How Publishers Can Help Promote Mindfulness
Did the recent lockdown make you feel stressed, anxious or lonely? You were by no means alone.
Yet there was one big print success story which helped people through these difficult times: magazines and books about mindfulness. So what’s behind this marketing trend, and will it continue to be successful now that lockdown is over?
COVID anxiety
More than 25 million adults in the UK suffered high levels of anxiety in the first weeks of lockdown – over twice the rate of a few months earlier. One in four UK adults experienced loneliness in early April against a normal rate of one in 10.
There were no easy solutions. Common outlets for stress – such as meeting friends or swimming – were off the cards.
But many people found they could at least partly allay their fears about health, finances and job security through mindfulness: the practice of acknowledging thoughts and emotions in the present moment.
And naturally, they turned to trusted print titles to guide them, making mindfulness magazines one of the key lockdown marketing trends.
Emotional health
The truth is that mindfulness magazines were growing in popularity long before lockdown. Titles like Planet Mindful, Young & Mindful and Breathe, and mindfulness colouring books for adults have been popular since taking off in 2015.
In 2018, TI Media’s distribution arm Marketforce said that overall revenues of mindfulness magazines were up 56.4%, while the total magazine market was down -4.8%.
Editor Louise Chunn said they offered an alternative to publications which present readers with unattainable ideals of how they should look and act.
“As a nation, we are becoming much more self-aware – we are talking about mental, social and emotional health on a scale which we never have before,” she said.
“The media has a role to play in supporting this conversation and that’s why I believe mindfulness magazines are proving so successful. We are addressing a critical need to support positive mental and social health in our communities, and helping people live a calmer life.”
One-shots and boookazines
Not only did people suffer mentally and emotionally during lockdown, many had more time on their hands. So while some publishers suspended print runs while the high street was in lockdown, they increased production of bookazines and special one-shots.
Anthem Publishing said it quickly shifted its focus to its wellbeing and cookery publications – activities people can do from home.
Chief executive Jon Bickley told betterRetailing: “Like everyone, the lockdown came as a major shock to us. But after repeatedly looking at what it meant to Anthem, we decided to focus on our major food and wellbeing titles through this period, and suspend some of the other ones until the retail landscape is back to normal.
“We’re really pleased to see our colouring and dot-to-dot titles are enjoying their best sales for over two years as people look for calming, mindful activities to help them through being stuck at home.”
