Bid win represents next step in development of walk magazine
The Ramblers’ Association (RA) has chosen commercial publishers River to publish and develop its quarterly walk magazine and walkmag website. River was selected through a stringent and demanding four-way pitch which included three other companies. The first issue published by River will be the spring issue published in March 2009.
The magazine and site are vital components of the Association’s communication strategy and are key member benefits, promoting the Association’s charitable aims, group and independent walking, as well as promoting greater involvement in all of their other activities.
With a print run of over 120,000, walk magazine will be mailed to members initially four times per year. In a new innovation River will ultimately introduce the magazine to a retail environment to encourage member acquisition. River will also rebuild the walkmag website improving relevance to members and non members thus encouraging greater interaction with the association.
Commenting on Rivers’ appointment and the development of walk magazine, James Hale, Director of Marketing & Communications at the RA said: "The Ramblers' Association is changing rapidly to increase its relevance in modern society and its flagship publication, walk magazine, needed to reflect that change. We are delighted that River Publishing will be working with us to develop both the print and web-based walk formats, as we re-position ourselves to appeal to a wider audience and age-range than ever before, reinforce the health benefits of walking, and offer an enjoyable and balanced content that will appeal to members and non-members alike."
Working closely with the company will be walk Editor, Dominic Bates. Speaking about new directions for the magazine, Dominic said: “The fresh ideas River has proposed for a new-look walk and walkmag website are really exciting. Over the next 6 months, we aim to develop a product that our members will really like and look forward to, while also attracting new audiences to the Ramblers and the joys of walking.”
