What is happening at EVO magazine?

[suffolk009]

^^^ Many good points. The one about "it's January" being particularly salient. I thought this month's mag was 3/10 (or 2 and a half stars).

[Harris_I]

Escort3500 said:

Fair comment re: the talents of Meaden, Catchpole, Bovingdon and Harris, but the problem was that, as well as being a ‘head teacher’, Trott also wrote inane and poorly constructed articles or just wittered on about his Porsche. Then went to Motor Sport to do the same it seems.

Yup, Trott just isn't a Real Car Guy.

I understand the point made earlier about a head teacher not needing to be a teacher, but I don't agree. Understanding a business one runs on a technical level makes all the difference between a good business and a great business. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are (were) software nerds. The great car companies are run by engineers with a passion for the product. I work in the finance industry and have witnessed more than once the destruction of a firm by a non-finance guy parachuted in by a clueless board to manage people whose shoes he's never walked in.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

simonrockman said:

I'd really like to see Richard Porter's column moved to facing the inside back cover. That's always a tricky spot to fill, and it was Clarkson's home in Performance Car so The Right Place.

Good call. For me, I always expect the last page in the magazine to be a bit special and am mildly disappointed when it isn't. For example, in New Scientist in the 80's it was where the humorous cartoon was. And, as you say, that was Clarkson's spot in PC and very good it was too.

[markcoopers]

The point about engaging children is a really good point. I wrote to EVO before Christmas about this very point when they were moaning about the death of motorsport and suggesting that Nissan and its RC GTR touring schools should be applauded.

That said I wrote to Harry many years ago and pitched an idea of launching a sister car mag called Junior (Alfa references obviously) for kids. Shame as that would have given them the catchment, market, and sales for today and could easily allow you tubers/on line content etc..

I get the point about being supremely confident in ones self belief, but every good leader also needs to listen to constant good ideas......afterall to be the leader doesn't mean you have to be the ideas man, just recognise the good ideas when they come along.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

markcoopers said:

I get the point about being supremely confident in ones self belief, but every good leader also needs to listen to constant good ideas......afterall to be the leader doesn't mean you have to be the ideas man, just recognise the good ideas when they come along.

Indeed. Sadly, though, all to many are deaf and blind to anything other than agreement with them.

[trackdemon]

I struggle to see the market for a childrens car magazine if that's essentially what's being proposed; you'd have similar overheads and a need to create content for a magazine aimed at a fickle market paid for by the adult. I was reading Autocar & Motor in single digit years, the content was interesting enough for this kid. Now an EVO game aimed at kids; that might be a feed in... but what cost to create?.....

[treeroy]

I remember as a child, masturbating to the porn adverts in the classifieds section at the back of the Evo magazine my mum once bought me to keep me occupied on a long journey driving to Devon. The days before I had internet access and a mobile phone.

[Obi Wan]

treeroy said:

I remember as a child, masturbating to the porn adverts in the classifieds section at the back of the Evo magazine my mum once bought me to keep me occupied on a long journey driving to Devon. The days before I had internet access and a mobile phone.

You’re probably thinking of a different magazine.

[DanielSan]

trackdemon said:

I struggle to see the market for a childrens car magazine if that's essentially what's being proposed; you'd have similar overheads and a need to create content for a magazine aimed at a fickle market paid for by the adult. I was reading Autocar & Motor in single digit years, the content was interesting enough for this kid. Now an EVO game aimed at kids; that might be a feed in... but what cost to create?.....

There’s one on the App Store sponsored by Evo tbats part top trumps part micro machines racer, sadly to get the cards with tha descent cars requires the usual spending of 11 million pounds that all mobile games require. It’s a good game aswell which makes that element a real shame

[K50 DEL]

suffolk009 said:

^^^ Many good points. The one about "it's January" being particularly salient. I thought this month's mag was 3/10 (or 2 and a half stars).

