Haymarket enters women’s market

by MediaWeek, Media Week 18-Jan-05, 06:45

Haymarket has signalled that it intends to maove into the women’s market with the purchase of the glossy monthly Eve .

The sale, by BBC Worldwide, comes just two months after BBC director-general Mark Thompson announced a massive restructuring of the Beeb, including a slimming down of its magazine portfolio.

Eve was one of the titles considered to be outside the remit of BBC Worldwide’s business as it had no tie-in with BBC programming or events.

This is the first foray for Haymarket into the glossy women’s monthly sector. The publisher is most well known for its business-to-business and specialist titles, but does have consumer credentials with the likes of Stuff and Four-Four-Two .

Eric Verdon-Roe, Haymarket group managing director, said: “We’ve been hankering after the women’s market for a long time.

To start a women’s magazine from scratch was always too daunting and too risky, so, when we had the opportunity to acquire one, we jumped at it.”

He added: “We aim for Eve to be the flagship of a new woman's interest group.”

Eve will now sit in the Haymarket portfolio as its largest circulating magazine. It’s last ABC figures saw it circulating 150,064 copies.

Eve ’s move to Haymarket, rather than one of the more established women’s titles publishers, provoked a response of surprise among agencies.

“Print is full of surprises at the moment. I would’ve thought Eve would go to one of the other women’s magazine publishers – Emap or IPC,” said Alex Randall, press director at Vizeum.

All of Eve ’s staff will be moving over from BBC Worldwide to Haymarket, something Randall believes will help establish the new women’s portfolio.

“If they’re bringing the same sales team over with the title, there’s no reason that it can’t work very well for Haymarket,” he added.

Dan Wood, senior planner/ buyer in the press department at MediaCom, said: “It did raise a few eyebrows here. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see they don’t have the credentials in lifestyle magazines, but they’re a good company and I see no reason why they couldn’t make a success of it.”

He added: “Hopefully, they’ll bring a new slant to the marketplace.

It’d be welcome from our angle.”

By James Livesley

New look for New Woman

Emap Elan, the women’s and youth division of the magazine publisher, has announced its glossy women’s monthly, New Woman , is to relaunch.

The April issue will be the first with the new look and coincides with appointment of creative director Lottie Berridge, who has relaunch credentials with both FHM and Heat magazines.

Augusta Barnes, publisher of New Woman, said: “The new-look New Woman will deliver a gorgeous, witty and celebratory magazine, reaffirming its position in the monthly market and complementing the rest of Emap’s women’s magazine portfolio.”

New Woman sells 290,913 per month according to January-June 2004 ABCs and is part of the same portfolio as More, Bliss and Top Santé