By Kerry Ashdown

The Avenue Company, originally Barbara Spence Advertising, was founded in 1989 and began with just one publication. Today it handles 13 titles, including the Pica Award-winning Civil Engineering magazine. In 1996, it became The Avenue Company, branching into three divisions - Avenue Advertising, specialising in media advertising sales; Avenue Marketing, offering marketing consulting services; and Avenue Exhibitions, focusing on exhibition stand sales.

Barbara Spence, founder and MD, states that The Avenue Company prides itself on professionalism and sees itself as a specialised media support structure, particularly for institutions; associations; and organisations whose publications are key strategic resources, but where publishing is not the core focus. Through skilled and proficient work with its clients, The Avenue Company is able to work on different publications where creative advertising needs are called upon, such as in fields where academic; peer-reviewed; accredited; and cited publications require different advertising approaches than those of consumer titles.The company believes that it operates best in an environment where its relationships with its clients mean it is seen more as a valued stakeholder than just a contract service provider.

According to Spence, the company counts itself fortunate to have the best of clients, as well as outstanding advertisers who understand the unique advantages of the avenues offered to them. It’s believed that this winning formula with media owners has allowed The Avenue Company to jointly reap the rewards of sustainable growth in advertising revenue, alongside its clients.

At present, The Avenue Company’s 13 titles include:

Pica Award-winning magazine, Civil Engineering, a monthly magazine for the South African Institute of Civil Engineering (SAICE), which reaches over 9 000 built environment professionals throughout South Africa. The Avenue Company has been handling the advertising of this title since 2004, and believes that it has increased the advertising revenue for the publication.

The CPHA magazine, the newest addition to Avenue’s repertoire, will be launched in early November. This title is the official publication of the Contractors Plant Hire Association, and the only publication to carry the much referred to Rate Guide.

The SAIMM Journal is a monthly magazine published for the Southern African Institute for Mining and Metallurgy, distributed to 3 700 members. Since March 2006, The Avenue Company has been able to perform on the task of wholly-funding the magazine from advertising revenue. Despite the recession, the advertising revenue has grown by 21% over the previous calendar year.

The digital magazine, Human Capital Review, available online, reaches a guaranteed 30 000 readers, both nationally and globally.

Established in 1973, the award-winning Fire Protection magazine reaches not only members of the Fire Protections Association of South Africa, but also the FDIA; FDIB; ASIB; and WOFl. The title is exclusively focused on the fire industry and related insurance and safety executives. Avenue believes that the reach of the publication guarantees that the advertiser’s marketing messages will not be wasted.

Award-winning custom magazine, Prime Club, is distributed quarterly to 40 000 of Nedbank’s prime investment customers. After being around for 10 years, Prime Club has this year has agreed to accept a limited amount of outside advertising. An audience which has has indicated that they would rather receive a copy of the magazine than a reduction in bank charges, is most desirable indeed.

Under the Oaks is a bi-monthly custom magazine available to members of the Johannesburg Country Club. The title reaches an exclusive client base that appreciates the private, elegant ambience the Club has to offer.

The Professional Accountant, South African institute of Professional Accountants' bi-monthly magazine, reaches a target audience of 9 500 accountants.

Quest, produced by the Academy of Science of South Africa and endorsed by the Department of Science, has a print run of 25 000 copies distributed to schools with science labs, including extra copies to the Dinaledi Schools. It’s believed that the importance of a science-related future for South Africa cannot be over-estimated, and companies that rely on maths and science learners for their employee market are well advised to influence them via this well-received publication.

The South African Journal of Science, distributed to the members of ASSAF, is an academic, peer-reviewed journal with a circulation of 800.

The Journal of Civil Engineering is an academic journal with only three pages of advertising allocated per edition.The publication is distributed together with the Civil Engineering magazine for the SAICE, to over 9 000 members.

ETD Online is a digital magazine reaching 30 000 readers globally. The title is the only magazine exclusively focused on education; training; and development from South Africa. A recent survey has shown the propensity for this publication growing explosively into the future, building on its valued endorsement from the Harvard Business Review Press.

Board Room is a quarterly magazine published for the South African Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. The title reaches company secretaries of JSE-listed companies, as well as the Chartered Institute of Business Management. The magazine has a circulation of 7 500.

For more information, call 011 463 7940 or email [email protected].