IPC’s Woman’s Realm To Disappear In Favour Of Your Life
IPC Connect is to pension off its 43-year-old title for older women, Womans Realm and replace it with a new model, Your Life. IPC is to merge the old title into its more successful sister publication Womans Weekly, with former editor Mary Frances heading up the new launch.
ABC figures show that the older woman’s weekly sector has been dwindling as a whole in recent years, with Woman’s Realm trailing the leaders such as Woman and Woman’s Own which aim at a slightly younger audience. Nevertheless, IPC is convinced that the market can support its new offering, launching on 24 April, saying its research shows that there is currently no “relevant, motivating and exciting weekly magazine for the modern older women.”
Publishing director Sandy Gale said, “Over 5 million women in the UK today are ABC1 and aged between 35 and 60. In four years time, 8 out of 10 women will be over 35. They have a total personal income of £99m per annum and 40% of them are chief income earners- we are talking about consumers with immense spending power.” She went on to say that Your Life “Creates a new genre of quality weekly that is the key to driving and expanding the market.”
The new magazine will be divided into themed ‘zones’ including Indulgence, Body & Soul, Life Support and Life Matters. A 12 page news section will use the late printing schedule in order to send the last eight pages to press on Thursday to be on sale the following Tuesday. Editor Frances is intent on pleasing the reader who has “Been buying magazines for 20 or 30 years and knows the format inside out. She wants something different, something that surprises her.”
The launch will be supported by a celebrity-based, £2m five-week marketing campaign featuring Twiggy and built around the magazine’s strapline, “Your Life – Live It Up”. It will include press and radio advertising, point of sale and a four page mailer sent out to retailers.
IPC: 020 7261 5000 www.ipc.co.uk
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