Woman Unveils Second Revamp In 18 Months

Woman magazine has unveiled another revamp, including a price rise, just 18 months following a previous relaunch.

Over £1 million has been invested in the weekly, which shed around 11.5% of its total or almost 47,400 copies to take its final figure to just shy of 370,000 for the first six months of 2007.

The magazine will now be produced in a larger format, with new sections, including ‘Celebrity Spy’, ‘Diet Buddies’ and ‘Style Shop’. The cover price rises 5p to 90p.

Woman editor, Jackie Hatton, said: “This is the next step in the evolution of Woman, and builds on the tremendous success we’ve already achieved since we reinvented the brand 18 months ago.

“The new-look Woman will be the must-have weekly fix of hot showbiz exclusives, juicy TV insider gossip, compelling real life stories, body confident fashion and beauty and an up-to-the-minute lifestyle section.”

Fellow IPC women’s weeklies, Woman’s Own and Woman’s Weekly, dropped more than 20,000 editions each year on year.

Woman’s Own, which was revamped in April 2007 with a £2 million marketing push and a hike in its cover price (see Woman’s Own Revamps In Bid To Halt Declining Sales), shed 6.2% to leave its total at less than 345,000, whilst Woman’s Weekly reported a figure of almost 370,000 following a year on year decline of 21,500.

Last summer, IPC launched a new online women’s lifestyle portal called goodtoknow.co.uk, which will act as the central portal of some of IPC Connect’s weekly titles, including Woman’s Weekly and Woman’s Own (see IPC Unveils Women’s Online Lifestyle Portal).

The women’s weekly sector experienced sizeable declines in circulation, with few exceptions, according to the January to June 2007 ABC data (see ABC Results Jan-Jun 2007: Take A Break Stays Top Of Women’s Weeklies Amidst Sizeable Declines). New ABC figures for the second half of 2007 are released at midday on Thursday, with NewsLine providing in-depth coverage of the major sectors.

IPC Media: 0870 4445000 www.ipcmedia.com