either but buying an established event is a good shortcut.
“It has a ready-made track record and you can have a look at the number of exhibitors, the sort of exhibitors, the visitors, if it’s a consumer show you can also see what they’re used to paying and what they’re used to seeing. You get a lot of event intelligence quite quickly when you buy something. When you launch something, you are testing absolutely everything.”
CREATING CONTENT
With any big company, there’s always a danger of operating in silos but to do that in a business such as Future, would be criminal because of the expertise, Sullens explains.
“Being able to talk to the editors and being able to identity key trends like in PC Gamer Weekender, being able to identify those games, people on the stage, the publishers they already deal with – we have to have those relationships from that perspective to help us on the
content side.
“From my view as an organiser who is looking to amplify what goes on within a show, using social media is fantastic. The fact that I can put a tweet out about what’s going on within the event and know it’s going to reach a million people or hit three million Facebook feeds is fantastic and all mixes together really well. It’s crucial that it does.”
What about a model for a successful show? Do organisers need to tie them in with magazines? Sullens says it helps, but it’s not necessarily
the rule.
“The PC Gamer Weekender is a good example. It made absolute sense to tie it to the title, because the title is really very strong and has great online and social properties. Also, with The Photography Show, it is obviously about leveraging all the knowledge and features and contents of that magazine and bringing it to life at the event.”
Having that pool of knowledge that the team can draw on is vital, says Sullens.
“One of our core values as a company is content that connects and how we deliver that is down to the audience. Obviously one way we can deliver that is through events so it’s a great way to position our company, one that has those contacts, has that knowledge, has that depth of industry relationships that we can promote in the live environment. And that resource you can tap when you need to.”
A VIRTUOUS CIRCLE
It is a huge learning curve for a company to transition from publisher to event organiser, as everyone needs to be educated on the timeframes of running a show – from simple things like tracking invoices to how a floorplan works.
Looking to add more shows to its portfolio, the firm also licenses its products around the globe, offering the opportunity to run product-related shows abroad.
“We also run awards, conferences, exhibitions and events, and have just acquired two businesses with a strong leaning into events. Both Nova House and Blaze Publishing are a really good mix of print, online and events and it’s great to see that a company like ours is considering events purchases.
“It’s something we’re continuing to look at, we still want to launch, we still want to do joint ventures with people. We’re still being quite entrepreneurial as well as also buying events.”
The entrepreneurial spirit has been one that has stuck with Sullens, whose career in the industry started at Mash Media, where he worked for nine years.
“From conferences to events and of course exhibitions, all of the titles at Mash centre around the whole events industry and I found myself increasingly drawn to the organising side. I went on to join Ithaca Media which was Andy Center’s vehicle before CloserStill. I joined at a really good time; all the numbers were going in the right way and UBM purchased the company two years later.
“That was a fantastic couple of years – it was great fun and really hard work but we did brilliant sales numbers across the shows. It was a good time to hunker down there in the big recession but I learnt an enormous amount from some of the people I worked with, like Simon Parker and Simon Mills.
“I had missed the entrepreneurial spirit that we had at Ithaca and at Mash – so when the Future opportunity came, it offered me that chance to be a little bit entrepreneurial and launch some stuff myself but with the support and infrastructure of a plc behind me. It was an ideal mix really.”
The firm has recently announced its six-month interim results and are moving towards a profitable H1, which wasn’t necessarily the case for the previous couple of years. With reports of staff reductions and a substantial transformation of the business, it looks as though the company is looking at a bright future.
“Events within Future grow as part of the revenue and profit mix, also beyond that in the wider industry. I’d like Future to be known as a boneified events organiser but that comes with scale of organising a number of events across different markets and it makes sense to concentrate on the markets we’ve got,” says Sullens.
“Future has been a bit of a trailblazer when it comes to publishing online or iPad editions. We still license our software to other publishers to publish their magazines for iPads. Future has always been a pioneer when it comes to those things – that sort of adaptability to how your audience consumes your editorial and content.
“It has been a seismic shift. I think we’re in a good place even though it is really tough. But our mix now is around about 50/50 in terms of print revenue and digital & event revenue. And that bit of the business is really growing year-on-year.”
A decent event should be reflecting the industry it serves and promotes. Very few industries particularly in this digital age are static – there’s always going to be a new product coming in, spaces being challenged and therefore events and exhibitions must continue to reflect, promote and succeed other media for its offering to remain forever relevant.
