Four Steps To A Successful Repositioning

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Sept 1, 2001

There are precious few moments in a magazine's lifetime when it makes sense to reposition or relaunch. "But when ad pages, subscriptions, renewals and newsstand sell-through rates are down," said David Matt, partner of Danilo Black Inc., "the market might be telling you that you need to make a change." Speaking at a recent MPA seminar, Matt talked about how to go about repositioning or relaunching a magazine.

First, said Matt, play to the existing strengths of a magazine's design or editorial. "What are readers responding to?" he asked. "What is the tone of the magazine? Is it formal or less formal-or is it more friendly with its readers? Visually, what photographic or typographic elements are working? Once you figure out how a magazine communicates to its readers, you can go from there." Second, look at size-but be careful, warned Matt. "A size change usually heralds something seismic. More often than not, a magazine shouldn't make a design change that big-only when you want to send a very distinct signal to readers." Third, find the brand and present it consistently. Too many magazines experiment with a repositioning or redesign-only to abandon it within a few months because the audience isn't responding. Let the readers get used to the changes, said Matt, and don't hunt around too much for new things. Finally-and perhaps most simply-give the readers what they want. "You need to ask yourself, What is essential to the magazine? What are the readers paying for? What can your magazine offer readers that your competition cannot? Then, you're in business."