Two new magazines — based on overseas products –are soon to be launched, Itumeleng oa Mahabane reports on their plans
THE magazine industry has not only experienced a massive growth in pornography titles in the last few years, but has seen publishers revamping existing products, buying back old titles, introducing new titles or launching local editions of foreign
Rumours are rife about big names like GQ, Esquire and Marie Claire entering the market, but only three foreign titles can be said to be definitely on their way.
Times Media Limited has secured the rights to Elle and will come out with the first issue in March next year. Touchline Publications, publishers of SA Sports Illustrated, has acquired the licensing rights for Golf Digest, which is published by the New York Times stable. And the South African edition of Ebony will be launched at the end of October.
TML’s magazine division will publish Elle in a joint partnership with Hachette Filipacchi Presse, the Paris- based owners of the title. Playboy deputy editor and former Cosmopolitan staffer Shona Bagley will be
“We will be aiming at a relevant niche in a very competitive market,” says TML magazine division head Gisele Wertheim Aymes. “But we believe we have a good product and we aim to address the changing needs of the market. We are looking at how the market will be five years from now.”
Elle is a high glamour fashion and beauty title with an emphasis on visual impact. It represents the practical, fun side of life, reflecting rather than challenging the status quo. “Elle is a visual product. It is not superficial but it is also not ideological. It is aspirational, but in an exciting way. It’s about bringing personal dreams to life,” says Wertheim-Aymes.
The first issue will be out “in the first quarter of 1996”. It is not yet clear what circulation targets have been set for South Africa. Internationally, Elle sells more than 42-million copies a year in more than 20 countries. Hachette publishes 72 titles in 24 countries selling more than 800-million copies a year.
The fact that the group is willing to invest in South Africa is an expression of its confidence. In spite of local perceptions it does not see the market as overtraded. In other markets in which it competes, there are many more quality titles than in South
Ebony’s marketing manager Graham Utian says Ebony South Africa is not a licensing agreement but a partnership. The magazine belongs jointly to Real Africa Holdings, Publico and the African-American-owned company Johnson. According to Utian, this will make Ebony the first black-owned magazine in the country.
Utian says the initial print run will be 100 000 copies and the magazine will aim for an eventual circulation of about 300 000.
Some of the people at Ebony believe, perhaps fancifully, they can achieve this in about six months. Utian himself says he would be happy to reach that two to three years down the line.
The parent magazine in the United States is a high- profile magazine aimed at successful black people. Ebony South Africa will go after the same market here – – “aspirant metropolitan blacks”, to use Utian’s words. In that regard its sole competitor is Tribute, published by Penta.
Yet both Utian and Nicholas Leonsins of Penta agree Ebony will not pose a threat to Tribute’s readership. Leonsins argues that Tribute, like all Penta products, is aimed at a niche market. Utian’s reasoning is that the black market is untapped. Of the 5,5-million black households in the country, 1,22-million are magazine readers. And of those, 158 000 say they do not read any black titles.
Research by Ebony has shown that most readers will add Ebony to the titles they currently buy. “People won’t stop reading Drum or Tribute,” Utian says.
The core readership Ebony is aiming for is 20 to 39 years old, male and female and predominantly black. Ebony is also hoping to get around 10 percent white readership. The American edition, which has about 11- million readers, has a white readership of about 20
About 65 percent of the copy will be South African, with most of the rest from the American edition. The first local edition will include the life stories of Denzel Washington, Hugh Masekela and Nelson Mandela, “from a fresh perspective”.
South Africa’s oldest black magazine, Drum, is unlikely to be adversely affected by Ebony because of its mass market status, and a revamp of the magazine last year was very successful. Sales went up from 111 000 in January 1994 to 181 000 for the same period this year – – an impressive increase of 86 percent. Drum, now owned by Nasionale Pers, has a format similar to that of You magazine.
Golf Digest South Africa, the other new licensed publication coming out, reflects a growth in sports publishing in the last few years. Kick Off, which Touchline brought out about a year ago, is now the largest selling soccer magazine in Africa with a circulation of 77 000. Two other sports magazines, Struik’s SA Rugby and SA Cricket, have also entered the market in the last year.
Touchline is looking for a 20 000 circulation for Golf Digest, says editor Matthew Pierce. About 25 to 30 percent of the magazine is instructional, with well- known professional golfers like Ernie Els and Nick Price offering advice, tips and tutorials. Articles include information on the best places to play golf and travel to golfing destinations.
Pierce says Touchline found that about 50 percent of SA Sports Illustrated’s readers are golfing enthusiasts, so subscribers of SA Sports Illustrated will receive free copies of the first issue which comes out at the end of this month.
Another new magazine on the shelves in November will be Times Media Limited’s Out There. The magazine is a leisure, travel and outdoor magazine.
Gisele Wertheim-Aymes, the publisher, says its target is A and B-income bracket, and its publicity brochure adds “aspirational C”. The hope is to corner a niche of about
30 000. The launch, she says, was based on the growth of adventure tourism, both here and internationally. The magazine will feature regular monthly sections on elements of outdoor life.
The most obvious competition for the magazine is Getaway, but Out There seems to be targeting a more active, more affluent audience, possibly because its readership profile is largely the 25-to-37 age group. “Outfitting”, a section featuring sportswear for the “hip and happening”, further highlights the focus on this group. Getaway is aimed at a broader market, with a circulation of 73 685.
There have been rumours recently that some publishers are talking to international publishers of men’s
Penta is looking at that market, too, Leonsins admits, but there is nothing concrete. “It’s no use simply importing useless products. We have to look at their relevance to the local reader.”
Enter Jane Raphaely who, as publisher of South African Cosmopolitan, owns first refusal rights for any other Hearst titles — including, say, Esquire.
But Raphaely & Associates are not looking at expanding, she says. Firstly, she does not think there is much prospect for a general interest man’s magazine unless “they find advertising funds we could never get”. Her advertising and marketing director has assured her there is not enough advertising to successfully publish a high-profile general interest man’s magazine, which is why there are no plans to run Cosmo Man separately. “The best we could do is quarterly” she says.
She might have a point. Publisher Freewind’s bigblue/Directions, which is arguably the only male general interest magazine in the country, has been around for about five years and can boast only a modest circulation of around 18 000. This despite an increase of 36 percent for the January to June 1995 ABC figures.
Freewind is currently phasing out the name bigblue and in six months it will go as Directions. Although a national magazine, bigblue is based in Port Elizabeth, which has posed a problem with distribution.
New titles in the women’s market — like Elle — would also have problems, says Raphaely. Adspend is sparse and the only way to get money is to take it away from existing publications.
But the women’s market is loyal, she says; many women consider a magazine a friend and would not easily try new publications. Essentials, a magazine which Republican Press publishes under licence from Essentials UK, came out in October last year — and seems to have found the right formula. Its first ABC figure shows a circulation of 121 303.
Editor Robynne Simpson describes the magazine as a general interest magazine which appeals to an “attitudinal group”: women “with a positive attitude to life”. The magazine features a 48-page pull-out section on decor, sewing and so on, which readers can file for future reference.