USA: min publishes The Most Intriguing & Top-Selling Magazine Covers, 2007-2010

If you are a magazine professional or a media buyer – or just a fan of magazines – you need to own a copy of The Most Intriguing & Top-Selling Magazine Covers, 2007-2010, published the MIN i.e. Media Industry Newsletter.

Nothing sells in magazine media like great covers, and nothing “covers” the covers that sell best better than min’s just-published The Most Intriguing & Top-Selling Magazine Covers, 2007-2010. This is a fun, engaging, insightful and—most of all—beautiful guidebook from the editors of MIN.  In full color, it presents both the best- and worst-selling covers of 2007-2009, as well as the covers MIN found most intriguing. But it’s not just great cover art!

Accompanying all the best/worst-selling and most intriguing covers is MIN editor-in-chief Steve Cohn’s in-depth analysis of why some covers worked and some didn’t, backed up by ad-page figures and charts breaking down the best/worst-sellers for individual titles; Steve’s historical perspective; and his interviews with magazine media’s most important players.

Esquire to launch Malaysia edition in April 2011

The announcement on Wednesday by Hearst Magazines International (HMI) President/CEO (since 2009) Duncan Edwards of the April 2011 launch of Esquire/Malaysia marks Esquire‘s 22nd overseas edition!  There was only a handful in 1989 when Edwards’ predecessor George Green took the job.

Hearst’s partner in Esquire Malaysia is Mongoose Publishing, which also publishes Time Out, Newsweek and Nat Geo among others in Malaysia. The editor will be Sam Coleman and the language is English (widely spoken in Malaysia).  Esquire Malaysia will have an initial print run of 30 000 copies, a minimum of 164 pages and a cover price of RM12.

“Esquire’s sophisticated and stylish approach to covering the subjects and stories that young men care most about translates incredibly well around the world” Edwards said. “We’re confident that its mix of strong storytelling, award-winning reporting, humor and panache will make it a big success in Malaysia, as it has in other countries.”

International editions usually run their own editorial and marketing shows, but in 2008 Esquire Russia adapted the “ultimate bachelor pad” that has been a staple for the U.S. flagship since its 70th anniversary in 2003.  This fall, the “Esquire House” will be in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Los Angeles.

With this launch, Esquire will be available in 7 Asian countries and 22 in total worldwide.

Condé Nast changes publishing partner in Brazil

Condé Nast International has formed a joint venture with Globo Media Group, a Brazilian publisher and broadcaster, to publish Vogue and other Condé Nast titles in the South American country, one of the world’s fastest growing markets for luxury goods.

Vogue has been published in Brazil in Portuguese for the past 35 years under a license agreement with Carta Editorial, which also published titles including Casa Vogue and Vogue Homme, most of which will now be published by the new joint venture, Edições Globo-Condé Nast. In addition, all the titles will have an online version. Under the joint venture the companies also plan eventually to launch Brazilian editions of other Condé Nast titles, along with branded digital and digital TV platforms. The last issue to be run by Carta Editorial will be October. Jonathan Newhouse, chairman of Condé Nast International, told WWD that “Globo is the leading media company in South America and has a reputation for excellence. It is the ideal partner for Condé Nast as we expand our business activities in this key, growing market.”

Germany: Burda completes redesign of Focus.de

As the tradition almost commands, the major European news sites always use the quieter summer month to retool their homepage.  Indeed, Burda just completed the latest redesign of its news flagship Focus Online. 

The most important change was made to the layout of the Focus.de  homepage.  It’s now slightly significantly wider and major new appear directly in the middle of the screen. With the previous version, the latest news were being displayed on the left side.

Top of the homepage
The Focus.de homepage’s header menu now carries across the entire width of the page. Also, in comparison to the previous version of the site, the main story has been given a much greater visibility on the page with oversized header and pictures.  The white background has been pushed up but remains there, making the overall look of the page clearer and less busy. It is also easier to spot key stories of the day.

Below the fold
Another evolution is the layout “by box” that’s been chosen to define the Focus.de homepage’s structure, therefore enabling web editors to update only one box at the time.  Each box is dedicated to an editorial topic.

