Are Media has unveiled its 2025 strategy, grounded in what it calls the “Three Cs” — Clout, Curation and Confidence. These pillars, reinforced by new initiatives and research, are reshaping how Are Media connects with audiences and partners, steering brands toward authentic influence in a crowded digital landscape.
New products, new events, new awards and new competitions – coupled with the country’s leading magazine brands and a rapidly growing content commerce business – will take centre stage at Are Media in 2025.
Revealing its plans for next year at the Ignite event in Sydney yesterday, Australia’s leading omnichannel content company for women outlined a roadmap that clearly stamps its portfolio of luxury, homes & lifestyle and entertainment brands as innovative market leaders with deep audience engagement and connection.
In 2025, Are Media’s luxury and lifestyle brands are set to expand and innovate across various platforms and events. ELLE will grow its print presence with additional issues and significantly enhance its digital and social media offerings, including a major TikTok push, where its following has grown by 1,000%. ELLE will also launch its inaugural ELLE Next Gen Awards to recognise emerging talent in fashion, film, beauty, and art.
Meanwhile, marie claire will transform its International Women’s Day event into a consumer-facing experience, expand its Sustainability Awards, and introduce new networking opportunities for women through the marie claire Success Summit. The brand’s in-store Masterclass Styling Sessions, in partnership with top fashion names, will also see increased offerings, including shoppable experiences. In the beauty space, Are Media’s online beauty platforms will launch a Beauty Influencer Collective, while Gourmet Traveller will introduce its inaugural Hotel and Travel Awards.
The Australian Women’s Weekly will celebrate milestones like the 45th anniversary of its iconic Children’s Birthday Cake Book and expand its Health Summit, which will travel across Australia to reach more regional audiences. New initiatives like Money With The Weekly, the Read With The Weekly book club, and Travel With The Weekly will further connect the brand with its readers.
Are Media’s homes and entertainment verticals will also see significant growth in 2025. The 100th anniversary of Home Beautiful will be marked with a major cross-platform campaign and competition, while Better Homes and Gardens will launch a Tradie of the Year campaign and a new series, Better Conversations. Belle will introduce Belle Passport, an exclusive travel section, while Now To Love will transform its website to create a more focused digital extension of Woman’s Day. This will include emotional, real-life stories and entertainment content. TV WEEK will relaunch its website with enhanced features, offering exclusive celebrity insights and streaming updates. Additionally, Woman’s Day will host its inaugural ticketed event, Woman’s Day Out, in regional centres, offering a blend of beauty, health, and wellness content.
Finally, WHO TikTok will launch a new celebrity beauty content series aimed at younger audiences, adding a fresh layer to the entertainment offering. Overall, Are Media is focusing on expanding its audience reach and deepening consumer engagement through a blend of digital innovation, live events, and exclusive content.
B&T sat down with Are Media’s director of sales, Andrew Cook and CEO Jane Huxley, along with Brittany Cooper, head of client partnerships at Slingshot, to unpack the latest announcements and just want the “three Cs” mean for media buyers in 2025.
Clout: Building Trust Through Expertise
The first of Are Media’s Three Cs, Clout, hinges on its reputation as a trusted source. By offering expert-led content that consumers can rely on, Are Media’s brands drive word-of-mouth (WOM) influence, which remains a top factor in consumer decision-making. Are Media said that nine in ten Australian women engage with its brands every year, making it a trusted ecosystem where WOM can flourish.
“People are always on the lookout, always shopping, so for that word of mouth to be effective, it needs a source with authority and clout. Magazines have historically been fantastic WOM channels because they provide the expertise people rely on to make recommendations,” Cook explained.
Are Media’s commitment to clout goes beyond content; in today’s crowded digital marketplace, where algorithms favour clicks, the omnichannel platform lets brands connect authentically with audiences.
“In a market where eCommerce is saturated, and advertising budgets are under pressure, marketers have a unique opportunity to leverage Are Media’s omnichannel brands and content commerce capabilities,” Cook explained.
“We’re not just serving your ads; we’re creating entire ecosystems that close the loop between content and commerce, delivering real returns. Our omnichannel approach doesn’t just deliver impressions; it delivers intent, engagement, and action. This is not reach for the sake of reach. It’s about deeply understanding what our audiences want and meeting them there with relevance, influence, and trust”.
For Cooper, this omnichannel approach is what builds out Are Media’s offering to all clients and brands wanting to target female audiences.
“Coming from print, which we know is a challenging channel, and creating that omnichannel presence just means that they can also speak to a younger audience, and it means that people can access this content wherever they are and whenever they want to be,” she explained to B&T after Are’s show.
“It’s not just they need to be looking at a print, or they just need to be looking at online. It is genuinely across so many different channels and different touch points of people’s day,” Cooper explained.
Curation: Curating Relevant Content in Real Time
In a world of rapid-fire content, Are Media’s second pillar, Curation, is about more than just keeping up with trends; it’s about shaping them.
“Magazines curate content better than anyone,” Cook asserted.
“We often curate content first, sparking conversation and allowing other influencers to pick up on it. This sets the tone and builds trust.”
For Are Media, curation involves connecting consumers with high-quality content that aligns with their passions, from fashion and lifestyle to beauty and home décor.
