Interview – Andy Sutcliffe, Managing Director, Cabal Communications
There is a sense at new publisher, Cabal Communications, that they can perhaps do things a little better on their own, away from the larger publishing companies that provided so many of the Cabal crew. Indeed, there is no shortage of experience in Cabal’s Euston Road offices, as managing director Andy Sutcliffe points out. “It really does make you feel quite humble, attracting really, really good staff who all had very good jobs, who were all prepared to take the risk,” he says.
The main hunting ground for staff has been IPC Magazines, the former employer of both Sutcliffe and Cabal’s founder, Sally O’Sullivan. So much so, in fact, that IPC may be just a little frustrated by the lure which O’Sullivan and Sutcliffe seem to have had on its staff: Sarah Bravo, previously editor of Living etc; Brant Richards and James Beechnor-Collins, formerly at Mountain Bike Ride; IPC ad director Keith Simpson and chief sub Amanda Edwards, have all moved over to Cabal. But what is the big attraction? “There is a genuine desire amongst journalists to be involved in launches and if you think we are publicly saying we’re launching a large number of magazines in a relatively short period of time – I think a lot of people are very attracted to that,” says Sutcliffe.
He also believes that many of the larger publishing groups have become unwieldy and bureaucratic – often a “frustrating” environment to work in. Whilst acknowledging its previous success and flare, Sutcliffe thinks that EMAP has recently become “unable to think on its feet,” relying too much on research and risk-reduction.
So, does IPC think that Cabal was (as its name would suggest) set up to indulge in machinations against it? “IPC Magazines appears to be indescribably wound up about what we’re doing [and] one has a mixture of slight bemusement, slight annoyance and slight genuine ‘haven’t they got better things to do?'”
Cabal certainly has got better things to do, as its first two magazines will be released next month. Sutcliffe’s main involvement is with the first of these, a mag targeting the younger adult male, called front. Whilst the reaction of many to news of a new ‘irreverent male lifestyle magazine’ is “Oh no, not another,” Sutcliffe is confident the market is still there and that it is still growing. Futhermore, he argues that there isn’t another magazine currently available that exactly caters for the readers targeted by front.
With front, Sutcliffe is hoping to provide for young men what magazines like Sugar and Bliss provide for young women. This is a sector in which he cannot envisage any direct competitors. Young male readers, he says, will certainly continue to read the likes of Loaded, FHM and Maxim, but should find something in the pages of front which more closely relates to their life situations.
Alongside the babes, existing men’s magazines often feature articles aimed at men in their mid to late twenties: “setting up your home, your first baby and how to roast a chicken. Whilst FHM does all those articles brilliantly, I defy you to find me a nineteen year old who is worried about roasting a chicken or is worried about his first house or is worried about buying suits from Armani for 550 quid.” Sutcliffe believes that front will not only take readers away from these existing men’s titles but to some extent, will actually extend the market into new territory.
The first edition of front goes on sale on 15 October with an initial print run of 400,000 and will include a cover-mount promotion, although Sutcliffe will not reveal the details of this. As far as advertising goes, he says that front certainly won’t become what he describes as “a 300-page advertisers’ graveyard.” He cites the FHM Collections title as an example of a magazine becoming ‘intimidating’ to readers and also losing its effectiveness for the advertiser. “The ads must lose a great deal of impact by getting into these graveyards of ad after ad after ad. An advertiser is going to come to us and say ‘I want a double page spread for the next twelve months’, at a certain rate which is quite a lot of money to us; it’s quite a lot of money for their client and it’s a big deal for them. We want to say ‘how are we going to make this work for you so that you’re still really happy with us in six months’ time and your client is really happy with you?’ That’s about not having huge great yards of advertising.” The usual suspects have been lined up for the first issue of front, which is now very nearly full, he adds.
Sutcliffe is reluctant to give away anything concerning Cabal’s future plans beyond the company’s second launch, The Real Homes Magazine – a title which plans to offer home improvement advice to the mass market, and not for those ‘who live in a barn in Wiltshire.’ There are, however, plans to launch a specialist weekly title before the end of this year which will have a ‘quirky’ edge to it. Further details on this are expected within a few weeks, although Sutcliffe stresses that ‘specialist weekly’ is not necessarily a euphemism for ‘women’s weekly’.
Negotiations are currently in place between Cabal and TV producers with plans to exploit what Sutcliffe describes as ‘the many similarities’ between television and magazines. This may lead to both the production of masthead programmes and the adaptation of existing TV shows into magazines.
Sutcliffe also revealed that there is a team in place to launch another magazine that he believes will open a market sector currently not catered for. Just where this might be, he would not say – it is all part of the Cabals’ plot.