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Interview with Clare Harris, Editor, New Consumer Magazine
New Consumer, a UK-based magazine and web site, helps people around the world channel their purchasing power choices and actions to make a difference through ethical living and support of fair trade. Top-notch content (passionate, irreverent, positive and fun) and a strong commitment to their values are two linchpins of New Consumer’s success.
New Consumer’s Editor Clare Harris takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the business and editorial strategies that guide New Consumer’s successful growth.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
- Note how clear New Consumer is about what strategies they are using to attract and grow their audience. (Do you have a clear plan for growing your business?)
- The power of partnerships to spread word-of-mouth
- What New Consumer does to provide an antidote to “green fatigue”
- Where to find out about vegetarian and fair trade condoms!
LISTEN NOW (press play below)
TRANSCRIPT
Patrick Dominguez: This is Patrick Dominguez with Green Business Innovators and I am interviewing the editor of New Consumer, Clare Harris. Thank you, Clare for agreeing to do this interview.
Clare Harris: Thank You.
Patrick Dominguez: Clare, to get started why don’t you tell us about New Consumer.
Clare Harris: Well, New Consumer started out about 5 years ago and it was originally set up as a publication that reflected the growth of the fair trade movement in the UK. And we covered a whole range of fair trade issues, what new products were out there, what the effect on producers was, and since then we have grown with the sector to cover all areas of ethical living, whether that’s organics, eco-electricity, whether it’s fair trade products. So, we have widened partly in response to the fact that the more people are aware of shopping ethically and want to shop ethically. There is an appetite for knowledge out there.
Patrick Dominguez: Could you give us a sense of what the circulation of New Consumer and does it cover the entire UK or does it reach a UK audience?
Clare Harris: Yes, we reach all of the UK. We have stockists everywhere from Ullapooland the northwest of Scotland to Cornwall. Our circulation at the moment is around 30,000 a month. Our readers stats show that there are 3 people who read every copy. So that means that we reach almost 100,000 people every month. Who are not only consumers, they are ABC1 readers, but they are influential as well. They like to find out new things and tell their friends about new things and they are also quite active in terms of campaigns and awareness raising around sustainability issues.
Patrick Dominguez: I’ve gotten an impression from reading your magazine that it is very much sort of mission driven. Could you give us a sense of what the purpose or the mission is of your publication.
Clare Harris: Yes. The purpose of is quite simple, it’s basically to provide information and to empower readers to their purchase power. We are not about preaching or boycotting. We are about teaching positive ways in which consumers can shop differently. We accept that we are a consumer society, but we also accept that purchase power is real and it can change things. We can through considered use of it change the way that companies work. So that’s really the basic premise.
Patrick Dominguez: And are there other publications in a similar domain?
Clare Harris: Yes. The ethical publishing industry is growing all the time in recognition of the fact that more people are out there wanting to know about ethical products and services. There are some core publications that have been around for a long, long time, like The Ecologist, Permaculture, and Resurgence. There are more and more new ones. Both web and print-based, that looks at the consumer end. I think where we stand is that we’ve constantly been coming from a people point of view. We are less about the science and the technology and the politics of the issue. We are more about how these changes in consumer behavior can affect people. As I said, we are positive and we take a pragmatic view and try to be a bit fun about it as well.
Patrick Dominguez: Clare, how much does New Consumer Magazine cost?
Clare Harris: It’s free. The way that we are distributed we have actually just gone free. We distributed to a range of stockists across the country which includes both high-street retailers and independent retailers. We basically feel that in becoming a free publication we can then get the message across to more and more people. We also have a subscription model where people who want to receive the magazine to their door every month. Many who do which is nice also get access to offers to online specials to the who New Consumer family.
Patrick Dominguez: Now when I go to the news stand not too many magazines are actually free, so how does your operation work as a free publication?
Clare Harris: Yes, within the publishing sector as a whole it is actually a growing area there are actually quite a few free publications out there now. Basically, it works on advertising and subscriptions. We are a small independent company and we sustain our company costs through advertising and through partnerships with other organizations that are out there. We also have a daily updated website as well, which goes out to lots and lots of people. We use that as another source of income to sustain the whole operation.
Patrick Dominguez: Could you say something about the partnerships that you just mentioned?
