Emap Puts More Into Women’s Weekly Market

Emap is increasing the frequency of its young women’s magazine, More, changing the title from fortnightly publication to weekly, in a move said to counter the threat of readers defecting to IPC’s Look, which launched at the beginning of this year.

From September, lifestyle glossy More will double its print output, hoping to head off the risk of readers moving their loyalty to Look, which is edited by former More editor Ali Hall (see NewsLine Feature: Look, Another Women’s Weekly).

Emap said the move “reflects a huge confidence in the brand and its aspirational editorial mix of topical real life, celebrity and fashion content and its understanding of 21st century women in their early 20s”.

More, edited by Lisa Smosarski, has an average readership age of 24 and sells at £1.80. First appearing in 1988 as an older teen magazine, the magazine was relaunched almost five years ago as a young women’s lifestyle glossy.

Look, which is the brainchild of IPC and its partner, Marie Claire Groupe, has not yet released ABC figures but is said to be selling well following a massive marketing push.

Weekly Grazia goes from strength to strength, with a circulation now up at 210,200 for July to December 2006, whilst Nat Mags’ monthy, Company, has seen its circulation dip. It now rests at around 275,000, whereas it reported an ABC of more than 302,000 for the same period in 2005.

More has seen declines of just a few thousand copies in the past few years, with a total reported figure now resting at 271,629.

“More is one of Emap’s biggest and most successful brands and despite the heightened competition from celebrity weeklies and lifestyle monthlies in recent years, More has solidly scored sales in excess of 500,000 copies a month,” said David Davies, managing director of Emap’s Elan division.

“It is from this position of strength, that we have taken the decision to increase More‘s frequency and I’m in no doubt that Lisa and her team will continue to deliver the best glossy lifestyle content for young women – week in, week out,” Davies added.

Emap: 01733 568 900 www.emap.co.uk IPC Media: 0870 4445000 www.ipcmedia.com