The move signals Imagine’s intent to increase its advertising revenue from a current level of less than 10% of FY14 Revenues by bolstering the current south coast in-house team of advertising sales executives. The dedicated London resource will work alongside Speed Communications’ specialist communications team.
Imagine has twice been named in The Sunday Times Profit Track 100 and consistently reported industry-leading EBITDA margins, through a content-led model. The move to create an advertising arm in London will now support Imagine’s ambitions to grow flagship titles and launch into new global markets, says the company.
James Power brings 12 years’ media sales experience to the role as Imagine’s London Sales Director. For the last five years, Power was Product Director for JCDecaux’s youth channel, Street Talk, tasked with delivering Out of Home (OOH advertising) solutions to advertisers looking to target 15 – 24 year olds. There he oversaw a raft of mass audience proximity campaigns including last year’s PepsiCo’s activity, which saw StreetTalk kiosks transformed into giant Lipton Peach Ice Tea bottles. 1000 kiosks were used as part of an initiative targeting the youth market and high street point of sale.
Power joins Imagine shortly before the company’s landmark birthday in May 2015, marking ten years since the founding of the Company.
With the UK expected to spend £15.7bn on advertising in 2015, says Imagine, (more than half of which, according to GroupM, is expected to go on digital and online media), the creation of a London sales team will enable Imagine to more effectively bid for its fair share of this revenue. This is what makes Power excited at the prospect of joining the team.
“Imagine is the publishing industry’s best kept secret” says Power. “As a market leader in specialist magazines, it’s a sleeping giant on the advertising side. It delivers a large audience reach across digital and print platforms, with a loyal following of consumers who are engaged, educated and affluent.
“Historically, the company’s Bournemouth location has made it harder to chase the advertising pound. This has meant opportunities to reach Imagine’s technology, gaming and knowledge communities haven’t been fully exploited. That’s a significant number of people, willing to pay a higher than average sales price for Imagine’s content that fascinates and absorbs them. These audiences are not on the radar of those that control the purse strings in London-based agencies. That’s all about to change and I’m excited at the prospect of making a hugely profitable company even more so.”
Imagine Publishing’s Chairman, James Hanbury, said of the appointment, “I am delighted to welcome James Power to the Imagine team. He brings a wealth of experience of the West End Agency world, with strong relationships and numerous innovative ideas. His energy and enthusiasm for building a new London advertising sales team to work across a well-established portfolio of magazines has all the hallmarks of a highly successful venture. Over the next few months, it is our intention to grow the size and scope of the team, to service agencies across the UK to ensure that all relevant clients have access digitally and in print to the high value communities that our brands serve so well.”
