In the first of a new series of Publisher Profiles we speak to the one of Argentina’s leading consumer magazine and digital media companies Grupo Atlantida about their business and future strategy.
Key Facts
Main brands
Grupo Atlantida’s leading brands are Gente, Para Ti, Para Ti Deco, Paparazzi, Puro Diseno and Billiken.
Audience
- 26m unique browsers per month
- 116.1m page views
- 4.22 minutes per user
- 2m Facebook followers
- 4m on Instagram
- 1.3m on Twitter
- 90% mobile
- 10 % desktop
Number of staff
100
Annual turnover
Approximately $3.4 million.
Q&A with company president Juan Astibia
What are your proudest success stories?
“Over the last year, we have undertaken two projects that make us very proud.
“The first of these projects was called ‘Principles’ and stemmed from the absolute conviction that we should not only rethink the platforms on which our content was distributed, but also redefine the narrative and values with which we will pass on our legacy to the next generations.
“The project involved choosing, on a monthly basis, a value, cause or campaign with which we identified and for three consecutive days we generated content to highlight this principle. What is special about “Principles” is that it applies to all our brands, although the strongest impact has been achieved with “Gente”. Each brand, based on its own DNA, created content that was suitable for its audience. Hence, we have focused on principles to prevent gender violence, bullying or to encourage respect for nature, animals or gender equality. Each month, we have nominated a celebrity as an ambassador of the principle, who in addition to mainly producing digital content, starred on the cover of Gente magazine (a magazine that we perceived to have become a bit frivolous in recent years). Likewise, in the case of Para Ti, we looked for specialists in the field who could write a column in our media; for Gente, we appointed a celebrity to star in the campaign, generating digital and print material; for Paparazzi, we looked for testimonials from celebrities who had experienced a story related to the principle; for Billiken, we generated educational content for educators; and we did the same for each of the other brands.
“We are also proud of another project: the creation of a series of interviews called ‘+GENTE’. Through an audiovisual interview format, we focused on diversity and we were encouraged to talk about inclusion in all its forms and in all settings. Thus, we interviewed reference people, celebrities, influencers or specialists who spoke to us in first person about different realities and helped the audience understand that richness lies in diversity. This series of interviews was very successful, to such an extent that we not only did the second edition, but also laid the basis for turning it into a segment for the year 2023.”
What is your mission?
“In 2020, a new management took over Grupo Atlantida. We had the opportunity to go through an internal process that enabled us to understand which were the factors that made the company successful during its first 100 years and the legacy it had left to many generations of Argentine people. Based on this, we had to rethink the legacy we wanted to leave to the next generations for which we would be directly responsible.
“Thus, we have defined the goals we set to achieve in the next few years and which would be the values to which we would not give up for their achievement. Thus, we set out to become leaders in the entertainment market, first in Argentina and then in Latin America. To do so, we created our own entertainment concept. Since this year, we have called all our contents ‘Atlatainment’. Accordingly, we are committed to developing positive information, educating through play and providing healthy entertainment.”
What would you say to your prospective customers (advertisers or subscribers) why should they choose your company?
“Our ‘Atlatainment’ content is intended to arouse positive emotions in our audiences. Therefore, we seek to connect with our audience from a place that is constructive, where they feel at ease, where they can learn and be constructively informed.
“We primarily focus on positive and constructive information because we live in the age of information; however, it is often incomplete or unorganised. As a media, we have to process it, contextualise it and explain it to transform it into news. When information is relevant but definitely bad and finding a positive side is difficult, our job is to give accurate information without being a sensationalist and make sure that it contributes to our audience’s understanding of the facts to be able to make better decisions. Therefore, our advertisers find ‘brand safety’ environments where they can advertise knowing for sure that their ads will be in 100% safe and friendly environments.”
What is the biggest business challenge facing your company at the moment? How are you addressing it?
“We encourage our employees to reconsider from time to time whether Atlantida is the place where they want to work. We are committed to the legacy we should leave behind and this also requires the commitment of our employees. They know that they are part of a medium that has a vocation for permanence and they are aware that through their work they can help us make a positive impact on society.
“The greatest challenge faced by the company today is the subscription and registration process, which is being addressed through the implementation of data management tools. Atlantida has historically been a media group. Now we have to combine this responsibility with also being a technology company, this involves rethinking the tools, work methods and resources we use and apply, as well as a change of the personnel’s mindset and culture in order to be able to keep up with new challenges.”
What do you think is the most important theme impacting the news media business in the future?
“Currently most of the media, and companies in general, are faced with the challenge of understanding how new technologies and trends such as, among others, the metaverse, web3.0 and blockchain, can positively or negatively affect their businesses. At Atlantida, we do not perceive it as a threat, but rather as an effort to understand the best way to implement those new technologies and trends in order to evolve. We believe that regardless of the platforms or technologies, our audiences will never give up journalistic accuracy; therefore, our challenge is to keep improving quality to achieve ever-better journalism.”
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