The PPA festival 2016

Only on the “hottest day of the year so far” do you find yourselves in an indoor, all day event …

So, thank goodness it was the annual PPA Festival - an event that is always worth missing the sunshine for.

The PPA’s 2016 Festival last week brought together leading figures in the world of magazine media. More than 600 people gathered (in the air con thank goodness) for a day full of big-name interviews, vigorous panel discussions, a very special celebration of the boom in independent publishing, and a host of memorable keynotes.

Jessica, Jason and Syd from Clock attended and were there not only to get involved  in the amazing guest speaker talks and to network, but to showcase Clock as a leading digital agency in the world of publishing and loyalty, and remind publishers of what we do and what we do best - design and build websites for publishers.

So, what were our 3 takeaways of the day?

1. Really interesting talks from Cathy Ma, Bauer Media and Maggie Hitchins, from ShortList Media. Both talked about how they approach and plan editorial content in today’s connected world. Maggie in particular advised on making sure you, as a publisher, occupy the space where your target audience is, wherever that may be. Go to them, build your audience and then worry about monetising later.
2. Model-turned-entrepreneur Lily Cole hosted a Q&A session with Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman. It was great to hear two aspirational, successful women discussing the world which Clock lives and breathes - Publishing Content. There was a ripe, interesting discussion around the future of paid-for content and how we are all going to be more than willing to pay to read decent features online… especially if it means we are not bombarded with ads as a result.
3. Lauren Holleyoake, Publisher, The Debrief and Grazia and Rebecca Holman, Editor, The Debrief gave an impressive presentation on “Reaching Millennial Women” and shared some of The Debrief’s magic formula to acquiring and retaining their loyal readership. They explained how analytics play a fundamental role for their business but nothing beats their tone of voice and editorial instinct to grab and keep the millennials - their increasingly valuable audience.

Some other highlights included the lunch (the chocolate mouse was to die for) and the wonderful staff at the PPA keeping things running smoothly - always with a smile.

The only learning for next year would be that if you invite the MD of Facebook to do a talk, make sure there are enough seats in the house! Great turnout for that talk.

See you next year!

To speak to Clock more about what we do for publishers, or our other clients, give us a shout! ‍