Clare Harris: Yes, we are doing a range of things. For example, this year we are working with The Observer newspaper for the Observer Ethical Awards. That is a really nice thing for us. It is the first time of we’ve been involved with a media partner. Essentially, we have been on judging panels, they’re very well recognized ethical awards in the UK. We have been helping to judge them. We are also working with the Soil Association for their Food Festival in September. We are just really looking for key contacts with people who chime with our values in terms of getting awareness of the magazine out there.
Patrick Dominguez: How do you decide what kind of articles or information to provide? And do you have specific focus for your content?
Clare Harris: There is such a whole range out there. My own background is in more social affairs-based journalism, so I always look for something whatever it is that has a good people element to it. So, if we are talking for example about wind farms and who are the people affected by it? What is the debate on either side? How does it affect the local community? So, I like to see features that do come down on even unexpected areas of ethical consumerism and that also can show that there is a real impact on people involved.
Patrick Dominguez: Your magazine and your web site is called The New Consumer. Who is The New Consumer?
Clare Harris: [laughs] It can be any of us. I think that the new consumer is someone who is no longer within a niche. That is why we are very focused in terms of how we have branded ourselves. We feel that there are more and more New Consumers everyday. Someone who is in terms of demographics most likely ABC1 [middle class] and most likely employed. Most likely to put it bluntly has got money to burn. So we need to show that they can use there money in the right way. Going back to earlier, this is someone who has a conscience and feels that there is more that they can be doing. So it is someone who has kind of just switching on really to how they can make difference and is quite keen to explore for new ways to do that.
Patrick Dominguez: Are you also trying to reach people who fall outside this new consumer group?
Clare Harris: Yes, well I think previously that consumer would have been someone who is very much involved with the ethical sector and almost niche. We now feel that we are getting out to people who might never have thought about ethical shopping before, but are starting to switch on to it, because of campaigns like Anya Hindmarch’s “I’m not a plastic bag”. Big mainstream campaigns that are have raised the awareness of the messages we are trying to get out. I feel that this is partly to do with our decision to go free. We both shortly will be distributed through supermarkets and mainstream outlets. Yes, we will be and should be getting to more and more people who are not necessarily seen or see themselves as new consumers yet. But, who will.
Patrick Dominguez: Well, that sounds like an exciting element. Can you reveal some of those of those supermarkets?
Clare Harris: Not yet, no. It’s under wraps at the moment, but certainly we’re looking at mainstream supermarkets and transport points. A kind of supplementary way of getting our mag out there in addition to our core independent shops who are really really key to what New Consumer is all about.
Patrick Dominguez: Might I guess that they might be one of the Big 4 supermarkets chains in the UK?
Clare Harris:
Yes, possibly. Well, there is a bit of a of a monopoly going on here in the UK, so it is probably safe to say it might be one of those recognizable brands.
Patrick Dominguez: OK, we will look forward to that. What kinds of trends have you noticed with your audience for the last few years?
Clare Harris: It kind of ties into what I have just been talking about. We’ve recognized that people are keen for new kinds of voices in the ethical sector. People are starting get a little bit of what they call green fatigue. There are so many people telling them what not to do, they kind of want to be told what they can do. I think that is true through the entire ethical sector. A lot of people have been talking about the shift. People keen to make difference, but in a positive way that they can fit into their lifestyle. I think that has changed. We obviously still have a core readership who has been with us from the very start who are very active, very involved and very keen to make their choices make a difference. But I feel that, at the same time, people have shifted a bit in that the basic awareness is there but they now want to be able to use that awareness in a positive way rather than getting hung up with worry and panic about what is happening to the world.
Patrick Dominguez: Yes, I think people can sometimes have a feeling of helplessness or “what possible impact could I have as an individual?”
Clare Harris: Yes, I mean one of the things that we come across is, and what I’m interested in exploring, is labeling and certifications. There is quite a lot of labels out there that people are aware of like fair trade or the Soil Association’s organic symbol and what we really need to do is to start to bring in a lot more clarity about what should be the labels. Actually what they all mean, how do they all fit together, how they are different and really going into the background of okay we all know what they are there for, now let’s go a little deeper and explain exactly what each of them does on the ground. So, there is an appetite for more developed knowledge around certification and retailing.
Patrick Dominguez: Do you have a sense of the impact or influence that your company is having?
Clare Harris: We get people and readers that get in touch with us all of the time. For example we had a letter going back to the June mag of a teenager who just converted her dad to organic cosmetics, after reading on our forums a debate on sodium laurel sulfate. It is kind of interesting what we get back in from our readers and our forum users. It has pretty to do with quite prosaic issues. For example, one big topic on the forum is about contraception and ethical contraception. We found that they react quite a lot to every day issues rather than the big political issues of the day which is interesting I think.
