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Magazine launches & events 2002 Back to launches

Magazines listed by cover date with most recent at top. Also with alphabetic links to magazines on the right. 
Digital Camera launch cover   Digital Camera
November. Future, Bath; £4.99; 132 pages + gatefold. Editor: Nick Merritt
Complex double cover with gatefold and fold-out card. 2 cover discs plus buying tips cards. Square format: 266w x 300mm. Promise to readers in editorial policy
Future profile 
    Ministry - closes
December: Ministry of Sound, London; £3.95; 156 pages. Editor: Ollie Quain. 
This is the last issue panel with Editor's letter
www.ministryofsound.com
    X-Ray
Contract title by Swinstead, London, for Xfm radio station; £2.50; 132 pages. Editor: Rich Sutcliffe. 
"The music of tomorrow." With free CD on card backing; handbag-sized. Issue 2 in Feb 03; then monthly
Customer magazine publishers profiled
Magazine industry sectors
    Snug [closed soon after launch]
Nov/Dec 2002; Licensed Publishing, London; £3.50; 116 pages. Editor: Nick Bradshaw. 
The catchline 'A haven for drinkers and thinkers' calls readers to this title, which the editor describes as 'a magazine from a pub'. Its menu of sport, politics, religion, health, fashion and travel is a refreshing change from the bimbo-infested launches of the past decade. Jarvis Cocker is the cover interviewee. Support from the Just Customer Communication agency is acknowledged in the form of a double-page spread advert (www.justcomm.net) www.snugmag.com
Men's magazines case study 
   

Travelspirit 
Winter 2002; contract title for ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) by Absolute Publishing, London; £2.95; 308 pages. Editors: April Hutchinson and Maria Pieri. 
‘Your guide to great holidays.’ Has the feel, in terms of production values, of a brochure. A report in Media Week said that the publisher hoped to turn the bi-annual magazine, which had a print run of 80,000, into a monthly publication 
www.abtatravelspirit.com
www.absolutepublishing.com
Holidays and travel magazines
    Car Buyer  [closed soon after]
November 2002; Wordzone Automotive, Farnham, Surrey; £3.50; 196 pages + 1/2 cover. Editor: Chris Rees. 
Incorporating Car Import Guide. How to buy cars rather than just about the nasty things themselves 
www.carbuyermagazine.co.uk - link goes to website squatter
Car magazines case study
   

Woman's Own - gatefold cover 
October 7; IPC Connect, London; 70p; 60 pages + gatefold; Editor: Elsa McAlonan 
Gatefold very unusual on a weekly: 'Our biggest cover ever!' Invited the 'sexiest' stars of Emmerdale to covershoot celebrating 30 years of the television soap. Lucky number 0906 competition on cover. Possible reaction to Closer launch a week earlier www.ipcmedia.com
Women's weeklies case study
Closer magazine: launch issue   Closer 
28 Sept-4 October; Emap Elan, London; £1; 100 pages. Editor-in-chief: Ian Birch; Editor Jane Johnson. Celebrity weekly with television listings. Main cover line about Kate Winslett (why she may never marry lover Sam Mendes); George Clooney and true life stories. Second issue had: 'Caught in the act [shopping in a supermarket]: Liz Hurley: What she really eats' 
www.closermag.co.uk
Women's weeklies case study
    Spirit & Destiny 
October; H Bauer, London; £2.80; 124 pages; Editor Elayne DeLaurian. 
With eight-page booklet: Beginner's Guide to Crystals
Bauer profile 
   

Good Housekeeping - 80th anniversary
October; National Magazines, London; £2.80; 356 pages. Editor-in-chief: Lindsay Nicholson 
Guest editor and cover model Twiggy. Gold ink for masthead
www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk
Women's monthlies profiled
    Harpers Business (free with Harpers & Queen) 
No cover date; National Magazines, London; free; 100 pages. Editor: Harriet Green 
H&Q: October; £3.30. 342 + 2 pages (gatefold). Editor Lucy Yeomans 
Included 80p coupon for October Good Housekeeping (80th anniversary). Also gold metallic card insert for Chanel No 5 perfume
Women's monthlies profiled
www.harpersandqueen.co.uk
    Travel Photography 
September/October; Guild of Master Craftsmen Publications, Lewes, Sussex; £3.25; 102 pages (including front cover gatefold). Editor Keith Wilson. 
'Discovering the world through your lens' 
   

