South Africa enjoys a vibrant and exciting magazine industry dominated by Media 24 and their associated companies and Caxton Magazines. These businesses also control the printing and distribution of their own and competitor titles, giving them a decided advantage over medium-sized rivals such as Associated, Conde Nast and Johnnic Magazines.
Despite a seemingly over traded environment (the groaning shelves at major retailers such as Woolworths and Spar atest to this fact) there has been a surge of new titles launched over the past two years helped along by a booming economy, higher disposable incomes, increased advertising spend and a growing black middle class of educated and sussed women.
“In a highly competitive market, general interest women’s magazines need to reinvent themselves on a continuous basis with slight tweaks and changes,” says Mari Lategan, Media24’s publisher of women’s magazines.
She says all three of her stable’s established general interest women’s magazines (Sarie, Fairlady and True Love) have had to adjust their content and packaging in the past year to suit the needs of the market.
“The launch of niche titles in the women’s magazine category continues,” says Lategan.
“Last year the Media24 Women’s Magazine Division launched two niche titles – SHOP!, published alternate monthly, and Lééf, a monthly Afrikaans Christian women’s magazine.”
She says now more than ever, they are aware of their magazines’ need to stay close to their readers.
“A deep understanding of their hearts and minds is needed to ensure that our products remain relevant.”
And in an effort to create connections with readers, new trends have emerged. Marie Claire editor Kate Wilson says there is a trend overseas towards ‘magalogue’ shopping titles, particularly in the United States, and self-help ones like Psychology Today.
“There is also a huge boom in décor magazines, primarily aimed at women, in this country,” she says.
Karen Geldenhuys, editor of Woman’s Value and dit, which recently changed to Ideas and Idees, says there is a huge move internationally towards do-it-yourself titles.
“We did a lot of research a year ago and one of the results was that our readers, who are all busy people, are stressed out and need a creative outlet. This is also one of the reasons we’ve changed our name to Ideas and Idees: because that is exactly what we give our readers – loads of great ideas for their homes and lives.”
Associated Magazine’s business director Julia Raphaely says women’s magazines across the globe are diversifying and there is increasing competition for the attention of readers and advertiser spend.
“Consumers now have more opportunities to access information anywhere on almost any device, from cellphones and other mobile devices to television and the internet,” she says. “Advertisers now have more advertising medium options.”
She says the pressure is on for publishers to be innovative in reaching and keeping their audiences, and cites cover mounts as an attempt to do this.
Denise Stamm, publisher at Caxton Magazines, believes there is room for both general interest and niched products.
“The market clearly splits into two types of products. The general interest woman’s titles like Woman & Home and Essentials which cover health, beauty, food, fashion, etc. and the specific focus titles like Your Family, Food and Home Entertaining and S.A. Garden and Home.”
We know these magazines target females, but is there any particular market that publishers are focusing on?
Editor of Glamour SA magazine, Pnina Fenster, says the boom in women’s magazines in South Africa has targeted women across the spectrum.
“The number of women’s titles on the newsstands indicates a growing fascination with magazines as a source of entertainment and information,” she says. “Inevitably, it also means that some titles will drop circulation, thus becoming more niche.”
Kgomotso Matsunyane, editor of O, the Oprah magazine, says the younger woman is definitely one to target.
“Younger women who are newly mobile and have less responsibilities and more disposable income. We have such a huge proportion of youth, it’s obviously the next major area of growth.”
Media24 has announced the imminent launch of True Love Babe, aimed at the brand-savvy youth market. The magazine will reportedly act as a life coach, helping young adults discover who they are.
“No age group is being left out,” says Raphaely. “Magazines have also become more clearly defined in terms of target market and editorial offering.”
Stamm says Woman & Home, which was launched last year, emerged in response to a need to cater for the 35-plus woman with a “brand new attitude” to herself and the life stage that she is in.
“This is a woman who says I might be over 35 but I’m still attractive and like looking and feeling good,” says Woman & Home editor Frith Thomas. “She also has more money to spend on herself and can therefore indulge in clothes, beauty products and items for her home.”
Woman & Home rapidly reached a circulation of 84,078 (ABC Jan – Mar 2006) and according to AC/Nielsen (March 2005 – April 2006), advertising spend of more than R8-million.
“This clearly indicates that even in an increasingly active market a title with the right positioning can achieve success,” comments Stamm.
Evidence suggests that our local publishers are not merely followers but trend setters as well.
“South African circumstances are so unique – in my view we are setting a trend of relevance,” Lategan reveals. “We have had enquiries from other countries that are interested in our formats and the type of content we package.”
Marie Claire‘s Wilson says South African magazines, especially their covers, are more representative of the society in which we live when compared to their international counterparts.
“I have just prepared a presentation for Marie Claire‘s international conference on the use of black celebrities on covers and discovered – to my surprise – that we really are the only country in the world that consistently features black women on the covers of women’s magazines,” she says.
It seems that the rest of the world has also experienced a posse of new titles. According to the International Federation of Periodical Press, the Marie Claire group has launched an Indian edition of the title as part of a licensing deal with Indian publisher, Outlook; in Turkey, the Merkez Group, publisher of CosmoGirl, has launched teen title Seventeen; Coure is new to the Spanish market; Consumers Union in the US – a quick read on the best deals in household products, and Shape by Attica Publishing Group in Greece.
In South Africa, Shape and Longevity remain the only consumer titles focusing solely on women’s health and medical issues.
“Maybe it’s a reflection of the female psyche in South Africa, in other words, shopping and gossip still takes priority over health and vitality,” offers Sonya Naudé, editor of Longevity. “We are more information driven as opposed to providing entertainment.
“The health industry is still in its infancy here, and health coverage is still considered a niche. But there’s definitely scope for other health magazines to be produced.”
“We haven’t yet reached the optimum of every possible magazine reader,” says O magazine’s Matsunyane. “A lot of magazines do not fulfil all of the readers’ individual needs. Many women buy more than just one magazine – it’s like watching TV – different programmes and different features have an appeal at different times. “
Lategan believes the boom in the women’s magazine market is due to a combination of things, with a healthy economy top of the list.
“I believe that the days of huge circulations are over – we will see more directed choice in the market, offering smaller and more focused audiences.”
With the launch of no fewer than five women’s magazines in the past five years, this industry has indeed become about survival of the fittest.
If rumours that Media24 is launching international title InStyle magazine this year prove true, it will be interesting to see whether it affects Johnnic’s Elle and Caxton’s Style.
Copy sales generally are growing steadily as is advertising spend (albeit more widely spread), however, a dip in the economy will result in a tightening of consumer belts and a drop in advertising. As Naspers head Koos Bekker ruefully remarked: “Then there will be blood on the floors.”