The redesign team led by Oliver Ebert is especially proud of the “24-hour newsticker”.  The beloved feature  – according to the official press release -should be further developed to become an even “more flexible and easier tool to search for news on the site.”  The “Thema verfolgen” (follow this theme) button is also an interesting addition to the site. 

The revamped 24-hour newsticker
The relaunch of the Focus.de site comes at a crucial point for the German newsweekly, just 3 weeks after new editorial honcho Wolfram Weimer took over the print edition. The old boss, Helmut Marktwort, had already done some changes to the book this past spring before departing.  The new inputs from the print magazine should also bring new traffic and interest to its online companion site.  In a recent interview to the German trade publication MEEDIA, the Focus Online boss Jochen Wegner explained: “We have of course always asked the new editor in chief for its feedback on the latest online incarnation of the site.  Both editorial offices exchange constantly.  Both media are being developed in the same direction.”

The same unfortunately can’t be said about their respective audience. While Focus magazine’s circulation is down 12% over the last six months, the number of visits to Focus.de were up 14% in June. The news-portal had a total of 162 million clicks and 29,2 million visits that month.

USA: TheKnot.com launches new bridal magazine 2.0 concept called “The Nest”

Longtime cross-platform bridal brand The Knot says it has applied its years of online experience to the execution of its print magazine The Nest, which had its newsstand launch on July 19. The company told MIN Online that the print title’s content mix and cross-platform integrations were employing Web 2.0 principles of user involvement, dialogue and real-time complements to the printed page. 

The Nest, its new $4.99 quarterly magazine, is aimed at married couples setting up home and family. Interactivity is key to the new project as is bringing readers into the editorial mix. Readers can submit their own advice, how-tos and tips across all of the content areas: travel, cooking, lifestyle. A special section of the magazine will be devoted to the UGC content. User-generated content is also available at TheNest.com where users can upload submissions.

The issue also is being mobilized via bar codes. Readers can snap a bar code in the issue and get back content, including what other readers are discussing in real time at TheNest.com. In an ad for Kitchenaid, for instance, the mobile code links your smartphone to a set of user testimonials for the sponsors’ product and then a link into other content channels on TheNest.com. On the “How-To” page of the magazine the mobile code links the user to online user-submitted how-to pieces as well as an entry form for the reader to submit their own content. The idea is for the mobile component to help drive user-generated content from the print experience to online. 

TheKnot says this web 2.0 model for magazines has attracted a number of inaugural issue sponsors to the affluent and young audience. Also, Bank of America, Couples Resorts, Mazda, KitchenAid, Starwood Hotels and Anheuser-Busch are reportedly among the advertisers.

UK: Virgin unveils “Maverick” magazine launch plans this Fall

Virgin is to extend its brand into consumer magazines with the launch of a title to be led by 28-year-old Holly Branson, daughter of the company’s founder.  The first issue of Maverick, to be published in October, will be overseen by ex-FHM editor Anthony Noguera. The monthly magazine, which will make its debut on Apple’s iPad, is targeting an international ABC1 audience (upper/middle class). 

The title will funded by subscriptions and paid-for ads, and has been positioned as “the magazine about creative people for creative people”. The editorial will focus on technology, film and design.  Insiders say Maverick is likely to spearhead a push into consumer magazines by the Virgin brand. Print titles and further digital offerings may follow. 

It is understood that the project has substantial backing and will be supported by a heavyweight marketing campaign. 

Insiders claim that Branson wants to compete with the major publishing houses, such as Bauer and IPC Media. 

Holly Branson: heads Maverick team

 

The launch marks a shift in strategy for Virgin, which has previously outsourced its customer magazines for its various business units such as the in-flight magazine Seatback, and Hotline, distributed on Virgin‘s trains. 

Its highest-profile title, Electric!, produced to promote Virgin Media, is handled by Redwood. However, Virgin is working with Seven Squared agency and Noguera’s publishing consultancy AI on Maverick. 

USA: “Skyboxx”, a new sports magazine with strong focus on the Miami Heat, to launch this August

The Miami-based founders of The Source and Hip Hop Weekly are betting that LeBron James and his new team, the Miami Heat, will be so popular nationally that 20 or more pages of Heat coverage every issue will attract readers from all over the country.