Patrick Dominguez: Yes, and I would refer everyone listening to this podcast to go to the New Consumer forums at their website. I did see a post related to what you were just mentioning about vegetarian condoms. Which was a whole new concept.
Clare Harris: [laughs] Yes, and there’s fair trade condoms as well. We are actually going to do a piece in an upcoming magazine on that issue, because we are trying to do is feed in discussions from the forum, especially ones that gather and create a lot of debate, then take them out of that and explore them from a journalistic point of view and put them into the magazine. The more that you put on there, the more likely we are to cover it basically.
Patrick Dominguez: New Consumer Publishing is both a magazine and a website. How do these two channels differ in terms of what you are offering your audience?
Clare Harris: The magazine is more a place for some relaxation and reflection. It is a lot of fun in there. There is a cartoon, crossword and there are in-depth features as well. So, it is definitely a sit-down read. Whereas the website is more of a daily updated source of news and reviews. We also have columns on there. We see it as a daily companion where the magazine is the place where you can sit back and reflect and have a think.
Patrick Dominguez: I noticed your magazine has a combination of both sort of serious reportage as well as some more in fun and entertaining features.
Clare Harris: We are very keen on the international angle as well. Every month we have a piece called Global Eye, where we focus in on area in the world which has an issue affecting consumers, where it is there or over here. We try and widen our net. Going forward, the website will have more and more with that, because we actually have quite a lot of users in the States and Australia. So, we are looking to develop a global side of the website as well.
Patrick Dominguez: Have you thought about publishing your magazine in the US or Australia?
Clare Harris: Yes! It is definitely something we’ve looked at. Potentially something for the future because the issues that we are talking about are not confined to any one particular country. They are worldwide and there are lots of issues that merit further explanation. Like for example, the textiles industry in India and China and really exploring that. Because I think there is no risk of getting trapped in a Western mindset in terms of trade and production. I think in the future we need to be exploring wherever the magazine published.
Patrick Dominguez: How successful have you been in attracting advertising? Are you finding companies are eager to reach your audience?
Clare Harris: I think that there is a general feeling among the big corporates and the big companies that they do need to be reaching ethically-minded consumers now. I think you will see it everywhere. A lot of them are doing various forms of “ethical” products and campaigns. So, they are becoming aware now that they need to reach a certain kind of reader. I think with us we’re very targeted and we can show the quality of our readers, in that they may be ABC1 but 90 percent of them are part of a campaigning group. Figures like that that show that we take action. If anything, I have the most success with the bigger companies who want to show the eco-activists, as it were, that they are making changes. But it is always a shifting market, so I think we will see more and more interest as time goes on.
Patrick Dominguez: Have you had to filter out companies that do not meet your values or your standards?
Clare Harris: That’s an interesting question, because we’ve thought really hard about that in terms of advertising. Precisely because the ethical sector is growing so much and really we approach it case by case. I think that there is a danger there that big companies might be employing greenwashing, which is a very big topic at the moment. What we don’t want to do is confine ourselves to a niche. Because, I think that the ethical movement has gone past that and needs to go past this to reach the mainstream. We do not filter companies as a rule, but we do treat every single one coming in on their own merits.
Patrick Dominguez: Have run into any particular challenges in this area?
Clare Harris: No, not as yet actually. Everyone we’ve come across so far is genuinely doing things and making steps towards the right end. Since making that decision, we haven’t actually come across any thorny issues. I am sure we will somewhere down the line. We will deal with it when we get to it.
Patrick Dominguez: If a company wants to be featured in your magazine in the editorial section, not the advertising section, do you have any advice that you would give them?
Clare Harris: Yes. Come up with a good press release and a good product basically. The key is no matter what your ethical stance is, whether it is fair trade, organic, sustainable, locally produced, it has to be a good product at the end of the day. Or a good idea or concept. So the best thing is just to send a brief press release with dates, pictures if possible, to us here and then we always take a look at everything that comes in.
Patrick Dominguez: What kind of marketing or other efforts have you been doing to expand your circulation and your brand awareness?
Clare Harris: Well, we are actually due to kick off a marketing drive over the next few months time with the distribution side of things I have talked about. So, you will see a lot more of New Consumer out there over the next few months.
