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Why lads’ mags will survive

Posted in Media, Marketing, Branwell Johnson, Latest reporters' blogs August 15th, 2008 by Branwell Johnson

Maxim, Loaded, FHM and their ilk are struggling to stay afloat, even without the broadside from a Conservative MP condemning them for destroying family values.

The latest ABC data has presented a woeful set of figures for the lads’ mags. Even FHM, which saw a slight gain last period, is down by 11 per cent. Loaded and Maxim have both taken a real hit, down 17.1 per cent and 44.5 per cent respectively.

It’s interesting to see Dennis Publishing put out a release that stated that Maxim accounted for less than 3 per cent of Dennis’ business in the UK. Almost as if the publisher was disowning the title?

But does this mean these titles face an uncertain future? I think not. IPC, Dennis and Bauer are all making great play about how these brands are proving magnets online for a particularly tough segment to target – the male 18 to 24-year-old demographic. That’s a group that traditionally does not watch much TV or listen to much radio and have always been seen as hard to reach. But they are online in big numbers.

The print titles keep the brand front of mind on the newsstand and the magazines are almost approaching the status now of a marketing tool – a shop window for the brand (I think the same of the NME, by the way). Also, some of the clients that advertise in the print products really don’t have that many alternatives, for instance the tight restrictions on TV advertising and alcohol must spur some drinks’ brands into using the mags.

So, the circulation figures may be slimmer than some of the models featured in the pages but I don’t think it’s over for the lads’ mags yet.

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