New Holland Publications

With the charge of building on the tradition of the magazines and finding pathways to evolve the delivery, we set to work getting grounded in truth. Before a strategic recommendation could be fleshed out, the team immersed themselves in the history and lineage of the New Holland publications. This then transitioned to conducting baseline research in four phases: an internal stakeholder roundtable, a producer survey, dealer interviews and a competitive analysis. The stakeholder roundtable provided the internal perspective of the publication and where the New Holland team saw opportunities. For the producer survey, we worked with Readex Research to develop a quantitative survey sent to a random sample of 2,000 current subscribers who received at least one of three original New Holland magazines. The readership survey provided subscriber demographics and insights into their perception of the publications. We found valuable insights to drive our strategic recommendation, from nuggets of information like how current subscribers prefer hard copy formats to digital offerings and are reading approximately 67% of the publication content they receive. One-on-one dealer interviews were also conducted and focused on subscription management and how dealers view the current publication lineup.

To finalize our research, we also completed a competitor analysis to garner how other brands within the agriculture and construction equipment segments were approaching their corporate journalism strategy. Ultimately, the four-phase research approach delivered a 360-degree view of the program and acted as the catalyst for our recommendation to consolidate the publication program. With a range of insights from our four-phased research approach, our Curious Plot team moved into developing a publication strategy that consolidated New Holland’s publication program into two magazines while re-addressing the content delivered, its format and how it’s tailored to customers.

With this consolidated approach came two rebranded publication offerings: ACRES and New Holland Insider. ACRES is the legacy magazine dedicated to the broader New Holland customer base, while New Holland Insider is a net-new magazine targeted to higher horsepower users and customers. Within ACRES, the focus transitioned to focusing on the “grit and grace” of the North American customer, showcasing their perseverance, lifestyle, self-reliance and accomplishments to build a rural legacy. New Holland Insider combined the best of two previous publications: New Holland News and PowerManager. Under this new title, New Holland Insider was designed to speak to the business acumen of customers, leveraging their stories, providing industry insights and news and emphasizing technology, machinery and market trends.

New Holland and Curious Plot collaborated to launch these two new magazine offerings in spring 2023. The first to release was ACRES. The launch included new activations and digital extensions to allow dealers to showcase the New Holland brand and the people, pride and legacy it represents through its customers, their lifestyles and connection to the land. As of spring 2024, Curious Plot has designed five ACRES and five New Holland Insider publications. However, our work is far from complete. We continue to work with New Holland to refine and redefine the content for each quarterly offering between the two publications to ensure their authenticity and value for readers. The next step in the publications’ journey: conduct a second readership survey in 2025 to evaluate the efforts after two complete years of the re-brand. Stay tuned.