Has The Bubble Burst For Men’s Mags?
The bubble has burst for the men’s magazine market, but there will continue to be more launches, according to Andy Semple, publishing director of Maxim.
Speaking at the Total Publishing show on Wednesday, Semple and other market figures agreed that the sector had suffered a slow down but dismissed claims that the market had reached saturation point (see Feature: Has The Consumer Magazine Industry Reached Saturation Point?). They agreed that the market was still immature and would continue to see new launches.
Outlining the way forward for the men’s market, Semple emphasised the need for publishers to settle for “more realistic sales levels.” He said: “Magazines need to go back to strong brand values and appeal to a reliable core audience. We need to cut out the fickle newsstand consumer that has no brand loyalty and is only interested in cover mounts.”
He seemed convinced that the market will continue to expand: “Big established brands will continue to grow globally and domestically. Maxim Fashion will launch this autumn and we will have 12 oversees licences by the end of the year.”
Semple defended the men’s market blaming an increasingly fickle readership and bad press for the declining circulation of men’s magazines. He said: “I think the standard of magazines is better now than when the market was booming a few years ago, but the sector has received a lot of bad press lately due to bitter broadsheet hacks not looking beneath the surface to what is often fantastically entertaining stuff.”
He condemned women’s magazines for creating the “most fickle market in the world” but said that there was still time for the men’s sector to “pull itself back from the abyss.”
Admitting that the industry had had a rough ride recently, he said: “The years of waiting for the men’s magazine bubble to burst are over. The next ABC results will see a decline for everyone”.
Simon Maxwell, publisher of lads mag Front, disagreed. He said: “I don’t think that the men’s market is overcrowded. The latest ABC results show that Front sold 150,693 and every issue has shown growth.”
Publishing director of GQ, Peter Stuart, also had optimistic predictions for the sector. He said: “The future looks bright. I think there could be a further increase in demand for a high quality product that could grab and retain the attention of the high-spending target audience.”
The men’s sector experienced an intense period of growth between 1994 and 1998 and sales across the sector grew by 2m. However the industry has been suffering over the last twelve months and a spate of closures including IPC’s Later, Emap’s Sky and Cabal Communications Mondo could indicate that consumers have had enough of the infamous booze and boobs formula.
Cabal Communications: 020 7554 5700 www.cabalcomm.com Condé Nast: 020 7499 9080 www.condenet.com Dennis Publishing: 020 7636 5668 www.dennis.co.uk
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