Bliss To Relaunch With A5 Format

Emap’s teenage lifestyle magazine Bliss is relaunching as an A5-sized title with twice as many pages, in an attempt to position itself as “the ultimate baby glossy.”

The title, which saw circulation fall by 14.8% to 255,653 in the last ABC results (see Newsline), will relaunch in April with more celebrity, fashion and health and beauty features. The new look is intended to take the magazine head-to-head with market leader Sugar and will be supported by a £2m marketing campaign.

The magazine’s editor, Helen Johnston, who was poached from Natmags last December (see

According to the latest ABCs, Bliss currently trails Attic Futura’s Sugar by almost 130,000 and the relaunch, no doubt inspired by the success of Conde Nast’s Glamour, is intended to give the magazine the edge in the notoriously fickle teenage market.

Every title in the teenage sector with the exception of Natmags’ CosmoGirl!, which was reporting for the first time, saw circulation decline in the sixth month period ending December 2001. BBC Worldwide’s Live & Kicking suffered a drop of 41.7% and as a result was closed last month (see BBC’s Live & Kicking Gives Up The Fight).

Emap Elan: 020 7437 9011 www.emap.co.uk

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