Samantha Brennan launches new free online food and lifestyle magazine

New media start-up TheFamilyKitchen.com.au, an online food and lifestyle blog-style magazine,

is fast finding its feet in an exciting digital landscape. Launched in February 2013 and the brainchild

of magazine journalist Samantha Brennan, TheFamilyKitchen.com.au now has more than

1,400 Facebook followers, and monthly visitors to the website has grown from 1,400 at launch

to close to 6,000 (+328%), less than four months later.

Founder and editor Samantha Brennan, with 10 years’ experience as a writer and editor for some of

the best-known Australian magazines including Australian Good Food, Australian House & Garden and

CLEO, dedicates her time to curating food and lifestyle content for families across Australia, delivering

glossy-quality recipes and features designed to educate and entertain busy mums.

“TheFamilyKitchen.com.au exists for many reasons, not least of which is I simply love what I do.

But essentially, I saw that while there are lots of big players in the online food media market, and

many digital communities for Australian mums, there was perhaps space for a more intimate,

premium blog-style editorial product built purely around food and lifestyle content.

TheFamilyKitchen.com.au encourages dialogue between our readers and editorial team, and offers

an attractive professional platform for advertisers to make a quality connection with that lucrative

target market – the household grocery buyer.”

TheFamilyKitchen.com.au has experienced rapid growth among women aged 25-541, who are

increasingly going online for information, support and entertainment. With 98.9% of mums using

Facebook2 and 73% reading blogs3, the internet is fast becoming their leading source of “me-time”.

Women are finding online content that they enjoy, and it’s replacing the need to buy traditional glossies.

The move from magazines to online is evident, with many popular national titles experiencing

decline in the six months to December 20124. Renowned ex-ACP Magazines editor Mia Freedman has

commented5, “The magazines, which I loved madly as a reader, and then as a writer and editor, are

produced monthly or weekly… We live our lives in increments of half-hours, sometimes minutes –

and if you’re the mother of a child under two, best make that seconds. We don’t wait for magazines

anymore. We have information coming to us from the internet and social media much faster than we

can consume it. For free.”

And it’s this shift that underlies the business model for TheFamilyKitchen.com.au. “The idea is to

invert the traditional interpretation of a print-and-digital media relationship. We’re building our brand

online; that’s our primary product. Moving forward, we’ll support our online content with special print

editions and one-shot cookbooks, but we’ll lead with our digital offering.”

Future plans for this promising start-up see more big-name celebrity interviews, exciting contributors

continuing to come on board and a special celebration print edition before the year is out. “We have

big plans for TheFamilyKitchen.com.au, and it’s very exciting to see it all come together. I’m looking

forward to the next six months and watching our community grow.”

ENDS

Contact: Mary-Anne Amies, Wise Up Marketing Solutions

maryanne@wiseupmarketing.com.au 0402 248 930

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1Facebook Page Insights. 2MumsNow “Mums in 2012” Survey. 3MumsNow “Mums in 2012” Survey.

4http://www.bandt.com.au/news/media/abcs-beauty-and-lifestyle-dives-health-and-home-hi

5http://www.bandt.com.au/news/media/mia-freedman-flipping-through-a-women-s-magazine-i