Launch-0-Rama

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Sept 1, 2004 by Rachel Lehmann-Haupt

Byline: Rachel Lehmann-Haupt

The fall will bring more launches from major publishers than we've seen in years. It's either a sign that the advertising economy is truly recovering or more evidence that magazine publishers are desperate for new growth vehicles. Or it's a little of both. Whatever the reason, this fall will bring the biggest flood of magazine launches from top consumer publishers in memory. "Never before - and I have been tracking this since 1978 - have I seen so many," says Samir Husni, Hederman lecturer and professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi. "The big guns are wheeling out the heavy ammunition."

The biggest of the big guns - Time Inc. - is deploying an impressive array of new products, a half-dozen in all, ranging from the revived Life (which will appear as a newspaper supplement) to Suede, a fashion magazine for African Americans. Time began to roll out new books over the summer, starting with Your Diet, a diet book from People that had a soft launch in July and will appear again in October. The company hasn't decided whether to commit to a full schedule yet. In August, Time inaugurated its effort to woo the Bauer Publishing demographic (women who buy $1.99 magazines) with All You, its all-Wal-Mart lifestyle book which blares a $1.47 price on the cover. September brings Life and Cottage Living, the long-awaited shelter book. Another fall launch is Find, a magazine about antiques and collectibles, that sprang from a column in This Old House and a TV show.

If there is a trend in the new launches, it's not a new one: The shopping mag, apparently, is here to stay. Conde Nast, which got the ball rolling with Lucky, the "it" book of 2003, has already scored again with Cargo, which will go from six times this year to 10 times in 2005 when the rate base will rise from 300,000 to 350,000. The fashion powerhouse is also readying a third magalog called Domino, which will be dedicated to home furnishings.

Now, the clones are rushing in. Conde's sister division, Fairchild Publications, is preparing its own man shopper, Vitals, which is a spin-off of Details. Hearst's twist on Lucky is Shop Etc, which debuts with a September issue and differentiates itself (Hearst says) by covering everything in home, fashion and beauty for the "new luxury" consumer between the ages of 25 and 49. It even includes fancy cleaning supplies.

"The whole idea is recognizing that demographics no longer define luxury consumers," says Cindy Lewis, Shop Etc's publisher. "What is luxury to one consumer is not luxury to another. It's why prices can no longer drive what luxury is, but rather how a brand positions itself." Mandi Norwood, the former editor of Mademoiselle, edits the magazine. "Women love to shop and want a magazine that presents only the best new products in a lush-but-approachable format," she says. The premier issue features 97 advertising pages from fashion, home, beauty and other merchandise categories. Advertisers include Estee Lauder, Saks, Prada and Home Depot. It will be published three times in 2004 and will increase its frequency to 10 issues in 2005. The ratebase is 400,000.

At Time Inc.'s Southern Progress, the message for fall - and beyond, of course - is comfort. Three years after the devastation of 9/11, says Steve Bohlinger, the publisher of Southern Progress's Cottage Living magazine, Americans are still looking for a safe and cozy haven from a sometimes scary world. The word "cottage" evokes that kind of comfort and, Bohlinger says, has proven to sell magazines. "People are returning to the dinner table with family and friends, and the warmth and comfort of home has become the heart of what they really want," says Bohlinger. Cottage Living will cover decorating, gardening, entertaining, and food and travel, all from a casual and comfortable viewpoint, says Eleanor Griffin, who will be editor-in-chief. The initial ratebase is 500,000. Bohlinger thinks the key on the business side is ad diversity and the launch issue shows it with ads from auto, pharmaceutical as well as the usual appliance and furniture makers.

Two fall debuts you won't see are Gruner & Jahr's Gala and American Media's shelter book, which Editorial Director Bonnie Fuller said would be aimed at women who can't afford their own decorators. The projects have been back-burnered for now. (AMI is not technically out of the launch sweepstakes: It's remaking Autoworld as MPH, a car/laddie mag.) Meanwhile, American Media rival Bauer Publishing, which is chasing Star and Us Weekly with In Touch, is moving ahead with its own ambitious fall launch: Life & Style. The prototype seems loosely modeled on Time's InStyle, according to those who have seen it. The weekly is intended to complement InTouch by focusing on the lifestyles of celebrities (houses and clothes), rather than their weight, career and substance-abuse problems.