dish editor Sarah Tuck talks to StopPress about the thinking behind ‘Holiday’, the NZ food magazine’s special issue – packed with recipes, reading and puzzles – that bridges the gap between Christmas and late summer.
Sarah Tuck is about to make breakfast for 100 people. This is not a regular day for the dish editor and CEO – though she lives and breathes food. She’s preparing for the last TVNZ Breakfast show of the year, which dish has catered since 2019.
But before she gears up for a mammoth cooking session – she’s serving three hams, three salmon, five trifles, five chocolate tarts and “lots of rolls and potato salads” – Tuck explains the reasoning behind publishing ‘Holiday’, a special issue of the beloved food magazine.
“Every year we do our Christmas issue. It comes out in early November, which seems early, but it works really well for us and it has an amazing sell-through rate – 90% plus, which is phenomenal. And we print a massive amount for the Christmas issue,” says Tuck.
How to catch the audience before they go on holiday
The issue often sells out, but sales for any remaining copies pretty much stop dead on Christmas Eve. It leaves a gap before the next issue of the bi-monthly magazine. Readers still want summer content, but the trick had been to catch them before they go off camping or to the bach.
“Previously, we had an issue out really early in January, thinking, ‘Okay, great, as soon as the Christmas one goes off sale, we’ll have something fresh on the stands.’
“But people would’ve already left to go on their holidays. So you’d have subscribers with their magazine sitting on their doorstep for two weeks while they were away.”
Hence the bonus issue. ‘Holiday’ isn’t part of the package for subscribers, but readers were hungry for it: preorders numbered in the hundreds.
As the name suggests, it’s a perfect fit for the Kiwi summer.
“I wanted it to be a title that you would take away on holiday, with everything that you need, but also more than a normal dish magazine,” says Tuck.
“So it’s got a checklist of everything to pack to make your food as exciting as it can be while you’re away. Whether that’s making sure you take a stick blender for making mayonnaises, or long-handled tongs for the barbecue.
“It’s got a summer playlist and a book extract by Stanley Tucci – a great little beach read. And then we also have a puzzles and crosswords section. So it’s a different offering, but I think it will really resonate with people and provide so much more for their holiday.”
Advertisers get maximum exposure with summer magazine readers
Like any magazine, dish relies on advertising, and the appetite was strong for this issue – despite it being outside the usual publishing schedule. That’s because summer is a great time for magazines, says Tuck.
“We know this time of year is the biggest readership month for magazines. It means people who advertise with us are going to absolutely maximize their exposure, because the time spent reading will be greater than any other time of the year.
“dish content really is evergreen. We’ve published 118 issues of dish (as well as one-offs and cookbooks) and we have people who have literally every one. So we do have a unique proposition for our advertisers: they’re going to get repeat exposure for years and years and years. But in the Holiday issue specifically, they’ll get a lot of eyeballs on them for a long time.”
But first, Tuck and her small dish crew – “massive shout out to an incredible team for working so bloody hard” – have a lot to do before Friday’s 6am start at TVNZ Breakfast. Naturally, the food is from dish.
“They’re all recipes which are in the latest Christmas issue, if people can still find it,” says Tuck. And if they can’t, ‘Holiday’ is there to fill the gap.
The ‘Holiday’ issue of dish magazine is on sale now in shops and online, priced $ 14.50. dish is an SCG Media publication.
The post dish magazine’s ‘Holiday’ special issue – a recipe for success over summer appeared first on stoppress.co.nz.