“The Miami Heat are poised to become a franchise on the level of the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys, the Showtime Lakers of the ’80s — teams that have broad appeal, that have followings beyond their local markets,” said David Mays, publisher of Hip Hop Weekly, which he started along with Raymond “Benzino” Scott.

As told to AdAge, the first issue of the monthly magazine, called Skyboxx and arriving on August 3, is almost entirely devoted to King James, whose Cavaliers uniform on the cover can be peeled away to reveal a Heat jersey underneath.

The new magazine is also meant to skew slightly more female than other sports magazines in the U.S. by including significant amounts of style and lifestyle coverage. Women make up 23% of the Sports Illustrated audience, 21% of ESPN the Magazine‘s audience and 17% of the Sporting News audience, according to a recent round of GfK MRI research.

“You’re going to get good sports journalism but you’re going to get it meshed with a celebrity weekly format that will attract a broader audience,” he said. “When I say format I mean the look and feel of those magazines — shorter stories, bigger pictures, more provocative headlines and lots of style and lifestyle photos.”

However, there are still many out there who doubt this strategy.  The Yankees, Cowboys and Lakers are brands that took

New French celebrity magazine “Gossip People” has launched

Yet another new French celebrity magazine “Gossip People” has launched, but this time it’s a monthly!  Sold for €1,90, Gossip People will blend celebrity news, scoops,  star sightings with fun stuff and cheeky humor.

The debut issue will feature the usual suspects such as Lagy Gaga and Rihanna, and promises to reveal the secrets behind the French football team’s debacle at the last FIFA World Cup as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes pictures from the set of the latest Twilight episode.

Gossip People is following the recent launch of Vox, a weekly celebrity magazine sold for only €1, launched by independent publisher Leitmotiv.

USA: “New York Magazine” partners with Foursquare

New York magazine is joining the check-in parade with this week’s announcement that it has joined forces with Foursquare, the popular location-based social-media site. The move will enable the magazine to create co-branded social-media loyalty programs for readers visiting participating businesses.

The new deal brings Foursquare to the NYMag.com website, allowing visitors to “check in” from various local businesses in its restaurant, bargains and nightlife listings, including the usual assortment of coffee shops, restaurants, and cultural venues. Users earn points for special discounts or deals provided by the proprietors.

The Foursquare check-ins let users know where their friends are, enabling “real-world” meet-ups, while giving businesses free social-media exposure.

The magazine’s roughly 7000 Foursquare followers can get tips and suggestions for approximately 5000 restaurants, 1600 bars and 5500 stores listed on the site.

UK: British chef Gary Rhodes is launching bespoke foodie magazine “Rhodes”

Gary Rhodes, the British TV chef and restaurant owner, is launching a custom magazine through the bespoke contract publisher MMC Media with the first issue available from August 2010.

Rhodes will be a new high-end monthly magazine, which coincides with the Michelin-starred chef’s 30th anniversary in the restaurant business.

The perfect-bound publication will have a print run of 20000 for the first 12 months and will be distributed to customers at his restaurants for free, including those abroad in Dubai and Grenada.

Approximately a third of the magazine will be advertising.

USA: “Seventeen” relaunches site with social network focus

Hearst’s Seventeen magazine has relaunched its website with an increased focus on social-network functionality in a bid to attract traffic from teenage girls and young women, according to Mediaweek.

The new push includes incorporating Facebook’s “Open Graph” platform, as well as Twitter and Meebo, allowing visitors to share content and communicate with friends via the site. The relaunched site also features a celebrity news channel drawing content from Hearst’s aggregator site Let Me Know (LMK.com). Ann Shoket, the mag’s editor in chief, remarked: “It’s absolutely about having girls spend more time on Seventeen.”

Hungary: Sanoma Budapest to launch Autó Magazin in August

Sanoma Budapest is to launch Autó Magazin in August. Autó Magazin will be the Hungarian edition of Auto Motor Und Sport, the German monthly car magazine from Motor-Presse International.

