Dennis Flattens Squirrel With Test Drive Monthly
Dennis Publishing has confirmed that its new motoring magazine will be called Test Drive Monthly and will launch later this year with a dedicated media agency and in-house advertising team to run its sales operations.
The title, previously known only as Project Squirrel, will launch this autumn under the leadership of Auto Express associate editor Mike Askew. However, Dennis is remaining tight-lipped over the precise timing and positioning of the magazine.
Emma Shenton has been poached from Rodale’s Men’s Health magazine to become Test Drive Monthly‘s deputy advertising manager, while Andrew Howe will become account manager for the new title, bringing a wealth of experience from the motoring sector. Both Shenton and Howe will report directly to Chris James, advertising director.
Commenting on the creation of Test Drive Monthly, Dennis Publishing’s group motoring director, Des Flynn, said: “Building on the considerable success of both Auto Express and Evo over the past six years, we believe that both the market and timing is right for a well researched modern monthly car magazine. We have considerable motoring expertise and we strongly believe that our new launch will be the next big breakthrough in growing the UK car magazine readership.”
The magazine has awarded its media planning business to BLM, who, following a closely fought three-way pitch for the account, will launch the title with a budget of approximately £4.5 million. Work on Test Drive Monthly’s launch campaign is scheduled to begin immediately and will be Dennis Publishing’s largest ever launch.
Group publishing director, Phil Parker, explained the company’s choice of media agency, stating: “We were looking for an agency that understood the core values of this magazine and who could formulate a strategic plan that would guarantee that our budget works really hard for us. I believe that in BLM we have found this.”
The motoring market has remained steady over the past five years, but competition amongst middleweight titles is fierce. The sector continues to be dominated by Emap’s Max Power, which commands a circulation of just under 227,000 with its mix of glamorous women and fast cars.
However, Emap’s flagship motoring title saw a decline of 4.5% year on year, according to the latest ABC results for the six months to December 2003, as did BBC Top Gear Magazine, which dipped by 5.5% in the same period, losing its second place to Haymarket’s What Car?.
Last month Dennis Publishing was forced to close its groundbreaking small format men’s magazine, Jack, due to poor sales and increased competition in the sector. The title had been increasing its circulation, but the company withdrew it from the marketplace to invest in ‘profitable titles and on new projects’ (see Dennis Closes Jack Following Disappointing Sales).
Dennis Publishing: 020 7907 6000 www.dennis.co.uk
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