Tate magazine
September/October; Conde Nast contract magazine for Tate galleries, London; £4, 110 pages. Editor: Robert Voilette 
First contract launch for Conde Nast. Bi-monthly aims to 'reflect Tate's own dynamic attitude towards the visual arts'.
Customer magazine publishers profiled
Magazine industry sectors
Conde Nast profile 
www.tate.org.uk
Total Digital Photography magazine: first issue   Total Digital Photography 
September; Archant, Wendons Ambo, Essex; £3.40; 108 pages; Editor Simon Joinson. 
With 16-page beginner's guide in double-pocket, A3 plastic wallet. £6,000 kit competition. Press Gazette reported the print run in excess of 60,000. It also said that Joinson, who launched What Digital Camera for IPC, claimed it would be more of a direct rival to Emap’s Digital Photo and Paragon’s Digital Photography Made Easy
www.totaldp.com
    Menswear - closes 
September; EMAP Communications, London; £5; 60 pages; Editor Peter Barton. 
After 100 years, the changing nature of the fashion industry, with few designers now specialising in just men's or women's clothing, led to Menswear being merged with Draper's Record from October 12 
Men's magazines case study 
    Hachette buys Attic Futura and splits with Emap 
August. In July, Press Gazette had reported Emap chief executive Robin Miller writing to leading French publisher Hachette Filipacchi Medias to give notice of its intention to break up the jointly owned company that published Elle. This followed Hachette announcing its intention to buy Attic Futura, the UK arm of the Australian publisher PMP, which publishes teenage and TV titles such as B, Sugar and TV Hits. As well as losing the fashion glossy, Hachette took back Elle Decoration and Elle Girl. In an auction between the two, Hachette also outbid Emap for the rights to Red, launched by the joint company in 1998. The French group has licensed 35 overseas versions of Elle, 19 of Elle Decoration and two of Elle Girl (UK and US). 
Emap profile
Attic Futura profile
Hachette Filipacchi profile
   

John Brown Citrus wins Sky contract
June. John Brown Citrus wrested the contract to publish satellite broadcaster Sky’s customer magazine, the UK's highest circulating magazine (5,183,964 copies according to the ABC) from Redwood Publishing - and established itself as the biggest company in the field. Media Week said plans for the magazine could include a standalone Premiership football supplement, and that chief executive Andrew Hirsch wanted the title to be comparable, in design and editorial, to the best consumer titles - a strategy that had been the foundation of Redwood's success in establishing the contract sector in the mid-1980s. 
Redwood Publishing profile
Customer magazine publishers profiled
Magazine industry sectors
   

Personal Trainer for Women 
May/June; Vitality Publishing, Sutton; £2.99; 84 pages; Editor: Christina Neal 
Successful launch from a new company to create a niche in the women's health sector.

In 2006, Vitality Publishing and Personal Trainer for Women were sold to Trojan Publishing and the title was relaunched as Women's Fitness.
www.vitalitypublishing.com
    Bogey 
May. Media Cell, London: £3.50; 164 pages; Editor Steve Muncey.
Another style-driven glossy golf magazine. 'Old game, new breed.' No website. bogey@themediacell.com 
    Bliss - relaunch in 'handbag' format 
May. Emap Elan, London; £1.75; 240 pages. Editor: Helen Johnston. Relaunch for teen title in A5 format.  Cover gift: see-through plastic bag. www.blissmag.co.uk
    Putt  [since closed]
May (no cover date), Tank Publications, London; £5 (issue 2 £4); 124 pages; Editor-in-chief: Greg Stogdon. 
Describing itself as 'The neon golf DTi', 'new swinger in town', 'Golf and more', this is really fashion for golfers (think Line for golf). All pretence of cool thrown out of the window, though, by celebrity photoshoot with Bobby Davro, Jimmy Hill, Tarbuck, etc. Even if it did feature a can of Pocari Sweat elsewhere. Pringle catalogue on cover of issue 2 in form of animated flick book. One of the more annoying websites - all interface and little thought for the user: www.tankmagazine.com
Jack magazine: first issue  