Sanoma Budapest has purchased the publishing rights to Autó Magazin from Germany’s Motor-Presse International, just like its sister company Sanoma Hearst Romania did a few months ago.

The circulation will be 20 000 copies and the cover price 695 HUF (about €2.50).

UK: BBC launches magazine for Kerwhizz-ical kids

BBC Magazines has launched Kerwhizz magazine, a new four weekly pre-school title based on the popular CBeebies television program. The first issue went on sale on June 30.

The educational, interactive magazine, aimed at inquisitive four to six year olds, specifically supports the National Curriculum. According to the publishers, each issue of Kerwhizz will be packed with confidence-building quizzes, puzzles and problem-solving activities that children can achieve on their own. The magazine will also come with a free gift and to encourage them further, correct answers will be rewarded with points and stickers.

Wallpaper*, the international design, fashion and lifestyle magazine, is publishing its first handmade issue

Wallpaper*, the international design, fashion and lifestyle magazine, is publishing what it claims to be its most ambitious issue to date with “Handmade“, which is printed on seven different paper stocks, has 21000 unique covers and every object it features was reportedly commissioned by the magazine.

For the August issue, Wallpaper* magazine brought together and briefed some of the world’s leading designers, craftsmen and manufacturers to produce unique furniture, fittings, foodstuffs, fashion and more. The special issue chronicles the production and presentation of this astonishing collection of one-off designs and delicacies.

From cover to cover, Wallpaper* Handmade is a complete celebration of craftsmanship. Through working closely with paper supplier UPM, the issue is printed on no less than seven different paper stocks and includes an A5 sketchbook documenting how several of the designs evolved. There is even a paper house to cut out and assemble, courtesy of architect Ryuji Nakamura.

In another first, the magazine invited readers to

The French cigar afficionado mag “L’Amateur de Cigare” to be redesigned in September

On September 10,” L’Amateur de Cigare“ magazine (similar to “Cigar aficionado” in the U.S.), will present its new version to its audience.  Its current Publication Director,  Jean-Yves Martinez, and the editor, Annie Lorenzo,  have been working on the redesign of the title, which is supposed to become glossier, more upscale and further foster the cigar club member’s feeling amongst its readers.

This Fall, the bi-monthly magazine started in 1994 will boast a fresher layout and a new tabloid-format insert added inside the wine-tasting and food sections. The editorial of the new L’Amateur de Cigare will be divided into two reading universes: tasting on one end and “art de vivre” on the other.

The magazine currently circulates 21 000 copies every other month, of which 8 500 are subs.  Ad sales are handled by MediaObs and the 4CFP is listed at €7 000.  Cover price is €5,50 per copy and the magazine has a reach of 30 000.

Click to see the complete media kit online.

“The Big Issue”, a magazine sold by homeless, launches in South Korea

Big Issue Korea (BIK), the South Korean version of the London-based weekly magazine The Big Issue, has launched.  The Big Issue started in London to offer homeless and vulnerably housed people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income. The staff produces a weekly entertainment and current affairs magazine, which vendors buy from us for 85 pence and sell to the public for £1.70, keeping 85 pence for themselves. Vendors must adhere to a code of conduct whilst selling the magazine.  The publisher believe in offering “a hand up, not a hand out”, but also recognize that earning an income is the first step on the journey away from homelessness. The Big Issue Foundation is a registered charity, which exists to link vendors with the vital support that will help them address the issues that have led to their homelessness. The Foundation works exclusively with vendors, offering support, advice and referrals. 

Fifteen people have begun sales in Seoul, and the magazine looks to increase their number to 50 this year, company officials said. Sellers are issued temporary ID cards and an initial set of ten free copies.

Half a month of vending permits them to purchase copies of the magazine for 1,400 KRW (£0.92) each and sell them for 3,000 KRW (£1.98) thereafter. The initiative will also be supported by the Seoul metropolitan government.

Reader’s Digest UK is launching state-of-the-art iPad App

Readers Digest UK is launching a state-of-the-art iPad App in conjunction with YUDU following its acquisition in April by the Better Capital Fund, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Vivat Direct Ltd. The first ever digital version of the world’s most popular paid circulation magazine, the Reader’s Digest iPad edition, produced by YUDU Media will fully replicate the printed newsstand version in full digital format but with enhanced content and features such as video. Check out the demo below.

