Viz and Bizarre To Drive Revenue With SMS Launch

I Feel Good Publishing’s adult titles Viz and Bizarre are teaming up with Flytxt to offer readers an interactive text messaging service.

Those who subscribe to the service, at a cost of 25p per message, will receive humorous definitions of words and people. Readers will also be able to text in their own jokes, general comments and questions to the editor. I Feel Good is eager to tap into the earning potential of SMS campaigns and the services will be available from the end of September.

The editors of both magazines are hoping the new services will give readers more interactivity, whilst bypassing the problem many brands have in sending unsolicited messages to customers.

Emap’s new teen gossip weekly, Sneak, recently launched its own text-based gossip service for readers, giving the publisher the opportunity to build up a user database which could later be used by advertisers (see Sneak To Offer SMS Interactivity).

The latest set of ABC figures for January to June 2002 show that Bizarre magazine’s circulation dropped below the crucial 100,000 mark for the first time since 1998, to 97,036. Cult-comic title Viz did not release results for the recent ABC reporting period. However, figures from the previous period show the title experienced a similar decline in circulation, with an 11% year-on-year drop during July to December 2001.

Flytxt: 020 7293 3000 www.flytxt.com

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