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Time Out, the global media and hospitality business, today reveals details of its new digital initiatives as the company has seen the most exciting growth and engagement from digital channels, Live Events and Time Out Market — areas that the company will continue to focus its efforts on going forward.
Today’s announcement comes as the last regular Time Out London print magazine is published tomorrow (23 June 2022), a decision that was announced in April 2022.
CREATING THE RIGHT CONTENT FOR THE RIGHT CHANNELS WHERE THE AUDIENCE IS NOW
At the heart of the digital-first strategy are a variety of initiatives across Time Out’s already popular and successful digital channels that its audience is increasingly engaging with. Helped by robust customer insights, the goal is to reach, engage and grow this audience where they are now, all day long: in their social media feeds, online, in their inbox and in the videos they watch. Across these channels, new initiatives have been created to bring Time Out’s much-loved content to life digitally and with deeper, engaging storytelling to deliver the brand’s mission.
Inspiring and helping people to experience the best of the city has been the brand’s brilliantly simple mission since Tony Elliott started Time Out in 1968. Today, this is more relevant than ever and Time Out is the only global brand dedicated to showing people an amazing time in the world’s greatest cities.
Cities never stand still and never stop, so Time Out never stops which is why the digital-first strategy is about being always-on across digital channels which is more aligned with city life as it is today: vibrant, dynamic, and full of energy and people enjoying it like never before.
The suite of new, digital initiatives match the audience’s behaviour, and also add value for advertising clients with the digital-first model offering enhanced targeting capabilities and exciting advertising propositions. This enables brand partners to connect with Time Out’s audience and content in new ways within a positive and trusted brand environment, reaching a wider audience beyond London in the UK where Time Out has expanded its digital footprint.
NEW INITIATIVES BRING TIME OUT’S MUCH-LOVED CONTENT TO LIFE DIGITALLY
- New short-form video series for digital and social media channels: Time Out is launching six short video series this summer – designed to bring Time Out's fun and expert curation of the city to life via video, on the site and social channels. The series will include Aters Gonna Ate, 12 Hours In…, The Street That Changed My Life and Secrets of the City. Lively and energetic, these video series will share the best of the city, one moving image at a time, with different versions for Time Out's video player, Instagram and TikTok. The video series will offer advertising clients new opportunities; one example is Time Out’s first commercial TikTok partnership launching this week for FREE NOW, The Mobility Super App, sponsoring Time Out’s ‘Things To Do This Weekend’ videos for four weeks this summer as part of a wider campaign across Time Out digital channels.
- Revamp of Time Out London Instagram (1 million followers): To further increase engagement and reach across Instagram, a more focused publishing strategy includes new formats and series, plus the transition of some popular print formats to social media. One example is a new weekly 'Explainer' — a social deep dive into hot topics that drive likes, shares and comments.
- Out Here — a new daily newsletter: Time Out's new daily email is Out Here and it lands in inboxes every morning, Monday to Friday. It is all that anyone who loves London (both locals and visitors) really needs to guide them to the very best stuff to do and places to go, every day — and it comes beautifully designed and with a tone of voice that's all Time Out: funny, passionate, expert. Out Here is as useful, clued-up and definitive as you would expect from something brought to you by Time Out. It covers Things to Do, Culture, Travel, Food & Drink and Theatre. Out Here creates a close, regular relationship between Time Out’s content and its audience via their inboxes — it also offers new, targeted opportunities for advertising clients.
- The launch of digital Time Out covers: From June 28, the classic Time Out cover lives on — on social media, in the daily newsletter and online as a multimedia moment bringing together the best of Time Out design, photography, text and video. Every two weeks, the new Time Out digital cover will throw a spotlight on what's exciting the Time Out team — maybe a band or actor, maybe the city's best new restaurants, maybe the city's latest cultural trends. The digital cover is a spotlight — a window into Time Out's digital world, into a big moment. The first digital cover will celebrate Pride and feature trailblazing Black trans supermodel Munroe Bergdorf, who bounced back from a high-profile controversy to become a celebrated spokesperson with a global following.
THE LAST REGULAR PRINT ISSUE OF TIME OUT LONDON MAGAZINE
The last regular Time Out London print issue celebrates the magazine’s 54 years at the heart of London culture by focusing on what makes the city exciting right now. The theme is LONDON RISING — in true Time Out spirit the Content Team has taken this moment to look to the future of city life and showcase new talent, new culture and the best of the city. It is a bold statement that Time Out’s mission and the love affair with London continues beyond print, now on digital channels, as city life is once again joyful and flourishing.
The last Time Out London magazine is a tribute to all those (past and present) who have made the magazine, to Londoners for going out with Time Out, and to London. There are covers from four London artists; Love Letters to London from the city’s notable writers and Sadiq Khan about what they love most about the city; and there are features celebrating the new wave of art, food, culture and activism in the city.
While Time Out’s core DNA and mission – celebrating and curating the best experiences in the best cities around the world – has never been more relevant, city life has changed, people have changed, and Time Out has changed too. Time Out has evolved through huge shifts since 1968 — it has always played an active, leading role in this ongoing change. Today, Time Out has a global monthly audience of 76.2 million across 333 cities, in 59 countries via its Media channels — digital, social, video, print — and seven Time Out Markets across the world, with more in the pipeline. The global monthly audience* grew 19% year on year, driven by increased unique visitors (up 14%) and social followers (up 24%).
In the past, Time Out has been dedicated to producing and distributing the London magazine in a sustainable way, ensuring suppliers are environmentally conscious and have ethical business practices. Going forward, no longer printing the magazine will mean not printing around 500 million pages a year.
Chris Ohlund, CEO of Time Out Group plc, said: “We say farewell to our Time Out London print magazine after 54 years – and we can’t say thank you enough to all the incredible people that have been part of this journey started in 1968 by our founder Tony Elliott. In true Time Out spirit, our last regular issue celebrates the best of the city right now and looks to the future – it’s a bold statement that our mission continues with our digital-first strategy, alongside Live Events and our growing Time Out Market division.
“Our mission has never been more relevant now that we can all make the most of our cities again: Time Out is the only brand dedicated to inspiring people to experience the best of their cities – and because cities never stop, we never stop. That’s why digital channels are our perfect home – where we will be always-on and where our audience is, all day long. Our new digital initiatives across social and video especially will enable us to deliver deeper, engaging storytelling that we know our audience will love and our advertising clients are seeking. It is a strategy that has already been hugely successful for us in the US and will be key to further drive our growth and profitability.
“Time Out is a global brand with a national footprint and a local voice; we are constantly and quickly innovating to reach, engage and grow our audience across the right channels with the right content that delivers our brand’s core purpose – we do this via an impactful combination of digital and ‘in real life’ that no other brand can offer.”
Dave Calhoun, Time Out’s Chief Content Officer, North America & UK commented: “Time Out has a brilliantly simple mission – to show people an amazing time in the cities we love as much as they do. It’s a mission that’s been unwavering in London since 1968. Our last regular issue of Time Out London magazine marks the end of one chapter after 54 incredible years – but it’s the beginning of the next as we will continue to be an essential guide and inspiration to Londoners across our social, video and digital channels.
“To the millions of people across London and the UK who take inspiration from our stories to decide where best to eat, drink, dance, travel and more – we’ll be with you at the bar, on the dancefloor, on the beach, in the park, everywhere you spend your time out, for years and years to come. Innovation is in our DNA, and the best is yet to come.”