As Are Media pushes ahead with its sale process under private equity owner Mercury Capital, the publisher is simultaneously betting big on one of its oldest and most commercially powerful assets: The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Launching a new paid membership platform, My Women’s Weekly, alongside a broader direct-to-consumer strategy, the business is positioning the 93-year-old title as both a legacy media brand and a modern lifestyle ecosystem spanning food, health, travel, finance and community.
From cultural institution to membership business
Speaking to Mediaweek, Jocelin Abbey, General Manager of Homes and Lifestyle at Are Media, said the strategy was rooted in the enduring trust audiences still place in The Weekly – particularly during periods of economic and social uncertainty.
“The Weekly is a cultural institution,” Abbey said.
She said food continued to act as a source of connection and familiarity for Australians navigating cost-of-living pressures and broader instability, with that insight helping shape the development of My Women’s Weekly and its focus on practical meal planning and utility.
L-R: Are Media CEO Sally Eagle, Jocelin Abbey, General Manager of Homes and Lifestyle, and Anna Quinn, Commercial Director
Nostalgia is turning into a revenue strategy
For Anna Quinn, Commercial Director at Are Media, the relaunch also reflects a wider cultural shift towards nostalgia and trusted brands.
“Nostalgia is really part of the zeitgeist at the moment,” Quinn said.
“We’re seeing audiences gravitate towards familiar and trusted brands during uncertain times.”
Quinn added brands were already preparing for what they expected would be a significant Christmas trading period shaped by changing consumer behaviour and increasingly home-centred moments.
The membership offering includes access to premium content, weekly meal plans sourced from more than 27,000 recipes in The Weekly Test Kitchen archive, digital masterclasses, dining events, digital magazine access, cookbook discounts and member offers, with memberships starting at $4.99 per month.
Abbey said the company was also focused on helping audiences better navigate decades of editorial and recipe content by making the archive a more curated, usable experience.
Decision fatigue taking over
Research commissioned by the publisher found decision fatigue around cooking and nutrition was becoming a growing issue for Australians, with many households cooking at home multiple nights a week while struggling with the stress of deciding what to make.
“The meal plans are really about helping simplify everyday life,” Abbey said.
“It’s not just about dinner. It’s about creating moments of connection around food.”
That nostalgia play is already delivering commercially.
Abbey pointed to The Australian Women’s Weekly’s collaboration with Arnott’s, resulting in the release of Arnotts: The Cookbook, as an example of the brand’s continuing retail influence, saying the cookbook partnership became one of the publisher’s most successful releases.
Arnott’s later reported a significant increase in sales of Choc Ripple biscuits following the launch, despite no additional marketing activity.
As part of the rollout, The Weekly has introduced a new generation of food talent, including Laura Sharrad, Depinder Chhibber and food creator Karima-Chloe Hazim.
Abbey said the appointments were intended to ensure Australian women could see themselves reflected in the evolving face of the brand.
“We want Australian women to see themselves in The Weekly,” she said.
New faces, old trust
The publisher has also signed a partnership with SMEG, integrating SMEG appliances across recipes, masterclasses, live experiences and membership content spanning print, digital and social.
While Are Media continues to expand into podcasts, vodcasts, and memberships – including through its recent partnership with iHeart – Abbey said print remains central to The Weekly ecosystem.
“Print is still absolutely core to what we do,” Abbey said.
“But now we’re building complementary experiences around it.”
Reinventing through uncertainty
Quinn said the publisher now had eight million authenticated users, giving Are Media one of the strongest first-party data assets in the market.
“Our audience is highly engaged and highly commerce-ready,” Quinn said.
The latest Roy Morgan readership figures for December 2025 show Are Media reaching more than 7.3 million Australians monthly, with The Australian Women’s Weekly reaching 1.66 million readers cross-platform, including 1.17 million in print.
And despite the uncertainty surrounding the company’s future ownership, Quinn said innovation within the business had not slowed.
“We’re continuing to innovate regardless of the sale process,” she said.