[TX]Mike Soutar is probably best known for his part in one of the bloodiest battles media-land has seen in recent years.
The launch of Nuts and Zoo back in January 2004 was "hand-to-hand combat at the news-stand", he recalls - "a vicious fight" between their respective publishers IPC and Emap.
Whether the formula of "photoshoots of women using their hands as brassieres" added an edifying element to British men's reading habits is debatable.
What they certainly did was irrevocably shake up the men's magazine market, stealing share from monthly counterparts such as FHM and Loaded in a market that continues to shed readers as fast as its magazines' cover stars shed their clothes.
Now there is to be a new competitor for men's attention. Soutar's latest venture, launched with his old muckers from IPC, Phil Hilton and Karl Marsden, is a free weekly magazine hoping to capitalise on the deepening divide between the mainstream lads' mags and glossy "quality" magazines such as GQ and Esquire.
Magazine launch
To be launched on 20 September, ShortList (the working title) will, says Soutar emphatically, eschew scantily clad girls and adolescent humour to provide both readers and advertisers with something offering the reach of the mainstream magazines with the classy environment of the glossies.
"At the moment, men are embarrassed to read lots of what's available in public," he says. "Women will be part of the mix - it's a magazine for men and men are interested in women - but there will certainly be no nipples. I can cast-iron guarantee there will be no nudity and no profanity."
The strategy, borne out of research by Soutar's consultancy Crash Test Media, is for a weekly magazine featuring a mix of style, news, sport and business aimed at ABC1 men in the golden 18 to 35 age bracket so desired by advertisers.
"It's not rocket science," admits Soutar. "When you look at the opportunity that advertisers have to reach this valuable male audience, they are pretty limited. Advertisers in men's weeklies are there because of the scale, but they don't like the environment, and those in upmarket glossy monthlies would like the scale, thank you very much. We feel we can offer both those things in tandem."
While the strategy is hard to argue with on paper, Soutar acknowledges that what really matters is the execution - and he believes he has the perfect team to pull it off.
Some are sceptical about whether the team behind Nuts and Loaded have the credentials to pull off a more erudite offering and, recalling that the original blueprint for Nuts was somewhat different to what eventually emerged, wonder if ShortList may go the same way.
No way, says Soutar. Firstly, he points out, Hilton was responsible for launching Men's Health in the UK, one of the few men's titles to be expanding its readership. And as for following the lads' mag route, he insists it would "defy logic".
"It wouldn't make any commercial sense for us to abandon our principles and suddenly rush downmarket," he reasons. "It's not what our readers want; it's not what advertisers want."
Being free "liberates" them from the pressure of the news-stand, he argues, but it also means that the advertising will have to flow in. Soutar, however, is confident the appeal of upscale young men is a sufficient lure.
Sweet spot
But the 18 to 35 age bracket - what he calls "the sweet spot" - is a broad church. How can one magazine hope to appeal to a sixth-former and an executive?
"There's a real golden age in the mid to late 20s when, as a man, you're at the height of your game," he says. "At 18, you're aspiring and you know that's all coming. When you're older, you wish you were there again. If you talk about targeting, the life stage we're targeting is that guy, at the height of his powers."
There is, of course, already a free magazine vying for that guy's attention. Soutar claims the success of Sport, which launched in September last year, encouraged him to plough ahead with his own project and magnanimously believes there's room for both to thrive.
"Hopefully they will see this as a fantastic opportunity," he says. "Hopefully we are going to make a market. As far as product goes, it is very different. They are very focused on sport - our mix is much broader."
He predicts other players - quite possibly the likes of Emap and IPC - will be quick to pile in if the plan pays off, noting: "You never know, I might be surprised and they might well be launching something." Could this have the makings of the next bloody magazine showdown?
CV
2006 Founding director, Crash Test Media
2003 Group editorial director, IPC Media
2000 Managing director, IPC Ignite!
1999 Editor-in-chief, Maxim US, Dennis
1997 Managing director, Kiss FM, Emap
1994 Editor, FHM, Emap
1990 Reporter rising to editor, Smash Hits!, Emap.
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