Hachette Slims Sugar Down To Perfect Size

Hachette Filipacchi’s best-selling teen girls magazine is to publish in a reduced size from the March issue, downsizing to meet demand for “ease, convenience and portability.”

The new size will measure 232mm x 172mm, positioning the title between A5 and its original size. According to the publisher’s research, the new format represents the “perfect size – not too big, not too small.”

Sugar currently commands a circulation of 285,082, the highest in the notoriously fickle teen sector, but suffered in the latest round of ABC results, demonstrating a 3.4% downturn in sales year on year (see ABC Results Jan-Jun 2005:Bliss Looks Hopeful In Struggling Teen Sector ABC Results Jan-Jun 2005:Bliss Looks Hopeful In Struggling Teen Sector ).

The design revamp is clearly designed to reignite interest in the title amongst teen audiences, with the magazine’s LadMag section, containing editorial content including “All about boys… but for girls,” extended into a separate 28-page supplement, with its own unique cover featuring a celebrity.

The supplement will be packaged alongside the main title in a fold-out duo polybag to further highlight the extension.

The downsizing follows Sugar’s re-design in Spring 2005 and is the result of extensive reader research over the last six months.

Commenting on the re-sizing, Julie Harris, Hachette Filipacchi UK’s general manager of the women’s group, said: “As a result of talking to readers, advertisers and retailers, we are convinced that the new, compact Sugar is the perfect size for today’s teenage girl. Our focus is on increasing value through editorial innovation rather than giving away yet another covergift; and we believe that LadMag will drive loyalty of purchase over time.”

The new format hits newsstands on 25 January.

Hachette Filipacchi: www.hf-uk.co.uk