The food magazine sector in the UK is buoyant, with both newsstand publishers and food retailers offering consumers a range of free and paid-for titles. Each of the top six food retailers produce food content in the form of magazines both on and off line, as well as brochures and recipe cards. With strong competition to deliver food content that’s relevant to a discerning audience and that inspires customers to take action, branded food content is a well-proven and highly effective marketing tool. 
 


M&S Food magazine is a free title available at till points in 700 M&S stores, making the content accessible to core customers. Selected recipes and articles are also available online and via social media platforms (M&S websites, Facebook and Twitter), with clear messages driving a digital audience in store to pick up a copy. The food magazine is also promoted within Your M&S magazine, to ensure mainstay customers are engaged and drawn to the food content, too.

The magazine has been a huge success reaching an audience of 1.75m customers who spent 28' reading the title. Reader survey results prove it successfully drives awareness and sales: 82% of customers became more aware of new food products, 33% bought something in M&S they would buy elsewhere and pie sales increased by 76% after they appeared on the cover. With 80% of customer agreeing that it gave them shopping and cooking inspiration and 76% stating that as a result of reading the magazine they will shop more often for food at M&S, it is clear that the magazine reached a wide audience, changed perceptions and helped customers ‘make today delicious’.