special report / health and well being magazines
As far as celebrities are concerned,
Novick agrees they have to be right and resonate with a large group of readers. “For example, we’ve had David Beckham on our international covers and they’ve sold very well wherever they’ve run: he’s a guy who epitomises the Men’s Health ideal – fit, healthy, successful, but emi- nently approachable and down-to-earth. It’s important to note that we were able to work with Beckham because of the global footprint of Men’s Health, which put him on covers in 21 countries. Not only are we capable of attracting top tier celebri- ties, but we work as a global network.”
Advertising Novick described the company’s advertis- ing as healthy. “Our US issues are reporting success (see box) and we’re looking for the trend to go global this year. While there has been softness in global ad mar- kets, we’re seeing signs of a turnaround. One example is Women’s Health Germa- ny which nearly doubled its budget for the Jan/Feb 2013 issue for ad pages. Advertising, meanwhile, was described
as “quite good”, by Murphy and “difficult” by de Saint Simon, who saw a 10 per cent dip last year, following the French magazine trend. “The forecast for the first few months of 2013 are positive,” he says, adding: “But as you know these months are slow.”
Social media Although the internet has played its part in declining circulation figures for the sector, it’s not all been bad news. Social media is contributing to health and fit- ness trends. “The greatest enduring trend is the socialisation of physical wellness,” says Lacy. “If you look back to when the fit- ness movement really exploded, it was driven by activities such as step aerobics classes that combined great workouts in a social atmosphere. Today, that social atmosphere could be a spin class or it could be comparing workouts with friends via social media apps or websites. “Technology is changing how we are
able to monitor our wellness throughout the day, enabling consumers, especially women, to track how they are doing on a daily or even hourly basis. The rise for example of products from companies such as Nike, as well as apps for mobile devices that monitor wellness throughout the day and help individuals set personal goals and challenges, is and will continue to change our ability to socially engage in this area. “For example, last year we launched an Express Workouts app ($1.99) from Fitness that has already been downloaded over 20,000 times and the brand’s mobile site consistently accumulates at least five mil- lion page views per month. The brand has also aggressively expand- ed across tablet platforms, including the iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, Nook and Next Issue Media among others.
fipp.com
Rodale is also seeing some interesting network activity across different countries. One example is the Men’s Health Global App. Says Novick: “By working together as a network, each country that Men’s Health is in will be able to produce the app, in their language. Our partners are getting access to a robust app built around the pil- lars of the magazine, that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to or would have cost 10x to produce. That’s the bonus of working with Rodale: we transfer ideas across the network and produce bet- ter quality products by working together. Digitally, this is especially exciting because our content lends itself so well to this type of product. It doesn’t feel forced; it’s what our consumers expect from us.” Psychologies’ online community is well- established, and has been thriving for years as like-minded people (80 per cent women) share views and interests. As a result it launched Psychologies cruises for its read- ers – a different and more mature form of socialising. Says Saint Simon: “I didn’t expect that type of revenue and profits from Psychologies! We hired someone to handle direct marketing at the company who has a lot of experience with cruises. He could see the potential. We have a large audience with money who are willing to meet and willing to learn.” The magazine’s demographic in France is upmarket women over 40 – the magazine has 2.6 million readers, with circula- tion still high at 350,000 copies. “At €4 it gives you an idea of the paradox of this magazine,
THE RIVER GROUP
» WEIGHT WATCHERS UK: Circulation 187,546 (ABC Jan-Jun 2012) +2.2 per cent against the previous period and -6.2 per cent YOY. (In terms of a market performance, the Women’s Health and Beauty sector showed a period-on-period decline of -0.6 per cent , and a YOY decline of -17.4 per cent.) Readership: 944,000 (NRS October 2011 - September 2012).
Germany: Circulation 102,635 (the most recent IVW fi gure – the ABC equivalent) +20 per cent YOY.
» HEALTHY UK: Circulation 130, 031 (Jan – June 2012). (The YOY trend across the sector is one of decline – with both Healthy and Zest reporting a YOY decline of -18 per cent and Top Sante a YOY decline of -9 per cent.)
» HEALTHY FOR MEN UK: Circulation 47,770 (Jan – June 2012) -23 per cent YOY.
which has the price of a deco magazine and the circulation of a large woman’s magazine,” points out de Saint Simon, underlining the fact that his clientele are not poor. The cruises cost €3,000-5,000. “This gave us a good basis to launch cruises – two and three a year – usually on a beautiful boat to an exotic or fascinat- ing place on a fascinating topic.” There are now plans to branch out into topical trips, which would accommodate more people. And there are plenty of people out there
looking for a more fulfilling life – the Psy- chologies website has almost 2 million uniques and coming up for 100,000 fans on Facebook. The iPhone app is one of the mar- ket leaders, according to de Saint Simon.
Expansion The encouraging thing about the sec- tor is that stagnant or sliding sales are not stymieing innovation. New markets, new platforms and new business models are keeping the motor running. Although River is limited by its licensed status – and can only launch Weight Watchers magazine in countries where there already is a “brand footprint” it has plans for its own titles. “We are doing extensions with our own titles and there are plans to move Healthy into a new market this year,” says Murphy. Murphy also has an eye on vertical maga-
zines: “If you look at the ABCs for vertical market fitness magazines – like Running – they always hold up in difficult market conditions, because people have an interest and they don’t stop having it because they have less money. It’s been an expanding
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