Claire Hodgson
James Evelegh talks to Claire Hodgson, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan UK, about: why putting the finishing touches to their 50th birthday issue was a “pinch-me moment”how they went about growing their digital audiencewhy print remains a key pillar for the brand: “it’s a shop window and has a huge halo effect on the rest of what we do”embracing the new and being excited about changewanting Cosmo to be its audience’s “best friend”the importance of data, but why it can never replace the work of skilled editorial teamswhy she insists on their entertainment coverage being fair, considered and fact-checkedthe importance of sincerity: “our audience does not have time for performative behaviour and can smell it a mile off”why magazine brands have to be clear about what they stand for and believe in itwhy, in today’s gender-fluid, non-binary world, there is no such thing as a “typical” Cosmo readerwhy they have a responsibility to talk about the “tough stuff”, but also the latest must-have mascara for a Saturday night outhow digital and social success comes from investing in great people; there are no short cutswhy each of a publishing brand’s platforms should behave like pureplayshow the secret of e-commerce success is great content and authenticitywhy she’s excited about ‘Summerverse’, Cosmo’s first venture onto the metaverse: “a lot of fun, so much opportunity”and much more...(This interview was recorded on 25th August.)We would like to thank our podcast sponsor, Air Business, a market-leader in distribution and subscription management services for the publishing industry. Its end-to-end service includes subscriber acquisition and marketing strategy, worldwide distribution, digital, mail and e-commerce fulfilment, and warehouse and freight logistics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.