You're lucky to have been able to read it... I moved last month and despite trying repeatedly to contact the subs people to change my address there's no interest at all.
At this rate I'm just going to cancel the DD and buy the odd issue in the shops which would be a shame as I've subscribed since issue 12 or so

[Dracoro]

treeroy said:

I remember as a child, masturbating to the porn adverts in the classifieds section at the back of the Evo magazine my mum once bought me to keep me occupied on a long journey driving to Devon.

Did your folks know you were masturbating in the back of the car on these journeys?

[Moley RUFC]

treeroy said:

I remember as a child, masturbating to the porn adverts in the classifieds section at the back of the Evo magazine my mum once bought me to keep me occupied on a long journey driving to Devon. The days before I had internet access and a mobile phone.

Devon Custard?

[treeroy]

Obi Wan said:

You’re probably thinking of a different magazine.

I just looked up a list of UK car mags on wikipedia and it's the only one that it could have been. Certainly wasn't Classic Car Weekly that's for sure! it had some real naughty stuff in it. I remember the central spread was about showing off scantily clad girls on modified imprezas and stuff like that.

Dracoro said:

Did your folks know you were masturbating in the back of the car on these journeys?

I guess I worded that poorly? Lol.

[thegreenhell]

treeroy said:

Obi Wan said:

You’re probably thinking of a different magazine.

I just looked up a list of UK car mags on wikipedia and it's the only one that it could have been. Certainly wasn't Classic Car Weekly that's for sure! it had some real naughty stuff in it. I remember the central spread was about showing off scantily clad girls on modified imprezas and stuff like that.

Evo has certainly never had that sort of content. Sounds more like Max Power or Fast Car.

[treeroy]

thegreenhell said:

Evo has certainly never had that sort of content. Sounds more like Max Power or Fast Car.

MAX not EVO. That's possible. The mag definitely had a three letter title.
Actually yeah I just googled it and there's a Telegraph article "Remember Max Power, for male car enthusiasts who loved burnouts and scantily clad women"

OKay. ignore my anecdote.

[Gameface]

REVS

[monthefish]

Harris_I said:

Escort3500 said:

Fair comment re: the talents of Meaden, Catchpole, Bovingdon and Harris, but the problem was that, as well as being a ‘head teacher’, Trott also wrote inane and poorly constructed articles or just wittered on about his Porsche. Then went to Motor Sport to do the same it seems.

Yup, Trott just isn't a Real Car Guy.

I understand the point made earlier about a head teacher not needing to be a teacher, but I don't agree. Understanding a business one runs on a technical level makes all the difference between a good business and a great business. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are (were) software nerds. The great car companies are run by engineers with a passion for the product. I work in the finance industry and have witnessed more than once the destruction of a firm by a non-finance guy parachuted in by a clueless board to manage people whose shoes he's never walked in.

I probably didn't explain myself as concisely as I intended to; I vehemently agree it's imperative the guy at the top understands exactly how things work at the lower ranks, and all the better if he/she has served comprehensively at these roles first before rising (In fact, I believe this is the main fault with a high percentage of organisations these days, i.e. the management have no real clue about what's going on at the coal-face/grass roots).

My point was simply that a passionate car guy with an excellent writing talent and the driving skills to match, is not a sufficient skill set to run a magazine. A head teacher MUST understand the role and challenges of a teacher, but the very best teachers are probably best staying as teachers, and allowing someone more business minded to run the place.

I don't think you can say Trott isn't a real car guy - we are a broad church and perhaps he's just a different type of car guy from you and I.

I, for example, have never rebuilt an engine and couldn't really give a stuff about F1, but I love cars as much as anyone on here.

[Harris_I]

Fair enough. Perhaps unfair to say Trott's not an enthusiast.

