Australian Geographic ends licensing agreement with The Co-op

Australian Geographic Holdings has ended its licensing agreement with book retailer The Co-op for the use of the Australian Geographic brand in its bricks-and-mortar stores and online, amid growing momentum in the publisher’s own business.

Australian Geographic Holdings owns the Australian Geographic brand and is publisher of Australian Geographic magazine and other Australian Geographic media.

Jo Runciman, managing director of Australian Geographic, said the end of the exclusive agreement with The Co-op bookshop would return full control of the brand to Australian Geographic at a time when the business is enjoying strong growth.

The latest Roy Morgan figures showed that Australian Geographic magazine had the second highest increase in readership, up 19.1 per cent YOY, among all surveyed magazines in Australia.

Runciman said the business has bucked overall industry trends by seeing increases in subscribers from edition to edition and strong growth across its digital platforms with cross platform growth up 28 per cent YOY.

Since it was acquired by Blue Ant Media in 2018, Australian Geographic has focused on expanding the brand in new directions that are more aligned with its core values. 

In the last 12 months, the business has launched a speakers’ bureau, an e-commerce platform and the Talking Australia podcast. It currently has touring exhibition partnerships with both the South Australian Museum and the National Museum of Australia.

Runciman said the end of the arrangements with the Co-op Bookshop will have no impact on the availability of the magazine and other branded Australian Geographic products at retail outlets including Woolworths, Coles and independent newsagents or on the Australian Geographic site.

You have 7 articles remaining. Unlock 15 free articles a month, it’s free.