Hearst-Rodale harnesses Apple Newsstand to sample print launch

Women’s Health goes on sale on Wednesday (8 February) for £3.60, with a print run of 200,000, also supported by a press campaign, retail promotion and ads in Hearst Magazines UK’s print and digital properties.

The digital sampler will be available from tomorrow (4 February) on Apple’s Newsstand magazine showcase, with the number of free downloads limited to 300,000.

The sampler will appear in the Newsstand apps for Runner’s World, Company, Cosmo, Reveal and Red magazines, all published by Hearst or Hearst-Rodale.

However, Hearst-Rodale is not the first publisher to combine Newsstand and print for a new brand; in November Future launched its new Nikon photography magazine N-Photo on both platforms.

A quarterly companion to Men’s Health, Women’s Health is the first launch out of Hearst Magazines UK (formed by last year’s Natmag/Hachette merger) since Cosmo on Campus in October 2010.

The ad team has netted 30 pages of ads for the 140-page debut issue, which features actress Kate Beckinsale on the cover and promises ‘a flat sexy stomach in 15 minutes’ and ’12 ways to sleep easy tonight’.

Advertisers include Lancome, Dior, Hugo Boss, Clarins, Max Factor and Olay.

The sampler also features seven pages of ads, including Lancome and Dior, among its 25 pages.

In the physical world, Women’s Health will be positioned on newsstands in the women’s lifestyle sector alongside titles such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Marie Claire.

Alun Williams, group publishing director at Hearst-Rodale UK, said: "Lively, fun and provocative, the Women’s Health brand addresses 360 degrees of life for the new generation of contemporary, confident, ambitious women.

"We are committed to growing our portfolio in the UK, and following its unprecedented success worldwide, Women’s Health is the natural next step for our business.

Hearst-Rodale is a 50/50 venture between Hearst Magazines UK and US publishers Rodale.

Women's Health is already published in the US, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Brazil, China, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Philippines, Russia, Thailand and Turkey.

Launches are also planned for the next year in Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Poland, France, Spain and the Netherlands.

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk