to health and well- ness is also threaded across all our brands and prod- ucts. As for new trends: we are seeing changes in the ways
that we define and perceive aging; more holistic, balanced approaches to health and treatments; and an ever-increasing willingness to care for our health – regard- less of age, gender or background.”
Competition Where the US goes, others follow and these are already trends well and truly cemented in Europe. But there is a danger of too much information – and the bulk is not coming from the magazine industry. “Health as an information area has been
scooped up into a number of lifestyle publications,” says Nicola Murphy CEO of The River Group, UK. “And, as with a lot of magazines, information is very accessible on the internet. This has had a detrimen- tal effect on circulation. The other reason is economics. People used to buy three magazines a month now they buy one. But the UK magazine market isn’t saturated. When we launched Healthy as a paid-for title 13 years ago there were ten paid-for titles in the market. There are fewer now.”
RODALE SALES
Rodale Brands are up +17 per cent in March YOY across all brands and four Rodale brands are up YOY and pacing to celebrate
their
highest March issues in fi ve+ years: The company has 92 health and fi tness editions in 65 countries. » Men’s Health (+7 per cent vs. March ’09; +5.2 per cent YOY) » Women’s Health (+43 per cent vs. March ’09; +32.7 per cent YOY) » Runner’s World (+14 per cent vs. March ’09; +19.6 per cent YOY) » Bicycling (+6 per cent vs. March ’08; +30 per cent YOY).
ADVERTISING » Women’s Health had its best Q1 ever at 148.27 pages which is a 25 per cent gain compared to Q1 2012; Women’s Health also had its best January ever (71.96 pages, +16.6 per cent YOY). » Runner’s World experienced its best Q1 performance since 2008 with a +4 per cent increase over Q1 2012 (141.15 pages). » Men’s Health’s Q1 is +12 per cent above Q1 2012 at 140 pages.
This pool of general health information is one that French title Psychologies avoids, according to its group president Arnaud de Saint Simon: “We can’t really compare Psy- chologies to the health market. The focus for our readers is to have a very fulfill- ing life, to know themselves better and to improve their relationships through spiritu- ality and philosophy. Obviously wellbeing is a key-element because it’s not possible to have a fulfilling life if you are not at ease with yourself. Should it be your weight, should it be your energy or should it be the way you deal with your health issues? So our focus on the body, which is maybe 20 per cent of the magazine, is really help- ing readers to love and accept it. To treat
their body gently – in the most natural and respectful way – so they can take respon- sibility for their health. It’s very different from a health magazine where, usually, doc- tors speak and the magazine gives tips. “In the French market, the reason that
Psychologies has sustained a high level of circulation while other health magazines have lost almost half of their circulation in the past ten year is that the practi- cal information is all on the web today. Our approach, which is not practical but helping people to have a better rela- tionship between body and mind, sits more with the future of magazines.” Rob Novick, SVP of international, Rodale, also sees people muscling in on his patch