IPC Cuts Size And Price In Marie Claire Revamp
IPC SouthBank has announced a new look for its iconic women’s fashion title, Marie Claire, featuring a revised format, editorial overhaul and a lower price to entice new and established readers alike.
The new look title will hit news stands on July 29th and will retail for £2.50. The title’s new look is the result of several months of market testing, as well as a close working relationship with Groupe Marie Claire, IPC’s joint venture partner with experience of publishing trends across Europe.
The most obvious change to the magazine’s format is its size, reduced from its current dimensions, though larger that its main handbag-sized rival, Glamour.
Commenting on the revamp, Marie Claire‘s publishing director, Jackie Newcombe, said: “Marie Claire has been around since 1988, and its core proposition remains as true and relevant today as it was when it launched. That is that it flatters a woman’s intelligence, as well as her sense of style.”
She added: “It is important for Marie Claire to move on, evolve and show new readers that it is an exciting and vibrant magazine. The new developments reflect this and will make the magazine even sharper and more focused editorially.”
IPC claims that the title’s lower price reflects lower prices across the board for fashion titles in Europe. The publisher also claims that, after testing the impact of the price change, the new price will increase sales and boost Marie Claire‘s appeal amongst its audience of ABC1 women aged 25-34.
The revised format of Marie Claire follows trials of a reduced size ‘travel’ edition of the title, as well as price cuts of £1 and 50p in certain UK regions in a bid to stem the decline in sales (see IPC Scales Down Marie Claire To Boost Circulation).
The women’s monthly market has been in focus recently with news that Condé Nast is launching a new glossy magazine featuring a mix of style, glamour and practical real-life stories to go head-to-head with Hachette Filipacchi’s Red.
The title, entitled Easy Living, is expected to launch in the first half of 2005 delivering ‘useful and realistic’ solutions to improve modern women’s lives. Chris Hughes, former publishing director of the National Magazine Company’s Good Housekeeping, has been appointed as publisher of the new title (see Condé Nast Unveils Grown Up Women’s Title).
The National Magazine Company has also announced plans to launch a celebrity-focused weekly title to compete with Emap’s highly successful Closer. The publisher confirmed that it is currently developing a new weekly under the working title Reveal, in an attempt to cash in on the rapidly expanding sector (see Condé Nast Silent Over Plans For New Women’s Glossy).
IPC Media: 0870 4445000 www.ipc.co.uk
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