Lifestyle magazine Local North to launch in Sydney
Local Publishing Co has announced the launch of Local North, a lifestyle magazine focused on Sydney’s north.
The title will be a sister publication to Local East which launched in August 2018 for distribution in Sydney’s east.
The titles cover lifestyle topics including food, restaurants, travel, homes, interiors and design. The print run for each title is 50,000 copies.
The first edition of Local North sees commercial partnerships with American Express, King Living, the Rockpool Group, Merivale, Flannery’s and the SCG Trust as well as several independent businesses in the area.
Local Publishing Co publisher Elizabeth Meryment said the launch of a second Local title was testament to the strength of the brand.
Meryment: We gad advertisers at the door
“From the moment we launched Local East last year, we have had advertisers tapping on our door encouraging us to look at the North Shore and Northern Beaches market,” Meryment said.
“We wanted to test the market in the East first and as each month passed, the interest from high-quality advertisers grew. So we felt the time was right to move North.”
The magazine will be distributed to homes in key high-income areas including Mosman and places of interest including libraries, supermarkets and high streets.
“We want Local North to have high visibility in the increasingly vibrant centres all over the North, from the big bustling suburbs like Mosman, to the cool, beach-vibe places like Avalon,” said Meryment, who grew up on the Northern Beaches.
In 2019, Local East’s advertisers have included Westfield in partnership with its luxury retailers Max Mara, Tory Burch, Christian Louboutin and Omega, Qantas Loyalty, Audi Centre Sydney, the Solotel Group of restaurants including Chiswick and Aria, the Icebergs Group, Raine & Horne Double Bay, the Sydney Festival, Woollahra and Waverley Councils, and Racing NSW.
American Express and Local Publishing Co have partnered up on the Shop Small campaign which will launch in both Local East and Local North in June.
“Advertisers and readers have been incredibly supportive of this magazine,” Meryment said.
“Our objective from the start was to approach what used to be called ‘suburban publishing’ from a totally different direction. We wanted to bring the highest production values to local media and really engage these niche audiences.”
Local North will comprise of quality journalism from a range of writers including Manly-based Mark Brandon, the ex-editor of NW, former SMH style writer Alexia Biggs, journalist Jillian Dinkel, Nine journalist Neil Breen, Delicious writer Anthony Huckstep and others, the publisher said.
The magazine has been designed by Walkley-award winning graphic designer Trevor Timms and will appear on streets from June 1.
Local Publishing Co was launched in 2018. In 2019 the company added a content and design arm in Local Creative. The company was founded by Meryment after more than 20 years in journalism, including time at The Australian and The Daily Telegraph. She was also the chief food writer and critic at News Corp and formerly owned Edible Ink Media & Content content agency before it became Local Publishing Co.
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Bring on Local North! Since News Ltd’s ‘Manly Daily’ dropped from 5 to 2 issues per week, residences in Newport are very lucky if we receive 1 issue in 4 or 5. Often 2 dozen copies are dropped to the local newsagent (in place of the 2,000 which should be delivered throughout the suburb) and if you arrive there after 7.30 am they’ve already gone. There is no promotion of the online version and unless you come in via the right link, you’re directed to pay-to-subscribe News Ltd access. Heaven knows how they justify their ad rates.
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