Sunday Express Revamp
The Sunday Express appeared in entirely tabloid format for the first time yesterday, after 73 years as a broadsheet newspaper, bringing it into line with its mid-market rival the Mail on Sunday.
The relaunch was preceded by a TV ad campaign advocating the “New Compact Sunday Express” offering more colour, more pages and more sport. The change had been widely predicted since Eve Pollard took over the editorship and launched the tabloid section 2 last June.
Yesterday’s new-look paper comprised the 56-page main section, the 40-page section 2, a pull-out from the centre of the main section, and the 72-page glossy magazine. The front page carried a new logo, giving less emphasis to ‘Sunday’ and more to ‘Express’, together with the slogan “Welcome to Britain’s only quality Sunday tabloid.”
The main part of the paper contained news, opinion, a money section, personal finance and sport, all areas that had been covered in the old broadsheet section. As promised the sports pages were extended from 7 broadsheet to 14 tabloid. Each of the sub-sections carried new logos. A ‘Photonews’ page, covering ‘top men’s wives’, in the main news section was an indication that the Sunday Express hopes to increase its female readership. This page is a slightly more upmarket version of the celebrity photo pages found in the popular Sundays’ glossy magazines and would have been more at home in either section 2 of the paper or the magazine.
The TV pages were moved from section 2 to the centre of the main section to become a 4-page viewing guide.
The increased use of colour that had been promised was conspicuous in its absence, with only 6 of the editorial pages in the main section carrying any colour. Of the 11 full page ads in this section, 2 used colour.
The 40-page Sunday Express 2 remained largely unchanged with its sub-sections covering health, books, entertainment, motoring, gardening and travel. The main differences for this section were the relocation of the TV pages and new logos. In section 2 colour was used on 6 of the editorial pages and on 1 full page ad.
The first fully fledged tabloid edition of the Sunday Express carried 22 full page ads, 11 in each section. Those who took full pages in the main section were; BMW, Volvo, Thomson, Qantas, Honda, Vauxhall (colour), VW, Seat, N&P, Wellcome (colour)and MFI. While in section 2 the ads were taken by; Rover Metro, Airtours, Kitchens Direct, DSS, Mazda (colour), Renault, Proton and Ford (4 pages).
The relaunch of the Sunday Express is unusual in that it has taken place at a time when the paper’s circulation is increasing. Many relaunches are a desparate attempt to halt plummeting circulations, a notable example of this is the numerous revamps the People has undergone in an attempt to reverse its decline. Alternatively relaunches are often used as a pick-me-up for titles whose circulation has become stagnant.
Sales for the Sunday Express have been steadily increasing in recent months. The paper itself attributes this to the changes made since Pollard took the helm. The latest ABC figures for December’91 to May’92 show a year-on- year increase for the Sunday Express of 3.6% to 1679,000. On announcing the move to an entirely tabloid format Pollard said she believes it will accelerate the paper’s level of growth.
However, the Sunday Express still has some way to go before its circulation matches that of the Mail on Sunday, whose latest figure was 1975,000 giving a year-on-year increase of 2.2%.
It is clear that the relaunch is aimed at attracting a greater number of young and female readers. However, it is probably inevitable that the Sunday Express will lose some of its more conservative readers who will be alienated by the change. The question will be whether the new readers will outnumber the losses.
The Express’ claim to be Britain’s only quality tabloid is an unsubstantiated one, if anything the format change has enhanced/emphasised its mid-market appeal. The new paper is certainly more compact, if anything leaning towards a cramped style with many of the news pages split into small disjointed sections.
The 2 mid-market Sundays are moving closer together with little to differentiate between them on the surface. Both contain a blend of news and gossip which makes them neither qualities nor populars. Yesterday’s edition of the Mail on Sunday also comprised 96-pages, although it was one complete paper with no pull out sections. It carried 23 full-page ads, most of which were also found in the Sunday Express.