Patrick Dominguez: Clare, you have mentioned a few new developments in the works, your distribution through supermarkets. Are there any other new developments or activities over the next year that you would like to share with us?
Clare Harris: Really just that, stabilizing where we are and getting out there to as many people as possible. And looking for new partnerships with people who chime with what we are doing.
Patrick Dominguez: Are there any partnerships in particular that you are looking for?
Clare Harris: Not as such, and I think the ones that we do pick are ones that we can get to right people with. We’re always working with particular people and getting approached by people. So, it’s usually what fits in terms of what we can do and what fits in terms of who we want to reach as well.
Patrick Dominguez: Do you advertise in other related publications?
Clare Harris: We do on occasion. We have got a couple of ads coming up over the summer. We do take some when it fits. We tend to look at partnerships and reciprocal relationships with other websites more than straight-up advertising. We find that works better for us, but certainly we take every approach on its own basis and see how it suits the company.
Patrick Dominguez: Your company is of course in the media itself, but do you do PR efforts to reach other media? I am wondering if you do your own PR outreach to get coverage in other media about your publication?
Clare Harris: Yes, that in itself is part and parcel of the partnerships that we do. We quite often get called up to do interviews over the phone with a range of publications from the Herald and Tribune and Eve Magazine. So, we tend to get called up when there are topics around ethical fashion, like ethical consumption, for quotes and advice. So, we’re seen as a place to come to for that sort of thing. In terms of actively going out and marketing our product with the other press out there, that is part and parcel of the marketing that we are looking at. So, yes certainly reaching out to publications. Perhaps less expected publications as well.
Patrick Dominguez: Are there any articles that are of particular interest that you would like to highlight from recent publications?
Clare Harris: Yes, in our May magazine we had a piece called “Top 10 UK Breaks”. We basically picked out 10 UK breaks, obviously focusing on the UK to cut down on flights, but also looking at other elements of sustainability. We looked at a place called Trelowarren in Cornwall, which is a timeshare, and in that one we were looking at how a timeshare can affect the social sustainability of an area providing jobs and a livelihood for other people. Everything from that to a kids play park called Wilderwood which is showing children that they can have fun, educating them about environmental issues and sustainable issues as well. So, that was a nice one you know, and we also put it together with the help of a regular columnist, Richard Hammond, who is known for knowing everything there is to know about ethical travel. If you want some tips for your summer holiday, then that is a good one to look at.
Coming up we are actually just about to close our June issue which is all about city living. We have basically decided to take a look at how living in the city can be sustainable and how you can reduce your impact whilst living in an urban environment. For city dwellers, of whom many of the people in Britain are, that is a nice one to look at.
Patrick Dominguez: Okay, I will look forward to that one myself.
Clare Harris: OK. You know that you can subscribe to the magazine our web site no matter where you are. We have quite a lot of overseas subscribers who get the magazine delivered to them.
Patrick Dominguez: Clare, are there any other thoughts that you would like to share with our audience?
Clare Harris: I think that it is a good time for people looking into to move into ethical businesses. At the same time, though, it is clean about what you want to achieve from having an ethical business because there are so many out there. I think the ground is shifting as it were because it is not really enough just to be ethical anymore. You need to have a good product; you need to have a slick idea.
You need to have some business grounding in order to get your product out there and make a difference. Because along with increased consumer demand comes increased desire for standards and I think that is completely right. I think the only that ethical conception and more sustainable goods are going to remain is if they are up to scratch. If not better than the traditional goods out there. So that’s the challenge.
Patrick Dominguez: And in addition, they are also ethical.
Clare Harris: Exactly. That should become part and parcel of what everybody is doing now. We may envision upon where the ethical side is almost a given, where we no longer have to push for that to be part of a product or a service.
Patrick Dominguez: Yes, I think that many of us are envisioning that now. Clare, how can people find you magazine or your website?
Clare Harris: If you go to www.newconsumer.com and basically they can access everything from there. If they go to the About Us page you can see how to subscribe to the magazine. We are also available from a range of stockists from across the UK, anywhere from Ben and Jerry’s to Fashion Wild and a whole host independent stockers as well. So, do get in touch on our e-mail address if you want to get a hold of a copy, and that address is editorial@newconsumer.com.
Patrick Dominguez: OK Clare, I want to thank you for sharing this interesting information about New Consumer.
Clare Harris: Yes, thank you.
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