Media on trial: Look

by Frances Ralston-Good, Media Week 06-Feb-07

Magazine: Look Publisher: IPC

IPC, true to its "cradle to the grave" policy, has launched a new title to fill a gap in its portfolio. Look will benefit from the painful ground-breaking work that Emap's Grazia did in bringing blue-chip fashion brands into the women's weekly market.

It seems that IPC has also learnt from Grazia's struggles to break even and added the very commercially minded twist that the title will be mass - or "accessible" in media speak - in its targeting. This is demonstrated by IPC's decision to lead on high-street fashion content, rather than the more aspirational labels carried by Grazia.

There has been a blanket sampling campaign including a free copy in thelondonpaper and high-street retailers, followed up by an aggressive cover price of £1.30 (undercutting Grazia by 50p).

But this title is no cheap date: in terms of content, Look ticks all the boxes. It has the weight and look of a proper glossy and, while the real fast fashion elements aren't really new (just cheaper than elsewhere), they are always welcome, as it's very frustrating to go to the shop to look for clothes that are not available for months.

I have to admit that the healthy slice of quite hard-hitting real-life journalism in the middle of the book seems a bit too scary for a weekly title targeted at the "average young woman in her freedom years", but the life consultancy section at the back is a nice way to complement the independent spirit of the reader.

IPC has spotted an opportunity and launched a high-quality product that mainstream advertisers will love. But it will need to be much better than the current best to achieve the kind of circulation required to make cover price revenues and advertising a hit.

- Review by Frances Ralston-Good, Business director, PHD.