Transforming WomenPoliceInto a Globally Engaging Magazine
Case Study
Transforming WomenPolice Into a Globally Engaging Magazine
“WomenPolice has served as a wonderful tool to showcase the association, and a number of applicants have noted their awareness of the association via the magazine.”
—Deborah Friedl, IAWP President
About IAWP and WomenPolice
The International Association of Women Police (IAWP) was founded in 1915 in California by the first policewoman in the United States. Over the course of its 109-year history, the organization has grown from a one-woman operation to a 3,000-member organization representing the interests of women police officers and those in criminal justice roles across 73 countries.
The IAWP’s quarterly publication, WomenPolice, serves as the organization’s primary tool for communication with members and marketing the association to others within the industry.
Marketing Challenges
The IAWP published WomenPolice, a quarterly magazine highlighting association news and promoting events like annual conferences and awards ceremonies. While the magazine did provide necessary information, it lacked structure and design and was not engaging to members. IAWP leadership wanted to build a publication that was visually appealing, informative and representative of the diverse experiences of women police officers around the world.
Since IAWP also relied on WomenPolice to be the primary means of communication and outreach to its members, the lack of consistent design, editorial structure and compelling content hampered the publication’s usefulness as a marketing tool.
“Our Region Coordinators and Affiliate organizations often share the magazine as a marketing tool.”
— Deborah Friedl, IAWP President
How We Helped
m3Magazines started with the goal of revitalizing WomenPolice, creating a visually appealing and content-rich magazine that represents the diverse and dynamic field of women policing.
The first step was to overhaul the design. Instead of placing content wherever it would fit within the magazine’s bare-bones, m3Magazines restructured the magazine’s layout to follow a dynamic and reader-friendly format. What could previously have been characterized as a “glorified newsletter” became a quarterly glossy with an upfront department dedicated to industry news, robust features and a back-of-book section highlighting association happenings. A major redesign in 2018 improved the magazine’s visual appeal, elevating it to a newsstand-quality publication. m3Magazines gave the publication a refresh in 2023 as well.
Next, m3Magazines focused on building a content strategy that would connect with readers. The editorial team took a journalistic approach, starting with comprehensive research into the needs and interests of women police officers. Using Google alerts, independent sourcing and other reporting techniques, m3Magazines’ editorial team identified themes and topics relevant to members and created compelling stories that translate across cultures. Most importantly, m3Magazines’ editorial team took on the challenge of a diverse international readership by telling stories that resonate across cultural divides and finding broader lessons within hyper-local features. This allowed content across issues to maintain a uniform quality while honoring policing practices in different countries.
The Results — So Far
The transformation of WomenPolice led to several significant achievements for the IAWP:
- Membership growth. IAWP’s membership has grown significantly since the launch of the first publication with m3Magazines. Members are more engaged with the content and feel connected to the organization through WomenPolice.
- New member engagement. The magazine has also played a key role in raising awareness about IAWP and attracting new members, including whole police departments who were previously unaware of the organization.
- Awards and recognition. The revamped magazine continually wins awards for design and content. Notably, WomenPolice was nominated for Folio’s prestigious Ozzie awards for best redesign in 2019 and has consistently won AIVA Communicator Awards for excellence in reporting.
- Advertisement and sponsored content. The newly designed WomenPolice has attracted advertisers and sponsorships, opening up a non-dues revenue stream to the association.
