Gordon's Republic

Gordon Macmillan

I put the phrase "men's magazine" in quotes as, while it might put a lot of copies on the streets every Thursday, it is handed out to or taken by (there is a subtle difference), just about every soul who passes - meaning its distribution is indiscriminate.

That might not be a huge problem, but it is something of a problem if you are trying to tell advertisers that by buying space in your title they can reach young men aged 18-34.

This morning on my Piccadilly line train winding its way from North London to Baron's Court I saw it being read by at least a couple of women (clearly attracted by the pugnacious picture of Sylvester Stallone on the cover) and a number of other people who were not part of the youth market that advertisers are targeting.

Part of the problem is you cannot stop people reaching and taking the title even if they clearly do not fit the demographic. That is part of nature of free distribution. Besides imagine the ugly scene that could ensue.

Shortlist is refuting some of this anecdotal evidence about who the magazine is handed to and online research carried out by media and research consultancy Human Capital (done over a 3-4 week period with 854 responses) claimed that 86% of its readers are male and 82% are ABC1 and that the average age is 30.

It isn't, of course, a problem handing out the magazine to everyone who passes, but if that is the case, then more copies need to be on the street overall to account for those being read by people that advertisers are not looking to speak to.

As it is, the 460,000 that Shortlist is expected to report today as its ABC will have to be sliced and diced.

It might well be true that 200,000 more copies are given away each week than say Nuts or Zoo sell, but the guarantee to advertisers is that these people make active decisions to pick up those titles.

We already know that the value placed on them is different anyway. Many people do not hold onto their copy of Shortlist in the same way that they would for a magazine they have paid for like FHM, GQ or Nuts (although why you would want to own the latter is beyond me…but that is another debate).

In fact there are many reasons to hold onto Shortlist longer than you would the Metro. The content is good, the captions are funny, although the quality does seem to vary. Today's issue I think is one of their better ones with two big features: one on Sly and the other on the Baker Street bank robbery (it does seem to like its bank jobs). Plus it has a Q&A with My Name is Earl’s Jason Lee, always a reason to stop and read.

What we really need is more videos on YouTube of editorial director Mike Soutar, giving out detailed instructions to distributors. They should also get the rest of the staff involved in these as well. They would be a big hit.

Apparently Soutar does get involved in handing copies out. He wears a woolly orange hat. Look out for him.



What you mean you haven't seen Soutar's first YouTube video? Shame on you. This is great stuff. More please.