“What makes the brands is the quality of the journalism. We invest a lot in our people, in our writers, in our editors, in our curators, in our designers, in our creatives, we invest a lot of money in being able to create content that keeps the brands revered,” Huxley explained.
Looking ahead, this curation process will include the introduction of live promo codes, direct shopping links and real-time pricing across Are Media’s shopping content. This aligns with the publisher’s content commerce strategy that delivers conversion-ready consumers at scale. Over the past year, Are Media sold more than $50 million in products through its shopping guides and reviews.
“In a market where eCommerce is saturated and advertising budgets are under pressure, marketers have a unique opportunity to leverage Are Media’s omnichannel brands and content commerce capabilities,” Cook said.
“Our trusted editors, stylists, and contributors excel in delivering clout; our curated content aligns with passions for curation; and our platforms empower communities to share with confidence”.
“We’re not just serving your ads; we’re creating entire ecosystems that close the loop between content and commerce, delivering real returns. Our omnichannel approach doesn’t just deliver impressions; it delivers intent, engagement, and action. This is not reach for the sake of reach. It’s about deeply understanding what our audiences want and meeting them there with relevance, influence, and trust.”
For Cooper, these introductions are crucial at a time when clients are continuously asking for ROI in every single campaign.
“By having those more sales-focused, end-to-end marketing and the affiliate channels and building out into partnerships, it provides advertisers and agencies with the backing and the results that they can share with the clients to really report back on that ROI and show that the work that they are doing is delivering into business results as well”.
Confidence: Empowering Consumers to Act
Are Media’s third pillar, Confidence, focuses on empowering consumers to make informed choices. At the heart of this commitment is a dedication to human-centric content.
“Our brands are the most valuable thing we have. They are valuable because of the quality of our journalism,” Huxley explained.
Are Media has invested heavily in editorial, ensuring its content remains credible, original, and deeply connected to its audience’s needs.
“In a world where digital reach often outpaces genuine connection, we believe our authentic engagement stands out,” Huxley said.
Cooper said that the trust that comes from this commitment is incredibly important to maintaining confidence.
“There’s just so much content out there at the moment, particularly with the introduction of AI and so much distrust, particularly on the internet. Having the confidence that the brands you’re aligning with are ones that people trust is so important for all of our brands”.
“It builds that credibility, and we tend to see much better results in environments that people really trust and find reputable,” Cooper explained.
Events: Bringing Brands to Life
For Are Media, these three Cs all come to life in its events and in 2025, that is only expanding. The expansion of events is an exciting opportunity for the publisher to bring its brands to life.
“Events are the embodiment of our brands,” Huxley explained.
“When you’re at an event like the Health Summit, hosted by The Australian Women’s Weekly, it’s like seeing the brand in action. The feeling in the room is extraordinary, with laughter, bonding, and trust. It’s a reminder of how deeply connected our audiences are to our brands”.
Cook said that the in-person experience fosters authentic connections that even the best digital content can’t replicate. “Post-COVID, people want real-life engagement. Our events provide that, creating spaces where readers can interact with experts and share their personal stories. This real-world connection complements our omnichannel strategy, strengthening the relationships our readers have with our brands.”
For 2025, Are Media plans a roster of high-profile events, including the marie claire Women of the Year Awards and Better Homes and Gardens’ Tradie of the Year competition, which promises to showcase talent and offer participants life-changing exposure. “It’s not just an event; it’s a celebration of skill and passion,” Huxley said.
For Cooper, events really showcase Are Media’s focus on the consumer. “This focus is always great for brands as well. It’s a great way for brands to align and show up in authentic environments, to build that connection with consumers”.
The Path Forward: A Strategy for Enduring Influence
Looking ahead, Are Media’s strategy is not merely about reaching audiences but about engaging them meaningfully. “Our five-year strategy started three years ago,” Huxley shared, “It’s a rolling plan. We’re constantly evolving to ensure our brands remain relevant for the next hundred years. It’s about taking the best of who we are and translating it for today’s world, with an eye on the future.”
“It is about ensuring that the brands will be around for the next 100 years. What are we going to do while we’re the custodians, to make sure that we’re constantly evolving the company so they will be around for decades and decades to come”.
For Huxley, one key takeaway for marketers is the importance of balance. “Mind your mix,” she advised. “In the race for reach, the basics of marketing sometimes get lost. Awareness and consideration matter, but ultimately, brands need to sell their products. That’s where understanding the fundamentals and planning your media mix come in”.
Cook echoed this, pointing out that while digital platforms have their place, traditional media like magazines still hold significant influence. “All mediums have value, but magazines offer something special: the trust and connection that’s built up over decades. When consumers pick up our magazines, they know they’re getting quality. And in today’s fast-paced world, that trust is invaluable.”
Cooper fully agreed with Cook and Huxley’s sentiment, emphasising the importance of brand building. “You can’t have a heavy focus on performance without building the brand at the same time; we know those people are going to lose out in the long term, and in such a changing landscape at the moment, having that full-funnel approach, with more awareness and the trust, then going down into those conversion channels is definitely really important for our clients”.
As Are Media steps into 2025, it does so with a clear vision and a deep understanding of its audience. By blending clout, curation, and confidence, it is poised to lead the market in omnichannel engagement, offering brands a unique pathway to reach Australia’s most influential consumers with authenticity and authority.
