Touch And Go

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Dec 1, 2002 by Katie Caperton

Byline: Katie Caperton

In Touch Weekly Launch date: November 4 Company: Bauer Publishing Frequency: Weekly Target audience: Women, 18-34 Subscription: TBD Ad rates: $17,500 full-page, four-color Editors: Richard Spencer, editor-in-chief; Stephen LeGrice, executive editor

It was business as usual on Manhattan's Sixth Avenue early last month as rivals People and Us Weekly engaged in yet another bidding war for paparazzi shots of a pop icon. In the end, People reportedly shelled out 30 large for the rights to a picture of Britney Spears. But while Time Inc. and Wenner Media went at it, a scrappy celebrity start-up swooped in and bought an identical shot for a mere $1,000. In Touch Weekly, the entertainment launch from New Jersey-based Bauer Publishing, may not have the bankroll of its counterparts, but what it lacks in cash, it makes up for in chutzpa. And that gives it an edge in an extremely competitive market, says Stephen LeGrice, In Touch's executive editor. "People is very established and used to having its own way in everything. They're not used to looking in the rearview mirror and seeing a start-up that's going to challenge them."

Chances are, People isn't exactly panicked, but In Touch does have a few tricks up its sleeve. First, it's chasing a younger demographic than People or Us Weekly. LeGrice describes the target audience as "the daughter of the woman who in the mid-70s would have started reading People." In other words, women in their twenties.

Second, the magazine is going to compete on the newsstand only. Bauer, which also publishes Woman's World and First for Women, is sticking with it very Euro circulation model and pursuing single-copy sales rather than investing in subscription acquisition. And it has used its clout with wholesalers to secure some very valuable real estate at supermarket checkouts: According to group publisher David Jackson In Touch is going into 80,000 front-end racks each week. Not too shabby for a start-up.

Last, In Touch lured advertisers into the premiere issue with an offer that was hard to refuse: complimentary ad space. Advertisers in the first issue included Reebok, Dove, Purina, and Lifetime Television. Lee Baker, an associate media director at Campbell-Mithun, says she talked one of her clients into taking the free space because "any new publication that's out there, if it's a relevant category, is worth investigating," she says. And Baker is fairly optimistic about In Touch's prospects when it actually charges for the space. "There might be a place for [the magazine]," she says.

There is, however, a fair share of disbeliveers. The launch - in which Bauer has invested $10 million - is ill-timed, say critics. Independent media-marketing consultant Harlan Schwarz says that most advertisers will have a wait-and-see attitude. "It's just a really bad time to be launching a magazine, especially in such a competitive category," says Schwartz. "I wonder if the train left the station before it was too late to stop it."

But Bauer executives say they're betting the sluggish economy will work for them - not against. The mag launched with an introductory cover price of $1 and will sell at $1.99 going forward. Recession-minded shoppers, they reason, might bypass People and Us Weekly, which sell at $3.29, for In Touch's lower sticker price. "When someone is standing there making a decision like 'Which one am I going to get?,' if you can get a top-quality publication for a lower price, it's a no-brainer," says Bauer's public relations manager, Suzanne Lyons.

And there just might be something to this. Last month, Norman Pearlstine, Time Inc.'s editor-in-chief, confirmed that his company was doing some preliminary research into launching a lower-priced celebrity tabloid - a product that sounds a lot like In Touch. Maybe People is checking in its rear-view mirror after all.