Jack    [since sold to Dennis then closed]
Spring/Summer; IFG, London; £2.50; 202 pages; Editor-in-Chief James Brown. 
‘Handbag’ A5 format. ‘An orgy of war, animals, fashion, genius and cool.’ ‘Another great British men’s mag with lions instead of lager.’ Illustrated cover closely based on a poster for the 1958 science-fiction film Attack of the 50ft Woman
IFG profile
www.jackmagazine.co.uk
www.jackthemag.co.uk (subs)
Men's magazines case study 
Intersection first issue cover   Intersection 
Spring; Studio 9, London; £3.50; 226 pages; Editor-in-Chief Dan Ross 
Wallpaper for car enthusiasts. From the Dazed Group, publishers of Dazed &  Confused and Another Magazine. Still going in 2006
www.intersectionmagazine.com
    Sneak [closed August 2006]
30 April. Emap Performance Pop, London. 68 pages; 90p. Editor: Jennifer Cawthron.
Eye-popping, gossip, saucy secrets, revelations from ‘teenage Heat’. Had been called Project Monkey. Extensive sampling strategy: free copy given away the previous week with Smash Hits; sample copy in December with Bliss. Website had been
www.sneakmagazine.com but this redirected to http://www.myspace.com/sneakmagazine (still live June 2007).
   

It's Hot (incorporating Live and Kicking)
April. BBC magazines, London. £1.80. 68 pages. Editor: Peter Hart
Aiming to sell to 9 to 13-year-old girls ('tweenagers'). Free alarm clock on cover with bands’ faces (4 to collect). Sample issue given away with previous month's Live and Kicking, which folded in to the new title
BBC Magazines profile
    Cosmopolitan - 30th anniversary
March; National Magazines, London; £2.95; 100pp; Editor Norman Wright 
Celebrated 30 years 'at number 1' in display packaging with a supplement full of 'bad-girl sex stories' and pin-ups, and a competition with £100,000 in prizes (from a £2 phone call) 
Nat Mags profile
   

Wish ( closed in July)
March; Redwood customer magazine for WH Smith, London; £1; 100pp (plus 20-page A6 pull-out on new releases); Editor Deborah Bee 
Controversial launch of lifestyle title from UK's biggest magazine retailer in competition with publishers. Followed range of one-offs produced for WHS by contract publisher TPD a couple of years before. Could be read from either end: 16-page 'upside-down' kids' section at the back with own cover. Page of discount vouchers. wish@whsmithonline.co.uk 
Redwood Publishing profile
Customer magazine publishers profiled
Magazine industry sectors

    Your Money
Spring; published for The Daily Telegraph by Haymarket, London; £3.50; 124pp; Editor Ian Cowie 
'The new plain-speaking personal finance magazine' approved by the Plain English Campaign www.moneytelegraph.co.uk
    Money
Feb; Financial Mail on Sunday, London; £2.50; 100pp; Editor Claire Oldfield 
'Saving, spending and investing: your essential guide to managing cash'. Kirsty Wark, 'Newsnight queen' (reference to her role as presenter of BBC TV's news programme), on the cover. money@mailonsunday.co.uk
Mail on Sunday profile 
    Wine World [closed]
Jan/Feb; (uncertain frequency: 2nd issue Jan 24); Wine World Publishing, Uppingham, Rutland; £2.95; 100pp; Editor Norman Wright 
'For the pleasure of wine.' With French wine calendar strapped on. Clearly stated editorial policy: 
  • help you get better value for money in the wine you drink; 
  • increase your knowledge and enjoyment of wine; 
  • make sure you know the best supermarket buys. 
E-mail: norman.pinp@talk21.com
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 Updated June 2007