FIPP 09: Website has not affected print mag sales, says BBC Good Food editorial director

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Simultaneous web and print publishing has not cannibalised sales of the BBC's Good Food magazine, its editorial director said today.

All content from the magazine goes online, but different consumers come to the website and magazine for different uses, said Gillian Carter, who was speaking as part of a panel at the 37th FIPP World Magazine Congress .

The magazine's website has allowed Good Food to open up its recipe archive, said Carter.

Last month the site, which has a database of 6,000 recipes, recorded 1.2 million unique users, she added.

"We had to offer content for free, but it brought so many people to our brand that we wouldn't have done through print alone," Carter told delegates.

"Online you [magazine editors] want to be experts and very tightly control everything. You do open yourselves up when you go online.

"I don't think the web has negatively impacted on our magazine sales - people use the magazine in different ways."

The magazine is a different product and remains a 'leaning back' proposition, while online readers search for recipes based on the ingredients in their cupboard, explained Carter.

Cross-promotion between the magazine and website has also driven web traffic and print subscriptions, she said.

"You can't ask for a better marketing brand than another arm of your magazine," she said.

More coverage of the 37th FIPP World Magazine Congress at this link .