Emap Considering Launch Of Free Men’s Mag
Emap could launch a free men’s magazine in an attempt to reinvigorate its consumer magazines portfolio, according to reports in the trade press.
The company has seen its men’s magazines suffer significant declines in circulation in recent times (see ABC Results Jul-Dec 2006:Large Declines For Men’s Mags), and the success of independent free title Sport is reported to be driving consideration for a similar model.
Senior members of the media owner’s male lifestyle team are said to be meeting agencies this month to gauge their perceptions of free magazines, whilst Emap is apparently also promising agencies radical overhauls of its monthly titles, including women’s fashion title New Woman, which could go weekly.
Sales of flagship men’s titles have fallen of late, with the likes of Zoo sliding by 21.5% year on year and FHM shedding more than a quarter from its total year on year.
Sport, which was launched in London last September by Sport Media & Strategy (see Free Sport Magazine Launches In London), targets 18-40-year-old ABC1 men and is handed out weekly primarily to commuters. It currently reports an ABC of just shy of 322,000.
Other flagging Emap title, New Woman, underwent a redesign last November to curb an ABC drop of around 4% year on year for July to December 2006, whilst Lauren Libbert has recently been appointed as editor of the woman’s monthly magazine, effective on her return to Emap Consumer Media from maternity leave in May (see New Woman Gets New Editor To Boost Title’s Appeal).
The entire consumer magazine sector has seen dramatic changes over the past few years, with titles evolving their online content and, more recently, the launch of stand-alone digital formats.
Dennis publishing successfully launched online lads’ mag Monkey last October, which is emailed directly to subscribers every week (see Dennis Launches New Online Lads Mag). The digital only magazine recorded an ABCe figure of around 209,000 for the last six months of 2006, despite its original target of 100,000.
Similarly, NatMags has launched a digital only title, Jellyfish, which is aimed at the teenage girl market with a heavy emphasis on the CosmoGirl branding (see NatMags Names Digital Magazine).
At MediaTel Group’s recent ‘Future of Consumer Magazines’ seminar, panellists suggested that the magazine industry needed to adapt in the digital age, with the key being the evolution of content to take readers online, rather than the replication of magazines online (see Magazines Must Work Harder To Evolve Content For Digital Platforms).
Emap: 01733 568 900 www.emap.co.uk