Feature: New Teen Titles Hope To Buoy Declining Sector

Teenagers, it seems, are the latest demographic group to whip up a flurry of interest from the media world. As a relatively untapped market, their pester-power spending, avid consumption of media and, if we are to be a little cynical, impressionable young age makes this group appealing to media owners and advertisers.

Teenagers, according to Adam Stanhope, CEO of youth channel Rapture, “combine a voraciousness in utilising the latest technology with discerning but demanding tastes.” As a result we have Emap planning to launch a younger sister to Elle magazine, called Elle Girl; NatMags reacting swiftly with the announcement that its Cosmo would give birth to Cosmo Girl – already publishing in the US. American titles such as US Weekly and Teen People have also been the blueprint for a new BBC Worldwide offering, Star, a fortnightly title focusing on entertainment and celebrities of interest to 12-19 year olds.

Meanwhile, a whole host of websites is emerging to target teenagers online. There’s mykindaplace.com, which has lured journalists from Bliss and More magazines; WOWGO.com, also targeting teenage girls, as is Proctor & Gamble’s swizzle.com; and then there’s sub-club.com, which is after 7-15 year olds and is hoping to bring an element of non-credit card e-commerce to the fray.

In the consumer magazine market Emap has the biggest presence in teenage publishing, with its J17, Bliss, More and Smash Hits titles taking 39% of the 2.7 million copy sales in the sector. BBC Worldwide’s monthly Top Of The Pops has the largest circulation of teen mags, at just fewer than 390,000 – Smash Hits manages around a quarter of a million every fortnight.

However, the overall trend in the sector in the latest ABCs was one of decline, with six of the 11 titles reporting year on year figures showing falling sales. DC Thompson’s Shout was the worst hit, with a 17% drop, closely followed by J17 which tumbled 16%. Mollin has just entered the market with Jump, aiming at all teenagers, from 13-19 years old. Its first audit 80,000 plus sales buoyed the sector somewhat.

Emap is keeping the details of its Elle Girl project under wraps at the moment, but it is expected to be as glossy as its sister in order to attract the cosmetics and fashion advertisers that don’t currently use the group’s teen titles. NatMags’ Cosmo Girl is expected to appear, accompanied by the obligatory website, early next year.