Glamour Makes Splash In Women’s Monthlies
The figures listed in NewsLine’s ABC reports are those reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as at Thursday 16 August 2001. Late submissions and changes may be made after this date, and will thereafter be amended in MediaTel’s Press database. For full notes on how NewsLine’s reports are compiled please see Important Notes: ABC Jan-Jun 2001
Some of the biggest noise in the consumer magazine market was made in the Women’s Monthly sector during the January to June 2001 period. IPC’s experiment in reviving 60’s style mag Nova was abandoned under its new hard line policy (seeIPC’s Relaunched Nova To Close). However, the closure caused barely a ripple compared to the launch of two US imports: Condé Nast’s Glamour and Time Life International’s InStyle . The latter title has not submitted to audit during this period, but the former has gone some way to prove that there is still life in what many see as an overcrowded sector. The sector as a whole was up 4.5% year on year, adding 230,000 to its total circulation.
Condé Nast’s handbag-sized offering launched with an initial target of between 200,000 to 250,000. Popular from the start, it left those figures far behind with an opening circulation of 451,486. This sees Glamour stride straight into second place in the market, snapping at the Jimmy Choo heels of the period’s market leader, Cosmopolitan’s, 452,176.
Natmag’s Cosmopolitan in fact managed a 0.5% year on year increase, despite the severe pressure of Glamour’s £1.50 cover price. The bite was felt more further down in the market, with IPC’s Marie Claire losing 11.9% of its circulation year on year and slipping significantly below the 400,000 mark.
The worst performance year on year was also an IPC title, Essentials , which slipped 24.9% to less than 200,000.
| Women’s Monthly ABC YoY Comparisons | |||||
| Title | Publisher | Jan 00 – Jun 00 | Jan 01 – Jun 01 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| 19 | IPC Media | 148,244 | 117,021 | -31,223 | -21.1 |
| B | Attic Futura | 209,820 | 200,836 | -8,984 | -4.3 |
| Candis | Newhall Publications | 456,169 | 433,550 | -22,619 | -5.0 |
| Celebrity Looks (was Looks) | Emap | 133,150 | 130,088 | -3,062 | -2.3 |
| Company | National Magazine Company | 230,400 | 223,121 | -7,279 | -3.2 |
| Cosmopolitan | National Magazine Company | 450,057 | 452,176 | 2,119 | 0.5 |
| Elle | Emap | 219,377 | 224,410 | 5,033 | 2.3 |
| Essentials | IPC Media | 253,033 | 190,004 | -63,029 | -24.9 |
| Eve (N) | BBC Worldwide | n/a | 131,369 | n/a | n/a |
| Glamour (N) | Conde Nast Publications | n/a | 451,486 | n/a | n/a |
| Good Housekeeping | National Magazine Company | 380,062 | 395,070 | 15,008 | 3.9 |
| Harpers & Queen | National Magazine Company | 87,123 | 88,059 | 936 | 1.1 |
| Marie Claire | IPC Media | 420,146 | 370,089 | -50,057 | -11.9 |
| New Woman | Emap | 273,105 | 292,068 | 18,963 | 6.9 |
| Prima (B) | National Magazine Company | 403,846 | 380,181 | -23,665 | -5.9 |
| Red | Emap | 171,316 | 172,793 | 1,477 | 0.9 |
| She | National Magazine Company | 200,231 | 182,790 | -17,441 | -8.7 |
| Shine (C) | Attic Futura | 102,002 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Tatler | Conde Nast Publications | 85,428 | 80,628 | -4,800 | -5.6 |
| Vanity Fair | Conde Nast Publications | 80,112 | 85,544 | 5,432 | 6.8 |
| Vogue | Conde Nast Publications | 200,655 | 201,279 | 624 | 0.3 |
| Woman & Home | IPC Media | 275,791 | 238,458 | -37,333 | -13.5 |
| Womans Journal | IPC Media | 124,163 | 110,010 | -14,153 | -11.4 |
| Zest | National Magazine Company | 128,042 | 110,120 | -17,922 | -14.0 |
| Total | 5,032,272 | 5,261,150 | 228,878 | 4.5 | |
The success of Glamour has bumped Condé Nast’s share of the market up to 16%, but the market remains dominated by Natmags, whose stable, including Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping, gives it a 35% share. IPC and Emap take similar sized shares of 19% and 16% respectively.
BBC Worldwide’s first women’s lifestyle title Eve submitted a first time circulation figure of 131,369, giving the publisher a 2% share of the market.
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