Mizz's new owner Panini relaunches title with debut site

by Jennifer Whitehead, Brand Republic 07-Sep-06, 08:00

LONDON - Mizz magazine's new owner, Panini UK, is launching the first website for the title as well as giving it a new look.

The first new-look edition appears today and features Paris Hilton on the cover. It has been redesigned after consumer research and has a new logo. It will now be perfect bound and in A4 size. Each issue will be carry a covermount.

Editorial-wise, there will be gossip, puzzles, real-life stories and a section of "cringes". Panini, which acquired Mizz from IPC in March this year, will continue to publish the title fortnightly.

The new website Mizz.com also goes live today, with sections being added in phases. It will carry similar content to the magazine along with competition.

In the last set of ABC figures, covering January to June 2006, Mizz showed a decline of 0.5% in circulation compared with the second half of 2005, selling an average 60,130 copies an issue.

It was an exceptionally tough period for the teenage girls magazine sector, as readers invest their time and pocket money in sites like MySpace and Bebo, and in mobile phone downloads.

Since January, Emap has closed two of its teen titles, Smash Hits and Sneak, and the market-leading magazines Sugar and Bliss have each lost a fifth of their circulations.

Mike Riddell, managing director of Panini UK, said: "We expect the new-look Mizz to bring in a new wave of young readers attracted by the fresh look of Mizz, the aspirational content, the strong cover mounting programme and the launch of the new Mizz website."

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