February 2, 2012
Next Media – publishers of Waves surfing magazine, wavesmag.com.au and the Waves iPad application – are launching a new digital and print strategy in 2012 aimed at addressing the needs of its target audience, the current fiscal climate and the ever-growing demand for a cohesive digital and print marketing solution.
Waves, renowned for decades as being close to the pulse with surfing’s youth market and heralded as the voice for the new generation, with irreverent content and focus on hi-fi surfing will answer the call from a growing audience of digital savvy surfers. Our research and the recent successful launch of the Waves iPad application – which has been downloaded by almost 2000 readers (top ten sports app for over one month) – will see the brand evolve to a comprehensive print/digital offering.
“Our audience loves the imagery, the heroes, the manoeuvres and buys into the youthful and funny vernacular that Waves serves up. That said, they also like the DVDs, the posters and the grass roots surfing heroes. Our mission is to deliver all this on a number of platforms to enable the younger consumers to fulfill their passions” says Marcus Hucker, General Manager of surf titles at Next. “We also acknowledge that the surf industry is having a tough time at the moment and reaching these guys with our new mix of print and digital issues will be more cost-effective marketing and an exciting opportunity for everyone going forward”.
Waves will be offering: 10 issues per year, seven print and three rich media iPad issues. Each print issue will be promoted with either a surf DVD, T-shirt, beanie or an appropriate offer. This will be accompanied by Waves’ growing website wavesmag.com.au and social media communications. An m-site will also be rolled out mid-year to complement the digital platforms.
The publishing model shift for Waves comes with the announcement of key staff changes, including the appointment of Ethan Smith as Editor. Ethan – a man with eight years experience under his belt at Waves – says, “Since I started at Waves when I was 19, I’ve dreamt of having my name alongside the Editor title. I look forward to growing our readership across all platforms and keeping them hyped up on all things innovative, fun and exciting.” Ethan will head up a new, youthful team and be joined by a digitally savvy Deputy Editor, Ben Whitmore (recently promoted from Tracks) and the very creative Art Director, Danny Johnson. Together they’ll be rolling the new strategy out to the market as of February 2012. Waves farewells Ryan “Nugget” Glen and acknowledges his tremendous contribution to the voice of Waves over the last five years.
Next Media is also the publisher of Tracks – The Surfers Bible, tracksmag.com, The Official ASP Guide and over 30 other specialist titles that help excite readers about their passions.