Frankie publisher to launch men’s magazine
The publisher of women’s magazine Frankie is to launch a magazine for men.
Called Smith Journal, the title for “discerning gents” will be published bi-annually by Morrison Media.
It goes on sale on September 5 with an initial circulation of 20,000.
Frankie publisher and founder Louise Bannister told Mumbrella that now was a good time to launch into the ailing men’s magazines category, because there was nothing else like it in the market.
“We think that the men’s magazine market has been declining because other publishers have simply not been connecting with male readers,” she said. “There’s a whole group of up and coming men who haven’t had anything aimed at them.”
Smith Journal is a title that “smart, creative guys can peruse without shame, slap down on the coffee table, whack in their favourite old satchel or display proudly on the toilet reading rack.”
Like Frankie, the title will have an editorial to advertising ratio of 70:30, and will be for advertisers in categories such as craft beers, coffee, fashion, luxury, cars and sunglasses.
In a recent round of magazine circulation numbers, Frankie was the most successful monthly in the market, growing by 32.57% between December 2009 and 2010.
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Louise Bannister
Sounds interesting… if they can stay away from fake boobs and the abdominal muscle end of the men’s market then they’ll certainly find a niche. That said, if they’re after a younger market, maybe the app might be a better model?
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this news has made my day
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I’ll be keeping my eye on this for sure. Mens magazines are currently overtly sexual, or take fitness to obsessive levels. In interested in personalities, politics and fashion – and I usually end up reading Marie Claire.
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Nice – Something more along the lines of Another Man is exactly what the men’s magazine market needs.
Has anyone seen the new MAXIM? It’s basically Ralph re-packaged.
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Just hope it’s more interesting than Frankie’s monthly guide to people who knit and bland fashion shoots.
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I like Mens Health and buy it as I much prefer the writing style and content to the sappy womens mags. Reading Marie Claire takes about 20 minutes in total, it’s so sparse of interesting articles.
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think i’ll pop off this afternoon for a spot of satchel-whacking
..or is that thwacking?
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Give me something that is one third Monocle (easily the best periodical around IMO), one third Dazed and Confused/Monster Children, and one third GQ, and I will be one happy new aged man!
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Sounds like a good idea. Frankie does what it does very well.
Seems like the days of boobs/blood&guts mens mags is done. The internet has unrivaled boobage.
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A free tip to the publisher, duplicate the look and feel of the classic Esquire George Lois designed/photographed covers of the sixties – they’ve never dated – and include the same gritty content and writing from that period and you’ll have loads of Boomer males buying Smiths.
PS . The switch girl at the NY Papert, Koenig and Lois agency greeted callers with “Good morning PKL get f****d …. what an out-there agency!
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Here’s the kicker – only two issues per year, pretty similar to Fantastic Man or Purple Fashion. So it won’t really replace your GQs and the like, yet.
http://www.frankie.com.au/all-.....th-journal
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I don’t think this is meant to be a mag that sits like a normal men’s mag. It’s more of a Frankie extension – like ‘Guy’s’ is to Nylon. Alot of the buyers will be girls, buying it to check out what the Frankie guy should be like – and to pass along to boyfriends etc. In the long run guys aren’t needing a mag like this here in Aus. There are a plethora of OS mags that are readily available that cater to this niche very well. The Frankie thing suits young girls that are not that au fait with international alternatives – it’s quite safe and comfy for gals in their teens. Young guys in that Frankie age bracket don’t buy mags like this, they buy mags in a more tribal way (old word but rings true) – ie surf/skate/snow/cars etc – that help them wear their colours on their sleeve. Most guys in the mid 20’s and above (that don’t buy Zoo-type mags & might be expected to buy a mag like this) will look farther afield so they can look like they really are discrerning. Perhaps advertisers will see in time that it doesn’t have a strong male following – so they’ll question it’s effectiveness as an ad tool…
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