Dennis Closes Jack Following Disappointing Sales
Dennis Publishing chief executive Alistair Ramsay has announced the closure of the company’s groundbreaking small format men’s magazine, Jack, due to poor sales and increased competition in the sector.
The title, purchased by Dennis in June 2003 as part of its acquisition of I Feel Good Plc, had been increasing circulation, with over 39,000 readers according to the latest ABC results.
However, Ramsay said: “Men in the target market who discover Jack love it, we just can’t find enough of them on the newsstand. We’ve got 10,000 subscribers but the newsstand landscape has got much trickier in the last 12 months. It now makes more sense for Dennis to invest in our profitable titles and on new projects.”
The publishing head revealed that, between IFG and Dennis, Jack had received over £3 million in funding since its launch, with Dennis promoting the title heavily late last year through advertising campaigns, special promotional packaging and a re-think of the title’s proportions (see Dennis To Promote New Look Jack With Relaunch Campaign).
Kerin O’Connor, deputy managing director of Dennis’s consumer division expressed disappointment at the closure, stating: “Jack was an excellent, innovative and clever product that published in a very competitive market. There was no lack of passion and commitment behind the magazine. Dennis backed Jack with a substantial publishing investment that grew circulation by 17% over the last year since its purchase.”
The publisher added: “Despite a number of wins in advertising and subscriptions, coupled with cutting edge editorial, unfortunately Jack’s publishing model simply isn’t commercially viable.”
Dennis will continue to publish the other titles acquired from IFG, including Bizarre, Fortean Times and Viz. The last issue of Jack will be the August edition, published on 22nd July.
On the subject of job losses Ramsay conceded that, due to Dennis’ small size, some were inevitable. He said: “It’s been a pleasure to publish Jack with so many talented people, and we especially regret the loss of the staff for whom we cannot find alternative positions – it always hurts more in a smaller company environment”
Reports earlier this week suggest that the wider men’s magazine market is being harmed by the success of men’s weeklies Nuts and Zoo. Senior magazine sources quoted by the Observer claim that the launch of the titles by Emap and IPC Media has dented the circulations of their more established monthly counterparts, FHM and Loaded (see Nuts And Zoo Hit Sales Of Monthly Lads’ Mags).
Dennis Publishing: 020 7907 6000 www.dennis.co.uk
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