Discover how innovative publishers are transforming the newsstand into a profit engine for themselves and retailers. This session, at the 2025 PPA Independent Publisher Conference, highlighted high-growth sectors, smart strategies, and real-world case studies. 

Speakers: Ben Oakden – Managing Director, Marketforce; Duncan Shearer – Client Services Director, Frontline Distribution Solutions; Jon Bickley – CEO, Anthem Publishing; and Lauren Holleyoake – Publisher, Grazia, Empire, and Mojo.

Listen to the audio from the session, and read the key takeaways below

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Key takeaways

1. Print is trusted, and audiences are returning to it
   Readers are coming back to the high street, and print continues to offer something digital can’t: a calm, trusted, inspirational experience that audiences actively seek out.
   
   
2. Digital fatigue is creating new opportunities for print innovation
   Younger consumers are showing signs of digital overload. Publishers are responding with high quality, fast to-market products, from trend-driven bookazines (air fryers and fandom titles like Taylor Swift) to premium brand extensions.
   
   
3. Bookazines are a major growth engine
   They’ve become the fastest-growing part of the newsstand: evergreen, high-value, and quick to produce. Quality matters, and consumers notice and pay for it.
   
   
4. Strong brands and communities drive success
   ‘Big Brand Energy’ will define 2026. Publishers who invest in content and build communities, not just audiences, are seeing the strongest results. If it’s good, people will buy it.
   
   
5. It’s not print or digital, its print and digital
   The most successful strategies blend both channels. Print delivers trust, discovery, and depth; digital provides reach and daily engagement. Used together, they create powerful and connected brand ecosystems.