Bauer sees teen market as a Snap!

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, June 1, 1997 by Tony Case

After months of industry speculation, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey-based Bauer Publishing announced in May that it will launch a teen title in the fall. Snap! is aimed at young women ages 14 to 19, and will go up against such well-established names as K-III Magazines' Seventeen, Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing's YM and Petersen Publishing's 'Teen. Bauer hopes to have Snap!- with a $2.99 cover price--on newsstands by September 2.

Snap!'s editor in chief Lisa Lombardi joined Bauer last month from G+J, where she was executive editor of YM. She was previously senior editor of Child.

Some might argue that the category is getting crowded: Weider Publishing is launching Jump in September, and Time Inc. is developing a People spin-off aimed at the teen market. Time Inc.'s start-up, which is being headed by ex- YM editor in chief Christine Ferrari, is expected to launch sometime next year.

Lombardi, however, is confident there's room for more teen magazines. "It's a booming demographic," she says. "There are tons of titles out there for adult women, but it's amazing how few there really are for teenagers. I think the competition will make the category much more exciting."

Snap! will cover much of the same editorial terrain as its competition--fashion, entertainment, dating and, increasingly, celebrity news--but Lombardi believes that the upstart will be a stand-out. "YM and Seventeen are extremely successful--they have a formula that works for them. But the feedback I get from girls is chat those magazines just don't resonate," she explains. "We want to encourage feedback from our readers, and to incorporate what they say into the magazine."

Snap! will be published bimonthly at first, but there are plans to go to a monthly frequency with next April's issue. The initial pressrun is set at 600,000. Bauer recently launched the soap opera title Soaps in Depth, and also publishes Soap Opera Update, First for Women and Woman's World.