The iPad App has been developed specifically to harness the iPad’s full potential, according to its creator YUDU. Searchable on Apple Store, the App offers stunning graphics, rapid page turning, zoom, video, rich media and a text-only version for users.  In a bid to propel the iconic magazine into one of the UK’s leading digital publications, Reader’s Digest UK will be making the latest edition free to all on the iPad on July 5.  Featuring David Beckham on the front cover the title focuses on how football is saving the world to tie in with the FIFA World Cup being held in South Africa this month.

Belgium: Trends mag gets new Bizz supplement

From now on, the 107 000 readers of Bizz magazine won’t have to wait a whole month each time to get their business supplement.  This content will now become a full part of the magazines Trends (Flemish) and Trends-Tendances (French) under a dedicated Bizz section.  In other words, the monthly Bizz publication is turning into a weekly section inside Trends magazine in order to further satisfy readers’ demand for more frequent business updates.  The editorial coordination of the new Bizz section will be headed by editor Camille van Vyve.

Moneytalk, the monthly dedicated to finance, which circulates 10 000 copies, will become a weekly in September 2010.  The Cash section, personal finance and markets, will be folded into the new weekly under one new name and logo: Cash/Moneytalk. This new weekly finance publications will be sold together with Trends for €5 (for both mags), and is to be edited by Steven Vandenbroeke. The nw Cash/Moneytalk will also be available separately in kiosks as well as by subscription.  Its publisher Roularta is trying to strengthen its position in the business magazine segment in Belgium and broaden the reach of its titles (314 000 readers in total right now). 

From September 16 on Trends and Trends-Tendances are to further extend their stronghold on the Belgian financial and economic life, whether it is on paper, or on the web  or even via iPhone or iPad-like devices.  New “all-in-one” subscription offers will start this fall, which will include the print edition of course, but also full access to the digital magazine, its entire online archives (with search engine) and an exclusive monthly dossier edited in collaboration with Geert Noels from Econopolis.  The Trends-Bizz-Cash/Moneytalk website is currently undergoing a major overhaul and therefore remains free at this point in time.

For more info on these publications, visit Roularta’s dedicated page.

Germany: Burda launches new celebrity weekly called “Chatter”

Quick, smart and current like a daily paper, emotional like a tabloid and stylish like a fashion glossy: that’s the new hybrid magazine concept called Chatter from German publisher Hubert Burda Media.  The magazine caters to women between 20 and 50 who want to keep in touch with the lives of their favorites stars and get the latest fashion tips each week. Launched on Wednesday with a print run of 1,3 million – of which at least 500 000  for the “Star Style Weekly” supplement inserted with Chatter. Sold for only 50 cents an issue, the latest product out of the Burda Medien Park Verlage in Offenburg, Germany, is definitely going head-on against the other celebrity titles.

One will find the latest news on German and international stars from the film, sports, music, TV, and political worlds inside Chatter’s 40 pages every week.  The 12-page supplement Star Style will be inserted for free in the middle of the magazine to provide extra editorial content on shopping, fashion and beauty tips, whereas the main Chatter will focus the looks and trends of the celebs as well as red carpet photos.

„The stars that are talked about“ ist Chatter magazine’s motto as editor Boris Hächler, formerly from Bauers’ Intouch magazine, explained.   The first issue should be sure to please the masses with features on Germany’s Eurovision Song Contest’s winner, the singer Lena, to the Hollywood star Angelina Jolie as well as the upbringing of Suri Cruise. Chatter magazine will of course also be available on the web at www.chatter.de.

France: benchmarking the three new upscale women’s weeklies

As covered extensively over the past months on this blog, the French segment of upscale women’s weeklies has had 3 back-to-back magazine launches since August 2009!

I thought this was about time to take a closer look at the current war amongst women’s weeklies so I put together some sort of recap chart, only accounting for Grazia, Envy and Be, in the order they were launched. I decided not to include French ELLE because it’s been THE women’s weekly of reference for over 60 years and remains to do so while these three newcomers tend to cater to slightly younger women.