But somehow I can connect with people like Meaden, Barker, Metcalfe, Catchpole. Their enthusiasm rubs off on others. It felt as if Trott was a good corporate citizen for the publisher, someone who's face fit the role of a manager of people. But in the process, the publisher destroyed the product. And then the people left, and now the customers are leaving.

It is said that employees leave their managers, not their companies...

[Dr Gitlin]

tigerkoi said:

Touché! I surrender, the ‘mouthpiece’ bit was innocently put

My points about the YouTube kids and all the rest of it, aren’t about singing any great praise for what they are doing or how they are doing it. I’m merely using it as an example of how in one industry (car journalism), things are being turned on its head - disrupted - by this recent thirst, mainly by a younger crowd to get their kicks/info/enjoyment from those who merely wield a cameraphone (with varying levels of ability and graft, admittedly) at a passing car. It’s an example. Of course there are multiple other factors but people are more and more drawn to sucking in details on the latest Pagani from the web or YouTube than wait for EVO or Car to do a grand reveal.

But it (disruption) is happening across multiple industries and business sectors. Financial Services companies feel potential threats from tiny startups who think they can reinvent banking. Large computer game companies have to go balls out and bet the farm on major releases because they know their share of the pie is being eaten by a failed MSc who’s just created the latest blockbuster for your phone and it’s free as an app on the Apple Store. Incumbent and aging media companies struggle for relevance when they know they can be outbid easily by a Facebook for top-level sports rights, or a Netflix for that new TV show. There is disruption everywhere.

Where I think a lot of people see issue, and in a fast-moving world, is that something like the print industry is just not [seemingly] doing very much to meet head-on the very real threats it faces. For other industries they see challenges and are trying to do what they can to stay relevant. Sometimes the answer isn’t to meet like for like, but improving your offering is certainly central to survival.

So, like I state, a Car & Driver can shift 1.3m copies. EVO, is something like 40k. Even factoring in some basic math - if you just restrict distribution to their state of origin, you can see that C&D touch 1/250 of their population. EVO is like 1/2000. I flick open Readly and if I go to the US link I can count up 30 or 40 different car publications. Some niche, some crap, but the market is obviously there to support. The concern therefore for the average British car journo isn’t necessarily to worry about why they can’t compete headon with kids watching YouTube videos by someone who’d be kicked off the UCLA filmmaking course but rather how they make their content so good and so relevant that people want to read it. I don’t believe it’s kids and teens cancelling their car magazine subscriptions these days! And that’s the market the magazines definitely can’t lose. In the U.K. segment it seems people are leaving the written word in their droves because the content has become anodyne, dull and undifferentiated.

You can meet disruption, but it starts with making sure your product is quality enough to begin with.

You can't compare the UK and US magazine industries, they don't work the same way. The business models are very different. And there is a big shakeup going on over here too. One publisher (Discovery/The Enthusiast Network) just shuttered four publications and let go a lot of people. Print advertising is falling off a cliff and it is never coming back. Publishers who can grapple with that sooner and adjust will do better than the ones that can't.

Magazine sales in general are cratering, there's this thing called the Internet that most people prefer to get their content on now, and and it's not because magazines are stale, hate to say it. You can read plenty of the same tendentious rewritten PR online as you can in a printed glossy, that is not the issue. The fact is also that cars just aren't as important to many younger people today than they were in, say, the 1990s. And that trend probably isn't changing. That's not going to be fixed by a handful of cottage publishers; there are these massive things called car companies with billions and billions o of dollars at stake and even they can't reverse that trend.

[Dr Gitlin]

simonrockman said:

It's all about the money.

I've worked in magazine publishing most of my life, and the shift that has followed readers moving from print to online is advertisers.

Google analytics can tell you lots about your readers, and tools like hotjar even more. What they read, how long they spend reading it, where they came from and where they go next.

Online advertising like banner adverts don't really work anymore either, particularly as more and more users block ads. Those advertisers are spending their money at Google, or Facebook, or on sponsored content (that looks like its editorial but isn't).