Healthy ad growth for consumer titles

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Sept, 1989 by Michael Garry

Healthy ad growth for consumer titles

New York City--The first half of 1989 appears to be the best in memory for many women's titles--especially the Seven Sisters. All but one, Redbook, reported ad page increases to the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). And most gains were sizable--22.5 percent for recently sold McCall's and 25.3 percent for Ladies' Home Journal. The Journal, for one, marked its best ad performance in 40 years.

Overall, it was a healthy first half for the 166 consumer titles currently reporting to PIB. Advertising pages increased to 87,269, an improvement of 4.4 percent over the first half of 1988--the exact percentage growth in pages enjoyed by 156 magazines in the first half of 1988.

Magazine advertising revenues, too, increased to $3.2 billion, up 12.4 percent over the first half of last year. PIB, however, bases revenue totals on page counts, and does not figure in discounts or negotiated rates.

For the first time, the top three revenue-producing magazines--Time, Sports Illustrated and People Weekly, registering a six-month total of more than half a billion dollars--were all published by the same company, Time Inc. (Those titles, however, are all part of Time Inc.'s free-page MaxPlan.) Sixteen of the 50 top revenue producers registered revenue gains of over 20 percent, led by Vanity Fair's 58 percent increase.

Deserting TV

The return of the Seven Sisters seems largely due to the increasing fragmentation of television audiences brought about by cable stations. To reach a truly massive audience of women, advertisers have been returning not only to McCall's and Ladies' Home Journal, but to Family Circle (up 13.8 percent, to 992 pages); Good Housekeeping (up 4.6 percent, to 778 pages); Better Homes & Gardens (up 5.6 percent, to 735 pages); and Woman's Day (up 12.8 percent, to 879 pages).

Launched last year, Lear's improved significantly on its early days, with a 160.1 percent gain, to 319 ad pages. Ms., a frequent ad page loser in recent years, boosted pages by 10.3 percent and ad revenue by 30.9 percent. The only women's title showing considerable losses was Shape, down 22.4 percent in pages.

The picture was less sanguine, however, for women's fashion titles. Elle's sensational ad growth of the past few years has slowed; ad pages grew only 2.3 percent, to 1,038, in the first half. Vogue boosted pages 3.3 percent, to 1,510; Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, and Mademoiselle all lost ad pages.

Men's titles also did well in the first half, led by Esquire, which grew by 15.3 percent, to 802 ad pages. Gentlemen's Quarterly's ad pages rose 9.4 percent, to 1,005, and the two major "sophisticate" titles--Playboy and Penthouse--increased pages by 18.8 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively. Gallery, however, was down 14 percent in pages. Fashion title M also slipped 4 percent in pages.

Desperately seeking travelers

Perhaps outstripping the women's category were the major travel titles, none of which reported declines. Conde Nast Traveler led the field with a 51.3 percent gain, to 461 ad pages (a 74.0 percent gain in ad revenue), followed by National Geographic Traveler, up 32.2 percent, and Endless Vacation, up 30.8 percent in ad pages. Other titles boosting pages were Travel & Leisure, up 11.1 percent; European Travel & Life, up 9.9 percent; and Travel Holiday, up 6.1 percent. In the past few years, most travel books have successfully pursued upscale consumer advertisers, as well as traditional travel and resort advertisers.

Among other magazine groups, gains and losses were more evenly divided. In each of three major categories--shelter, business and general interest--10 magazines gained ad pages, while eight lost.

Country Home led the shelter category, with an ad-page gain of 41.2 percent, to 225 pages, followed by Midwest Living's increase of 25.7 percent. Metropolitan Home continued its hot streak by boosting pages 17.1 percent and revenues 28.6 percent. Advertisers were less generous with Practical Homeowner, which fell 43.6 percent in pages, and HG, down 21.2 percent.

Among the business books, Entrepreneur proved a major success, increasing ad pages 53.1 percent, to 904, and revenue 88.1 percent, to $6.8 million. Recently sold competitor Venture, meanwhile, has gone the other way, losing 31.2 percent in pages and 20.9 percent in revenue.

The big three--Forbes, Fortune and Business Week--all grew in pages, 6.5 percent, 14.3 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. But other, more specialized business titles struggled in the first half. High Technology Business slumped by 42.9 percent in pages; Manhattan, inc. fell 25.1 percent; and recently folded Sylvia Porter's Personal Finance dropped 18.1 percent from the first half of 1988.

Several stars appeared in the general interest category: Vanity Fair maintained its strong performance with a 27.4 percent gain, to 628 pages. Life also maintained its stride, picking up 34.3 percent, to 408 pages. And Premiere led with a 50.3 percent page gain. Reader's Digest, however, suffered a 14.1 percent page loss.